Forged in Dreams and Magick (Highland Legends #1)(84)

“Bingo, Einstein.” Sunshine grinned smugly.

I glared at him. “You wanted me to mess up time? You boys play a very stupid game.”

Orion gave me a small smile, ever the patient one. “The time adjustments are necessary and mandated by our Authority. I suppose it’s a sort of game. Only this game has no good and bad. No win. No loss. None involved know the rules. In a way, you are the referee.”

“An observer,” I replied, irritated.

“A game changer,” Orion corrected.

I scowled, confused anew.

Even Orion sighed at my apparent slowness on the uptake. “Tiny snags have happened in time. You’ve been gifted the ability to pull them back smoothly without damaging the fabric.”

“Why me?”

Orion shrugged, examining a nonexistent speck on his pristine right pectoral before brushing it away. “Why not? Desire. Motive. Birthright. Complete boredom from the Authority. Who knows.”

Sunshine piped up. “Ours is not to question why . . .”

My mind finished his sentence without control. I ignored Smartass’s bait, focusing on Orion. “And the soul mates bit? Is that real, or was that devised for entertainment?”

Orion arched a regal brow. “Is there any doubt they were meant for you?”

“Well, no . . . but—” My mouth dropped open as frustration fuzzed my thoughts.

Sunshine grinned, taking the reins from Orion. “Stupid questions are wasted breath, Hotshot. I suggest you keep your focus. You do have to save time, after all.”

Both of their corporeal forms began to fade into the sparkling mist.

Sudden urgency spiked my pulse as my informants disappeared. Literally. “Wait! What if I have questions? Or need help?” Realization hit me. “How do I control my time travel?”

“Tick. Tock.” Sunshine’s disembodied voice faded into a swirl of white fog.

“Fine. Abandon me.” I grumbled an incoherent string of curses, wondering if they’d ever really been there in the first place. Dreams messing with my head? Not a new thing.

Still suspended high above the Earth in frothy fairy dust, I searched in vain for a way down. Irritated, I charged through the glittering fog in a direction only identifiable as forward until a clear path presented itself, the mist falling away. A dark area opened ahead, and I rushed toward the only discernible gateway out of the total whiteout.

No light entered the black hole of a passage. The void completely shrouded whatever existed beyond, yet something drew me forward, and I held no fear of its unknown.

I stepped through the threshold, unsure of what awaited me on the other side. A low pop sounded as a membrane gave way, catapulting me through. I stumbled forward from the sudden release, landing with my hands sprawled across . . .

Iain’s map desk.

In his study.

My fingertips rustled through vellum maps lying under those obsidian, faceted paperweights. I drank in the richness of carved woods and neatly rolled parchments. The wall’s brilliant spotlights illuminated the room. Cold stones beneath my feet radiated a chill into my skin, while the familiar scent of dusty surfaces and leather tomes filtered deep into my lungs, sealing the deal for my rapidly processing mind.

Very real.

I whirled around. Iain’s wall had spit me out from the other side, the molten stone surface and laser-point light show still vibrating in full force and effect.

In panic, I panted, quick bursts forcing air out through puffed cheeks. Information overload threatened my sanity once again. With forced concentration, I slowed my spinning thoughts enough to focus on comprehension rather than apprehension.

I peeked down. I remained very naked. Unwilling to make unconfirmed assumptions, I marched right back through the wall. Glittering mist enveloped me immediately. I spun around, seeing the darkness of the wall from the other side, apparently.

Memories of the places I’d visited on my otherworldly tour increased the density of the vapor, concealing the doorway. I concentrated on the castle, and the dark gateway reappeared, the haze dissipating.

Orion.

Skorpius.

As if the power of my mind conjured them, I saw their distant black-and-white winged forms through the mist as they walked away, their faint conversation drifting into my ears.

“. . . she bought it?” Orion asked.

“I’m betting all-in she didn’t,” Sunshine replied, sounding less gruff and more astute.

“Good. We wouldn’t want her to back down now.” Orion stopped, turning slightly.

Sunshine also stopped, cocking his head. “Funny, I’d thought for millennia The Traveler would’ve been bigger and . . . male.”

The midnight wings spread their full span in an instant. Black velvet brushed onto a shimmering canvas of white became the only thing visible.

I blinked, and they vanished. Undisturbed mist remained in their place. Orion’s fading voice whispered into my ears. “Have faith, Ms. MacInnes. All is exactly as it seems.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but not one thought filled my head to form any kind of response. My time on the not-a-dream-after-all plane had apparently concluded.

With nowhere else to go but back, I turned, bracing myself to avoid a collision with furniture, and stepped through the gateway. Both feet landed squarely on solid stone.

My gaze traveled slowly up from the floor as the sum total of revelations filled me with awe. Everything came to vibrant life around me—from the wall’s sparking energy to the silent maps hiding a fortune of information—as a clear epiphany broke my calm surface.