Beyond Time: A Knights Through Time Travel Romance (Knights Through Time Travel #1)(10)

“Sure he’s not from a movie or one of your statues come to life? The guy must be made of stone.”

“Funny,” she said as she looked over her shoulder, locking the door behind her, fuming he’d taken a dirk. Thief.

“You coming with?”

“Yes.” Mellie climbed up, squeezing on the bench as the EMTs ignored her and went to work on Connor. She couldn’t just leave him. Even if he was a low-down dirty thief and a liar, she’d keep an eye on him so he didn’t get away. The cops and Jacob could deal with him.

Mellie sent a text to Jacob, telling him she’d locked the doors and had gone to the hospital.

The reply came back. Be there in ten. Who’s Connor?

The new guy.

Right. Henry Connor.

Hadn’t Connor said his name was Connor McTavish? She’d have to find out when he came to. Must be a mix-up with the paperwork.

The last thing Mellie wanted to do was go to the hospital, especially for a complete stranger. She hated the place, everything from the noise to the smell to the way some people went in and never came out. But she couldn’t leave him alone after what had happened to him or allow him to escape once he was stitched up. Chewing her lip, she looked out the window, unable to watch the EMTs putting tubes into his arms.





SEVEN





Connor woke to find himself in a place unlike any he had ever seen. He was in some sort of metal box with odd torture implements surrounding him, and when he tried to sit up, he found he was tied to the bed.

“What madness is this? Let me up, ye whoresons.”

The woman he’d seen in the room full of weapons placed a hand on his arm, which comforted him. She leaned close enough that he could smell a fresh, clean smell with a bit of a bite. It tickled his nose.

“Easy, Connor. They’re taking you to the hospital. You’ve lost a great deal of blood.”

One of her curls stuck out from her head, and he tried to tuck it behind her ear but could not raise his arm. What sorcery was this? He’d never seen such ropes, and in such colors.

“Is this the Armstrong’s doing? I have gold to pay ye. Let me go.” He pulled against the ropes and heard a satisfying creak and then a tear.

“He’s ripping the restraints. Get the sedative.”

Connor did not know what a sedative was, but he was leaving this place with its strange people who spoke in an even odder tongue. Pulling again, he heard another rip, and was almost free when the man in blue stuck him with a tiny sword. For a moment he thought it was a bee, but then he could no longer hold his eyes open.

“What happened to me?” he mumbled. The lovely lass with the golden eyes spoke to him, her face full of fear, but he could not make out the words; she was far away. Where was the battlefield? Connor never believed he deserved heaven, but he wanted a chance to tell his side of things to the almighty before he was judged.

And then sleep claimed him.





When he woke, Connor was in a bright room as blinding as a summer day, but he was inside. The light was coming from above. It hurt his eyes to look at the tiny suns.

The daggers he’d taken were on a table, along with his boots and plaid. Why was he undressed?

A fine cloth covered him…almost all of him. His arse was uncovered, and ’twas a good thing he was lying down, or everyone would admire his form.

There were strange things attached to his body. He thrashed in the metal bed, but they had tied him down tight to torture him.

This hell was full of loud noises, people coming and going, many dressed in white, but it was no convent. The smell of blood and death filled the air until he thought he would choke on the stench.

Why was Melissa scared? Was it for him? The thought made him feel oddly protective of the lass. There was something he should remember, but no matter how he tried, he could not think why he should know this awful place. Unable to lift his arms or legs, he heard a strange noise, and then his body refused to move.

“I’m dying. I canna bear this hell. I beseech ye, free me.”

He succumbed.





Mellie tapped a foot as she waited to hear how her thief of a coworker was doing. Talk about a memorable first day. It was one he’d never forget. To think she thought he was homeless or suffering from some kind of mental illness. Surely there was an explanation for him taking the dirk?

“There goes your overactive imagination again.” It was what her brothers always said to her whenever she swore there was someone in the woods or a strange shape in the water. She couldn’t help it—ever since Santa brought her a book of fairytales when she was eight, she’d always believed there was more to this world than a person could see or touch. Too bad Mellie had never experienced anything remotely magical.

“Mellie? I didn’t realize you were the one who brought in our interesting patient.”

“Peter. Hi, didn’t know you were working here. Thought you were still in DC?”

The doctor taking care of Connor was someone Mellie had met a while back when he briefly dated Amy. He was older than her, in his early thirties, and always seemed to leave in the middle of dinner. Being the low guy on the totem pole at the hospital, there were a lot of times he couldn’t show up for events and holidays, which in turn made her friend grouchy. It didn’t work out between them, though Mellie and Peter remained friendly.