Page 35 of A Matter of Time
“The Twin Sword, the brother to the Sword of State that I told you about during our dinner date. I must locate the Twin Sword.” At her incredulous look, he continued. “Don’t you see? The sword has never been found and if I can go back in time to retrieve it before it’s lost forever, I will have the find of the century!”
“Malcolm, I think you need some help.” She could see he didn’t appreciate her pitying look, so she switched to humoring him. “Going back in time could be very dangerous. What if you got stuck there?”
“That’s why I need your help, to convince your friends to take me there and bring me back. If anyone can convince them, it’s you.” He took her hand and gazed pleadingly into her eyes. “Please.”
Angelina knew that if she wanted to get out of there safely, she’d have to agree to help him. “Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”
His face lit with a brilliant smile. “Thank you. You won’t regret this. We’ll speak again after the tournament.”
Angelina rose from her chair with Malcolm still holding her hand. She practically yanked it away, before she quickly exited the coffee shop and headed for her car.
“Good work,” Malcolm said, as Pierce approached him.
“She hasn’t spent a moment apart from our two friends, so I knew this would be your only opportunity to speak with her. As soon as I knew she was heading in here, I made the phone call. Do you think she’ll do as you ask?” Pierce gazed towards the door where Angelina had just departed.
“She’ll tell them, but whether or not they are willing to help is debatable. We’ll see. In the meantime, keep following her.” Malcolm sipped his coffee, and grimaced because it had grown cold. “Get me another cup before you go.”
Pierce did as he was told and Malcolm mulled over his conversation with Angelina. No doubt, she thought he was losing his mind, but he didn’t care. He was very used to getting what he wanted and he was quite certain he would this time as well. More than anything, he wanted the Twin Sword, but once he had that, Angelina was next on his list. He didn’t like the look in her eye when she looked at him - the one that resembled a frightened rabbit. No, he wanted her respect and adulation, which he knew he would have once he had the sword. Power and money were an irresistible combination to most women, and he was sure Angelina Lawson was no different than any other.
Richard wasbeside himself with worry. Angelina had waited until both he and Nick were engrossed in conversation and had obviously slipped away. Her car was gone and she wasn’t responding to Nick’s frantic phone calls. The other students had all left for the day and he was just about to head out to comb the surrounding area when the door opened and she strolled in as if nothing had happened.
“Where have you been?” His worry was translating into anger and Angelina was not receiving it well.
“I had to get away from you for a little while. I needed to clear my head. Sorry I didn’t ask permission first,” she snapped.
“Permission would not have been granted! You know you are in danger, that someone is following you – following all of us, and yet you still decided to run off at the first opportunity! Did you think that I wouldn’t care? That I wouldn’t be concerned for your wellbeing?” His hands were fisted at his sides as he desperately controlled the urge to shake some sense into her. She had to see that it had been wrong to leave the way she had. “What if something had happened to you?” His voice softened, revealing his true concern.
“It would be my own fault then. I can take care of myself.”
If she’d stomped her foot at that moment, it wouldn’t have been out of character. He’d heard that statement before from Angelina and she was beginning to sound like a petulant child. He was worried about her, couldn’t she see that? It meant hecared.
After minutes of silence between them, she appeared to come to that realization on her own. “I’m sorry, Richard. It was wrong of me.”
He didn’t want to be angry with her and he didn’t wantherto be angry with him. He wanted to hold her close and protect her. It was what he knew how to do and if it meant his heart could stop racing in his chest, it was what he hoped she’d allow him to do.
Chapter 18
HavingMalcolm turn up out of nowhere had made Angelina realize she needed to be more careful. Perhaps he had been the one who was following her, or maybe was having her followed. The more she thought about it, the more she suspected she was right. “Richard, please don’t be angry with me. I’m okay. Nothing happened and I promise I won’t do it again,” she tried to soothe him. He was really very sweet for thinking it was necessary to protect her. How could she blame him for that? Of course, once she told him whom she’d seen while she was out, she was sure he’d blow a gasket.
“There you are,” Nick called from the office. “Did you nae think we might be worried about ye?”
“Don’t you start,” she answered. “I’ve already heard all about it from Richard. I hope you two can forgive me. My independent streak came out and I ran for it. I’ve already promised Richard I won’t do it again.” She eyed the two of them warily, before telling them the rest of her story. “I have to tell you something and I hope you won’t get all medieval on me, but I went to grab a cup of coffee…”
“And you didnae bring me one?” Nick teased.
Richard threw him a stern look. “Continue, please.”
“Well, I sat down to enjoy a moment of alone time and the next thing I knew, Malcolm Granger was standing there. It was as if he knew I was going to be there alone.”
“My instincts were right,” Richard said. “Heisthe one following you, and his cohorts are probably following Nick and me.”
“I don’t think he’s following me personally, that would be beneath Malcolm. He has a lot of people he pays to do things exactly like that.”
“What did he want?” Richard asked, and Angelina could see he was making a concerted effort to sound unbothered by what he’d just heard.
“Well, this is really weird… but he thinks that the two of you are time travelers.” She eyed them both, searching their faces for any hint that Malcolm might have been telling the truth, but they both remained stone faced.
“Time travelers!” Nick finally laughed. “That’s ridiculous and I hope ye told him so.”
