Always and Forever

by L. A. Fiore

  "What the hell were you thinking?"

  It was surprise and humor on his face in reaction but before he could answer she pulled back.

  "No, don't tell me I already know but, Jesus, could you have attracted anyone worse? She's a Goddamn devil's spawn." Quinn raised her head and stared pointedly at Archer before she added, "You have really bad taste in women."

  His eyebrow rose at that before he asked silkily, "Do I? That's not very flattering to you, Quinn."

  Quinn blushed which made Archer smile.

  Thaddeus broke their phony lovers' quarrel with a serious: "Arch, we need to talk."

  Quinn moved to the back of the room and listened as Thaddeus explained everything to Archer. It wasn't everyday that you learned that the woman you're engaged to could be a killer, that you and your son might be facing imminent death, that the woman you're falling for was from the future, but he took it all in stride. At least that's what Quinn thought until he turned to her and instead of the many emotions she expected disbelief, anger or even fear -- he instead was smiling: the biggest, happiest smile she had ever seen. It was so bizarre a reaction that Quinn didn't curb her words when she asked, "Why are you smiling like your brain has suddenly dripped out of your ears?"

  He stepped closer to her and when he spoke, it was so low and intense it made Quinn's stomach quiver with desire. "You really don't belong here."

  "No." Quinn held his stare and then realization dawned. "You thought I was just being dramatic?"

  "Yes."

  She rolled her eyes at that. "I am the least dramatic person I know. Wait, so why are you grinning when you know I can't stay here?"

  He stopped just in front of her and reached out to take a lock of her hair between his thumb and forefinger.

  "I shouldn't know you. We never should have met, but you came through time, you came to me. Any time we're given is a miracle, a gift I intend to cherish."

  "Yes, but how long will you have this gift if we don't stop Katherine?" Quinn and Archer both turned to Thaddeus after he dropped that little treasure.

  "What a buzz-kill you are, Thaddeus," Quinn muttered.

  "Buzz-kill?" Archer asked.

  "Never mind. You are taking this all very well, Archer. Maybe you're in shock."

  He leaned over and pressed his lips against her ear. "Not shock, Quinn, want. While you are here I want you, all of you. Do you have a problem with that?"

  Quinn's legs went weak. Desire rendered her mute so she replied with a weak shake of her head but it was answer enough for Archer and he grinned in response.

  "We need a plan," Thaddeus started.

  A shiver went through Quinn as she recalled her conversation with Katherine. Archer noticed and reached for her hand.

  "What's wrong?"

  "I had a rather disturbing conversation with Katherine this morning. I think we're right to believe she killed your wife."

  "What? Why do you say that?" Thaddeus asked.

  "Just something she said, the way she said it. I think we should have Douglas looking into the Danvers' past. People don't change and when they are as vile as the Danvers you can bet there are lots of skeletons in their closets. I want to know what they are."

  What she didn't say was that she didn't think that they were Danvers at all, not if Edwyn really was Derek, but she kept her own council until they knew more. Not to mention what was Derek looking for: what treasure did Archer have that made coming through time to con him worth it?

  "We still don't know why they singled out Archer. They are targeting him specifically and are willing to kill to make sure they get him. I also don't think we have much time to figure out what they're up to."

  "Why do you say that?" Archer asked.

  "I think Katherine knows about me or knows something. She'll be looking to find a way to get rid of me and if she gets proof that I'm not from around here, she won't hesitate to incite a mob by declaring me a witch."

  "She won't lay a finger on you. We'll get you home, Quinn, safe where you belong," Archer's voice was soft but there was steel behind his words.

  A small smile touched Quinn's lips as she replied softly, "You'll get me home, Archer, but home is not where I belong."

  His smile, the one that affected every aspect of his face, would stay with her always.

  Chapter Seven

  "I can't believe I actually agreed to this and you, what you're wearing is practically obscene."

