Night Games (28 page)

She closed her eyes, and within her silence he touched peace. Her understanding wrapped him in warm, caring arms.

Opening her eyes, she slid her palm along his clenched jaw, then gently massaged the tense muscles along the back of his neck. “You need to let it go.”

He felt everything go at once: his tension, his bitterness, his belief that he would never face his fear. The relief left him weak. “I did.” He fixed his gaze on her, wanting her to understand what the last few minutes had done for all his yesterdays. “Today.”

She nodded, her gaze warm with something he'd never seen in any woman's eyes. Something more than desire. “I'm glad.” But before he could do any analyzing, the wind picked up, and the swirling mist dissipated enough for them to see the path that led back to the wagon.

Brian could make out the shapes of other people who'd been standing near them when the mist drifted in. He was no longer alone with Ally, had never really been alone. “What made you lose your balance? Did all that open space make you dizzy?” He shook his head. “Makes sense to me. I was dizzy, and I wasn't even at the edge.”

Ally didn't answer him as she peered into the mist at the people surrounding them. There wasn't much to see beyond darker shades of gray.

Finally, she turned to look at him. “I didn't lose
my balance.” She started walking up the path that would lead them away from the cliffs.

Now he was puzzled. He caught up with her. “What happened, Ally?”

This time she didn't look at him, didn't pause as she walked toward the wagon.

“Someone pushed me.”

 

 

 

 

“Someone
pushed
you?” He clasped her shoulder and swung her to face him. “Are you sure?” His voice was low, deadly, suggesting that if she was sure, he'd hunt down the person responsible and do some serious bone breaking.

Was
she sure? Her eyes filled as the reaction she'd kept at bay set in. She'd been sure a few minutes ago. She could still feel the press of a palm against her back, the hard shove . . .

Had the shove come before or after she lost her balance, before or after Brian reached for her? Had it really been a shove, or the accidental brush of an arm against her back? Details faded when compared to her recollection of the moment she knew she would die.
That
memory had a sharp clarity that would fuel nightmares for years.

Ally took a deep breath and swiped at the corners of her eyes. She would
not
cry. “I'm not sure.” Only one person had been close enough to know for sure. “Did you see anyone?”

He cursed. She didn't understand what the words meant, but she understood their intent. “I didn't see a thing. I had my eyes closed.” He glanced around. “We need to go back, ask some questions.”

Ally shook her head. “It was probably an accident. Why would anyone want to push me off a cliff? Wait, I forgot. My favorite reviewer, Mrs. Scowly, thinks the world needs to be saved from more of my books.” Her attempt at a joke sounded lame even to her.

Brian frowned. He didn't look convinced.

Ally pressed on. “Whoever bumped into me is probably long gone. Besides, no one could've seen anything in this mist. Claudia was close to us, and she didn't see anyone.” A shiver slid up her spine. “I want to get out of here.”

Reluctantly, he nodded. He clasped her hand, and they walked the rest of the way to the wagon in silence.

Katy stood in the doorway waiting for them. “It's about time. Jupe and the rest drove past a few minutes ago. Didn't look too happy.” She grinned. “I couldn't resist pulling someone's puffed-up calico tail. When Jupe rolled down his window to ask if you were in the wagon, I said you hadn't gotten back yet. Made a big show of being mad because I had to wait for you to finish
making hot love down on the cliff. Said you'd wanted to do it dangerously. Jupe got real pale and the Old One did some whisker twitching. Guess they pictured you rolling right off that cliff in a fit of ecstasy.”

Katy chuckled, Brian looked thunderous, and Ally was beyond confused. Not about her near-death experience. She'd convinced herself that was an accident. Nothing else made sense. Murder needed a motive, and no one would profit by her death.

Ally was confused about Brian. Distracted, she allowed him to help her onto the wagon, said nothing as he picked up the reins and guided the horse back to the main road. She barely noticed when Katy disappeared into the wagon.

It seemed natural for her to sit close to him. When he shifted both reins to one hand, wrapped his free arm around her shoulders, and pulled her against him, it felt right. Ally knew nothing could happen to her now.

