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The thought of Ellie laughing in the rain did things to him, and he couldn’t afford to be any more affected than he already was. He looked again out the window, his sight drawn to the bolt of lightning as it dropped from the sky. Deafening silence surrounded the cottage.

“That looked…not right.” James’s eyes were trained on the same spot. “It looked an awful lot like when Aidan came to town.”

If they stayed on the path, they’ll be fine.

A moment passed, and Colin remained silent, wishing the women out of the forest.

They’ll be back any moment.

The seconds ticked by, and his concern grew. It was probably Reilly , he reasoned. Although he didn’t use storms to time travel. He had other ways. But maybe he needed to use that way to get back to Bri.

His thoughts swirling, he felt an inordinate amount of relief swamp him when a figure emerged from the trees.

And, just as quickly, it turned to dread.

He bolted to Reilly’s room, James on his heels, and they both threw off their clothes.

They each pulled on a white linen tunic, woolen hose, and leather shoes.

Colin flipped open the safe in the small closet and they quickly strapped dirks to their calves, thighs, waist and arms. He pulled his sword from the back of the safe, grabbed the folded red and yellow cloth from the bottom, and banged out of the house, James on his heels, running full speed towards the man who met them halfway.

“Everyone accounted for?” Reilly demanded as Colin approached. “The light—”

“We thought it was you,” Colin replied tersely .

“And I thought it was you.” Reilly looked over his shoulder.

“Ellie and Gwen went for a walk.” James shoved the last dirk into his boot and straightened.

Reilly glanced back at the woods, assessing. “If they stayed on the path, they wouldn’t have been touched by the time shift.”

“I suggest we tread down that path and find out where they are,” Colin agreed, his heart racing.

“And who’s showed up in our neck of the woods,” James agreed solemnly.

They turned as one and started towards the forest. “From your attire, I’m thinking you believe they’re not where they’re supposed to be.” Reilly adjusted the sword on his back.

“As you’re standing here and not in Bri’s castle, I’m thinking you’re not where you’re supposed to be, either.”

“Aye. I forgot to take the presents for the wee ones, so I turned back.”

James snorted and adjusted his own léine. “You’re such a softie, O’Malley.”

“Only for the bairns, O’Rourke.”

“Are they still bairns in their late teens?”

“She always gets something. It’s tradition now.”

They entered the forest and grew silent. The clearly marked path was less than a mile long, and had, centuries ago, been deemed a safe place for travelers. But the people who came out of this forest—or went in and never came out—could be exactly the opposite of safe.

Especially if those people were women, dressed in modern clothes, who ended up in a time where superstitions ruled the land, and people would rather drown a suspicious person than talk to her.

Colin shuddered and hurried onward. Within minutes, they came out on the other side, with no trace of either Ellie or Gwen .

Wordlessly, they turned around and headed back in, only to be waylaid by a camera-toting man dressed in camouflage.

He gave them a polite nod before doing a double take at Colin.

He quickly raised his camera, but before he could get a shot, Reilly knocked the device out of his hands and pinned the man against a tree.

“Sorry, mate, but we don’t do photo ops,” Reilly snarled.

Colin picked up the camera. “If you want this back, you’ll tell me why you’re out here.”

The man, terrified, darted his gaze between the two men. “I just wanted a picture, lads!”

“Do we look like lads to you?” Reilly pressed him a little harder into the tree, and the man shook his head quickly, realizing that he had just angered three very large, heavily armed men.

Colin pressed a couple of buttons on the camera and, using the directions on the small screen, scrolled through the last few images. His fury grew with each shot of the surprised, then horrified, women.

“You chased them,” Colin snapped, deleting the pictures. “You chased two defenseless women into the forest, just to get a damn picture? How the hell do you sleep at night, you worthless—”

“Which way did they go?” Reilly interrupted. The man, shaking and red faced, pointed to his left, and Reilly dropped him, hard, to the ground. “If I ever see you on this land again, you will absolutely wish you’d chosen a different career path.”

Meanwhile, James had fully deleted the images, crushed the memory card against a nearby stump, and threw the camera against a tree. The camera broke into several pieces. The photographer was smart enough not to say a word, though his eyes looked ready to pop out of his face.

They didn’t bother to look back, but instead began to track the women.