  Archer was looking at Quinn dressed in a pair of his breeches and a shirt and, though he was prepared to cut the eyes out of any man who saw her dressed as such, he couldn't deny seeing her in his clothes was sexy as hell. Her long legs, the way the pants hugged her round bottom, and her breasts that were outlined so beautifully in his shirt that he just wanted to reach out and touch her. He was more annoyed that he couldn't stop staring at her which was exceedingly distracting particularly when they were in the midst of breaking and entering.

  "Honestly, you 18th century gentlemen have such delicate sensibilities. In my time women wear shorts so short you can see their ass cheeks, bras..." she looked over at Thaddeus, "...you saw my bra."

  "What?!"Archer roared.

  "Whatever. Garments that mold the breast so that the stomach, shoulders and back are completely exposed. Bathing suits that aren't much more than string. Are you getting me? This, what I'm wearing, doesn't even come close to obscene."

  Thaddeus' voice was a bit strained when he said, "I do believe I would very much like to see your time, Quinn."

  She laughed at that but Archer was not amused since he was still staring at her with that look, the one that said if he had a blanket he'd wrap it around her and tuck her under his coat. In response she smiled sweetly and was sure to wiggle her butt a little more than was needed when she climbed through the window. Archer's growl, in response, made her smile.

  They were breaking into the Danvers' townhouse. Archer had learned that the Danvers were attending the Kellan family's very popular annual musicale that evening which made it the perfect night to break in because all were invited to the Kellans, including the household staff, which left the townhouse empty.

  Archer was hoping to find something that could give insight as to what the Danvers were up to. After gaining access, the three silently moved down the hall to the study. Quinn walked around the room as Archer and Thaddeus went through the papers on the desk. It was while doing so that she realized the place was in serious need of a cleaning. Mrs. Hamston would have a stroke at the sight of the room.

  "So is this where they live when they're not sponging off of you at Whispering Winds?"

  The grin Archer threw her was almost boyish before he answered, "Yes, in fact, Edwyn left the same day you did so he's been here for almost a fortnight."

  "Where's the staff?"

  Thaddeus looked up from the paper he was studying to look at her. "What do you mean?"

  "Well, at Whispering Winds when the fireplaces are finished burning they are immediately cleaned and prepped for the next lighting but that fireplace hasn't been touched in a while." As Thaddeus and Archer both looked to the fireplace she continued by wiping a finger over the tabletop. "This room hasn't been dusted in a really long time."

  After her initial observations the men started seeing the pattern, the nearly empty scotch bottles, the curtains that were not drawn, small things that would normally go unnoticed unless you were looking for them.

  From the study, they went to the music room where they found sheets covering the harpsicord and furniture. This oddity had them searching out the rest of the home to find that all of the rooms had been closed up except for one where the bed hadn't been made and clothes, they recognized as Edwyn's, littered the floor.

  Quinn felt her pulse jump because Edwyn was squatting in the Danvers' estate but if he was a Danvers that wouldn't have been necessary. It was looking more and more like Quinn's Derek theory was not as far-fetched as she originally thought.

  There was a strange look on Arch
er's face when he suggested that they had seen enough.

  Thaddeus spoke up once they were back in the hired hack and Quinn had a blanket draped around her shoulders courtesy of Archer. "What are you thinking, Arch?"

  "When the Danvers first appeared on the London scene they claimed to be the distant cousins of the Danvers that own that townhouse. Marcus and his wife are usually on safari in Africa and rarely come back to London. It was just assumed that the family home had been left open for the family visiting and no one questioned their claim since there was no one to ask. The house isn't opened though; it's closed up as it would be if the family was off continent."

  Quinn knew that Archer was thinking along the lines that she was when she asked, "You don't think they're really Danvers."

  "No, I don't."

  Thaddeus asked what the others were thinking. "Then who the hell are they?"

  Archer sounded positively wicked when he replied, "I don't know but let's find out."

  The following night Quinn had to sit through another dinner with the dreaded Danvers, though the Scarcliff women were in attendance for this meal. Quinn was eager to see how Katherine and Gertrude would behave since as far as they knew, Thaddeus and she were unaware of the veiled threats that tied these families together.

