Her mind was going blank. She was oxygen-deprived, and judging by the pain, he might have crushed her airway completely.
She’d gone too far. She was dying.
She’d never see Owen again. Her fiancé. The happiness of her life.
And then, as though on a distant whisper of wind, she heard his voice.
“Be yer own hero, lass. Ye’re verra much mine.”
She had to live. She had to choose to live. She almost had Jackson.
For Owen.
Gaining strength from the earth, something she’d learned from kung fu, she reached deep inside herself, because in every cell of her body was love for Owen.
She kicked Jackson right between his legs.
He released her and doubled over, stepping back.
She coughed, desperately sucking in the air. She held on to the door, her legs barely keeping her up. Breathing was painful, but she needed to get oxygen back into her system. Her work wasn’t yet done.
He was still clutching his groin but was already standing straighter. He lurched to a console by the wall, opened a drawer, and took out a gun.
Amber didn’t have time to waste. Her body was recovering, and she took a step to give herself room, rotated, and kicked him in the face. He fell back, and she took his gun and pointed at him.
He threw his arms up in surrender.
“You’re done now, Jackson,” she choked out. “Jonathan, did you get all that?”
Her phone vibrated in the pocket of her jeans. She answered it with one hand.
“Hey, sis. You all right?”
“I’m fine,” she rasped. Her throat was killing her. “Did you get all that?”
“Yes. The military police are on the way. Erickson says it’s enough for a confession. You’re free.”
Amber exhaled, relief flooding her system like sunlight. She’d cleared her name. She was free. And this guy would be behind bars, getting what he deserved.
When the military police arrived and arrested Jackson, Amber went out the house and breathed in clean air. She watched as they loaded him into a car, and she took lungfuls of air, letting the freedom seep into every cell.
The police car drove away, and someone walked towards her—a female figure in a green cloak… Sìneag? A chill and a thrill ran through Amber. What did she want? Where had she even come from? It looked like she’d pretty much emerged from thin air.
She beamed as she approached Amber, dimples forming in her rosy cheeks. Could anyone else see her? There was no one around. Her brother went with the police to hand over the evidence and the taped confession. The suburban street looked calm and ordinary. Seeing Sìneag here made Amber’s head spin.
“I see ye did well, lass!” Sìneag said when she came to stand by Amber.
“Um. Thanks.” Amber frowned. “Why are you here?”
Sìneag looked around in wonder. “I love the United States of America. ’Tis so much more interesting than ol’ wee Scotland. There’s so much delicious food, things I havena even heard of in two thousand years.”
Amber’s skin chilled. Two thousand years?
“Speaking of…” Sìneag looked Amber over. “I have something important to say to ye. A warning.” Her eyes flashed mischievously. “But in the best Highland tradition, I’ll only give it to ye if ye bribe me first with something delicious and unusual.” She swallowed. “Well. Anything, really.”
Amber’s eyebrows rose to her hairline. “You want some food in exchange for information?”
“Aye.”
Amber shook her head with a smile. “The fact that you’re a faerie may not be the weirdest thing about you, Sìneag.” She walked to her car and opened the passenger seat. She found a bag of peanuts in the glove compartment and gave it to Sìneag. “There you go. Food. Now what did you want to tell me?”
Sìneag’s eyes practically sparkled. She opened the bag and stared at the contents in wonder.
“Those are nuts.” Amber said. “Salted peanuts.”
Sìneag took a peanut out and studied it in her hand. Then she put it in her mouth and chewed slowly, crunching with her eyes closed.
“’Tis delicious.” She looked at Amber, and there was sunshine in her eyes. “Thank ye.” She put another nut in her mouth and chewed.
“So? What did you want to say?”
“Oh. Aye. Now that ye won over yer enemy, what do ye plan to do?”
“Go back to Owen, of course.”
She smiled. “Good. But I must warn ye. ’Tis the last time that ye can cross the tunnel of time. A couple only gets three times.”
Amber bit her lip and nodded. Three times… This would be her last time through. Goodbye to the twenty-first century, goodbye to her brothers, to her friends. She’d never eat peanuts, she’d never be able to go to a doctor, have her teeth cleaned, have a cup of coffee. If Owen and her had any children, they wouldn’t get vaccinated or go to school.
“Does it change anything?” Sìneag said.
Did it? She could still stay. Live her life here in the relative safety and stability of the modern world.
And howl every day inside, missing Owen. This life, full of conveniences, of being warm and sated, would be empty without him. She’d never respect herself if she chose comfort and material possessions over love.
“No,” Amber said, and she knew in her gut this was the right decision. “I belong with Owen. You were right. He’s the love of my life, and the man I’m destined to be with.”
A smile bloomed on Sìneag’s face so wide it threatened to cut her face in half. She sighed happily and popped another peanut in her mouth.
“Another couple found happiness thanks to me,” she said. “Yer world is so much more fun than the land of the faerie.” She cupped Amber’s jaw, and her touch was cool and sent a small vibration through Amber that reminded her of standing next to a giant speaker at a concert. “I’m a faerie, and love for me isna possible, so I live vicariously through ye and others. Now go to him. Be happy. And I’ll look for another couple to torment.”
Amber opened her mouth to ask why Sìneag would never be able to find love, but the faerie disappeared.
Amber sighed and shook her head. What a beautiful, wonderful, strange creature. Sìneag may be her favorite person in the world after Owen.
Because she brought them together. And now Amber could finally go to him.
Chapter 35
Inverlochy Castle, three months later…
* * *
Owen paced the underground storeroom. He threw periodic glances at the rock.
“The damned rock,” he mumbled.
He’d been visiting here every day since he came to Inverlochy a moon ago. And every day, it remained still and refused to bring Amber back.
A nerve on Owen’s cheekbone kept twitching. Could he do something? What?
He’d asked that question hundreds of times every day since Amber left. And the answer was always the same. Nothing. He couldn’t do a damn thing to help her or to find out if she’d been successful in her mission.
And even if she had been successful, what if she’d changed her mind? What if she’d decided he wasn’t worth leaving her comfortable and safe life in the future for?