The Sunstone Brooch : Time Travel Romance Katherine Logan (no david read aloud TXT) 📖

he would have managed without her. It was better that he died first.

He closed his eyes and waited for death, unable to move or speak.

A stroke. It must be a stroke.

But even with his eyes closed, he could see color—and not just any color, but bright red. The red turned a dark crimson, and then a man’s blood-curling screams assaulted him. He slapped his hands over his ears and fell into a black hole of horror, losing track of time and pleading for death to release him from the abyss.

His entire body broke out in a profuse sweat. The screams grew louder, and then, as suddenly as they started, they stopped—and left his skin burning as if he’d walked through fire.

I’ve arrived in hell.

“Dr. Fraser! Are you ill?”

No, I’m dead.

Fingers pressed against his neck, but he couldn’t talk. His mouth wouldn’t work, so he couldn’t tell the man he was dead so there was no point in checking for a pulse.

“Dr. Fraser!”

The voice penetrated the bleakness, forcing him to reconsider his condition.

“What’s wrong, Dr. Fraser? Is it your heart?”

Not my heart.

“I’m going for help.”

Elliott grabbed the long-fingered hand and used it as a lifeline to pull himself back to the world of consciousness. Then he slowly opened his eyes, blinking against the bright sunlight.

“Paul? Is that ye, lad?”

“Yes, sir. Let me get Emily. You’re not well.”

“She can’t help me.” Elliott made a move to stand, suddenly aware that he wasn’t experiencing his imminent death but his son’s. Paul tried to restrain him, but Elliott pushed the constraining arms away.

“Be still,” Paul said. “Let me get Emily just to check you out.”

Elliott didn’t want to waste another minute. He didn’t need a doctor. He needed to see his son. Now! “Where’s James Cullen?” he growled.

“He’s at a cabin not far from here with a big brute of a man with an ax.”

“Erik? He’s with Erik?” That made no sense. James Cullen was supposed to find Ensley and come here or stay in the Dakotas until Tavis arrived.

But he’s here? Why was Paul sent to get me? Why didn’t James Cullen come alone to talk to me so we could work out our differences?

“Yes,” Paul said. “Erik wants you to come to the cabin immediately.”

“What does James Cullen want?”

“I’m not sure. We’ll find out when we get there. I’ll get a wagon for us.”

Elliott grabbed Paul’s jacket lapel, remembering the terror he just experienced. “Wait. Is James Cullen alive? Tell me!”

“Erik wouldn’t let me see him, but he wouldn’t be in such a hurry to see you if JC was…was gone.”

Elliott waved his hand toward the barn. “Damn the wagon. Get me a horse.”

“Elliott!” A man was running toward them, yelling, “What’s wrong?”

Paul recognized him from the family portraits hanging on the mansion’s stairwell wall. “You’re Mr. MacKlenna.”

“Aye.” He squatted to be eye level with Elliott. “What happened? Is it yer heart?”

“I found him like this,” Paul said.

Sean looked up at Paul. “Who are ye?”

“He’s a liar. That’s who he is,” Elliott’s voice was hard and cold as stone. “Get me a horse!”

Sean pressed his hand on Elliott’s shoulder to keep him from standing.

Why is everybody trying to restrain me? Don’t they understand James Cullen is dying?

“Best ye don’t need to ride right now. Let me help ye inside. Emily can examine ye,” Sean said.

“No! Enough!” Elliott shook off Sean’s hand. “Erik has my son at the cabin.”

“Erik? The Viking?”

“Aye,” Elliott said. “He wants me there. It’s an emergency.”

“I don’t know about the Viking part,” Paul told Sean, “but there’s a man at the cabin who insists on seeing you, Dr. Fraser, and Emily Duffy.”

“Me? He wants me there? Why?”

“Damn it, Sean.” His complacency infuriated Elliott more. “We’re not going to learn anything until we get there.”

“Only if Emily says it’s safe,” Sean said. “Ye don’t look well, Elliott.”

“I’m not ill. My son is. Help me to my feet—or get out of my way, and I’ll manage by myself.”

Sean and Paul helped him stand, then Elliott sprang forward as though a tether had snapped, and he shoved them away. “I’m going now! Don’t try to stop me.”

Sean yelled at a groom coming out of the stallion barn. “Jackson, saddle three horses.”

“Yes, sir,” the groom said, darting back inside.

Elliott strode in the direction of the cabin.

“I’ll walk with Dr. Fraser,” Paul said. “Will you get Emily? And tell her not to mention this to Meredith.”

“Who are ye, again?”

“I’m Paul Brodie. I watched JC disappear in the fog and lied to Dr. Fraser about JC’s disappearance. Then I used the brooch to go after him. I just now arrived and was on my way here when I met Erik. He has JC at the cabin, but he wouldn’t let me go inside to see him. Please hurry up and get Emily and meet us there.”

“Go on, lad. I’ll bring Emily and the horses. Stay on the path so I can find ye.”

“Don’t tell Meredith,” Paul reminded him.

“I’ll do what I can.”

“If ye’re coming with me, Paul, don’t stand there. Take my arm.”

Paul hooked his hand in the bend of Elliott’s elbow and forced him to slow down, which irritated Elliott, but right now, he might not get there without Paul’s assistance. The horrifying experience had left him weak and unsure of his footing, and if he continued to argue with Paul, the lad might leave him here and return to the cabin by himself.

“Take it easy, will you? Dr. Mallory would be furious with you right now.”

“I dinna care.” Elliott knew that was a lie as soon as the excuse rolled off his tongue. Charlotte wouldn’t even try to understand but would lasso him into submission, just like she did whenever he was sick, even with a goddamn cold.

“Why’d ye lie to me, Paul?”

Paul steadied him as he shuffled down a slight incline. “I believed it was my duty to protect JC’s secret. I didn’t know the whole family knew about the brooch and disappearing into a fog. I thought it was part of