  As expected the Scarcliff ladies were on edge, all of them very quiet and eager for the meal to end. They didn't initiate any discussions and when asked something directly they answered with an economy of words that Quinn found very impressive. It was obvious that they were all uncomfortable and it was because of this that Quinn found Katherine's behavior rather odd.

  She was sitting to the right of Archer but it was her performance, and Quinn couldn't think of a better word to describe her behavior, which she found intriguing. She was completely unfazed to be sitting at a table with women she openly blackmailed and intimidated. Katherine looked as if she didn't have a care in the world.

  Hadn't she been doing the same with Archer? Looking back on it, Archer was angry all the time and, at first, Quinn thought that his anger was directed at her but now she was beginning to think it was directed at Katherine. A powerful and proud man being forced into something through coercion and blackmail, yeah, that would certainly piss him off, yet Katherine was completely immune to the dynamic. She either had ice water for blood, or she had one hell of a poker face.

  Even Lady Danvers was off, not monopolizing the conversation as she usually did. So when she said, "You are awfully quiet this evening, Miss Shaughnessy," her voice was like nails down a chalkboard. Quinn flinched at the sound before glancing over at the older woman.

  "I was just thinking about the theatre and how it has been so very long since I actually attended a play. Acting has always fascinated me, how someone can step outside of their own life and so easily assume another and be so believable in the role." Quinn was watching Katherine as she spoke and saw her fingers tightened noticeably on her fork. What are you hiding Katherine?

  When Edwyn chimed in from next to her, his slurring made it obvious that he was partaking rather heavily in Archer's wine. Quinn looked over at Archer and wasn't surprised to see anger in his expression but when they locked eyes, anger turned into lust. She pulled her gaze from his heated one in time to catch the tail end of Edwyn's comments.

  "And then there was the production of Macbeth that I thought was rather brilliant."

  He leaned over to rest his hand on top of Quinn's, as his blood-shot eyes sought hers. "Perhaps you and I should take in a show while we're in London?"

  Quinn tried to pull her hand away but he tightened his grasp with enough force that Quinn involuntarily gasped from the pain. In a flash of movement, Archer was up and pulling Edwyn from his chair. Her focus was completely on Edwyn and in that moment, before Archer physically removed him from the table, she saw two things that he was wordlessly communicating to her. One, he was Derek and he knew that she knew it and two; he was giving her a silent warning to back off.

  "I think perhaps it's time for you to retire for the evening." Archer's voice was so very soft but there was rage burning through his words just as the butler, Finley, appeared in the dining room.

  "Call for the coach, Lord Danvers was just leaving." Archer met Katherine's glare levelly before he added, "It would probably be best that you and your mother accompany him home since he isn't in full use of his facilities. My men will ensure you all arrive safely at your residence. And for the sake of propriety we shouldn't be living under the same roof until we're married. I'll have your things brought over to you first thing in the morning."

  Katherine's face had turned such a shade of red that Quinn wouldn't have been at all surprised to see steam coming from her ears. With the dignity of royalty, Katherine pushed back from the table and when she spoke her voice was even, not at all betraying the fury she was clearly feeling.

  "Perhaps that is for the best. After all, we certainly don't want to find ourselves in the midst of a scandal."

  There was no mistaking that veiled threat but Archer didn't even blink as he held her gaze. Maybe she was imagining it but for just a second, Quinn thought she saw fear on the other woman's face. Katherine started from the room with her head held high but then turned back and shot Quinn such a look of malevolence that it leveled her. There was a promise of retribution in that glare but there was something else there, too, something that looked very much like insanity. A moment later she was gone, her mother following behind her.

  Quinn remembered the warnings issued by the staff declaring that Katherine wasn't right in the head and that caused a shiver of dread to skirt along her nerve endings. She could handle bitchy babes but insane ones were another story altogether. Since no one else seemed to notice the look, Quinn pushed it from her thoughts but a seed of fear planted itself firmly in her gut.

