Time Masters Book One; The Call (An Urban Fantasy, Time Travel Romance) by Geralyn Beauchamp Page A

point she never knew. She only responded. She only sang.
    Shona softly hummed the tune, a short song from the movie Camelot, one of her favorites. For some reason it made her feel better to sing after the dreams, to evade the strange feelings she had afterward. Out of nowhere they would come, the wave of emotions that welled up into her being as if from another source, making her feel helpless, even enraged. She had never experienced anything like it in her life a nd was somewhat reluctant to fi nd out its true mea ning. Was it desire? Or some other emotion . Love? If so, it was certainly not the type of love she was familiar with. She knew family love, the love she had for her parents, and the love of a friend—Kitty, of course, and Julia. But her tutor Julia couldn’t be counted as high as Kitty. Julia didn’t want to be close to anyone, it seemed.
    Love. Funny how she couldn’t quite recall how it felt. Like so many other emotions she experienced during childhood, the love for those closest to her had quietly tucked itself away somewhere in her heart, along with joy, anger, and several others. They just disappeared one day, never to be seen or heard from again. She had been almost emotionless ever since and was often considered cold, even snobby by those who didn’t know her.
    Actually, she didn’t mind. Strong emotions were rather bothersome from what she could remember, and extremely hard to deal with at times. She didn’t have to deal with a lot of things others did and never had to worry about pesky emotions interfering with her music or studies.
    Until now.
    “Blast it!” Shona abruptly struck her pillow, confused by the unknown feeling and her lack of control over it. It pulled at her, teased her, and most of all, frightened her. Tonight something h ad happened. Something was diff erent. Something about her had changed.
    She sighed in frustration at her inability to sleep then shuddered as a dark cloud of dread rushed to encircle her. It hit hard and fast, causing her to cry out suddenly. What did all this mean? She continued to search desperately for an answer as she gripped her blankets and battled the urge to bolt from her bedroom and run to her parent’s room downstairs. Like a frightened child that just had a horrible nightmare.
    But this was no nightmare. This was real.
     
    * * *
     
    Back in the far and distant future…
     
    “What was the most serious lie you ever told?” John cast out to see what he could catch. “As a young man or an adult,” he added hastily. So far, so good as far as today’s interviewing went. He certainly hoped it stayed that way.
    Dallan leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped in front of him. John had seen the Scot do this before while observing from a distance. He knew it meant Dallan was giving the matter some serious thought. Th is was Dallan’s thinking pose, his deep thinking pose. John felt himself getting somewhere at last.
    “Mind if I interrupt?” Came a voice from outside the half open door. John and Dallan looked up to see Lany poke his head in.
    “No. Come in, Lany,” John told him as Dallan eyed the newcomer with suspicion. “Dallan, this is my assistant, Lantzaro Mosgofi an. I’m afraid the two of you were not formally introduced yesterday in the arena.”
    Dallan made no move to get up. “I assure ye, John, I’m quite used to no being introduced to anyone unless I take it upon myself.”
    Both John and Lany caught the bitter edge to his voice and exchanged a quick glance. “Well,” Lany began. “I’m off to do those errands you asked me to take care of, and I brought you what you wanted. Uh, have fun and good luck, Eaton. You’re going to need it.” His last words were mumbled as he ushered a small boy into the room.
    Dallan stiff ened unconsciously in his chair.
    “Thank you, Lany.” John turned to the boy whose attention had been immediately drawn to the Weapons Master, much to the Scot’s