Chapter 17 #2
Angelina thought the server looked familiar. He didn’t work here, or if he did, she hadn’t seen him before. She had seen him somewhere though—but she couldn’t think where.
“Is everything okay?” Malcolm interrupted her thoughts.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just a bit tired. I needed a little pick me up, so here I am.”
Malcolm leaned forward across the table. “Angelina, I wanted to speak with you about something. You’re fairly open minded, aren’t you?”
It sounded more like a statement than a question and Angelina nodded as she sipped her coffee, which she found she was enjoying less by the minute.
“I have a proposition for you. Hopefully you’ll think it a worthwhile endeavour.”
“What is it?” She wasn’t certain she really wanted to know. After her date with him, she had been so freaked out that she had avoided him at every turn.
“I realize our date the other night didn’t go well, but you are an intelligent woman, and I think I can ask for your help in this matter without worry.”
“My curiosity is piqued.” She was holding onto her coffee cup for dear life. Malcolm was examining her face, as if he expected to find something there. She wiped at her lips with a napkin.
“I’m sorry. I’m making you uncomfortable. Your beauty has me mesmerized and I’m afraid I’m not very good at disguising my interest in you.”
How on earth should she respond to that? She remained mute and concentrated on staring at the napkin holder.
“Let me get right to the point. Do you believe in time travel?” Malcolm sipped his coffee and patiently waited for her to answer.
Angelina suspected her eyebrows had hit her hairline, she was so stunned by his question. “Time travel? No, I don’t think so. Why do you ask?”
“Well, I believe your friends, Richard and Nick, are time travellers from medieval Scotland.” He held up a hand to stop her immediate protest. “Before you say anything, I know you must think I’ve lost my mind, but think about what you know about them, and then think about what you don’t know.”
Angelina’s head was spinning. If she didn’t know better, it might be possible to believe Nick and Richard were from the past, given their way of speaking, and their reactions to so many things, but since time travel wasn’t viable, there had to be another explanation for the questions she had about them.
“I think I’d better get back to practice, Malcolm.
They’ll miss me if I’m gone too long.” She began to rise, but Malcolm swiftly grabbed her wrist.
“Please. Just a few more moments of your time.”
She sat down warily because he obviously wasn’t going to let her leave without creating a scene.
“I’m sure you’ll need more time to process what I’ve just told you, but I’m equally as certain you’ll come to agree with my findings. In any case, I need your help to convince them to take me with them back in time.”
Angelina was concerned about Malcolm’s mental state.
He really believed this whole time travel thing and unbelievably, he thought he could do it too!
“Okay. Let’s suppose you’re right, and time travel is possible.
If Richard and Nick have time travelled to San Francisco, wouldn’t they have gone back by now? What’s keeping them here?”
“I think it’s more who’s keeping them here. They must know how to get back. There’s got to be a portal somewhere in the city, and I need their help to find it.”
“Portal?” Angelina repeated blankly.
Malcolm nodded. “Of course. There must be some kind of wormhole that they’ve travelled through to reach us from their time and consequently, I’m certain they know where it is hidden. I need to find it, Angelina. It’s of the utmost importance.”
“Why?”
“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 humouring 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 was beside 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 he cared.
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 want her to 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.