Page 3 of Connal

Instead of darkening or graying her vision brightened, and the water inside the car churned as it became filled with the tiny green and blue lights. They began spinning around her as if she’d been trapped in a whirlpool, growing so intense Valerie closed her eyes. The dank taste of the lake water became salty, and sunlight filtered down through the darkness to envelop her. No longer trapped by the seatbelt or inside the car, she kicked her legs furiously and swam toward that golden orb shimmering above her.

Bursting into bright sunlight, all Valerie could do at first was choke, cough, and gulp air. A soft wave buffeted her from behind as she rubbed the water from her now-stinging eyes. Night had changed to day. In front of her lay a pristine, white-sanded beach she’d never before seen. Beyond it rose wind-sculpted dunes and verdant hills, flanked by soaring rocky cliffs. On the horizon lay the shadowy waves of mountains unlike anything in her corner of New York.

Where am I? Am I dead? Is this death?

She turned, making her purse bounce against her hip, and stared at an ocean stretching out to a distant wall of white mist, hemmed by several small islands. The water seemed warm, yet the air had a frosty bite to it. She saw no boats or people, and when she faced the beach again she didn’t spot anyone or anything. It was as if something had plucked her out of Moon Lake and dropped her in a sea on the other side of the world.

Do you wish live?

Swimming toward shore, Valerie reached the shallows, and stopped as soon as she could stand. Atop one cliff stood what at first appeared to be an enormous medieval-style sandcastle, complete with towers and battlements and tall, narrow window openings. Two high walls surrounded the base, and she saw silhouettes of people standing atop those twin barriers. It seemed so surreal she almost giggled.

A shout from the beach made her head turn, and she saw a huge dark-haired man wearing strange clothes plunge into the surf. He waded through the water furiously, as if she were in some kind of danger.

Am I?

Valerie looked around and saw a dark shape in the water speeding toward her. Unwilling to wait to see what it was, she began hurrying toward the man from the beach. She slipped and fell underwater on the way, and then two big hands dragged her to her feet. She propped her hand against his chest as she wiped the dripping hair back from her face, and looked up into furious, cold eyes so vividly green they looked like emerald cabochons. He was staring at the hand she had on his chest as if he’d never seen one.

“Hold onto me,” the man said as he lifted her off her feet.

Putting her arms around his neck, Valerie clung to him as he carried her out of the water. When she glanced over her shoulder she saw another man surface in the center of a wave, which fell away from his tall, tanned body. He wore a skin-tight dark gray wet suit with a scale pattern that flashed iridescent blue in the sun, and outlined his sleek muscles as if it had been painted on him. His long white-blond hair flowed over his shoulders and arms like liquid silk, and reached his waist. He started wading toward them, his expression fierce with anger.

Fear spiked inside her as she saw he had three parallel slits on either side of his neck that opened and closed like gills.

They are gills. He’s not human. At the same time a deep voice said inside her head I cannae permit Merrick take her. She wears Joana’s ring.

As soon as the man reached the white sand of the beach he put her on her feet, and Valerie let go of him. As dark as the other being was fair, her rescuer had his black hair tied back from his stern face, and wore dark trousers and an almost transparent white shirt. His deep tan appeared so perfect as to be painted on him. Aside from his beautiful eyes, everything about him looked menacing––his strong jaw and heavy brows, the thick muscles padding every inch of his broad, towering body. At five-ten Valerie was used to being at or above most men’s eye level; this guy had to be six-five or more.

“She’s ours,” the blond man-shaped thing said in a strangely melodic voice. “Give her to me.”

Startled, Valerie shifted closer to her rescuer, and touched his arm. “What is he talking about?”

How like Merrick to make his first words to me in a year a demand, the deep voice murmured. Sometime I reckon he wishes us war.

“You cannae take her, Merrick,” the dark man said in a distinct accent that matched the voice in Valerie’s head. “She’s reached the shore.”

“Aye, Connal, for you dragged her from our waters.” The thing he’d called Merrick regarded Valerie with his eyes, which were sky blue with impossibly metallic gold rims, and held out a hand with webbed fingers. “Come to me, woman, and I shall give you the life of your dreams.”

She became mesmerized for a moment, and then looked up at Connal. “Hi. I don’t have to go with him, do I?” As she said that she put a hand on his arm to get his attention, and a snarl of wordless anger filled her mind.

“No, Mistress.” The man’s expression remained fierce and unflinching. “You neednae.”

Valerie experienced what she thought was a surge of relief. “I’ll stay with you.” She squinted at him. “Ah, who are you, exactly?”

In that moment everything about him flooded into her mind: Connal, laird of the Clan MacMar, son of a Fae prince and a mortal woman. He had lived for more than a thousand years with his brothers on this island, which the prince had created to protect them from some terrible enemy among the Fae. He loved someone named Joana, who had…

Before she could learn what had happened to Joana, the stream of thoughts cut off abruptly, making her stagger and fall against him.

“My lady.” Connal bent his head just as she tried to clutch but missed his shoulders and jerked up her chin, and their mouths touched.

It wasn’t a kiss, exactly, and then it was. He kissed her as if he’d meant to do that, and only that, since first laying eyes on her. Valerie finally found his shoulders, and tried to push him away, but her arms weren’t cooperating. The very last thing they wanted was for the first kiss she’d had in ages to end. She hated that, mainly because she agreed.

So now I’m being unfaithful, with a strange man I’ve known for exactly two minutes.

Furious emotions rammed through her and cut off any hope of support from her legs. The world tilted, but just before she hit the sand strong arms lifted her against the hard vault of Connal’s chest. She pressed her cheek against him, his slow, heavy heartbeat reassuring her despite her self-disgust and fear. For the first time since Dale had killed himself she took comfort from being touched, as somehow she knew this man would keep her safe.

It’s okay to pass out now, Valerie thought as she closed her eyes. You’re going to live.

Chapter Two