She didn’t want to think about it.
They followed the two tall Scotsmen through a courtyard that looked much like the one she’d looked down on in Castle Rayne, then up a full flight of twisty stairs and into a great hall even more beautifully decorated than that of Rayne. The walls had been painted a rich cream and were covered with neat groupings of paintings. Like Rayne, the furniture sat in conversational groupings. Unlike Rayne, there were rugs on the floor beneath them, plump throw pillows, and even coffee tables with books. Other than the lack of electricity, the room could have come out of a twenty-first-century castle decorator’s book.
“Have a seat,” one of their escorts said. But they’d barely walked three steps when the boy who’d been sent to fetch Kinross returned. With him strode a tall, ruggedly handsome man with the palest eyes Julia had ever seen. His clothes were basically the same as those of his guards, but there was an air about this man that spoke of authority. And power.
A shiver of unease went through her as she feared what would happen if he realized they weren’t travelers, but thieves.
As he drew near, his pale gaze hit her and clung, his step almost faltering. She felt Talon’s arm go around her shoulders as he pulled her against him, protectively.
“I am Rourke Douglas, the Viscount Kinross,” the man said, recovering quickly. But his gaze made only a cursory glance over Talon before returning to her.
“I am Patrick O’Grady, Lord Hertford,” Talon said in that Irish accent, releasing her to make a funky bow. But the moment he straightened, his arm went right back around her and he pulled her against him. “This is my wife, Julia. We are on our way to Aberdeen, but our carriage lost a wheel and my lady is with child and in need of a decent bed for a day or two.”
The viscount dipped his head, but his gaze was still fastened on her. “From whence do ye hail, my lady?”
Julia swallowed, remembering Talon’s coaching. “The Colonies.”
His eyes narrowed. “Ye’ve had quite a journey.”
Julia nodded.
“Which colony?”
“New York.” Oh hell, was it called New York in 1688? What was it called before that? New Holland? New Amsterdam ? That was the problem with being a transplant. You never learned this stuff unless you grew up there. “That’s what we call it. It’s in New Amsterdam.” I think.
The viscount’s mouth twitched. Was he laughing at her? Those eyes of his got a strange look in them. A flicker of warmth, she thought. And something else that made little sense. Excitement.
She gave a mental groan. If he was interested in hearing all about the Colonies, she was sunk.
The viscount turned to one of his guards. “Angus, ask Brenna to meet us in the solar.”
“Aye.” The man turned and hurried away.
The viscount motioned them to follow, then led them across the Great Hall to yet another of those blasted tight, turny stairs. Talon kept firm hold of her hand as they climbed. At the first opening, Kinross exited onto a hallway and led them into another room that was as warmly decorated as the Great Hall, but on a much smaller scale.
“Your home ... your castle... is lovely,” Julia told him.
She half expected him to ignore her, but she found him watching her again with that disconcerting interest.
“Ye find it pleasing to your eye.” He nodded, as if satisfied with her answer.
An odd response.
Moments later, a woman walked into the room and stopped, staring at her much as Kinross had. She was lovely, dressed in a vibrant blue day dress that set off her auburn hair to a tee. Auburn hair that wasn’t swept up or hidden behind some mobcap or something, but hanging loose around her shoulders with distinctive, expensive layering. Like hair growing out from a good cut.
Goose bumps ran over Julia’s arms. The woman gave Kinross a startled look, then turned back to her, meeting her gaze, her eyes suddenly twinkling as if she knew all Julia’s secrets and couldn’t wait to let her know.
She strode toward Julia, thrusting out her hand in a way Julia had seen no one else do in this time. “I’m Brenna Cameron ... Douglas,” she amended with a small shake of her head, her voice ... American. “The Viscountess Kinross. But call me Brenna.”
Julia stared fully now, taking the proffered hand and shaking it numbly as her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again.
“You ... sound just like I do.”
Brenna’s face split into a grin. “I knew it! That’s a seventy-dollar haircut if I ever saw one.”
Julia just continued to stare, her head spinning. “A hundred-dollar haircut. I’m from New York.”
Brenna gave a small grimace and glanced at Talon. “Maybe we should talk in private.”
Julia let out a long, shuddering breath, feeling the weight of all the deception tumble from her shoulders to fall in a heap at her feet.
