Page 128 of Dark Seduction

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

New York City—The Present

CLAIRE LANDED in her kitchen, alone. She fought to swim through the pain of the leap through six centuries, willing a swift healing. Claire had no idea if her determination had worked, but when she finally sat up, still breathless but in one piece, she instantly realized that her store was a crime scene. Do Not Cross police lines were taped everywhere.

She was sore from the leap and her head ached, but nothing could compare to the agony of her broken heart. Claire realized she was still devastated over losing Malcolm—it was the hardest thing she had ever done in her life. She slowly stood up, wearing not only her city clothes but her leine and brat. Ironheart had sent her back to her time by herself, a power he had apparently perfected.

She walked over to the small TV on the kitchen counter and flicked it on. Disbelieving, she learned it was August 5. She had left Dunroch on August 5, too, just five hundred and eighty years earlier.

She walked to the wall calendar, finding a Kleenex to wipe her eyes. She had been gone for fifteen days. She had to call Amy and her aunt. She had to call the police. Her disappearance was probably more of a priority than the investigation into the burglary she had reported. Focusing on what she had to do now might help her get through the grief.

Fifteen days. It felt like fifteen hundred years—it felt like fifteen lifetimes.

Claire didn’t go to the phone. She walked into her office, hitting the lights, and sat down, but her laptop was gone. Rage began.

She had to research the fifteenth century. She had to learn what had happened to Malcolm after she had left him.

But the police had confiscated the computer. Some of Claire’s fury had eased. What was she going to tell them, exactly?

Claire reached for her office phone and dialed her cousin. Amy answered, her tone dull and depressed.

“Hey, it’s me. Don’t be mad—I’m fine!”

“Claire, where are you?” Amy choked.

“I’m home. Can you come over? And bring your laptop.”

“Where have you been?” Amy was in tears.

“Scotland.”

“We thought you were abducted. We were afraid you were dead—like Lorie!” Amy gasped.

Claire hesitated. “I was abducted, sort of. But I’m not dead. I’m very much alive. Hey, Aim? I’m sorry.”

FIVE HOURS LATER, Claire was allowed to leave the local precinct. She knew she had been deemed certifiable. Amy and John were with her, the two of them looking as haggard and drained as Claire felt.

She had told the two detectives the truth. WithAmy holding her hand, she had told them how a medieval Highlander had appeared in her store, looking for a missing page from a sacred book. Both detectives, one a Sonny Crockett type, had begun the first exchanges of many odd glances. She had then described Aidan’s appearance and the ensuing swordfight.

Crockett had said, “So two guys on their way to a costume party decided to play knight in shining armor? Oh, wait. No armor, just leines and brats and boots? Oh, yeah, and swords?” His tawny brows rose.

Claire then told him about being swept back in time to the fifteenth century. When she described the bloody battle that had ensued, both detectives offered her coffee, which she declined. By the time she described her arrival at Dunroch, she glanced at Crockett’s partner to see if he was really taking notes. He was doodling.

An hour later she was free to go—case closed.

John, a hunky guy who almost looked like Joey from Friends and had that thick Queens accent, said, “Helluva story, Claire.” But his gaze was direct.

She avoided it. “I’m fine,” Claire said. He couldn’t possibly think she’d been telling the truth. “They have better things to do than investigate what happened to my store.”

“You don’t look fine. You look like shit. You’ve been crying,” Amy said fiercely. Dark blond and brown-eyed, she wasn’t quite as tall as Claire. “Do you want to tell me what happened?” Amy said quietly as they walked down the precinct stairs.

“I am so sorry for not calling you,” Claire said, meaning it. “I made a mistake with my flights, Aim, that’s all. I had no idea I’d come home and find my store burglarized and myself a missing person.”

Amy didn’t comment and Claire knew her cousin was aware that she was not coming clean. Later, as they dropped her off at her store in John’s Lexus sedan, she asked, “Do you want to stay with us? I think you should, Claire.”

Claire hugged her. “How about lunch tomorrow?”

After they’d made plans, Claire let herself into her store, Amy’s laptop under her arm. More grief began. She reminded herself that this was what she wanted. She didn’t want to be Malcolm’s Achilles’ heel, and she had to protect Amy and the kids. She waved at Amy and John as they drove off and then went directly into her office. Powering on the laptop, she went online.