The Troll Bridge #6
“I prefer to think of it as ingenious.” He kissed the top of her head, steered her towards a nearby park, and sprawled beside her on a bench.
They had a view of the city from here, including the pyramid, but the thing was so flipping huge that it was hard to avoid it.
She still didn’t say anything, but Lia snuggled into his side and Troll enjoyed the warm weight of her against him as he waited for her to talk.
Lights were illuminating the buildings when she finally spoke. “You’re patient, aren’t you?” Lia didn’t pause for an answer before continuing, “I want to be a writer, OK? Not for company newsletters or employee magazines, I mean stories. Fiction.”
She tensed slightly as if bracing herself for his reaction and it made him wonder if in the past others had scoffed when she’d found the courage to share her dream with them. “Yeah? Cool. I’ll read for you if you want.”
“What?”
The disbelief in her voice stung, but Troll pushed it aside. He couldn’t blame her since she hardly knew him. “I know, you’re thinking a guy like me won’t be much help, but while school wasn’t my thing, I’ve always loved to read.”
“I wasn’t—” Lia sat up and stared at him. “People discount you because you’re so good-looking, don’t they? That’s what you thought I was doing.”
Troll shrugged.
“Idiot.” She scowled. “I’ve been with you all day and you snagged me on the sexual fantasy thing. I’d have to be stupid to miss how sharp you are.”
His lips twitched. She’d just called him an idiot and then turned right around and said she knew he was smart. “ Why’d you question my offer then?”
“Because usually when I mention I want to write novels, I get laughed at, or humoured, or stared at in disbelief, or my favourite response – ‘You weren’t good enough to get a real job in journalism, but you think you can write a whole story?’ Oh, wait, then there are the practical people who tell me nobody reads any more and maybe I should try writing a movie or video game script, but that isn’t what I want to do.
No one has ever offered their help before. ”
The hurt lifted and Troll could breathe again. “Well, you got it if you want it. You ever think of writing science fiction? ’Cos I gotta tell you, falling through a wormhole and winding up in the future would make a great story.”
With a smile, Lia settled against him again. “It’ll never sell,” she told him. “And how could I write a book where the heroine returns home again while I’m trapped?”
Troll felt his gut clench, but he kept his muscles loose. They’d been playing, but her comment reminded him that he hadn’t won her yet. He tried to come up with more positives about this time. “Sasha likes you.”
“You can’t know that,” Lia argued.
“Yes, I can. She gave me a thumbs-up sign when she walked behind you.”
“She didn’t.”
She sounded both hopeful and horrified and Troll found himself smiling again. Lia made him happy. It was scary when he thought about it too long, but, hey, he’d been anxious before and taken action. “She did. You’re already making friends.”
Stiffening again, she moved far enough away to break his hold. “Why do you keep trying to sell me on how great it is to be stuck here?”
No guts, no glory, Troll thought and plunged in. “New Orleans, 2002.”
She stared at him blankly.
“You saw Madam Genevieve in a shop not too far from Jackson Square and had a reading done.”
A furrow formed between her brows and Troll watched Lia search her memory. He was aware of the instant it came back to her. “How the hell do you know that?”
“She’s my grandmother.”
“Why would she talk about me so many years after I saw her? It’s not like I ever went back and I can’t imagine she told you about all the tourists she did readings for.”
“She didn’t. Only you.” Troll reached for his wallet, took out the drawing, and unfolded it.
For a moment he hesitated, worried about how she’d react, but he passed it to Lia anyway.
“She gave me this when I was eighteen and said you were my destiny. Gram told me you asked her about your soulmate. Do you remember what she said to you?”
Her confusion was brief. “That I’d meet him . . . in the future.” Lia looked stunned. “But she couldn’t know – could she?”
Troll shrugged. “Maybe. Gram is eerie with what she can see, but she didn’t specifically mention time travel to me when we talked.”
She glanced briefly at the drawing and then back at him. “This scares me. Why are you taking it so calmly?”
“I’m not. I’m probably as edgy about this as you are, but I’m not willing to let that stand in my way, not when I’ve spent years wondering how we’d find each other. Let’s throw the dice and discover what we could have.”
Staring into his eyes, she studied him for a moment. Troll remained quiet, giving her time to consider things. “Here,” she said at last and handed him the sketch.
