by Kim Allred
She glanced at him before turning back to sight her arrow. "Not yet."
He snorted at her clear reference to him. "I know you've been tempted." Then his tone turned serious. "But once you take a life, the world is never quite the same. Make sure the first one you take is worth the price."
She blinked, suddenly quite attuned to her hesitance in striking a killing blow. Hadn't Finn once mentioned something like that, or maybe it had been Ethan. A slight movement in the trees to the right of the building made her twist to take a closer look. Her arrow flew when she saw the tip of a musket point toward a copse of trees where Ethan and Lando hid. A man fell from the tree, an arrow in his shoulder. When he tried to roll away, Jamie appeared out of nowhere and slit the man's throat.
At the same time, Lando moved out of the trees behind another guard who had emerged from the left side of the building, his musket moving from side to side searching for the enemy. The guard barely turned before Lando grabbed him and stabbed him through the neck with his dagger.
AJ stared at the man as he dropped to the ground. She might not be able to deliver the death strike herself, but the fact the rest of her team could with such dispassion didn't faze her.
Not anymore.
One more guard was out there somewhere.
A light gurgle came from their right before Fitz stood, the unfortunate guard at his feet. A spray of blood soaked the front of his leather tunic, more blood dripped from his broadsword. The weapon was a surprising choice for someone of shorter stature but Fitz's muscle-bound chest and arms handled it efficiently.
They waited another five minutes before AJ nodded to Beckworth. He whistled a dove call before they both scrambled down the tree. The team covered the thirty yards to the door in seconds. Jamie and Fitz took a position to the left of the door while the remaining four lined up on the right side.
On a silent count of three, Jamie reached for the door and yanked it open.
Baywood, Oregon - Current Day - About one week earlier
Wind chimes rattled as a cold wind blew in, chased by dark, threatening clouds. Rain would soon lash out. AJ drew the heavy blanket closer, relishing the numbness in her cheeks and hands.
"You should make her come in." Her mother's anguished, hushed voice filtered out through the open window, adding to AJ's heavy heart. Helen hated to see her children suffer. What mother didn't?
"She'll come in when she's ready." Adam's reassuring voice would do little to ease their mother's worry.
"I've made coffee." Stella's voice boomed from the kitchen almost making AJ smile.
Almost.
"She's been like this for a week," Helen crooned. Then footsteps faded away.
When AJ heard nothing more but the crash of the tempestuous waves and the frenzied cries of the seagulls, she closed her eyes. A single tear traveled a lonely path down her cheek, and she let the wind dry it.
Some days, time had no meaning when she did nothing but watch the sea and clouds continue their march toward shore. She considered going into the house but didn't have the energy or desire to rise. Her limbs weighed her down, heavy as stones.
The French doors opened and someone stepped outside. "I'll give you fifteen more minutes, then I'll carry you in whether you're ready or not." Ethan Hugh's tone brooked no argument. When AJ didn't respond, the door closed.
"How's Maire?" Stella sounded close, probably staring out the window at AJ. If AJ knew her friend, Stella would want to shake her. That made AJ almost smile again.
The group had either been silent while AJ lost herself in the coming storm or they had returned from wherever they'd gone because the conversation picked up.
"She's almost as unresponsive as AJ." Ethan sounded tired, unable to do anything to help the women who suffered from Finn's disappearance. "When she's not going through her translations for the hundredth time, or locked in a room with AJ talking about who knows what, she sleeps on the new couch I bought. She won't sleep anywhere else. She stares out to sea, just like AJ."
"It's been a week," Adam said.
