Page 27

A idan knew he wouldn’t make it to MacDermott in time to stop another shot, but he did know that he could melt into the unnaturally thick mist around him in an instant. Decision made, he took a swift step backward and listened for which way Emma ran.

The snapping of branches awakened his long-dormant tracking instincts.

She went north.

“You think to have her?” MacDermott sneered through the fog, his voice clear. “You know she’s mine, MacWilliam. I’ll find her, or die trying. Your money can’t protect her forever.”

Perhaps not , Aidan thought grimly. But my sword will.

He sent a prayer flying, and headed in the same direction he heard Reilly’s low voice a moment before. MacDermott’s insults were loud, and his threats were pathetic, but Aidan wasn’t stupid. The man had a gun, and a gun won out over a sword every time.

When he saw Emma heading into the forest, his heart nearly stopped.

Aside from the danger MacDermott presented, and despite no trace of the man when he searched the forest last night, Reilly’s woods were notoriously finicky; the time gates located deep in its thickets produced people from all different time periods.

“It’s safe for me,” Reilly had explained once, “for I’m a Protector.

I can make the time gate work as I need it.

If you try to travel through my forest, there’s no telling where you’d end up, MacWilliam.

And I’m not going to track you down through the ages, so you’ll have to just live where you lie. ”

After meeting some of the shell-shocked travelers who ended up at O’Malley’s dinner table, Aidan believed him.

MacDermott’s slurs and threats faded behind him, leaving Aidan with only the sound of his own breathing.

Where is she? He reached for the sword on his back, comforted by the feel of steel in his hand, and strained to hear anything.

When nothing reached his ears, he carried on, hoping he would be able to find her before she landed in someone’s dungeon.

Emma gripped Reilly’s hand so tightly she worried she might cut off his circulation. But he didn’t seem at all bothered by the fact that she was squeezing it as though it were her lifeline.

Which it was, but that was beside the point.

She noticed his clothing again. The léine wrapped around a really nice tunic, made of what looked like linen. And it had to be handmade, too, for his shoulders were larger than a linebacker’s, and his arms…huge wasn’t a big enough word.

She was glad he was on her side.

He pulled her alongside a tree and glanced around. His shoulders relaxed and he gently pried her fingers from his own .

“He’s gone, lass. All’s well.”

“Aidan’s still with him,” she replied, her voice as shaky as her hands. “He had a gun.”

“I saw. And there were no other gunshots, so we can assume your Aidan is well on his way to us.”

“How does he know where we are, though?” she asked, her teeth chattering from nerves.

Ben had pointed a gun in her face. He had fired it at her.

She began to shake in earnest.

“Aidan spent most of his youth tracking food for his clan. Hold it together, Emma. Aidan will find us, then all will be well.”

“Ben found me. He found me in a remote part of Ireland, where I’ve been for over a month, without any online presence or cell phone or general contact with the outside world.” She drew a shuddering breath. “How can you say all will be well?”

He patted her hand reassuringly. “Haven’t you ever believed in Fate?”

“Maybe when I was young and na?ve,” she muttered. If Fate was a real thing, it was cruel, to be sure.

“Trust in it,” he advised. He cocked his head as if listening to something, and Emma stiffened, prepared to run again if Ben burst into the small clearing.

However, it was Aidan who appeared, looking for all the world as though he were out for a morning stroll in the forest. She immediately broke away from Reilly and launched herself at him.

“Easy,” he murmured, catching her. “Hey, there’s no need to panic. We’re both fine.”

“Dead?” Reilly asked gravely.

“Nay. I had only my sword. To fight him was a fool’s errand,” Aidan replied, just as seriously. “We’ll have to think about how he found us later. For now, we have to get Emma to safety. ”

“We can’t go back to the house,” Reilly pointed out.

Emma extracted herself from Aidan’s arms as the reality fully sank in.

“He’ll always find me,” she whispered. “He won’t stop until I’m dead. I have nowhere to go.”

“Nay,” Aidan said slowly. He looked at Reilly meaningfully. “There is one place he can’t reach you.”

Reilly groaned. “I’ll be knee-deep in manure if I bring you both with me.”

“Her life is in the balance,” Aidan pointed out.

“Where do you want to go?” she asked. “Because if it saves my life, I’m in.”

Reilly’s gaze sharpened. “Are you absolutely certain about that?”

