Always and Forever

by L. A. Fiore

  Gabriel looked up from the book, "That's the last entry."

  Nick was up and pacing. "She was suspicious of Archer's illness and if someone was making him ill, another doctor would most likely uncover that." Nick stopped pacing and turned to the others.

  "The doctor was making Archer sick at the request of his father. But why?"

  "My guess: they made him sick because they knew how confused he would be when he came out of it, depended on that confusion to pull off their nefarious plan: to rid Archer of an unacceptable wife," Charles theorized.

  "You were around for part of this right, Constance?" Cole asked.

  Constance looked decidedly paler when she answered in a soft voice, "Yes."

  "Anything you can add?"

  "The woman, right before Morgan died, was making arrangements to move into Whispering Winds to tend to Archer. I overheard one conversation between her, the Earl and the doctor but it was the woman who was telling the doctor what to expect and how Archer would be when he finally came out of it. Apparently, they were keeping him sick by feeding him something in his water. Every time Morgan gave him water, she was making him sicker and she had no idea. It was the woman who was behind the whole thing."

  "Why didn't you tell us this before?" Nick demanded.

  Constance hung her head. "I felt guilty that I didn't do more. Maybe if I had stepped up, Morgan would have lived."

  Quinn walked over and sat next to Constance before reaching for her hand. "I doubt you would have been able to stop it and probably would have come to an untimely end yourself. It was another reason why you agreed to the Earl's plan, wasn't it? You wanted to make sure Archer wasn't still being given the poison?"

  "Yes."

  Quinn squeezed her hand. "So you did help."

  Gabriel, who had been unusually quiet, stood abruptly and started from the room.

  "Gabriel?" Quinn's voice stopped him but he didn't turn to face her.

  "I'll be back in a few days. Please stay here."

  "Gabriel?"

  He turned then and the look on his face was one Quinn had never seen before. He was beyond rage, he looked positively lethal, and when he spoke his voice was devoid of all emotion.

  "Quinn," he demanded, "stay here with Nick and Cole."

  She was too stunned to speak and when she heard the front door close, she knew it was too late to call him back. She turned to the others in the room.

  "What did I miss?"

  Nick's look of bewilderment matched her own. "I haven't a clue."

  "I've known him a really long time and I have never seen him look like that," Cole told them. "Clearly something in Morgan's journal made him remember and whatever it is that he's remembered, he isn't happy about." Cole turned to Quinn before he added, "There's only one thing that can make him that angry."

  "What?" Quinn asked.

  "Someone threatening what he loves most in this world. In other words, Quinn, someone coming after you. I think Gabriel may just have realized who killed you."

  "Oh shit." Quinn and Nick whispered in unison.

  Quinn sat in the window seat in the great hall and looked out the window as the wind and rain pelted against the glass. She was worried about Gabriel but the few times she tried to call him he didn't answer. Where did he go? She was startled when Nick came up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

  "Quinn, who do you think sent him back and sent you back to Archer's time?"

  "Maude, but I don't know who Maude is. I knew after I chatted with her that there was magic in her but then I convinced myself that I was just being fanciful because there was a castle right down the road and an old, strange woman living in a cottage in the woods. I wish I had found out more about her, pressed for more information, but I couldn't possibly have known what adventure was awaiting me." Quinn smiled at the memory.

  "And that's what she told me: that there was magic here and an adventure awaited the person who knew where to look." She turned her attention to Cole before she asked, "Before my accident was Gabriel our boss?"

  Cole looked at her oddly, as if she had suddenly lost her mind, but when he really thought about her question he came up blank. "I don't remember."

  Nick looked at Cole before settling his hazel eyes on her. "What are you thinking?"

  "Every time someone goes back in time they change the future. Before I went back to Archer's time I never knew my boss, not his name, what he looked like, I couldn't even really say if it was a man or a woman. After my accident, after I went back in time, Gabriel was our boss presumably sent back from the future to save me. But why this time, specifically if we didn't marry until 2019? What is so significant about now? And was Gabriel our boss before or was it someone else?"

