the outcome, that he and Ellie were about to delve into an irreversible predicament. One he wasn't convinced would leave either unscathed. It more than unsettled him.
It scared the bloody hell out of him.
Chapter Five
The more Ellie tried to wrap her brain around the situation, the more her head hurt. She just couldn't comprehend what was happening. According to Gawan, she existed In-Betwinxt. Mostly dead. Here one minute, gone the next.
How the bleep could someone be mostly dead?
In and out of a deep, deep coma, he'd claimed. When she was lost to unconsciousness, she for some reason appeared at Castle Grimm, particularly in the company of Gawan. When she came to, she disappeared and went somewhere else. Funny. Instead of waking and knowing exactly where she was, or that she was alive, Ellie remembered nothing but pitch-blackness, and the earthy scent that clung to her nostrils.
She groaned and clapped a hand over her eyes. "This is insane."
"Could be far worse," Gawan said.
Ellie peeked through her fingers. "Worse? How could it be worse than memoryless and mostly dead?"
"Well," he said, rising from the table, "you could be completely dead."
"Ugh," she groaned. "Don't remind me." She rose and crossed the floor to the sink, where she poured the contents of her teacup down the drain. Had she even swallowed any? "So I can just fade in and out without a warning?"
"Aye, I fear so."
Rinsing her cup and saucer, she set them in the dish drainer. "And I'm drinking tea, but not really drinking tea? Is that it?" She flipped the faucet on and off. "And I'm turning the water on and off, but not really?" She rubbed her temples. "And you can witness this because you're a Guardian of sorts? You interact with ghosts and almost-ghosts?"
Gawan followed her to the sink. "I don't claim to understand the whole of it, Ellie, but aye. All what you say is apparently so."
Turning, she grabbed Gawan's arm. "Is this not real, either? My skin touching yours?" She squeezed his biceps, which, she thought after a few more discreet squeezes, was rock-solid, and gave him a bold stare. "Feels pretty darn real to me." She swallowed as Gawan wrapped his long fingers around her wrist.
"Aye, 'tis real enough, Ellie." His eyes smoldered as they stared into hers. "I can feel the heat in your touch"—he gently dragged his knuckles against the top of her hand—"and the pulse of your blood running through your veins, here," he said, pressing a fingertip at her inner wrist. "I wish I could explain it, but I cannot. Yet the more time that passes, the more odd things will become."
"Odder than this?" she asked.
He gave a slight smile.
Strength and confidence radiated from him in waves, like heat rippling off tarmac in the dead of summer. Ellie had the feeling that Gawan could command an entire army with one simple, quiet word. Or a single scowl.
Even right now, the way he stared at her with those dark brown eyes, she felt touched—no, caressed —and all without him having moved a single inch. Not only that, but his eyes seemed ancient, all-knowing. As though he'd seen a lot.
His head dipped closer, eyes fixed on hers, and Ellie's heart slammed in her chest.
"If ye plan on making it up the way to the village, then ye'd best get going straightaway. There's another storm blowing this way, methinks," Sir Godfrey said out of nowhere, with quite a lot of enthusiasm.
Ellie blinked, and the spell was broken. Gawan's brows tugged into a frown; then he lowered his hand from Ellie's arm and turned toward the old knight now occupying the kitchen entrance.
"Quite the sport you are of late, Godfrey, keeping track of the weather and such," Gawan said, muttering. "A bloody weatherman. We were just leaving, by the by."
"Aye, well, good thing," Godfrey answered.
Ellie, still trying to catch her breath from the almost something, inhaled and smiled. "Thanks, Sir Godfrey."
The room took a sudden dip, the air grew light and wispy, and then everything turned dark.
It scared the bloody hell out of him.
Chapter Five
The more Ellie tried to wrap her brain around the situation, the more her head hurt. She just couldn't comprehend what was happening. According to Gawan, she existed In-Betwinxt. Mostly dead. Here one minute, gone the next.
How the bleep could someone be mostly dead?
In and out of a deep, deep coma, he'd claimed. When she was lost to unconsciousness, she for some reason appeared at Castle Grimm, particularly in the company of Gawan. When she came to, she disappeared and went somewhere else. Funny. Instead of waking and knowing exactly where she was, or that she was alive, Ellie remembered nothing but pitch-blackness, and the earthy scent that clung to her nostrils.
She groaned and clapped a hand over her eyes. "This is insane."
"Could be far worse," Gawan said.
Ellie peeked through her fingers. "Worse? How could it be worse than memoryless and mostly dead?"
"Well," he said, rising from the table, "you could be completely dead."
"Ugh," she groaned. "Don't remind me." She rose and crossed the floor to the sink, where she poured the contents of her teacup down the drain. Had she even swallowed any? "So I can just fade in and out without a warning?"
"Aye, I fear so."
Rinsing her cup and saucer, she set them in the dish drainer. "And I'm drinking tea, but not really drinking tea? Is that it?" She flipped the faucet on and off. "And I'm turning the water on and off, but not really?" She rubbed her temples. "And you can witness this because you're a Guardian of sorts? You interact with ghosts and almost-ghosts?"
Gawan followed her to the sink. "I don't claim to understand the whole of it, Ellie, but aye. All what you say is apparently so."
Turning, she grabbed Gawan's arm. "Is this not real, either? My skin touching yours?" She squeezed his biceps, which, she thought after a few more discreet squeezes, was rock-solid, and gave him a bold stare. "Feels pretty darn real to me." She swallowed as Gawan wrapped his long fingers around her wrist.
"Aye, 'tis real enough, Ellie." His eyes smoldered as they stared into hers. "I can feel the heat in your touch"—he gently dragged his knuckles against the top of her hand—"and the pulse of your blood running through your veins, here," he said, pressing a fingertip at her inner wrist. "I wish I could explain it, but I cannot. Yet the more time that passes, the more odd things will become."
"Odder than this?" she asked.
He gave a slight smile.
Strength and confidence radiated from him in waves, like heat rippling off tarmac in the dead of summer. Ellie had the feeling that Gawan could command an entire army with one simple, quiet word. Or a single scowl.
Even right now, the way he stared at her with those dark brown eyes, she felt touched—no, caressed —and all without him having moved a single inch. Not only that, but his eyes seemed ancient, all-knowing. As though he'd seen a lot.
His head dipped closer, eyes fixed on hers, and Ellie's heart slammed in her chest.
"If ye plan on making it up the way to the village, then ye'd best get going straightaway. There's another storm blowing this way, methinks," Sir Godfrey said out of nowhere, with quite a lot of enthusiasm.
Ellie blinked, and the spell was broken. Gawan's brows tugged into a frown; then he lowered his hand from Ellie's arm and turned toward the old knight now occupying the kitchen entrance.
"Quite the sport you are of late, Godfrey, keeping track of the weather and such," Gawan said, muttering. "A bloody weatherman. We were just leaving, by the by."
"Aye, well, good thing," Godfrey answered.
Ellie, still trying to catch her breath from the almost something, inhaled and smiled. "Thanks, Sir Godfrey."
The room took a sudden dip, the air grew light and wispy, and then everything turned dark.
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