AJ tuned them out. She couldn't listen anymore. She knew exactly how long it had been—down to the minute. A week here meant almost three months in the eighteenth century. No one understood the shift in time. She snorted. No one really understood how the druid stones worked at all. The incantations used with the stones to create the fog that took people through time had been guess work from the start. Only Maire, Finn's sister, with the help of Sebastian, a French monk, were able to translate the druid's writing in The Book of Stones. The book explained how the stones had been created on an eclipse-darkened night, centuries ago, during a freak lightning storm. Talk about a perfect storm. The book also explained how the druids had created the silver torc to keep the six stones together, amplifying the power of each stone. The problem was that the book had been written in ancient Celtic, and there were very few people who could piece the language together. To make it more difficult, the druids had written in a secret code, hiding the individual words of the translations throughout the text.
Maire had deciphered the original incantations and modified them, making the time travel more reliable—to a point. They couldn't select a specific time or place to go, nor were they certain where they'd arrive when they traveled back in time. Though they had traveled enough times to have a decent guess.
Only five days had passed when AJ returned with Ethan and Maire, though she had spent almost two months in the eighteenth century. Where Finn had been left behind, with no one knowing what happened to him. Her heart clenched as the wind whipped, banging a bird feeder against a post. The early storm, unusual for the dog days of summer, matched her raging anger and deep, unfathomable ache of loss.
Someone had betrayed them. That was the only explanation. Ethan assumed it had been Beckworth, but that made no sense to AJ. Beckworth had fabricated situations in the past, and his earlier actions while working for the Duke of Dunsmore hadn't made him any friends. AJ was convinced Beckworth acted out of survival mode. But had he? His hatred for Reginald, his half brother and full heir to the duke, was real. She was positive about that. And everyone despised Dugan, originally the duke's right-hand thug and now Reginald's man-at-arms.
She considered their last evening at Waverly Manor in England. Their team had sneaked into Reginald's masquerade ball to steal a second book that spoke of the stones. The druid's book, referred to as The Mórdha Stone Grimoire, had been written by a druid who had traveled through time. The team believed the man to be the druid chieftain who had written a journal of his time jump experience and continued experiments to repeat his time travel. This book, also written in ancient Celtic, was thought by some to be the ravings of a crazed man.
At some point during the party, Dugan's men had cornered the team. AJ, Ethan, and Maire had escaped through the fog, returning to present day. They had no idea if anyone else made it out. Maire wouldn't have if Finn hadn't changed the plan at the last minute, forcing Maire to take the book and run for the carriage. Had Finn suspected Beckworth? And why hadn't Finn used the individual stone he'd carried to return to the present? If he'd lost it or someone had taken it, Finn would have found his way to France to get another stone from Sebastian. He should have been able to accomplish the trip to France in the three months that elapsed in the earlier century. But he hadn't. No matter how she looked at it, there were only two possibilities. He was either dead or captured.
She ran her fingers over the Celtic etchings of her wedding band that was still bound to the necklace and Heart Stone. When she closed her eyes, she could hear his voice on the wind, see his lopsided grin, a longing in his emerald green eyes, and a lilt on his tongue.
"I'll always come for you, sweet lass."
One week. It seemed like months.
The vibration of her phone jarred her from her contemplation. She opened her blanket to peer down at the glow from the phone resting on her lap.
It was a short text.
"It's time."
&
nbsp; AJ blew out a long breath. Finally.
She pushed herself out of the Adirondack chair, hugging the blanket close, the edges dragging on the ground behind her as she entered the house. The group stared at her, probably waiting for her to say something, but she ignored them as she passed the dining table. She marched up the stairs and dropped the blanket on the floor of her bedroom. After changing to a warmer sweater and getting her tangled hair in order, she ran down the stairs, grabbed her purse, and was shutting the front door when she heard Stella's voice call out, "Where are you going?"
She was in her car, screeching out of the parking lot of the inn by the time the front door opened. Through the rearview mirror, she caught a glimpse of everyone standing on the porch before she made the first turn up the tree-lined drive.
Ethan cursed under his breath as AJ sped away. He should follow her, having a fairly good idea where she was going. When he turned to ask Stella's opinion, she'd already gone back inside. Only Adam remained on the porch.