Okay, she could explain away the safety feeling. If you couldn't feel safe with a man who'd saved your life, who could you feel safe with? But what about her other feelings? The feelings of desire mixed with yearning?

Desire she could understand. It was lips, nipples, and lower-body specific. A clenching need that kicked in automatically when Brian was around.

The yearning? Troubling. It wasn't specific. It was a need, but a need for what? It was sadness,
but not for today. It was sadness for her tomorrows when Brian Byrne would be only a memory. It was a wanting for something
more,
something just out of reach.

“When we get back to the keep, you need to lie down and rest. I'll take care of Katy and the others. You'd better eat something, too. All you had was Cap's coffee this morning.” He tightened his grip on her shoulders.

She turned her head to study his profile. A strong jaw, clenched now as he worried about her. Eyes and lips narrowed in concentration, no doubt ready to do battle if she dared argue with him.

“I'll tell everyone the coffee made you sick. Do you need anything from town? I could borrow Cap's car and get it.”

“You don't know how to drive.” She couldn't help it; she smiled.

A scowl line formed between those incredible eyes. “If Cap can drive, I can drive. No one's going to stop me, babe.”

Stubborn, hardheaded, bossy.
He would never be anyone's perfect husband. So why did her yearning for him fill her until she felt she would explode with it? One of life's great mysteries. “I have all I need here, Brian.”

She was quiet for the rest of the trip home. Home? When had she started thinking of the keep as home?

As soon as Brian stopped the wagon, he went back to talk to Katy while Ally sat staring at the
keep and the cliff beyond. She couldn't seem to keep away from cliffs. One misstep and she'd fall a long way. Brian? Maybe she'd already stepped off her own personal cliff where he was concerned.

Brian came out of the wagon a few minutes later with Katy in tow.

Katy hopped off the wagon, then peered up at Ally. “You look a little pale. Brian's right, you need to rest. He's going to unhitch the horse. Then we'll take a stroll up to the keep. See if there're any tortured spirits around.” She glared up at the afternoon sky. “Guess I won't see anything while it's still light, but Brian said he'd tell me some great stories about his sex games. Maybe I can work those into my book. Need to fill some pages since the fairies are a bust.”

Ally smiled.
Thank you, Brian.
She went into the wagon and grabbed some chocolate chip cookies. Hey, a diet rich in chocolate led to emotional balance. Then she lay down on the bed Katy had fixed for her. She didn't bother undressing.

Ally didn't know how long she'd been staring up at the ceiling mirror, thinking deep thoughts of maybes and what-ifs, when a calico reflection leaped onto the foot of her bed. Glancing down, Ally narrowed her gaze on the Old One, who stared fixedly back at her. “How'd you sneak past Brian?”

The Old One's yellow-eyed gaze suggested it
wouldn't be hard for a female with a talent for sneaking.

Ally linked her hands behind her head. “I don't know why you're here, but since you are, maybe I can run some ideas past you. You look like a woman who can keep a secret.” Maybe it was her imagination, but the Old One's whiskery expression seemed to soften into almost friendly lines.

“I did some checking up on the man who's supposed to be the father of the Brian Byrne in this time. Our Brian is impersonating his son.”

The Old One's eyes narrowed on the word “our.”

“Understand that this present-day Brian Byrne was mentioned in our Brian's family history. He really existed. Or should I say exists? Funny thing, though. When I did some investigating, I found that Kieran Byrne, father of the 2002 version of Brian Byrne, was a priest totally devoted to his calling. So there could never have been a Brian Byrne. What do you make of that?”

The Old One's eyes gleamed, and the ancient intelligence Ally saw there was scary. Ally had no doubt the cat was turning the information over in her mind and coming to a conclusion. Unfortunately, the Old One wouldn't be able to tell her what she concluded.

