Highlander Undone (Highland Bound Book 5) (10 page)

“I brought my checkbook in case.”

Moira didn’t remember her parents, and all she had left of them was a sizeable trust fund that every foster home they’d gone through had been determined to mine as though it were gold. Luckily for her and Shona, the powers that be had seen that the money was safely held until the two of them came of age, and then only incrementally. They’d been sent to college, their bills paid by the lawyers in charge of the trust, and spending money put into their accounts. Their house had been paid for, and the money they received even now was only meant to supplement their own incomes, unless of course there was an emergency. Like now. This was definitely an emergency.

Her feet refused to move, pinned to the ground where she stood.

Rory came up beside her, the heat of his body comforting. He slid his fingers into hers. “I’ll be right beside ye.”

“I know.” She glanced up at him and smiled wearily. “Thank ye.”

He opened his mouth, no doubt to say something magnanimous and chivalrous, but Moira shook her head.

“Don’t say anything. I need to process this. Let’s walk.”

They headed toward the entrance, the wall of windows reflecting the sun, making them appear to shimmer silver.

Once inside, they signed in, and luckily, in addition to his clothes, she’d kept Rory’s wallet with his ID, which he’d left on the bedside stand the morning he’d disappeared.

As they sat to wait, Moira’s hands trembled. Shona was here. The guard would have said no if she wasn’t. Wouldn’t she?

A few moments later, they were led to a small room, sans the bag, as they were not allowed to bring it in for security reasons—even though it had been searched.

This is it. This is real.

The door opened, and standing in the middle of the room, each wearing a pair of dark gray sweatpants and a light blue t-shirt, were Shona and her male companion. Shona looked just as Moira remembered. Wild, red hair in a mass of curls surrounding a face that was like looking in the mirror. Her companion rivaled Rory’s height and was handsome in a fierce sort of way, though his smile was genuine. In coloring, where Rory was dark, Ewan was light.

Tears sprang to Moira’s eyes and her hands were once more covering her mouth as though her body involuntarily wanted her to be quiet, to not say a word, to hold everything in.

Shona spoke first, shouting out, “Moira!” and rushing forward, her fiery-red hair bouncing, to grab her in a squeeze so tight she pressed the air from her lungs. “Ohmygod, I had no idea how much I missed ye until I remembered ye.”

Moira held her sister tight, her mind spinning.

“I’m so glad ye’re safe,” Moira said over and over again. “I’m so glad.”

Shona held her sister at arm’s length, tears in her eyes, too, but a smile split her face from ear to ear. “I cannot believe all that has happened.”

Beside them, Rory and Ewan shook hands, speaking in low tones.

“Tell me everything,” Moira said. “Why did ye leave? Why didn’t ye tell me? What happened?”

Shona shook her head. “There is so much, and I fear ye will not believe most of it. Let’s get out of here and I’ll tell ye everything.”

Moira could barely walk. Her feet were tingling, her legs were shaking, and she was even a little dizzy. She swayed on her feet.

Rory rushed to her side. “One faint is enough for today,” he teased, holding her up with a hand on her elbow.

“I’m Ewan,” the man beside Shona said.

“Moira. I’m glad to meet ye.” She held out her hand to shake his, but he shook her forearm instead. Odd.

The way Shona looked up at him made Moira’s heart ache. They were in love.

“We brought ye clothes, but they wouldn’t let us bring it in.” Moira swept tendrils of her hair behind her ear with trembling fingers.

“’Tis all right, the clothes we’ve got on are not that bad, though the pants are a big snug.” Ewan shifted uncomfortably.

“Just wait until ye try denim, my friend,” Rory replied. “Not at all forgiving on the unmentionables.”

That made Moira laugh, though it sounded sharp to her ears. Shona laughed softly, slipping her hand into her husband’s grasp.

“Hate to break up your party, but we need the room for the next visitor. Head to processing and they’ll get ye checked out,” a guard said from the doorway.