"Come in, Ethan. We need to talk." Adam patted his shoulder then waited at the open door.
"I need some time, Adam." Ethan dropped into one of the porch chairs and stared at the empty drive.
Adam shuffled his feet but after a long sigh, returned inside.
Ethan pulled his jacket closer, thankful the house blocked the wind. He shook his head and stared at the stand of trees across the parking lot. He'd anticipated this moment since their last jump and Finn hadn't followed. He'd known for sure when Finn hadn't arrived the next morning. Would they ever be safe from the stones and those blasted books? Maire and AJ thought he didn't want to go back. That he would just leave Finn for whatever fate had decided.
They should know him better than that, but when he considered his mood this last week, he understood how his actions appeared. No matter how he broke it down, Maire would have to go with them, and he had no idea how to keep her safe. He couldn't follow her everywhere she went for the unforeseeable future. It would grate on her and their relationship.
He huddled deeper into his jacket, the cold wind seeping into his bones. His life had been so simple living with the earl. It was a lonely life. He'd never thought he'd find a woman to share his life. Had never looked for one. The first time he stepped through the fog, he never expected to return home. Now home was anywhere Maire was. And being Finn's sister, Maire would never rest until they found Finn. And he would never let AJ go back alone.
There had only been one option, and he would have to wrestle with his own fears. She might chafe at his actions, but once they stepped through the fog, Maire will have a permanent bodyguard. And if it strains what they have together—so be it. Her safety was more important than his happiness.
He stared at the drive for another hour before the chill drove him back inside. When he trudged back to the kitchen, Stella stood in front of the coffee pot, bouncing with impatience as she waited for the final drips to finish. She glanced at him, her brows drawn down, her expression unsure. When he nodded, the worry lines disappeared, and she returned her vigilance to the coffeemaker.
Helen, who looked pale and withdrawn, struggled to smile. She looked nothing like the sparkling person she'd been at her birthday party which, in this timeline, had been only a week ago. Stella refilled the mugs before sitting next to Helen, patting the older woman's hand. Helen immediately grasped the proffered hand, and studied Ethan, as if she was waiting for the worst possible news.
Adam stood in front of the bay window but returned to his chair when he noticed Ethan had returned.
"Why do I feel you've been planning something behind my back?" Ethan asked as he lifted his cup and tasted the fresh brew. He gazed at the three of them over the top of his mug as they huddled around the table.
"Because you're a smart man." Stella's other hand fidgeted, and she kept glancing at the paper napkins on the table.
Ethan forced back a grin. She was dying to release Helen's grip and return to making her little birds.
"It's not that we've gone behind your back, per se," Adam started.
Ethan waved him off. "It's because I've been too stubborn to listen, is that it?" When no one suggested otherwise, he blew out a sigh. "It's not that I don't want to do something about Finn. I just wanted to give him time to find his own way back."
"So that you wouldn't have to go get him?" Adam asked.
Ethan sat back, shocked at the truth of what they thought of him. "There's never been a question of whether or not Maire and I would return."
Adam and Stella exchanged glances.
"That's not the impression we got from your brooding." Stella hunched forward, her intent gaze trying to read some underlying meaning in his response.
"Maire and I don't belong here." He brushed his hair back, unwilling to voice his true fear. He wasn't superstitious, but he couldn't help believing if he shared his concern for Maire out loud, something horrible was doomed to happen. "I didn't want AJ going back." He shrugged. "I'd hoped Finn would have found a way home on his own. Since he hasn't…"
No one questioned what he was thinking. They'd all known, though no one would say it out loud.
"AJ is stronger than she looks." Helen's calm voice surprised him, but apparently not the other two, who simply nodded in agreement. Helen's cool brown gaze held a steel edge he hadn't expected nor seen until now. "I know something of loss. As much as it still crushes me to remember the day the state trooper came to my door to tell me about Joseph. As horrible as his death was, I had a body to bury. He was there for me to say goodbye." A tear slipped down her face. "It was the hardest thing I'd ever done, burying my husband. But something I had to live through." She glanced at Adam. "For my family."
