My heart thuds, and a wave of ice floods through me. Oh yes, I know that man. He saw me naked, and I tried to get away from him. I only succeeded because he let me.
The man still wears torn and tattered clothes, but grass stains have joined the dirt stains. "Is this Sanctuary?"
Dax approaches the man. "Who are you? And why have you frightened our friends?"
"Not my fault if they're pansies who screech every time they see a stranger."
"Perhaps you should try a less violent approach to entering a new place."
The man squints at Dax. "Is this Sanctuary or not? Aldith sent me here, and I want to know why."
Dax goes perfectly still, his expression blank. He glances at Allison, who hovers just outside their tent. She shrugs. Grant and Erin shrug too.
"Tell us what you know about Sanctuary and Aldith," Dax demands. "And how you got past our sentries."
The stranger clenches his fists, then loosens them. "What the hell. Aldith is an Echo creature, who must live in the Echo since that's where I met her. She told me I needed to come here. Then she got a golem to dump me on Earth, but nowhere near this place, as far as I can tell."
"Where did Aldith send you?"
"Some city. I didn't get the chance to do any sightseeing. Creatures attacked me."
Dax folds his arms over his chest. "Hmm. If you were in 'some city,' how did you reach this place? There are no metropolitan areas anywhere near the Lost Coast."
"Something threw me here, and I landed on the beach with that naked girl." He glances at me. "Figured she must know where she's going, so I followed her."
I jog over to Dax and the stranger, focusing on the man who threatened to assault me on the beach. "If you followed me, why did it take an hour for you to get here?"
"Reconnaissance, Lady Godiva. I never walk into a strange place without scouting the area first."
"My name is not Lady Godiva."
The maniac smirks. "What is it, then?"
"Like I would ever tell you."
Dax inserts himself between me and the stranger. "Start by telling us your name, and we'll go from there."
The man keeps his focus on me as he speaks to Dax. "Gabriel Merchant. Who are you, mountain man?"
"You may call me Dax. Now, you will follow me. We need to have a discussion."
Dax grasps Gabriel's arm and drags him away to the tent where we store our food. I experience a bizarre impulse to follow them, but I ignore it. The last thing I want to do is spend more time in Gabriel's presence. That man is evil.
I return to my tent and try to read a book, but I can't concentrate on it even though I love detective stories from the nineteen forties. My mind keeps forcing me to wonder what Dax and Gabriel are talking about and whether it has anything to do with me. That's narcissistic, though. Not everything strange in this place revolves around the amnesia girl. But Gabriel did seem extremely interested in me.
After chewing on my bottom lip for a moment, I shut the book and sneak out of my tent. I slip out the back way, so nobody will see me, and tiptoe past half a dozen other tents to reach the one where Dax took Gabriel. I can hear them talking.
"Who the bloody hell are you?" Dax snarls. "I want to know the truth. All of it. Right now."
"And I should cooperate, why?"
"Because I will snap your neck if you don't."
Gabriel chuckles. "I've fought with much worse things than you."
A rustling sound originates from the other side of the tent. "Mind if I come in?"
That's Grant.