He waited for her to say more, but she didn’t and he put the drawing away.
Growing up with his grandmother, Troll was used to the psychic stuff, but most people weren’t and it left them uneasy or sceptical, or both.
But he’d thought Lia would be different – she felt the pull between them every bit as strongly as he did, he knew it.
Fear. He sighed. She didn’t have his training and experience, so he’d give her time and let her grow accustomed to the idea of the two of them. It wasn’t as if she was going anywhere.
Lia pursed her lips and Troll found his attention drifting.
Damn, he wanted his mouth on hers again when he didn’t have to consider where they were or who might stumble on them.
Maybe they should head back to his quarters.
They’d have privacy there and he wouldn’t have to worry how far things escalated.
He had a feeling they’d both lose control fast.
Her gasp yanked him back to the here and now.
For a split second, he thought she’d read his mind about taking her to bed, then Troll realized she was staring into the city. He turned to see what had her alarmed. No one was coming towards them. “What?” he demanded.
“The wormhole.” She pointed to the top of the pyramid. “It’s back. It’s back!”
And before he could react, Lia took off running.
Lia wasn’t surprised when Troll caught up with her, but she ignored him.
He didn’t say a word. He didn’t need to.
What he’d said in the park echoed through her mind.
Let’s discover what we could have. It was tempting, but she hadn’t opened the vortex and this might be her only opportunity to go home.
How could she throw it away on a possibility? On a hope?
She didn’t know where she was going, but she zigzagged through the streets, keeping her gaze locked on the pyramid. Maybe it wasn’t the most direct route, but the wormhole was still glowing when she reached the base.
Troll took her hand, stopping her as she began to climb. Before she could pull free, he said, “There’s a faster way.”
Without giving her time to argue, he brought her around the corner to a tall door that led inside the structure. They travelled down hallways and he pressed crystals that made rock walls slide open. “Secret passages,” Lia said, amazed.
“Yeah.” Troll didn’t sound happy. “Kendall, my captain’s wife, will kill me for showing them to you. She’s protective of this place.”
He took her down a few more long corridors and Lia felt impatience bubble inside.
What if the wormhole was gone before they made it to the top?
The worry that they’d be too late wouldn’t leave her, and it didn’t matter that Troll was moving at a good clip or that it would have taken her hours to climb the exterior stairs to the altar. “Can we go faster?”
“We’re at the midpoint.”
Lia looked around a large open area. There was sunlight streaming in, but it was night outside and she saw no visible source that could be producing an artificial glow.
Everywhere she gazed there was solid stone and carefully manicured plants.
Troll led her to one of eight platforms that were arranged in an arc and stood on top of it.
She followed although she wasn’t sure why they were standing here.
She didn’t get the chance to ask. A stone balustrade rose from the sides of the dais, not stopping until it reached about waist height. As soon as it was in place, the entire platform began to rise like an elevator. She grabbed on to Troll.
They reached the top and he silently brought her to a second elevator.
When they got off that one, he took her through a door that led outside to the flat top of the pyramid.
The wormhole was there, glowing and throbbing in some rhythm that only it understood.
Home, she thought, taking a step forwards, but Troll put an arm around her and stopped her.
“If you’re going to leave, at least think about it first, don’t walk mindlessly into that thing.”
“I wasn’t,” she protested, but he was right. She’d been mesmerized by it.
“You can’t even be sure this is going to take you back to 2010. For all you know, you’ll end up in Alpha Centauri seven thousand years in the past.”
Lia shook her head. “It’ll take me home. I feel it.” She shrugged, uncertain how she knew this, only that she did. “Maybe it’s trying to correct its mistake. After all, I’m not supposed to be here.”
“Bullshit. That’s a force of nature, not a sentient being who’s trying to balance the universe. And I think you are supposed to be here; that’s why it appeared to begin with.”
“Sometimes it’s not destiny, just an accident. I don’t belong in this time.”
“Lia, give us a chance. If you leave, what do you think the odds are that you’ll be able to come back here? I’d say zilch. That particle accelerator was probably locked down immediately once they realized they had a wormhole big enough for travel. Do you think they’ll let you near it again?”
“No,” she admitted in a small voice.