Page 32 of Time of the Warlord (Stones of Scotland #5)

S adie had been fired from her job, of course. She went to collect her belongings from the office, and found herself faced with a glaring Iain.

“Good riddance,” he muttered as she left. She just glared at him in return.

She’d worked so hard to get this job, but walking out of the newspaper office for the last time felt surprisingly uplifting. Perhaps she should have done this a long time ago. If only she’d been able to look past her obsession with Norah’s disappearance. Still, that had all worked out for the best, hadn’t it? She’d managed to find Norah and rescue her from the clutches of those time travelers. Everything was coming to a satisfying happy ending.

Except Norah did not come back.

Sadie tried to convince herself that Norah liked it in the past. That was what she’d told her mother, after all. But as each day passed with no sign of Norah, Sadie became more and more anxious. Surely Bethany would at least have sent word to them, somehow. Norah wouldn’t leave her family to suffer like this.

There was no point in worrying, Sadie told herself. She couldn’t do anything to find Norah if her sister didn’t want to be found. So, she threw herself into finding a new job. She went out for the evening with a few old schoolfriends, and even let them set her up on a blind date.

“You’ll love him,” Katie insisted, and Sadie smiled wanly. She doubted this man would be anywhere near as impressive as Ciaran.

She was tempted to return to Edmondson’s laboratory and demand answers. But what would that achieve?

She went on the date. The man turned out to be called Sam, and he was charming enough. Conversation flowed easily, and Sadie even found herself admiring his handsome good looks. But he seemed too small in comparison to Ciaran, and Sadie couldn’t stop thinking of tangled hair and fierce eyes. She said a cheerful farewell to Sam at the end of the night, and knew she would never see him again.

Trudging the last of the way home, Sadie finally admitted it to herself. She’d fallen head over heels in love with Ciaran, despite all the ways they didn’t trust each other. What an idiot she’d been. This should never have happened.

“How was the date?” her housemate asked as Sadie slipped past the living room.

Sadie could only shrug.

“It was alright,” she said, and climbed the stairs up to her bedroom.

She’d only spent the first night back at her parents’ house. Since then, she’d been back home in the house she rented with two other women. It wasn’t the nicest of places, but the rent was cheap, and it felt like home. Usually, at least. These days, it just felt empty. Against her will, Sadie thought of rough woolen blankets and the smell of peat fires. Had she made the wrong decision? Should she have gone with him?

No use second-guessing yourself , she thought firmly. This was the time she’d chosen, and she would have to live with that decision.

Her phone rang. She scowled down at the screen. Why would her mother be calling at this time of night? It was nearly midnight.

Suddenly nervous, Sadie answered the phone.

“Sadie, you have to come home at once,” her mother said, panicked words rattling into Sadie’s ear. “We’ve had a letter.”

“A letter? I don’t understand. What’s the emergency?”

“You have to come home,” her mother insisted, and hung up.

Sadie groaned. It was at times like this she wished she owned a car, although she hardly needed one in the center of Glasgow. She had no choice but to call for a taxi and wait the agonizing few moments for it to arrive. She gave the driver her parents’ address and clambered in, trying to figure out what on earth was going on. What kind of letter could disturb her mother so much?

Her parents answered the door before she could even ring the bell, and tugged her straight through to the living room.

“Look,” her mother said in a panic, thrusting a letter into Sadie’s hands. “I know it’s addressed to you, but when we saw it, we just had to open it. Sadie, what’s going on?”

Sadie looked down at the letter. The very envelope made her blood run cold.

Edmondson Laboratories it said in the top right-hand corner.

She should have paid them a visit after all. How had they found her parents’ address?

Hands shaking slightly, Sadie pulled the small scrap of paper out and scanned it.

We have the woman and the boy. Come to the laboratory if you wish to see them freed.

There was no other information. No signature, no time limit, no further details. All in all, it was a very odd note. And a very sinister one.

“Do they mean Norah?” Sadie’s mother said, clutching her husband’s hand.

“It seems likely,” Sadie said. “I have to go.”

“No!” her mother burst out. “We’re going to call the police and trust them to figure this out.”

“As if they won’t jump through time the second they see the police coming!”

“Sadie, promise me you won’t go there,” her mother said stubbornly. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t lose you as well.”

“The police can’t stop this,” Sadie insisted. “If they could, they would have arrested these people years ago. They’ve already got away with murder. I can’t let anything happen to Norah. Or Matthew.”

This still made no sense - how could Henry have seized Norah and Matthew? Then again, Sadie was no expert in time travel. She had no idea how it worked. Perhaps Henry was an expert at snatching people as they traveled through time. Sadie would just have to do as he told her, and pray he was feeling merciful.