Chapter 2

Colin Gregor closed the door to his townhouse and turned to look at his car. He didn’t even feel like driving today.

Take a few weeks off and de-stress, wasn’t that what the doctor had told him? Of course, if he’d also explained how exactly one goes about this mind-numbing task, it would have helped. He stuffed his keys in his pocket and started towards the bus stop.

He’d spent three days of the doctor-ordered ten away from the lab, wandering around his home trying to find something he wanted to do. He still got up before dawn, he still checked his email while the coffee brewed, he still worked out for a half hour, and he was still dressed and ready to rush out the door by six thirty. Problem was, he had nowhere to rush to.

Colin stopped and let a few kids ride their bikes past him. They looked up at him like he was a giant. His six-foot four height probably made him seem like one.

He reached the bus station and stood there. He didn’t even have a destination in mind, just knew he couldn’t sit in the house a moment longer.

Running a hand through his hair, he sighed and waited. As the bus pulled up, he glanced at the ad covering its entire length. The museum was displaying Scottish artifacts. Sounded as good as any place to spend trying to fill his day. It might be interesting to see what his ancestors had back then.

He stepped onto the bus and deposited his fare. He had to duck his head awkwardly to the side as he walked to the back of the bus. He preferred the back, having found out the hard way that his size frightened and intimidated others as he folded down into a seat beside someone.

~

Maddy snapped the picture and then read the plaque again. She was so glad she lived in the time she did. If that was what her Irish ancestors had to use for dishes, she shuddered looking at the roughly shaped dish. Maybe it just didn’t age well—on the other hand, it looked great for being four hundred years old.

Pulling the little map back out of her pocket, she unfolded it. Where should I go next: farming and agriculture, or Scotland in the 1600s? She turned and looked down the long corridor, then spun around slowly trying to decipher which direction to go. This, she thought with a smirk, is what happens when you spend your life secluded in the woods. You have no sense of direction. Holding the map back up, she started walking in the direction she hoped would lead her to where she wanted to be.

~

Colin came to a sudden stop as a tall redhead almost walked right into him. She had the map almost in her face as she walked mumbling to herself. In truth, he’d already noticed her wandering before she tried to run him down. A man his size appreciated a tall woman. He took a moment to watch the denim-clad legs walk away from him. He definitely appreciated those. Grinning, he turned. Having no set guidelines, he was fairly certain ogling a woman would not be against the rules of this de-stressing thing.

Surprisingly, he was actually enjoying looking at the exhibits. He’d lost track of how many hours he’d filled checking everything out and reading the history at each display. He hadn’t seen the redhead again, but overall, it was the most relaxing thing he’d done in longer than he could remember.

Glancing at his watch, he realized the doors would be closing in less than an hour. He’d done it. He’d spent an entire day not doing anything. Grinning to himself, he walked over to the last few display cases he had to look at.

Scottish vessels 1500-1800s. They’d come a long way, he thought briefly of his stainless-steel travel cup at home. Taking his time, he moved around to the other side of the displays. One caught his attention more than the others, moving over to it slowly, he stooped over to look at it. Amazingly smooth for the period it was crafted in. He glanced down at the plaque again. A Quaich for the late1600s. Believed to belong to descendants of the Picti King— Colin glanced through the glass case and found himself looking into the most fantastic blue-green eyes he’d ever seen. Even better, they belonged to the long-legged redhead.

He offered her what he liked to believe was his charming smile. She glanced at him at that moment, and he had to stop from holding a hand over his heart. He could have sworn it pounded dangerously hard for several beats. Was it his heart or the intriguing woman on the other side of the case that made him have to catch his breath? She looked at him a few seconds longer and smiled at him, before causing his day to plummet back to bland as she turned slowly and moved away. He watched her for a moment or two, okay he watched the ass hugged perfectly by her jeans and those legs. Sighing, he turned and headed for the side entrance deciding it was time to go home.

~

Hoping her cheeks weren’t red, Maddy let out a slow breath. He was god-like—a dark god— with that wavy black hair. She thought it was a perfect length that men should wear their hair. It wasn’t shaven or spiked, not scraggly either, just perfect. Beyond the fact that his shoulders were as wide as a doorway, he’d been bent over to see the display, making him her height. Which would make him taller than her five foot eleven. She sighed. That didn’t often happen in her not-so-normal world. As if it wasn’t bad enough having this red hair that was unmanageable, she had to be taller than most men too.

Moving over to the last piece, she stopped when her stomach cramped. Taking a deep breath, she waited. It came again, harder and more painful than the last one. Clenching a hand against her stomach, she turned back toward the outer exit and headed as quickly as she could manage in that direction.

A tingling went down her spine as she stepped outside, and the pain was gone. She knew that tingle. Magic. Did someone use magic on her? She glanced over her shoulder as she walked down the sidewalk toward the back of the building. She stopped by the bench and turned to look behind her. No one was following her.