  Everyone was silent until they heard the coach pulling away and then Thaddeus called for champagne. "Well done, Arch, well done."

  "Why did you do that? Not that I didn't enjoy watching you throw them from the house, but why?" Lady Scarcliff worried.

  Archer walked over to his mother and hunched down before her gently taking her hands into his.

  "We're not convinced the Danvers are who they say they are."

  "What?!" Her shock couldn't have been any more evident.

  "They aren't staying in the Danvers' residence. Well, they are but the place is closed up and there is no staff to attend them. They're using it as their base while in London and with the real Danvers off continent no one is the wiser."

  "But even if what you say is true, they could still ruin Cecilia with one word," Lady Scarcliff said with despair.

  "Yes, but if they have been lying about who they are, and we can certainly prove that, then their credibility is ruined and no one will be inclined to believe anything they say," Archer revealed.

  "Why would they lie? What are they after?" Rosalind asked.

  Archer shrugged. "We haven't figured that out yet."

  "I've been thinking and, though Katherine and Edwyn are working together, I don't think they're after the same thing." Quinn's comment captured everyone's attention. She focused on Archer as she continued. "We told you about Edwyn stealing from you. There is something you have that he wants, he picked you specifically, but he needed a way to get near you. And what better way than to get you engaged to someone of his choosing like Katherine, the stunning beauty with ice for blood. Your wife dies unexpectedly and right on the cusp of that Katherine sets her cap on you sight unseen. They blackmail you and he's got his in. For Katherine, I think she truly wants you and your money. She's vindictive, and possibly a killer, but her motivation is passion and greed, pure and simple."

  "And Edwyn?" Thaddeus asked.

  Quinn looked up at him before she replied, "Presumably to steal something but what that something is, I don't know." She hesitated with sharing the rest of her theory, since it was a rather hard theory to swallow, but they all believed her to be from the future and had tak
en that shocking news rather well so she continued on. "In my time there's a man I sometimes work with," Quinn saw as Arch speared her with his glare from across the room.

  "He's a fool, Archer, so whatever you're thinking, don't. Anyway, his name is Derek Blake and he's an archaeologist like me but he is always looking for the big score and has, on more occasions than is statistically possible, found very rare treasures."

  "You think he's somehow moving through time hiding treasure and digging them back up in the future?" Archer asked incredulously.

  "I do. Edwyn and Derek could be twins."

  Thaddeus looked intrigued. "Seriously?"

  "Yes. Edwyn is squatting on Danvers' land, we already saw him burying treasure, and his counterpart in the 21st century has the uncanny ability of finding treasures that no one else even knows exists. So play it out. He needs to get closer to you so he hires someone with ambition. They blackmail you into marriage and as the brother, he gets into Whispering Winds."

  "But what is he after?"

  "I don't know and, more, how did he learn of whatever it is when there is so little documented about Whispering Winds and you in the future?"

  Quinn let that sink in for a minute before she asked, "You mentioned at dinner one night about how Edwyn handled his estate. Does he personally have an estate?"

  "That night I was referring to Lord and Lady Danvers who when on continent split their time between their London townhouse and their estate that is not too far from Whispering Winds. I just assumed that Edwyn shared in his family's beliefs when it comes to tenant farming. As it turns out, he isn't even a Danvers."

  "That's what I thought. I am sure he is Derek and he knows I know. We are running out of time."

  Archer was very quiet for a minute and when he spoke his voice was very soft. "Why do you suppose there is nothing of our legacy in the future?"

  She reached for his hand. "I think Derek came back and orchestrated a con that led to your and Nickie's deaths and, more than likely, people witnessed his disappearing act as he slipped back into the future. Even in my time, seeing someone disappearing into thin air would create chaos and fear because the unexplainable always does. That fear and uncertainty can turn into rumors of curses and magic and I believe that is what happened to Whispering Winds."