She nodded vigorously. She didn’t want to die. She wanted a safe place where she could regroup and think through her options for getting away from Ben.

Reilly and Aidan shared a look, then some sort of silent man-communication passed between them.

Emma didn’t bother trying to read into it; man-speak was beyond her under the best of circumstances.

Trying to decipher it while on the run from a man with a gun who wanted to use it on her? She had bigger things to worry about.

“All right,” Reilly finally muttered. Aidan grinned, and Emma just tugged on both their hands.

“Well then, let’s get going! Come on!”

Aidan and Emma broke from Reilly, who managed to get back to the house. He met them about a mile out from his side of the forest, then drove them the half hour to the site of Dowth. As each minute dragged on, Aidan’s anticipation and anxiety grew.

Aidan slid his final dirk inside his boot, steeling himself for what lay ahead. Aside from the dangers of the travel itself, he was concerned about ambush attacks, finding food, and getting to safety.

But most of all, he was concerned he wouldn’t be able to get Emma back to the twenty-first century.

Cian sat in the front seat, his own posture vigilant. Aidan knew that beneath his léine, like his own, all sorts of weaponry lay strapped against Cian.

Emma accepted their change of dress without comment, though Aidan knew she was curious.

However, fear overrode curiosity, so she held her tongue when Reilly pulled up in full medieval garb, and Cian as well.

She averted her eyes as he changed his own clothes and awkwardly wrapped the léine in the tight space of the moving vehicle.

Despite being a quiet man, Cian remained faithful to him and the MacWilliam clan. Aidan prayed for a hero’s welcome for him when they returned. After swearing loyalty to first Nick, then Aidan, the man stuck by his word.

Emma sat beside him, her hands clasped in her lap as her eyes devoured the landscape.

He watched as she tucked a stray piece of her blonde hair behind her ear, and felt the heavy burden of his decision.

He knew he was keeping her alive by anchoring her to his side, but he also knew that came at a price, and she had no idea how much it might cost her.

She might wish herself dead after seeing him in his natural environment of cold, war, and hunger.

He glanced down at his satchel on the floor.

Emma declared it a nice accessory when she saw it, but it held much more than just visual value.

Food and gold were tucked inside—the former he expected to get them through the first couple nights, and the latter to get them out of a friendly dungeon.

It also held a change of clothing for her, which would keep her from burning at a stake.

The sword in the trunk, he hoped, would be the backup plan .

Backup plans, he was beginning to notice, were used more often than the primary ones.

“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” Emma asked him softly, so Reilly and Cian couldn’t hear her. “You’re very quiet.”

Aidan nodded, but didn’t answer. After a moment, she patted his knee and turned to look out the window.

He caught her hand before she pulled it away, and held it in place. She looked at his hand, then into his eyes, and a shy smile crept across her face. She gave him a small, reassuring squeeze.

A tiny part of his soul breathed a sigh of relief.

“So, Emma, what’s your favorite thing about the Middle Ages?” Reilly asked, glancing at her in the rearview mirror.

“Please don’t say courtly love,” Cian grumbled from the front seat.

She shrugged. “No, Cian, although I’m sure that was one of the lovelier parts. And it was more England than Ireland, after all. I think the most fascinating thing was how clans worked. It seems like, from everything that’s published, clans only banded together in times of war.”

“Not all clans,” Aidan replied, his voice rough. He cleared his throat. “Some lived and died for each other, in battle or out.”

“Fealty?” she asked.

“Family,” he corrected.

She glanced at Reilly, then Cian. “Like you three? And Colin?”

Reilly parked the car in a nondescript dirt lot. He turned, noted Emma’s hand in Aidan’s. “Aye. Like us.”

Aidan took a breath. “Are you ready for this?”

Uncertainty clouded her eyes, but she said, “I am if you are. I need some space to think.”

Cian’s face remained serious. “You didn’t tell her where we’re going. ”

Emma pulled her hand away from Aidan’s quickly. “As long as it’s away from Ben, I’m fine with that. I just don’t want to spend the rest of my life running.”

“You’ll be safe with us,” Reilly replied. “Aidan? Care to elaborate?”

Aidan cleared his throat again, then coughed. “Nay. ” He gave a nod to Reilly and Cian, who exited the vehicle. When Emma made to open her door, Aidan grabbed her hand again.

“You’re beginning to freak me out a little,” she admitted.

