Between one step and the next, Skye found himself in a small room. Whirling around, he scanned for danger while squinting against the sudden brightness. The hold he had on his magic had disappeared with the change of view. When nothing moved, he blinked and completed a more careful study of the room. It was a bed chamber.
He blinked again when he realized that the sun streamed into the open bedroom window. The soft cushion beneath his feet made him look down. He almost groaned aloud at what he saw.
They were back on Earth.
Although the room was different from Lara’s dorm room, the blinds on the windows were the same, and the paintings on the wall were all too perfect.
It definitely looked like Lara’s home world.
A distance away, an older woman’s voice broke the silence. “James, did you pick up any hamburger meat from the store? I’m thinking of making spaghetti for dinner.”
He looked toward the other end of the bed chamber where an open door led to a dim hallway. Goddess, they weren’t alone.
“Lara,” he hissed, jostling her a little to wake her and leaning his head to the side to peer down at her.
“What?” she croaked, cracking her eyes open to glare at him. If they weren’t in such a bad situation, he would have smiled.
“Wake up,” he whispered, “we are on Earth.” He tilted her body away from him so she could better look at the room.
After a quick glance around them, she pushed away from him and fell to the floor. “Oh my God,” she screeched.
With no thought to her injuries, he slapped a hand over her mouth. “Quiet,” he hissed, “we are not alone.”
Beneath his hand, he felt her lips twist upward, and he glowered. Her response was the opposite of what he expected. His glare faltered at the look of excitement that made her eyes sparkle. Before he could ask why she was so happy, two sets of footsteps ran up the stairs and down the hall toward their door. He sprang forward, pushed her behind him, and drew his knife. Her groan made him cringe at causing her pain, but they had more immediate concerns. An older man and woman stopped at the threshold and stared at them in shock.
No one moved until Lara leaned against him, peeking over his shoulder.
A gasp escaped the woman, and tears filled her eyes. As it dawned on him that the lady had the exact same eyes as Lara, the woman ran forward with her hands out in front of her, screaming at him, “Get away from my daughter!”
The fierceness of her attack made Skye plow backward, pushing Lara against the wall to protect her. The older man was a mere step behind the woman. The familial connection sank in right before he would have struck deep with the knife. Instead, he dodged a punch from the man and lifted a knee to stop a kick from the woman.
Lara’s voice cracked as she yelled, “Stop! Mom, Dad, stop. Don’t hurt him, please.”
Skye couldn’t stop the snort that escaped. Neither were experienced warriors. A first year trainee could have fended the couple off. Her mother and father froze and took a relieved breath even as they stared at him with distrust.
After taking a shaky breath, Lara hurriedly explained, “Skye is my friend. He would never hurt me. Remember, I told you about him.”
Lara’s mother took his measure for a long while before she agreed, “Yes, you told us about a man named Skye.” With a quick wave of her hand, she dismissed him as a threat despite the weapon he still brandished. The woman shoved him aside and wrapped her arms around her daughter. “You are back! My baby girl is finally back.”
“Hi, Mom,” his friend choked out, and then she broke down and started crying too.
Somehow, the coil had brought them to her parents’ home. While keeping an eye on the two women, Skye gave himself a thorough scolding. The God and Goddess save him, they’d forgotten to remove the coil. Skye sheathed his knife and turned to study the other man, surprised that he’d forgotten the father’s presence so soon. The man had yet to say a word. Not knowing what to expect, Skye straightened to his full height and looked back at Lara’s father.
“Sire,” he said with a small bow, “it is an honor to meet you. I am called Skye Silverhand, once from the Pyran city, Gharra, but I now claim Kureto home.”
The smaller man had a surprisingly deep voice. “Skye Silverhand? You are the one my daughter spoke of,” he replied while his eyes inspected every inch of Skye. He didn’t miss Lara’s father’s hefty intake of air. Almost as if talking to himself, the man exclaimed, “And here I thought Solara had exaggerated.”
Uncomfortable with the intense scrutiny, Skye glanced back at Lara for assistance before squaring his shoulders and facing her father once again. “Yes, sire, though I do not know what Lara has spoken about me. I consider her a friend and my battlemate.” Searching for something to add, he continued, “Chion and Eiren, our other companions, did not trav—”
Lara’s loud groan filled the room, bringing everyone’s attention back to her. She coughed to clear her throat. “I need to lie down. I don’t feel so good.”
The mother’s right hand went to her own throat while she kept her other hand on Lara’s shoulder. “What’s wrong? Lara? What happened? Someone tell me what’s wrong.”
Knowing there was no danger from her parents, he turned his back on the older man and swept Lara up in his arms. “Sare,” he looked at Lara’s mother, “might I place her on the bed, or is there another room I can take her?”
The man walked over and pulled the covers back on the bed. “Please, put her down here. This is her bedroom, after all.”
In his arms, Lara shivered but shook her head and argued, “No, don’t. I’m filthy. I need to take a shower before I do anything.”
“Young man,” the mother said, shooting him a look full of command, “set her down on the bed. Don’t listen to her. I don’t care about dirty sheets. That is what washers and dryers are for.”