“Thank ye,” Rory said to the guard, and started to usher them all out of the room.

Shona and Ewan did not have any personal articles, so there was nothing more to do but pay the bail fee. Moira’s hand shook as she wrote the check, the numbers coming out fuzzy. The guard studied her, uneasily.

“Are ye all right, ma’am?”

“Nerves,” Moira answered, the understatement of the year. In less than twenty-four hours, her entire world had changed. Again. She turned away from the guard and stared once more at her sister, who looked as healthy as could be, and happier than she’d ever seen her. Seemed unfair almost.

“There are bathrooms by the doors. Ye both could change if ye wanted to,” Moira said again, still concentrating on the clothes, unable to focus on anything deeper.

Shona grabbed her hand. “Take us home, sis.”

Chapter Eight

They all managed to squeeze into the small car somehow, and Moira drove on automatic back to the house she’d shared with her sister. Inside the car was silent, but not uncomfortably so. It was as if everyone subconsciously knew that each of them needed some time, and theoretical space, to process everything that was happening.

Once they arrived, everyone climbed out—the men not as easily as the lassies—tentative smiles on their faces.

Again, she found herself doing a cursory glance for Dickie, but the street was empty except for a neighbor a few houses down sweeping her walkway.

“Wow, its amazing how little things have changed in six years,” Shona mused.

Moira’s ears were immediately pricked. “Six? It’s only been three.”

Shona’s brows raised and she looked frantically from Ewan to Rory. “Right, I forgot.”

Moira’s elation at seeing her sister quickly deflated. Was it possible to clone a body? Was this an automated robot made to look like Shona? She shook her head against all that scientific stuff and instead headed for the door.

Then, because she was feeling slightly paranoid, and a little concerned she might be delusional, she called out to her neighbor, “Afternoon, Mrs. MacArthur!”

“Hello, dear!” The elder woman stopped what she was doing. “Is that ye, Shona?”

So, Shona truly was standing behind her… Not delusional. She supposed she should consider that a win.

Uh-oh
. The look on Mrs. MacArthur’s face as she studied Moira’s companions turned suspicious.

“It’s so good to see ye again,” Shona said.

“Ye, too, dearie. Where have ye been?” Mrs. MacArthur, holding a death grip on her broom, started to head toward them.

“Time to go inside,” Rory said under his breath.

“We’ll catch up again later,” Shona called, hurrying in front of Moira. “Oh, wait, I don’t have keys.”

Moira tossed her sister the keys hoping she’d not forgotten how to unlock a door. Mrs. MacArthur looked positively intent on barreling forward. Shona unlocked the door and ducked inside with Moira ushering the two Highlanders inside before jogging up the steps herself, just as their nosy neighbor reached the end of their own private walkway.

“Pardon my manners, dear, but I couldn’t help noticing your sister and her friend’s state of dress. Where exactly has she been?”

Moira cocked her head, giving her neighbor a questioning, somewhat mind-your-own-business look. “State of dress?” She looked behind her into the house, all for show. “Their gym clothes?”

“Gym clothes?”

“Yes, gym clothes.”

Mrs. MacArthur narrowed her brows.

“She takes appointments if ye’re looking for a personal trainer. Well, gotta go! We haven’t seen each other in forever.” Moira didn’t wait for her neighbor’s response. Instead, she hurried through the door and slammed it shut.

But the moment she turned around, the room started to pulse in an out, as though some unseen force pressed in on her space. Her foyer started to fade. The faces of Rory, Shona and Ewan, too. What was happening? She put her arms out, bracing for a swoon. But she didn’t feel faint. She felt… heavy. As though she wore a suit of rocks, holding her in place and pushing her down. Her vision blurred, and then the space around her turned black. She screamed, falling forward, and reaching out her hands to brace herself but not landing. From somewhere off in the distance she could hear Rory and Shona calling to her, telling her to remain calm. To breathe easy. How the hell did they expect her to breathe easy when the world around her had literally disappeared? Then she heard Shona’s panicked words, muffled, and the soothing tones of Ewan as he tried to comfort her.

