Page 5 of Wind and Water
“Why? He’s easy on the eyes.” Clutching her oversize black handbag, she stumbles after me, looking over her shoulder at him.
There’s no arguing with the fact that he’s very handsome, and if it weren’t for his pointy ears sticking out, he would be a hunk of a man. However, he tried to abduct me, and that’s a big red flag. “He just tried to get me to go through a vortex without my permission, Momma. We have to go.”
The cars on the streets of London are all stopped, as are the people. Some are mid-stride, and others are sitting across thestreet on the bench in Hyde Park. A woman is gesturing, and her mouth is open as if she’d been talking to the man beside her. For his part, he looks bored with whatever she was saying.
Momma pulls her hand free. She turns right, then left. “What is going on?”
I turn to respond, but Liam has followed us out of the office, and my mother is directing her question to him.
“We are out of time with your world until the portal closes. I am Liam Riordan, and my orders are to bring Wren Martin back to my world, as she is part of a prophecy.” His voice is smooth and commanding.
Offering her hand, Momma smiles. “I’m Birdie Martin, and you can’t just take a woman with you because you have orders, Mr. Riordan.”
Taking her hand in his, his full lips tip up in something close to a smile, but without letting go of his soldierly sternness. “My mother is the rightful queen of Domhan, but a witch displaced her, and soon my world will be covered in darkness.” He shifts his gaze to me. “I concede your point about my methods for accomplishing my goal. Clearly, Miss Martin is not a woman to be bullied.”
“Kicked you in your tender bits, did she?” Momma shakes her head and draws a long sigh. “I raised her to be a lady, but also to protect herself. My grandma spoke of fairy folk who lured women away with their good looks and flowery words.”
He winces, and so do I. “I don’t know many flowery words, I’m afraid.” Turning back toward me, he stares for a long moment. “Is there any way I can convince you to come through the portal with me?”
A loud, piercing screech forces me and my mother to hold our ears.
Liam says something in a language I don’t know, but I can gather from his tone that whatever he said was a curse.
“No.” I take my mother’s hand and step toward the street.
The din of London hums back to life. Cars speed by, and I pull back before we’re run over. The world is moving again.
“Did you pay the bill, baby girl?” My mother has been calling me that since I was a baby, and while I wish she’d use some other endearment in public, I can’t help feeling warmed by the sweetness of it.
Now that I think about it, I was too distracted by the near abduction. I point at him. “Stay back.”
He shimmers for a moment, and his ears disappear under his hair. His weapons also vanish, and his uniform changes to plain white pants and a blue jacket. Holding up his hands palms forward, he sighs. “My portal is closed, Wren. We’ll have to find another way.” He leans against the building next to Doctor Emmit’s door.
“I’ll just wait here with Liam while you pay.” Momma stands on the other side of the door with her arms crossed and her expression determined. Like me, she’s barely five feet, two inches tall. She has her blond curls cut above her jawline. If she narrowed her eyes at me like she looks at Liam, I’d be afraid. Of course, he stares right back, as if he encounters a Texas momma every day.
For a moment, I feel sorry for him. “Don’t you dare hurt my mother. I’ll hunt you down, and there’ll be nothing you can say to make me help you.”
Raising his eyebrow, he softens his expression. “Noted. I’ll not harm Birdie, or you for that matter.”
Despite it sounding like a sacred vow the way he said it, I’m not leaving my mother with a man who recently tried to drag me through a vortex or portal or whatever that thing was. “No. Momma, you need to come inside with me.”
“She doesn’t trust you.”
He nods. “Trust must be earned, and I have not done so.”
Damn him for sounding contrite. I glare at the pair and hold the door open for my mother to precede me inside.
The office is in complete chaos, with employees and patients picking up papers and magazines. It feels as if I should apologize, but I didn’t make the mess.
At the administration desk, I force a smile. “I guess in all the fuss, I forgot to pay you.”
The young man gathers a stack of papers. “Oh, Miss Martin, we didn’t know what happened to you. Actually, we don’t know what happened at all. It was like a great wind blew through. Is it windy outside?”
“Not particularly.” I wait, and when he doesn’t give me a bill, I say, “I know you have a lot to clean up, but can you tell me how much I owe you?”
Putting the papers aside, he clicks on his keyboard and prints out a bill, which I pay by credit card.
In the waiting room, Momma and Liam are standing near the door, chatting like old friends. His expression remains serious, but she’s laughing.