When Lara was sitting on the edge of the bed with Skye’s hands keeping her upright, the woman ran her hands over her daughter’s face, shoulders, and arms. After Lara winced for the third time, Skye took it upon himself to explain what happened.
“Sire, sare, Lara was taken captive by the Malirrans.” Although the mother didn’t look up, she nodded her head in understanding. “Chion, Eiren, and I managed to rescue her from Pyran’s dungeon. However, before we could find her, she had already been injured. I fear poison has taken root in the wounds.”
He heard the other man suck in a breath. Skye rushed to finish, fearing their harsh reprisal. “We were racing back to Kureto to find a healer before she became worse, but in our rush, I forgot I carried the coil in my pack.” He gave Lara a small smile when her eyes widened with sudden understanding. “I believe when Lara fell asleep, the magic inherent within the coil brought us here.”
The older woman whirled around, her hands waving them toward the door. “Out,” she demanded, “Get out. I will help Lara get undressed so that I can see how bad she is. She’s running a fever. A trip to the hospital might be necessary.”
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“Mom—” Skye saw Lara’s panic at the idea. Whatever the place her mother wanted to take her, he could only assume the destination was one that would bring the officials they had fought so hard to stay free from the last time they were here.
“No, Lara,” the woman shook her head and scowled, “I don’t want to hear it. I know what you’re going to say, and I don’t care. If you need more medicine than I can give you at home, then your father and I are taking you to the hospital. No argument from you. We’ll deal with any problems that come up when it happens, not a moment before.” She pointed a finger at both her husband and him, shifting her scowl to include them. “Close the door behind you. I’m checking every inch of her, and neither one of you is staying.”
Skye almost smiled at the woman’s feistiness. She was a general within this household, reigning over even her husband. Lara definitely took after her mother. Lara’s father’s reaction to the order told him that it would do no good to argue. The man simply tilted his chin toward the doorway.
Skye gently squeezed both of Lara’s shoulders before leaving the women in the room. He didn’t like the faint lines around her mouth or her pain-filled eyes despite the hesitant nod she gave him. She suffered, and knowing that made his heart clench. They needed a Tal’Ai healer.
Turning to the other man, he asked, “Sire, is there nothing we can do? We were only days away from a healer. We could return now.”
The man huffed before shaking his head. “We might not have magic, but we have advancements in medicine that your world can probably only dream of. Don’t worry. I would never place my daughter in danger. My wife will help Solara clean up and take inventory of all her injuries. Once that’s done, we’ll have a better idea what we need to do.” He jerked his chin to the stairs on the other end of the hallway. “Come on, you don’t look much better than Solara. I also bet you want to unload your packs. Let’s go downstairs, and I’ll start dinner.”
When Skye hesitated at the door, the man clapped him on the shoulder, giving him a gentle push away from the stairs. “Don’t worry. No one will harm Solara while you are both here. No one knows you’re here, so you are both safe.”
Feeling out of place and trying not to stare at all the items in the kitchen, Skye kept to the edge of the large room, fingering the pommel of his sword.
The man walked up to him and extended his arm toward Skye. “Now, I believe proper introductions are in order. My name is James Conners. My wife is Anne.”
Skye clasped James in a warrior’s welcome, but quickly released him when Lara’s father startled. Stepping back, he bowed again. “I am Skye Silverhand. I apologize if my behavior is different from yours. I meant no disrespect. You are Lara’s father, and I admire the woman. I merely wished to show my respect and gratitude toward you. I know, from time spent in Lara’s company, that our cultures clash in many ways.” Goddess save him, he was rambling. He never rambled.
James’s eyebrows rose, and a grin stretched across his face. He chuckled, “From the little Solara said before, I can only imagine the disparity between your culture and ours.” He scanned Skye’s body again, taking in the clothes and the weapons. “Please, Skye, take the backpacks off and sit down. After we know how bad Solara is, I’ll show you to the other bathroom so you can wash up.” He gestured to the wall. “You can leave the backpacks over there.”
“I thank you for your welcome.” He untied the packs and set them on the floor out of the way. Above him, he heard a door open, a low, feminine murmur, and then another door closing. It wasn’t long before the sound of water reached him. What had Lara called it? That was right, a shower. One of the women had started the shower.
After a moment of indecision, he unbuckled his belt and balanced the sword against the wall, placing his trust in his bondmate’s parents. When he turned around, the quizzical expression on James’s face had him tensing. “Sire?”
The man blushed. “I’m sorry. When Solara described you, I thought she had exaggerated.”
Skye frowned and crossed his arms. “What do you mean, sire?”
James turned around and went to a large black box. When the man opened the door, Skye caught a glimpse of shelves filled with what he thought was food in odd-shaped containers. “Well, first you must know that grasping the full implications of my own daughter transporting to a different world was difficult.”
“Yes,” Skye nodded, “I believe calling it difficult is an understatement.”
Still leaning over and shuffling food around, James cast him a knowing look. “I also imagine that being brought to Earth was a shock to your senses.”