“What the hell is happening?” Moira cried. Was it an earthquake? Did a bomb rock their street? Oh, poor Mrs. MacArthur! Not even her broom could save her from this.

There was wind, like a tunnel. Birds. Then nothing. Then birds. Then nothing. Then wind and the rustling of… Were those trees?
Trees?

They didn’t sound at all like the small trees on her block… No, this rustling sounded like the great oaks of the Highlands where she liked to hike in the Cairngorms.

The blackness started to fade, and nausea kicked in as the world around her continued to pulse. Faster and faster. The world grew brighter. She felt like she was being birthed—as gross and weird as it was—as if she was being pushed from one world to the next. But that was impossible.

They must have drugged her. Must have done something. This was all a setup.

And then she was falling forward again, growing intense, and she had just enough time to brace herself as she landed in warm grass.

There were several thuds around her. She didn’t waste time in scrambling to her feet, shoving off the ground as though it were on fire. Grass. Trees. Brush. She was in the woods. The bloody woods! She turned in a circle—okay, it was a clearing in the middle of the woods. No signs of civilization.

“What the fuck just happened?” she shouted, not one for cussing normally. But whateverthefuck just happened warranted a lot of fucking cussing!

Climbing to their feet around her, were Rory, Shona and Ewan. And none of them looked surprised. In fact, they each looked a little disappointed.

“I guess we just needed to come back to get ye,” Rory said.

Anger spurred inside Moira. “Come back from where? Where the hell are we and—
what the fuck just happened
?” She was bordering on hysteria, and she knew it. But, if she was going to have a breakdown, there was no time like the present.

Maybe she should just lie on the grass, wait for whatever trippy drugs they’d given her to wear off.

Moira stared up at the late fall afternoon sky. Well… what should have been late fall. But the leaves were flourishing a brilliant green. And her face—the sun was warming it. The air around her was not as chilly as it should be, and actually, she was a little warm in her wool sweater dress and leather boots.

Just part of the dream. Summer was her favorite season. Her dreams would know that.

She sat down on the ground, the warmth of the grass sinking all too real into her dark leggings. Tears started to sting her eyes, but she forced herself to swallow her fear. Crying wasn’t going to help her. Not one bit. Plus, it would only show the others just how disturbed she was. And none of them seemed the least bit surprised at what had just happened.

Shona sank to the grass beside her, reaching for her hand. “Look, I know all of this must seem like some crazy nightmare, and ye’re probably waiting to wake up, but this is real. I’m real.”

Moira refused to look at her sister. Of course, the figment of Moira’s imagination wanted her to believe all of this. But she refused. If she just sat here, not acknowledging the truth, then she would eventually come out of her drug-induced haze and face the world.

Or maybe she was having a mental breakdown. That could definitely be happening. The stress of it all taking its toll.

A sudden sting on her arm brought her momentarily back to the present. “Ouch!” Moira cried out staring at the spot of reddened skin where her sister pinched her. “Ye pinched me.”

“Because, I wanted ye to know this
is
real.”

Moira rubbed her arm. “I’ve felt pain in dreams before.”

Shona sighed. “Fine, if this is all a dream, then it won’t hurt ye to listen. To believe for a minute or two.”

“I’m listening.” Moira scowled. She couldn’t help the attitude that spilled out in her tone.

She glanced at her sister, registering the hurt in Shona’s expression.

Shona took a deep breath, keeping her gaze steadily locked on Moira’s. “Hold my hand while I tell ye. Ye were always able to tell when I lied. Ye’ll know I’m telling ye the truth.”

Moira’s only answer was to take her sister’s hand.

“Before Ewan and I were in jail, we were here, in the Highlands, near Castle Gealach. But it wasn’t… present day.”

Moira’s heart started to pound.