***
Drew paused in the bedroom doorway, staring at the window as ice pellets hit the glass. Pandimora slept in his bed, snuggled down into the bedcovers and pillows. His first instinct was to gather her into his arms, make love to her all night, but his brain remained at odds with his heart. Irfin had been the first to tell him it wasn't easy merging two such divergent lifestyles. Drew ran a hand over the back of his neck. It was too soon anyway to even think about anything like that, but his mind just kept wandering there.
And what if she had inherited her mother's mental illness? Did he even want to deal with such a situation again after the fiasco of his marriage to Deborah?
Supposedly her mother was human, but he had no timeline as to when she'd lived here, or even a last name. As far as he could figure out Pandimora's age was the equivalent of about one hundred and seventy years his time. Did that mean her mother lived that long ago when she'd decided to leave earth to be with Declan in Aisywel?
Drew admired Pandimora's willingness to find the truth but he was really worried for her, and he wasn't looking forward to another confrontation with the elder. Too bad he didn't have a crystal to fight with and even the odds. From the little he'd interacted with the elder, he knew he'd have to fight smarter with someone so powerful; he just hadn't figured that part out yet.
Drew looked at his watch. Eleven twenty-four. He toyed with the idea of allowing her to sleep through the midnight hour and therefore miss returning to the land of the goblins. It didn't sit right with him that she would return to such a dangerous place. He put his head back, knowing he couldn't mess up her plan to find her family. He'd help her however he could, even in his limited human way.
And where the heck was Irfin? He still had to wonder if he'd set him up by sending him into goblin territory. Maybe the little man was playing with both of them.
He moved to the bed and settled down beside her, pulling the blanket over both of them. He turned on his side and stared at her, wondering how this would all turn out. Drew closed his eyes for a moment, seeing again those angry, distorted creatures chasing behind Pandimora. Talk about nightmares. That was his last thought before he, too, drifted off to sleep.