  "That's important, why?" Nick asked.

  "What if who ever is pulling the strings led Derek to that Mayan temple to set this entire ball rolling. I mean how many people have been through those temples? The number of archaeological digs and studies are countless and yet Derek, who is a very poor archaeologist, finds a necklace that blueprints time travel?"

  "What are you saying, Quinn?"

  She turned to Cole. "What if Gabriel was right and that person is from the future? What if our old boss was from the future setting the stage exactly how they wanted it?"

  "Gabriel's future," Nick whispered.

  "Yes. It would explain why he left so abruptly. He figured it out, knows who's behind it. But why are they doing this, going to such lengths, for what purpose?" Quinn asked.

  "There has to be a common denominator. The end result seems to be the same, splitting you and Gabriel up. In the past, Morgan was killed freeing Archer, in the future you are killed freeing Gabriel. We know it was Katherine in the past."

  Quinn looked downright ill in response to Cole's free association.

  "I found a box in Gabriel's attic and there was an old newspaper article about a murder attempt on his life."

  Nick stood abruptly. "What? I don't remember anyone coming after Gabriel. Do you Cole?"

  "No, I don't but I'm guessing Gabriel remembered. Yesterday when he heard the description of Katherine, a pale blonde with nearly colorless eyes, he changed somehow. It looked as if what he was hearing was a kind of confirmation to something he already suspected."

  "Gabriel knows her," Quinn whispered. "Who is she?"

  "I don't know but if she's the one who's been pulling the strings, we aren't dealing with your average person. I think we're going to need to learn a little more about Gabriel's past and" Nick looked over at Quinn "we need to find Gabriel because I have a feeling history is about to repeat itself."

  "Oh my God." The thought had Quinn going numb with fear.

  Nick placed a hand on Quinn's shoulder as he addressed Cole, "We need to find Gabriel before Katherine gets another shot at him."

  Chapter Nineteen

  The back alleys of Dublin had seen more criminals than most prisons. He knew the way well, had grown up on these streets and survived them. When he reached the old metal door, he knocked twice, waited and knocked three more times, before the peep hole slid open and steely black eyes assessed him. A moment later the door was unbolted and pulled open.

  "It's been a long time," the guard at the door said.

  "Yeah, is he here?" Gabriel asked.

  "Follow me." Silently they walked through the dark halls until they reached a secured door. When it was pushed open the luxury Gabriel expected all but dripped from the walls. His eyes scanned the room and settled on the man sitting in the midst of his own palace.

  "Gabriel, to what do I owe this surprise visit?" Niall said from his makeshift throne.

  "Where is she?" Gabriel had no time for pleasantries.

  "Who?"

  Gabriel stepped closer. "Your sister."

  The slight blanching suggested he knew more than he was saying when he offered, "I haven't seen her in a few years."

  "Bullshit."

  "Why the interest, Gabriel?"

  "I want
to talk with her, Niall."

  "She doesn't visit very often anymore."

  "Why?" Gabriel demanded.

  "Busy, I guess, besides she isn't going to talk with you. She hates you for breaking your engagement."

  "I never proposed to her."

  "Well, I know that but she believed you did and man she was pissed. I don't think I've ever seen her so angry."

  Gabriel's shoulders stiffened. "She's trouble. Surely you must realize that after she incited the riot that almost caused your death."

  "I don't think I was the target and I think you know that," he retorted.

  "Yeah, that's why I'm here."

  "What has she done now?"

  "The list is long but most pressing is in a few short days she's going to try to kill me. Again."

  Gabriel eyes were hard when he added, "And I'm going to let her."