Suddenly, the Old One's eyes grew rounder, if that was possible. A cat might not express much emotion, but Ally had no trouble reading horror on every fuzzy inch of the Old One's face. She leaped from the bed, ran to the door, and slipped
outside. Probably running to Jupe to try and pass on her information. Ally smiled at the mental picture.

Her smile faded as she tried to think of what might be serious enough to scare the Old One. Okay, for the Old One, disaster would be Brian not returning to win another championship for her. Ally thought back over the conversation. What had she said that would make the Old One think Brian wasn't going home?

Kieran Byrne had no son, but history recorded that a Brian Byrne, the son of Kieran Byrne, lived during this time. How . . . ?

Her revelation didn't come as a clap of thunder. Ally just knew. Kieran Byrne never had a son.
Her
Brian was the one history had recorded. He'd never returned to 2502. He'd stayed in this time to live out his life.
To become his own ancestor.

Her first explosion of joy was quickly followed by a mental “Huh?” and some symbolic head scratching.

This level of weirdness was beyond Ally's grasp. If she had been standing, she would have fallen down. How could something like this happen? But what did she know about cosmic truths and time travel, the possible and impossible?

Okay, don't get too excited. Think this out.
Maybe Brian wouldn't stay. The people in Liscannor knew he was here, knew he was a Byrne, so they'd record him as such even if he left tomorrow. But if he went back to 2502 without siring
a child,
he
wouldn't exist, would he? She drew a deep, steadying breath. That was what had scared the Old One. Because worse than losing her star player would be if he had never existed, had never won her a championship.

Ally had to tell him.
She'd explain what she'd found out, then let him come to his own conclusion. The scary part? What if he didn't believe her? He would never
want
to stay in this time. With his attitude toward promises, he'd never walk away from his contract with the Old One. And what about the children he supported, the famous life he lived in the future?

She tried to relax. Maybe she'd overreacted. If he already existed in 2502, surely his existence couldn't be canceled.
Could a person change history?
Ally closed her eyes on that frightening thought.

She opened her eyes and put a lid on her out-of-control imagination. Okay, maybe this was all a big fat mistake. Maybe Brian's mother lied about his history. Maybe he was some other Brian Byrne. It was a common Irish name. If she looked, she'd find a perfectly logical explanation for all this.

She thought about everything that had happened since she'd met Brian. Fine. So logical was out.

She felt relieved when Katy entered the wagon. Ally needed a distraction from the dark paths of speculation her mind was wandering.

“Hmmph. I won't be bothering with those tortured
souls for a few days. Nebula said it'll be a full moon tonight, and there's not a cloud in the sky. I want to give it my best shot, so I'm going to go down those steps on the darkest night I can find.” She reached into a cabinet and pulled out a pack of crackers. “Think I'll turn in early tonight.”

No need to go rooting under castles for tortured souls, Katy, when you're sharing a wagon with one.
Ally sighed. Guess Katy wouldn't think she was exotic enough to qualify as a genuine tortured soul.

“Nothing is happening here. If things don't liven up soon, we may as well move on.” Katy quickly converted the bench seat into a double bed, then plopped down on it. “I might even turn cynical in my old age. Really thought I'd see some paranormal action in a place like this.”

Ally frowned. She, on the other hand, could do with a little less action.

“You did
what?”
Brian glared at Jupe.

Jupe paced nervously in front of his shelter while Nebula completed what seemed like her thousandth deep knee bend. Inside the shelter, Cap was probably taking a nap. The Old One sprawled across a nearby rock wall taking in the last dying minutes of Ireland's long summer daylight.

Jupe paused in his pacing. “I thought I was doing you a favor. I figured you'd be bored stiff after a few days, so I changed your schedule a little.”

“
How
little?”

Jupe wouldn't meet his gaze. “I told the travel agent to have a stag pick us up this Sunday.”

Two days.
“I won't go.” A little more than a week wasn't nearly enough time to explore his new feelings for Ally. A year, a century, wouldn't be enough.

Jupe rubbed the back of his neck in a weary gesture. “The longer you stay, the harder it'll be. You signed a five-year contract. That's a promise to the Old One, to your fans.”