The fear in her voice ate at him; her bravado began to crumble. Without another thought, he leaned forward and kissed her hard. She was shocked enough that she didn’t respond before he quickly pulled away.

“I’m taking you to my home. If we’re separated along the way, know that Cian and O’Malley both would give their lives for yours.”

“I hate that it might come to that. They owe me nothing,” she whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

“You’re one of us now, Emma. You’re part of the clan.”

“I’m not that important,” she said, her voice shaky.

Aidan tipped her chin up, using his thumb to wipe away the tear that escaped. “You are, Emma. Come with me. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

Emma looked out the window at the forest at the edge of the parking lot. “It’s a big promise to make, Aidan.”

“It’s more than a promise, Emmaline. I vow it.”

She nodded once. “I trust you.”

“And the others,” Aidan replied, regretfully letting go of her hand. He grabbed the satchel and opened his door. Reilly opened hers, and Aidan added, “We all vow it.”

Reilly helped her out of the SUV and handed her a smaller satchel of her own. “Don’t doubt it for a moment.”

“Aye, lass, you’ve my life for yours as well,” Cian added, securing his sword to his back .

Emma looked overwhelmed, and Aidan walked around the car. He took her hand and saw fear and trust mingling in her eyes.

“ Thank you seems so inadequate,” she said with difficulty. She tightened her fingers around his. “But it’s all I have. So thanks. And I’m ready. Let’s go.”

Reilly slapped Aidan on the back. “Well done, lad. Glad you told her.”

Aidan cringed a little, but didn’t correct Reilly’s assumption.

Trees surrounded them on all sides; while Dowth itself was in the middle of an open clearing, they’d parked far enough away that the police wouldn’t ticket Reilly’s car for an overnight stay.

Or multiple nights’ stay.

“I thought your house was about an hour’s drive away?” Emma asked, furrowing her brow.

Reilly groaned. “Damn it, MacWilliam! You didn’t tell her!”

“She’ll see for herself,” Aidan answered.

There was a rustle in the trees, and he tensed. He made eye contact with Reilly, and they picked up their pace.

They burst into the clearing, and Aidan didn’t pause. He charged toward the rise in the grass before them, stopping short in front of a long, thin crack in the stone. He didn’t let go of Emma’s hand and moved out of the way for Reilly.

“You’ll have to hold tight to her,” Reilly said.

Not a problem , Aidan thought. Her eyes were wide, and he knew she could feel the tension around the three men.

“I’m confused,” Emma began.

Reilly placed his hands on either side of the crack and said, in a voice not his own, “ De réir an cumhacht ag an gods, ordaímse duit a oscailt le haghaidh dom, an Protector .”

By the power of the gods, I command you to open for me, the Protector .

The wall silently opened wide, and began to close almost immediately.

They all made it inside, Aidan dragging a shell-shocked Emma, and then hurried down a nearly black, suffocating, tight corridor.

Suddenly, the narrow passageway opened up, and they strode into the small round chamber, hidden from the rest of the structure.

A tiny window, covered by the long grass outside it, was the only source of light.

Reilly reached through and pushed down the foliage so they could see the horizon.

Emma looked at Reilly, then Aidan, then Cian. “How did you do that?”

Reilly rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Honestly, lad, just tell her the truth before I do.”

“You live in a dirt mound, opened by some voice command control thing?” Emma guessed. “I mean, I’ve heard the term ‘going off the grid,’ but I didn’t think you were that type…”

“There’s more,” Aidan said, his voice quiet. “This isn’t my home. It’s more like a portal to my home.”

“Jesus, Aidan, how much money do you have?” she exclaimed, then clapped a hand over her mouth as she turned scarlet.

“I’m sorry. That was rude. What I meant to say was: Wow, Aidan, that’s really impressive.

It seems awfully expensive to build underground portals throughout Ireland, just to get to your home undetected. ”

Reilly snickered, but Cian remained on alert, glancing out the little window. “The sun’s rising,” he said solemnly.

“I’ll explain soon,” Aidan promised. He looked deep into her eyes. “Trust me.”

She searched his gaze, then gave a tiny, silent nod.

They stood together silently and a moment later, the rising sun’s rays crept into the room.

Reilly placed a hand on Cian and Aidan, and Aidan drew Emma to him quickly, sweeping her tightly into his arms. The cave flooded with the full light of the sun.

Emma gripped Aidan’s neck, and he tightened his hold on her as the world around them exploded into shards of light.