  Quinn left a message for Shane. He knew Gabriel when he was a boy on the streets of Dublin so maybe he knew something that could help tie the pieces together. But he too was unaware of a murder attempt on Gabriel. He was concerned for his friend and offered to assist them in finding the answers. Coming up empty, Quinn called Charles and asked that he look into Gabriel's past. She felt positively wretched sneaking behind Gabriel's back but he could be in danger so she focused on that and tried to bury her guilt.

  Tessa, Derek and Constance stayed at Whispering Winds preparing for Constance's trip back through time. Tessa couldn't wait to actually witness time travel, particularly since this trip was going to be the last.

  Nick had suggested that they go to Gabriel's and get a look at the box in the attic so two days after Gabriel's departure, Quinn, Shane, Cole and Nick pulled up the drive to Gabriel's estate as Mr. Payne waited to greet them.

  "He was okay with us being here without Gabriel?" Cole asked.

  "Yes, but I have to warn you," Quinn said, "the Paynes are very odd. Mrs. Payne is not a fan of mine but Mr. Payne, I like him a lot."

  The car stopped before they piled out and Quinn approached Mr. Payne.

  "Welcome back, Quinn." Mr. Payne said before he turned to Nick and bowed. "Your Grace."

  "Please, it's Nick," Nick said as a blush crept up his cheeks and Quinn chuckled.

  "You're blushing," she teased.

  "Formality makes me uncomfortable," he muttered.

  Quinn grinned before she looked back at Mr. Payne.

  "Welcome. I imagine you'd like to go right up to the attic," he asked.

  "Yes, please," Quinn replied.

  The box was where she left it and as they all sat around it; Quinn pulled the contents out and placed them on the floor. As Nick scanned the article, Quinn silently studied the pictures of Gabriel. Where was he? What was he planning? She knew him well enough to know that as soon as he left Whispering Winds that night he was already forming a plan. Quinn's ringing cell phone pulled her attention from the task at hand.

  "I've done an extensive search on Gabriel," Charles said over Quinn's phone, "and there was an incident several years ago involving him and another man, Niall Carver, that seems suspicious. But recently there haven't been any attempts on his life so if someone tried to kill Gabriel, it hasn't happened yet. I've also learned that this Niall Carver incident involved his sister. You can guess her description and her name."

  Quinn paled before she replied, "Katherine."

  Shane looked up at that. "Katherine? Katherine Carver? She's the woman that was coming around to see Gabriel. Beautiful but not right in the head."

  Nick turned to Shane, "Meaning?"

  "She's crazy, literally. She was the one who set up her brother and Gabriel. They almost died in a fight she instigated."

  "Gabriel mentioned that to me. He didn't go into detail, but it was vicious." Quinn felt bile rising up in her throat.

  "So if Katherine is this Katherine Carver, who at one time wanted Gabriel, then I think it's fairly safe to say that she went back in time to get Archer since Gabriel wouldn't have her," Nick concluded.

  "Yes, but how did she know of the link between Gabriel and Archer?" Quinn asked.

  Nick stood then and reached down to help Quinn up. "I don't know but in the future you were both at Whispering Winds so maybe whatever she learned she did so from the future."

  "Maybe Constance and Derek can tell us something," Cole said as he too stood.

  Quinn started to pace. "Katherine wants Gabriel so if we can orchestra getting them together, someplace where we're there too, we have a better shot at stopping her. We need an event. A publicized one that Gabriel will be attending which will have her coming to us." Quinn stopped pacing and looked at her friends. "Now we just need to come up with an event."

  It was Nick who made the suggestion, "It started at Whispering Winds so let's end it there."

  "Good idea but what's the draw?" Cole inquired.

  "The unveiling of the Scarcliff treasure," Nick offered dramatically.

  Quinn looked at Nick before she asked, "What treasure?"

  He hesitated a moment then looked at her intently, "The one Archer left for you."

  She came alone. The others offered to join her, but she needed to do this alone. When she reached Morgan's grave, Quinn was resigned to do what she needed to. She knelt down in front of Morgan but her eyes were on Archer's grave.