Skye shrugged. “I admit that I didn’t fully believe Lara until I found myself on this world. I thought your daughter an eccentric woman who did not know her place.”
The man pulled out some items and placed them on the counter. He next turned and opened a door that led into a small pantry. James asked from inside the other room, “And now? How do you see my daughter?”
Skye considered the question. With a grave tone, he answered, “I hold her in the deepest of respect. She is stronger than any woman I’ve ever met, and she surprises me and challenges me on a daily basis. Two days ago, we bonded as Lan’Ai. The bond, I believe, cannot be broken by anything short of death.”
At hearing his words, Lara’s father turned around and stared at him. “The mark is filled in,” he whispered. With trembling hands, James placed a thin box on the counter along with the other food items.
Skye raised a hand and rubbed the area. “Yes, sire. It filled in when we completed the Lan’Ai bond.”
“Skye, you can stop calling me sire. Call me James, please. The other title makes me feel too uppity for my shoes.”
The pained look was all too reminiscent of Lara’s constant complaints, making Skye chuckle. When James cocked his head in silent question, Skye shrugged again.
“Ah,” the other man said with sudden understanding, “I take it like father, like daughter, am I right?”
“Yes, si—, James. You know your daughter well.”
The man’s look of pride could not be overlooked, and a twinge of loss coursed through Skye for the deaths of his own parents.
After pulling out a large metal pan, James asked, “So, what happened? Last I heard, you were returning to the magical school for training. How did those cannibals get ahold of Solara?”
Before he could answer, Anne called down, her exasperation clear, “James, bring me a large, glass of ice water. I need you to knock some sense into your daughter.”
The older man rushed to a cupboard, pulled out a glass, and went to the large, black box again. Skye heard a churning sound and small pieces of ice fell into the glass. Skye swallowed hard, amazed at the ability to have ice on hand. He watched as James went to the large, silver bowl, turned a knob, and water came out of a thin spout. He trailed after the man as they retraced their path back upstairs.
Seeing Lara and her mother hobbling along, Skye squeezed past James and swept Lara up into his arms, taking her back to the bedroom they had arrived in. After he set her down on the edge of the bed, he noticed her lack of clothing and flipped around, feeling warmth crawl up his neck.
Both her parents cast him curious looks, but it was Lara that asked, “What’s wrong? Why are you staring at the wall, Skye?”
He cleared his throat and took a couple shallow breaths. “I am unaccustomed to seeing you almost naked. It is not proper for me to see you with so little on.”
Lara’s mother gaped at him in surprise while James nodded in approval. Skye jumped when Lara took his hand into hers. “Skye, I know this is not normal attire for your world, but I promise that for Earth, I am dressed. I’m wearing—” Her sigh proved her exasperation. “Skye, turn around and look at me. It’s weird talking to your back.”
He hesitated but finally turned around when the older woman nodded and waved her hand.
“Skye, I’m wearing shorts and a tank top. I wear this all the time during the summer since it gets so hot. I even wear this out in public. My mom pulled these out of my dresser because it was the easiest way to patch me up.”
With the reminder of her injuries, he kneeled and looked at each one with a critical eye, ignoring all the skin showing. Behind him, Anne brought Lara the glass of water. “Drink all of it. You need to keep hydrated. James, tell your daughter she needs to go to the hospital. Every single one of her cuts is infected, and she has a multitude of bruises on her torso, front and back.”
“Mom, I can’t afford to go to a hospital. It has nothing to do with money. Like I said in the bathroom, both Skye and I have to stay under the radar. I don’t have the time to deal with the police. It would turn into a complete fiasco.”
“And I reminded you about doctor-patient confidentiality. James, tell her she needs a hospital.”
Lara sent a beseeching look toward her father, who sat down beside her on the bed. “The police are looking for me. All it would take is one person recognizing my face from the news. Ooh! Better yet, someone would recognize my name. At that point, doctor-patient confidentiality won’t matter. I’m a missing person in a murder case. Dad, I really can’t. Please.”
James ran his left hand up and down Lara’s arm, bypassing the bruises and other injuries. His face was a mass of worry.
Skye didn’t fully understand all the ramifications, but he trusted that Lara’s concerns were valid. It was dangerous. He looked at her parents, drawing their attention. “We cannot draw your warriors to us. We are needed back on Aradun with all due haste. Do you have any herbs on hand that can help her fight the poison spreading within her?”
Her father stared back and forth at the two of them before determination replaced his earlier misgivings. “Anne, we will do everything we can here. I believe them.”
“But, Ja—” Lara reached out to her mother, stopping her argument before it really started. The older woman scowled. “You need antibiotics, Lara. Over-the-counter drugs will only do so much.”
When neither he nor Lara said a word, the woman tossed her hands in the air. “Fine, my stubborn daughter, you win. If your temperature spikes, I won’t listen to another word from either of you. I’ll carry you to the car and take you to the hospital myself.” As if on a mission, Lara’s mother pointed at her husband and ordered, “You, go to our bathroom and find the antibiotic ointment and all the bandages we have. We’ll work with what we have on hand. If she needs more, we can buy it at the store.”