Page 13 of Fence

6

Ciera

I focusedin on him as best I could, but my vision was a little hazy. Why was my vision blurry? What happened to me?

Where the heck was I?

Think, Ciera. My brain clicked away, though it felt a little rusty. I couldn’t even think fast. I had to be in pretty bad shape, since thinking fast was one of the only things I was unfailingly good at. Catching a ball? Nah. Throwing one in the general direction of somebody else, and actually hitting my target? No way. Getting through a conversation without saying something I’d beat myself up over for days afterward because I’d sounded so incredibly stupid? Forget about it.

But I was good at reasoning.

One man. No! There was another standing behind him—and another kneeling by my feet!

What the crap?

My first instinct was to crawl away from these strangers with their concerned expressions. Concerned over what? Did I have a massive head wound or something? That would explain the crushing pain in my skull. I touched my fingers to my forehead and winced, gnashing my teeth together.

Scruffy McCutie Pie—the name popped into my head once I took in his full appearance, something I blamed on the egg on my forehead—held up both hands. “It’s okay. You don’t have to be afraid of us.”

“Oh, no. Three massive men in a cave.” Because that was where I was. I remembered the hike and the discovery and the darkness. And the…

My eyes darted back and forth. They’d turned on the power. There were lights set up in the ceiling, like something in a doctor’s waiting room or a tasteful lobby someplace. What the hell was a cave doing looking like this? It wasn’t merely a cave. Of course. I had figured that out already.

And that was what had made me run. And trip like an idiot.

“Who are you?” I whispered, crossing my arms over my chest as I sat with my back to the wall. They were all tall and ridiculously well-built. Jacked, to use a word I had never used before. They looked clean, anyway, so I didn’t think I was dealing with mountain men who spent their lives away from civilization. Maybe some random hikers who’d stumbled upon the cave during the storm.

But that didn’t explain why they’d turned on the lights, or even why they’d wandered as far in as I had.

The three of them exchanged a look I could interpret easily. They weren’t sure if they should tell me who they were. What did that mean?

Scruffy spoke first. “I was going to ask you the same thing. How did you ever find this place?”

He didn’t have a brogue, which told me he wasn’t local. He sounded American. Common ground. My mind latched onto that.

“You’re American?” I asked, looking from one to the other.

The one who stood behind the other two nodded, folding his thick arms. “We are.”

“Me, too.”

“What brings you all the way out here?” Scruffy’s eyes seemed to probe me. He was much more interested in me than the other two were.

I wondered if this was a good thing or not. He might… like me a little too much.

I pulled my eyes from his with a tiny shudder. He was handsome, sure. Even gorgeous. But none of that would matter if he wanted to hurt me.

He’d asked me a question. What was I doing out there? Might as well be honest. “I’m doing research on the ancient Scottish clans. I’m a graduate student at the University of Edinburgh.”

They exchanged another look. Probably not sure if they could believe me.

“I’m telling the truth,” I added, watching them closely. If they cared that much about why I was in the cave, it meant they had a personal connection to it. Right? They didn’t think I should be there and were concerned that I was. But how could they have a personal connection?

“Do you live here?”

Scruffy snorted. “Hardly.”

“So… who are you, then? Why are you here? You asked me. Now I’m asking you.”

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