Emma stumbled from the depths of the closet, grappling against gravity not to lose a single item from the overflowing armload clutched to her chest. “He sounds more like he’s looking for a dog walker. Give it a rest, will you? We’ve been over this a thousand times.”
The glowing screen of the laptop highlighted Laynie’s intent scowl at the website currently holding her interest. Emma might as well talk to the wall or that pile of clothes on the bed. It would produce the same effect. She would be completely ignored.
Her little sister pursed her pouting lips into a frown as she leaned closer to the computer. “Never mind. He’s got shifty eyes. I bet he’s one of those jerks who doesn’t clean up when the dogpoops in the park. I hate those people. I’m going to delete this one from your inbox.” She plunked the keyboard with a decisive tap.
Dropping to her knees beside the bed, Emma inhaled a nose full of dust bunnies and immediately succumbed to an attack of rapid-fire sneezing. Whacking her head on the steel mattress railing, she blinked against watering eyes and bit her tongue to cut off the tempting profanity begging to be unleashed. “Ow! Laynie, would you please just delete that account? Didn’t I tell you not to sign me up for that stupid internet matchmaking service?” The dull throbbing ache in the top of her skull fueled the stinging tears as she glared over the edge of the bed. If she knew her aim was better, she’d lob a shoe at her stubborn baby sister. But as sure as she did, she’d take out the laptop. And that was hernewlaptop intended for the trip. Come to think of it, Laynie was wearing one of the shirts she had planned on packing.
Laynie settled more comfortably back into the pile of pillows and pulled the glowing display closer. The pale skin of her arms and chest shimmered an electric blue in the eerie light of the computer. Tapping the screen, she arched a brow and nodded. “This one looks promising, he even cooks. Since all you do is push buttons on a microwave, the two of you could be a perfect match. He could do all the cooking and you could take care of any medical issues he might need help with.”
Emma groaned and collapsed face forward on the bed, burying her face in the disheveled depths of the comforter. Why couldn’t Laynie just let it go? It was bad enough when she responded to the personal ads in all those papers and singles magazines, but now her meddling little sister had loaded Emma’s profile into every dating site on the internet. Emma exhaled a dismal sigh, heating up the folds of the comforter fluttering against her face.
Laynie excelled at signing Emma up for the free, thirty-day trial period and then axed the membership either when it was about to start costing a fee or she had exhausted all the possibilities of the site. Laynie’s matchmaking game was getting a tad old.
“Don’t you think it’s just a waste of time? I’m leaving for the Isle of Lewis tomorrow for at least a year. I’ll be swamped with launching the children’s clinic and I won’t have time for internet dating while I’m taking care of this project in the Outer Hebrides.”
Laynie frowned at the quietly humming computer balanced on her crossed legs. She pecked on the keyboard, then peered over the top of the screen with a determined shake of her head. “No, it is not a waste of time and it wouldn’t take you that long to shoot a couple of emails every day between patients or stacking bricks or whatever it is you’re going to do over there. You could still connect with somebodysomewhereand start a conversation. Cripe's sake, Emma. Haven’t you heard those stories about people talking over the internet for a year or so? How they fall in love, arrange a meeting, get married and have a bazillion kids? Besides, who knows where this person might be? They might end up being over there in Scotland or maybe even in that no-man’s land of an island you’re headed to. You could have a meetup in a pub or something. That island is civilized enough for pubs, right?”
“Snarkiness is a very ugly trait, Laynie.” Emma shot her sister the sternest look her current frame of mind could muster as she sank back to the floor. Her disgruntled huff stirred the remaining dust balls scurrying across the hardwood. Damn Laynie’s stubborn streak. When Laynie sank her teeth into something, the girl was worse than an angry bulldog. She never turned loose.
Taking care to tuck the fluffy bedspread around the offensive steel frame that had already whacked her once, Emma stretched back underneath the bed and latched onto the wheel of the elusive suitcase. Fishing the bag out between pairs of shoes and storage boxes, an irritated snort escaped her when she finally pulled it free. “Don’t you have a class tonight? Didn’t you tell me finals were coming up?” She had to get Laynie’s mind on something besides this idiotic internet-dating marathon. Maybe then, Laynie would settle down and they’d get in one last good visit before Emma left for the Isle of Lewis.
Laynie’s blue eyes narrowed into plotting slits while she propped her chin in her hand. “I’m skipping class tonight because tomorrow you’re deserting me forever. Stop trying to change the subject. How many times have you complained that you are thirty-three years old and afraid you’ve missed the mating boat? Biological Tick-Tock, remember?”
“I have never said that—and a year or two is NOT forever.” Emma tossed the suitcase on top of the bed, then dropped to all fours in search of another one. Maybe if she crawled under the bed Laynie would eventually get bored and go away. Emma surveyed the space, eyeing the level of dust and the crowded junk crammed under the bed. No. There was no way she’d ever fit under there no matter how much she scrunched up.