Broken twigs and branches, flattened bushes, even a few footprints from the women’s sneakers—all signs led them on to a sudden, unnatural space between four trees.

Between each tree lay a log, creating a near-perfect square in the center of the forest.

Hail littered the ground, as did multiple sneaker tracks.

Colin groaned and dropped his satchel, then leaned against one of the trees. “Damn it! How are we going to find them?”

Deep in thought, Reilly didn’t seem to hear him. Instead, he paced the perimeter, his eyes searching for something. His head snapped up, and he strode to Colin.

“Your promise.”

Colin blinked. “What?”

Reilly rustled in Colin’s bag and pulled out the red and gold cloth. “Put your léine on, O’Rourke, and tell me if this doesn’t makes sense. You made a promise to keep Eleanor safe. You, as her Protector and soul mate, gave the promise without any restrictions or selfish motives. Correct?”

As he wrapped the complicated folds of the léine, Colin’s muffled, outraged reply was unintelligible.

James cut in calmly, “Yes, yes, we know she’s not your mate. You’ve been vocal enough about it.”

Reilly held Colin’s sword as he tied the knots in the léine. “Whether you like it or not, you’re connected to her more than any other person. If she is indeed your mate, you’ll be able to get to her.”

Colin’s shoulders tensed. “Let’s get going. So much for sleeping in my own bed tonight.”

Reilly paused and closed his eyes for a moment, holding up his hand for silence. “Did you try to leave?”

Colin frowned. “I’m supposed to be flying out tonight.”

Reilly blew out an aggravated breath. “I tried to tell you, O’Rourke. If you weren’t connected, you’d be able to travel freely and leave her side without repercussions . Yet here we stand. ”

“You were already going back, though,” Colin pointed out. “Where, or when, do you think they’ve gone?”

Reilly shrugged. “You lead the way, cousin. I’ll follow you wherever the Fates take you, but I can’t promise I’ll stay, as my first duty this time is to Claire.”

“I don’t know where to direct my travel,” Colin replied tersely. He’d traveled without Reilly before, but always with a destination in mind, and always at sunset via Dowth, the monolithic structure not far from Reilly’s cottage. The sky around them was darkened to well past sunset.

Reilly raised his brow, and Colin laughed humorlessly. “I thought that was reserved for you.”

Reilly adjusted his sword and leveled a look at Colin.

“I can use it freely, aye. But for all of the Protectors, it’s reserved for times of great need.

” He paused. “Need such as your soul mate being lost somewhere in time.” He held Colin’s surprised stare.

“Do it, O’Rourke. I’ll ensure James and I follow. ”

Colin’s chest constricted even further, and without another word, he held out his right hand, fingers splayed, and murmured a word long forgotten in a dead language.

And with that, they were gone.

The rain began in earnest, soaking the three souls standing in the poor shelter of a tree. Ellie and Gwen huddled together for warmth, and young Aidan merely waited, confident that someone would be along from the castle soon.

“Let’s just go back,” Gwen suggested through chattering teeth. “This is all well and good, but I don’t want to stand around just to play some game. I also don’t want to get sick.”

Ellie nodded in affirmation, her own jaw clenched so as to minimize the chattering. “The forest isn’t that big.”

Aidan’s eyes grew huge. “Oh, but it is! It’s ten leagues to the nearest village to the east, and at least that many times to the south.”

Ellie frowned. She wasn’t the best with directions, but she knew Reilly’s cottage was only a mile from the sea…to the east. And while she and Gwen had traveled some distance, there was no way they could’ve walked thirty miles.

“No matter, here they come now.”

They watched as a man and woman rode out of the castle on horseback, garments flowing, a bevy of riders in tow.

“That’d be the Laird MacWilliam, my sire,” Aidan said proudly. His face fell a little. “And my sister, Claire.”

“Who are the rest of them?” Gwen asked, peering through the rain at the oncoming party.

Aidan slanted her a look. “Their guard?” he responded, delivered in a, “Well, duh!” tone.

The man and young woman dismounted a few feet away, and Aidan stepped out of the trees. He said something in Gaelic to the man, then, to the woman in English, “They speak Mama’s tongue.”

The young woman’s head swung to them, and she quickly took in their appearance while the man bowed low. He spoke first. “Welcome, travelers. My name is Laird MacWilliam. Care you come to our home and warm yourselves by our fire?”

“Um…”