Frowning, she turned around and spotted a man sitting on the bench, looking very pale. It was the dark god. “Excuse me. Are you all right? You look quite pale.” Dark brown, closer to black eyes studied her.

“I’m feeling a bit better now. My stomach just felt a little off for a few minutes.”

Maddy perched on the other end of the bench. “I understand. Maybe it’s the air inside—I wasn’t feeling right either until I stepped outside.”

“Did you eat anything at the cafeteria?”

Maddy shook her head. “No, why?”

He leaned back, still holding a hand lightly over his stomach. “I was worried it might be something from there.” He paused. “Whatever it was, it seems to have passed, and I feel fine now.” He sat there for a moment, trying to decide whether he should stay and continue talking to the woman that had caught his attention more than once today or head for home. He looked back over, she was watching the walkway. Just his luck, she probably wasn’t alone after all. “Are you waiting for someone?” Of course, she was, a woman that looked like her wouldn’t be unattached. Those eyes, which oddly seemed almost turquoise outdoors, turned back to him.

Maddy shook her head. “No, I thought—” She realized she’d been about to say the word magic to someone she knew nothing about. “Never mind.”

Her cell phone rang, and she began digging around in her bag. She pulled out the chiming phone and opened it.

“I’ll let you get that,” he said quietly and stood up. His stomach still felt okay. She smiled up at him as she talked to—most likely a man, he grimaced inside. So, taking that cue, he smiled back down at her and turned to head back down the walkway.

Maddy laughed at Veronica’s agonizing day of helping her mother choose centerpieces. “I can definitely say my day was much better, Ronnie.” She watched her dark god as he reached the corner of the building. He looked good from this angle too. She grinned, realizing she’d stopped listening to her friend on the other end of the phone. “Sorry, what?” He disappeared from her line of sight. “I was distracted.” Her stomach cramped again. What was this? “I’ll call you back, Ronnie.” She closed the phone and dropped it in her bag. The pains were getting worse. Trying to take a few breaths, she lifted her head. The man came back around the corner, gripping his stomach. Maddy frowned. Something was not right with this. As he bent over and rested his hands on his knees, her pains lessened and then were gone.

It can’t be. No—no—no—no! She sat back and closed her eyes, thinking for a moment. He’d looked through the case— she opened her eyes. She hadn’t been thinking anything except ‘wow’ when they’d had their little moment inside the museum. She breathed a sigh of relief. She’d been so afraid she’d messed up big time again and unintentionally done a spell that was affecting the two of them. She looked over to see him straightening slowly. He stood there with his hands on his hips as if waiting for something. Running a hand through that oh-so-nice hair, he shook his head and turned around again.

She held her breath and waited. One, two, three, he was out of sight again, four, five—she huffed out a breath as the pain sliced into her again. Not good! She watched the corner he’d gone around twice now, and sure enough, there he was again. Well crap! She thought as the pain faded once more.

Letting out a deep breath, she got up and quickly walked over to him. He was bent over again. She placed a hand on one very lick-ably muscular arm. “Hey. I think maybe you should come back over and sit down.”

He let out another slow breath and looked up at her. “I guess it wasn’t gone after all.”

Maddy shook her head. “Mine either. Come and have a seat. I’ve got some water maybe that will help.”

He nodded his head abruptly before straightening up slowly. “Thanks.”

They both walked slowly back to the bench and sat down. Maddy rummaged in her bag. She pulled out a bottle of water and held it out. “Here. It’s unopened.”

He took it. “Thanks again.” He took a few small sips. “So you said you weren’t feeling well either?”

Maddy nodded. “It comes in waves and then stops.” This was the truth. She couldn’t very well say whenever you leave my sight. Because witchy realm or not, that was a lame statement in any world.

“Huh.” He took another sip and then held out his hand. “I’m Colin, by the way. Colin Gregor.”

Maddy smiled and placed her hand in his. “Maddy Darcy.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, even though we seem to have been attacked by the same sporadic virus.”

She just smiled. Now what? How was she supposed to find out if what she suspected was right—without sounding like a complete lunatic? “Do you live around here, Colin?” It was the first dumb question she could think of.

Colin shook his head. “No. The other side of town, I caught the bus here.”

Maddy smiled again. “I guess the bus ride is out with the way you’re feeling now.”

Colin scowled. “Yes, which makes me wonder, what now?”

Maddy glanced at the treed area behind the building and the old maple. She couldn’t very well drag him through a portal. She looked back at him. “I’m only on the outskirts of town. Would you like to grab a cab with me there? I have a whole cupboard of herbal teas—maybe I can find one that will help.” Right after I talk to my mother through a mirror and tell her some nasty witch is playing a very uncool prank, she thought not calmly at all. She only knew she couldn’t let an unsuspecting stranger wander off.

Colin ran a hand through his hair. He didn’t want to sit through several hours of waiting at the clinic to get something to settle a cramping stomach. He certainly didn’t have any reason to rush home. “You know, I think I will come and try your tea.”

Maddy was shocked. That was too easy. “Great.” She smiled at him and got up.