Laynie’s voice pitched louder from her perch among the pillows. “A year or two is forever and maybe you’ve never said it in those exact words, but every time I’ve gone out on a date, I’ve seen that look in those big green eyes of yours. Fess up, sis. You’ve spent your entire post-pubescent life raising me and chasing your career. You’ve always focused on taking care of everybody else and never carved out any time for yourself. I might be twelve years younger, Emma, but I’ve noticed all you’ve sacrificed over the years.”
Emma pulled out the other suitcase and flopped it open on the bed. She hadn’t missed the faint tremor in Laynie’s blustering or the moisture shining in her baby sister’s eyes. Emma’s extended stay on the Isle of Lewis had been hard for Laynie to accept and heaven help her; Emma dreaded tomorrow’s goodbyes. Her throat ached with a knot of emotions and she blinked against her own tears of pending homesickness. “You know I don’t begrudge a minute of our lives together, Laynie. You’re all I’ve got, baby sister. You know how much I love you.”
Laynie brushed the back of her hand across her face, clearing her throat as she ducked her head. “I know. I just don’t understand why you have to go all the way to Scotland and beyond to set up some sort of children’s clinic. I mean—my gosh, Emma. Isn’t their healthcare already free, anyway? I know I’m going to be busy finishing up for boards, but we’ve never been that far apart for so long. All your other volunteer stints have only been for a few weeks or a couple of months at the most. Why do you have this need to take care of the entire world? Isn’t there anyone here that might pique your interest well enough to get you to cancel your trip? If I find you somebody, can’t you just stay here and find some people to save on this side of the Atlantic?”
Massaging the inside corners of her stinging eyes, Emma swallowed hard against a renewed threat of tears swelling into a knot of emotions in her throat. How many times had they been over this? Emma sniffed back her insecurities and straightened her tensed shoulders. She had to be strong for Laynie’s sake. She couldn’t break down now. “Laynie, I am not going to the Isle of Lewis in search of some different sort of man, and I’m not trying to save theentireworld. I learned about this grant and decided I was interested in helping these people start their children’s clinic. As I understand it, the poor folks have to travel to themainland in search of a pediatrician. We’ve talked about this hundreds of times. I’m going to fly you over during Christmas break. Remember? We won’t be separated the entire year.”
“This is May.” Laynie pooched out her lower lip.
“Laynie, come on. Give me a break. You know I’m going to miss you so much it’s already breaking my heart. Don’t do this to me. You’re twenty-one years old and ever since mom and dad died, you’ve always acted older than your years. Don’t give me grief now, please?” Emma shook out another shirt and smoothed it across the bed, averting her eyes away from the damning accusations flashing in Laynie’s eyes.
“That one’s mine. You can’t take it.” Laynie pointed at the shirt draped across the rumpled bedspread.
“The pink one’s yours. I bought this one. Remember?” Emma rolled up the shirt and neatly tucked it into a corner of the suitcase, then selected another one from the pile across the bed.
With an evil grin, Laynie plucked the garment from the suitcase and waved it in circles over her head as she darted out the door. “Yeah, but those stripes make you look fat. It looks so much better on me.”
The thud of Laynie’s footsteps pattering down the hallway triggered a stronger attack of homesickness in Emma’s already aching heart. “I’m gonna miss you too, baby sister.” With a heavy sigh, Emma swallowed hard and stretched across the bed to grab another shirt.
Chapter
Three
Alow rumbling tremor thundered into his slumbering awareness, pulling him from the soft inky depths of the unnatural sleep. Torin struggled against the suffocating darkness, thrashing through the numbing confusion swaddling his mind like a woolen fleece. The shrieks of his clan shook through the stillness. He forced his eyes open, sucking in great gulps of air as he searched for the unseen foe.
Damn the Cailleach.She had kept her word and not allowed him to embrace death. She’d paralyzed his body and trapped his essence in an accursed realm of stillness. Torin rolled to a crouching position and patted a hand against his thigh. Where the hell was his blade?
The cries of his clan reached a horrific pitch. Their panic surrounded him and crescendoed into a wailing beast, summoning him to action. Enough of this damnable curse! TheCailleachwould toy with him no more. His hand froze where the familiar leather sheath should’ve encased his upper beast,leg. His gaze moved to the cold still body levitating in the foggy void before him. Torin’s hissing breath stirred the swirling vapors. By all the powers, he had never dreamed he would someday face his own corpse.
Torin edged away from the inert body just as a deeper-pitched roar shattered the air around him. Lifting his head to the sound, he held his breath as he searched through the void for the source. He knew that moan disturbing the peace of this darkness. It was a wicked beast he had battled many times. Arach threatened his clan.
“Return me,Cailleach.Arach has breached the threshold and moves toward my land.” Torin straightened from the defensive crouch and stretched to his full height. The soft black loam of the void swirled around his knees, completely obliterating his lower legs from sight. No footprints. He left no mark in the smoking blanket of soil rolling across the ground. She had completely severed his spirit from his body when she spelled him into the darkness.Damnaighthe spirit woman!“Return me to my body,Cailleach.Return my soul so I might defend my people against the demon.”