She released Stella's hand and leaned toward Ethan. "All AJ has been left with is a mystery. Is Finn alive and, for some reason, unable to find his way home? Or is he dead? As much as I don't want her to leave, knowing she may never return…" She paused when her voice hitched and she blinked away the tears. "His loss will haunt her. She'll eventually return to her life, but she'll forever be watching the sea, wondering if her husband will return."
As much as he wanted to argue, he knew Helen was right. Had always known as each day turned to the next and the fog never appeared.
"She'll end up like that old geezer who built the McDowell house. Staring out to sea, quietly going mad." Stella seemed calmer, her hands now free to fold her origami figures.
"Just like the old fool that lived here at the inn, closed off in the upper rooms, still watching for Japanese Zeros long after the war had ended." Adam added. "Only instead of the Zero's, she'll be watching for the fog like we've been doing all week."
"Sometimes I think love isn't worth the pain." Ethan hadn't meant to say the words out loud but he couldn't stop the fear that clamped a cold hand over his heart and squeezed until he could barely breathe. He knew they had to go back, knew Maire and he didn't belong in this time. But Maire's knowledge made her vulnerable.
"Of course it is." Helen barked, waking Ethan out of his stupor. "It's everything—pain, happiness, irritation, bliss, anger, and passion. You can't have just one side of love. It simply doesn't work that way."
Ethan gave her a sad smile. "I know. I think I've felt every one of those emotions since I've known Maire." He moved his coffee cup out of the way and placed his elbows on the table. He hesitated, then decided to tell them the whole story. It was something he should have shared with them as soon as they'd returned, but their focus had been on AJ and Maire. "We haven't told you everything about that evening, other than we had to flee without Finn." He picked up his cup again, more to have something to do with his hands than needing any more coffee. "We'd been surrounded. Dugan's men had been waiting for us."
"Someone betrayed you?" Adam appeared startled.
Ethan nodded. "It's the only explanation."
"Beckworth?"
Ethan shrugged. "Unknown but likely. We had a tight team. Everyone had worked together before. The only team mem
bers we didn't know well were the people Beckworth brought in."
"Could it have been someone from that other man…what was his name? Hensley?" Stella laid down the origami, her focus solely on this new information.
"I don't see how." Ethan ran a hand through his hair, then sat back. This particular topic had been just as frustrating as wondering what had happened to Finn. "Hensley's men didn't arrive until the day before the ball. They were told the basics, but none of the details."
"You had mentioned earlier that Dugan's men knew where to find the coach. Is it possible someone spotted it being driven someplace it shouldn't have gone and just suspected something was up?" Adam asked.
Ethan studied Adam. He kept forgetting Adam was a lawyer with a logical mind that would have come in handy when they'd planned their assault on Waverly. "I supposed anything is possible. But the guards were all over the manor, searching rooms." He stopped, remembering something Maire had told him when she first found Ethan and AJ running from the manor.
"Tell us." Stella said, obviously recognizing he'd remembered something.
"It was when Maire ran into us and told us the coach had been compromised. I'd asked where everyone else was. She said Finn had changed plans. He decided it would be better if they split up. He worried about someone catching them with both the book and the stone he carried. So he told Maire to leave the manor a different way and meet us at the carriage. If that was impossible, she was to find Eleanor and hide until it was safe to leave."
"And what does that tell us?" Adam asked.
"If Beckworth was the one who betrayed us, why would he be okay with Maire leaving when both she and the book were within his grasp?"
"My thoughts exactly," AJ said as she marched to the table and sat down several paper bags infused with tasty aromas.
For a moment, everyone appeared startled. They had been so engrossed in Ethan's story, no one heard the car arrive, the front door, or the rustling bags.
