Free Tagan's Child by ammyford1

where Ahran and Elaya were waiting. They were having a
hushed conversation which came to an abrupt halt when I entered the
kitchen.
    “Would you like
a tea or coffee?” I asked.
    “No, thank
you,” Elaya replied.
    “Not for me,”
Ahran said.
    I felt a sudden
wave of exhaustion. I doubted whether they would leave Toby and me
on our own now, and to be frank I didn’t want to be left alone
after Audrey’s violent attack.
    “You are both
very welcome to stay the night,” I offered, trying to make them
feel more at ease.
    They exchanged
a few words. Ahran answered. “Thank you but Elaya will go home, I
will stay. From now on, one of us will be with you at all times
until you and Toby can come and stay with our family.”
    I couldn’t help
but feel a little irritated that the decision had been taken out of
my hands.
    “Goodbye
Sophie,” Elaya said, shaking my hand again. “I hope you and your
nephew are able to return with us soon, it is not safe for you
here.”
    “Yes, so it
would seem,” I replied.
    Elaya’s
expression softened a little.
    “It was nice
meeting you. Oh and thank you for your help,” I said.
    She
acknowledged my gratitude with a nod and a smile. She really was
beautiful, I felt decidedly plain stood next to them both.
    Elaya and Ahran
exchanged a few more words and Elaya left.
    “Well, I need
to go to bed,” I announced.
    Ahran looked as
if he was contemplating what to say next. He took a deep breath.
“There is more I need to tell you.”
    “Can’t it wait
until the morning?” I said, stifling a yawn, but the expression on
his face began to ring alarm bells and my curiosity got the better
of me. “What is it?”
    “You have to
promise that what I am about to tell you, you will keep to
yourself, because if you don’t, we will have far worse problems on
our hands than the ones we already have. Please don’t even tell
Toby, he will know soon enough.”
    I sat down at
the kitchen table. What could it possibly be? I wasn’t sure I could
take much more.
    He seemed to be
taking his time to choose his words carefully as he pulled out a
chair for himself. “I am from a place called Ramia.”
    I had never
been any good at Geography so I wasn’t particularly surprised when
I didn’t recognise the name.
    “I’ve never
heard of it, where is it?”
    “You wouldn’t
have heard of it because it isn’t exactly in this world,” he said
carefully, watching for my reaction.
    I shook my head
slightly feeling confused. “What do you mean it isn’t exactly in
this world?”
    “The place I am
from is...not on this planet.”
    I struggled to
suppress a laugh and made a funny snorting noise in the back of my
throat instead.
    He ignored me
and continued straight faced. “My world is in a parallel universe,”
he said slowly.
    “Riiight, so
you are some kind of Dr Who Time Lord?” I said, nodding slowly. The
man had gone mad.
    Ahran looked
offended. “No, not at all, Dr Who is a character in science fiction
and as far as I’m aware you can’t travel through time, but you can
travel between universes,” he confirmed.
    There wasn’t a
hint of a smile on his face. He really was serious. Oh. My. God. I
was dealing with a nutcase. Why did I let him and Bennie convince
me that what he had told me was the truth? Audrey wasn’t beaten up
by someone who was after me, it had been a coincidence. Oh hell!
What if it wasn’t a coincidence? What if he had beaten Audrey up in
order to gain my confidence? I’d been a complete idiot. I had
started to believe this elaborate ruse and now I had let this
psychopath into my home.
    I felt sick and
shaky as I stood up.
    “Well Ahran,
that’s fascinating, but it really is getting late, thanks for
picking me up from the hospital, there really is no need for you to
stay I’m sure we will be fine. How about I call you in the
morning?” I said with forced cheeriness. “Let me show you out.” I
started to walk towards the front door in the hope he would