  "I really miss you but you did find me and we love each other just as we had. I won't lose you again." She kissed her fingers and ran it over his name then took the small shovel and started digging. She thought it was going to take longer than it did but she almost had the sense that she was being guided to dig in the right place and when her shovel hit metal, she whispered, "Thank you."

  When she revealed the box, it showed its age but her fingers traced the letters she had scratched into it all those years ago and the memory made her smile.

  "It really does mean love," she said to the still air.

  She returned to the great hall to find that Constance was talking a mile a minute. An old parchment, folded, with markings on it sat on the table before her. Quinn couldn't help taking a step closer to it.

  "Is that it? The Codex."

  "Yes. Amazing, isn't it?" Tessa was completely in awe.

  Quinn turned to Constance. "How was it?"

  Her smile was answer enough. Derek was sitting near the fire and Quinn decided now was as good a time as any to ask him.

  "Derek, what did Gabriel ask you when he spoke to you the other day?"

  "He wanted me to tell him how I learned about the Scarcliff treasure."

  "How did you?"

  Derek hesitated a moment before he answered, "There was a party at Whispering Winds and it was announced at the party that they would be unveiling the treasure soon."

  "What party?" Quinn pressed.

  He looked down for a moment before he replied, "It was a party for Gabriel and you."

  Quinn felt her legs go weak and it took a few minutes for her nerves to calm enough so she could ask, "Our anniversary party?"

  "Yes."

  "Was Katherine there?"

  "Yes."

  Nick spoke from across the room. "You found the box?"

  Quinn started to answer when a moment of clarity made her laugh in disbelief. What she held really was the Scarcliff treasure. The ring that had sent her back to Archer, her betrothal ring, had been Morgan's once upon a time. It explained how she saw the ring in the future. Time travel altered when the ring was made but the ring itself was a constant. She held up the box to Derek.

  "This is the Scarcliff treasure. This is what you've been searching for, but the jokes on you, Derek because its value is not monetary but sentimental. And only to me."

  For a minute, Derek said nothing and his disappointment was almost palpable since the man had been searching for the Scarcliff treasure for a long time. Admitting defeat, he pulled a hand through his hair and chuckled, "Why am I not surprised?"

  Quinn turned her attention to Nick, "I don't have the key." Quinn placed the box on the
table. Nick walked over to look at it, a strange expression crossing over his features.

  "What's wrong, Nick?"

  "I think I have the key for that."

  "Really?"

  Nick didn't hide his excitement as he continued, "I always wondered what it was for. Tried every lock in the castle but never found what it opened."

  Quinn stood and reached for the box. "Let's see if it fits this."

  They walked to Nick's solar and Quinn held back as he disappeared into a room where she assumed the vault was. A few minutes later he came back with a small, iron key. Quinn placed the box on the table and lifted a shaky hand to Nick where he placed the key. The last time she saw the contents of this box was when Archer had placed her ring in it. No one had touched that ring since and at that moment she couldn't wait to see it, to touch it. It took her a minute to get her hand to stop shaking enough to get the key in the lock but when it turned, it did so smoothly. When she lifted the lid, she couldn't help the tears that spilled down her cheek.

  The ring was as beautiful as she remembered but she hesitated to touch it, even though the idea of going back to Archer had her heart beating rapidly, she couldn't leave Gabriel. Instead, she reached for the oil cloth and slowly unwrapped it until the miniature of Archer was looking up at her. Her finger traced his face and a smile touched her lips. She felt the unevenness on the back of the miniature and turned it over to see the inscription that Archer had engraved. She knew what it said since it was the same thing she had engraved on his miniature, the same thing Gabriel and she had engraved on their wedding bands:

  Always and Forever

  "Too bad we don't have both of the miniatures." Shane said absently and everyone looked over at him.

  "How do you know there's another miniature?" Quinn asked.