“He knows. But ...” She couldn’t wrap her head around it. “How are you here?”
The viscount came to join his wife, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. “You’re another of Hegarty’s lost bairns.”
Julia shook her head, confused. “Who’s Hegarty?” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Talon move, standing back from the small grouping, but moving fully into her line of sight. He didn’t appear nearly as relieved as she felt. If anything, he seemed more tense than before.
As she wondered at that, Brenna stepped forward and reached for her necklace, lifting it lightly between her fingers. “Where did you get this?”
The question confirmed her suspicions. “This is how I time-traveled, isn’t it?”
Brenna nodded. “Probably. You don’t remember being here as a child? In this time?”
“I wasn’t. But I think my cousin was. She’s the one who gave it to me, right after her wedding a few days ago. She wanted me to take it back to New York with me.” Julia grimaced. “She told me not to touch it before I got home, but I put it on during the drive back to Glasgow.”
Brenna winced. “Oh. Bad move. And, poof, here you are.” She cocked her head, her gaze immensely sympathetic. “So you’re here by accident.”
“Yes. But you’re not?”
Brenna shook her head. “Hegarty sent me into the future when I was five to save my life. I didn’t remember. I thought I was from your time. So when he called me home last year, it was a bit of a shock.” She shot her husband a sharp look wrapped in deep, loving layers. “Especially since no one told me I belonged here for quite a while.”
Rourke looked up and away, a flash of guilt on his face even as he stroked his wife’s hair. But when he looked down and met his wife’s gaze, his eyes were filled with as much love as Brenna’s were. “Aye, but ye forgave me.”
Brenna smiled at him, something warm and loving and private passing between them.
Rourke turned back to Julia. “Apparently Brenna wasn’t the only bairn Hegarty helped with his magic stones. The wee scamp willna say much, but he’s let slip that there were other bairns sent to the future about the same time as Brenna. Twenty years ago.”
Julia nodded. “That was my cousin Catriona. She was thirteen when she arrived out of nowhere looking like a barefoot street urchin.”
Brenna’s brows drew down. “Okay, I’m confused. If Hegarty called you back, why wasn’t he there to take the stone? Or send you home when he realized he had the wrong woman?”
Julia glanced at Talon, uncertain how to answer that. Uncertain what the right answer was. Had Hegarty called her back? Or had Talon’s ring?
She watched, dismayed, as Talon joined them with that affected walk, carrying one hand in the air. Why did he feel like he had to maintain the charade? These were friends.
Weren’t they?
It occurred to her it was only her own charade that was no longer needed. She didn’t have to pretend to be from this time. But Talon still meant to find and steal the chalice from this castle. From Brenna and her husband.
The thought settled like a stone in the pit of her stomach. H
ow could she have forgotten lying was his life?
Talon launched into a tall tale with a flare worthy of an Oscar. “I was traveling to visit my sister in Aberdeen, I was, when a leprechaun, a wee little man, popped out of thin air and told me a bonny lass would soon appear. He could not wait for her himself and bade me take her to Picktillum Castle to await his arrival. If I granted him this boon, he would share his silver with me.”
A leprechaun? She noticed that neither Brenna nor Rourke seemed surprised by the description. Wait ... hadn’t Talon told her something about a wee little man giving him his ring when he was a kid? Seriously? A leprechaun?
But okay, now she was sure the two stones were tied together in some way.
Talon nodded toward Julia, warmth in his eyes. “’ Twas a vision that appeared. The beautiful lass at my side.”
“Where’d you get the dress?” Brenna wanted to know.
Julia glanced down at the brocade gown, hoping Talon had a reasonable answer, because she was clueless. She couldn’t exactly say she ran by the mall on her way to the castle.
“’ Twas my sister’s,” Talon said with an overly dramatic sigh. “I was taking the trunk to her, but had to leave it behind when the wheel on the coach broke. Thieves will have stolen the rest by now, I’m certain.” He shrugged, his gaze going back to Julia. “But one gown was put to fine use.”
Brenna took Julia’s hand, her eyes at once excited and sad. “I’m sorry you won’t be staying. I could use a friend who doesn’t think I’m talking about archery when I say I miss Target. But you’re here now and I’d love to hear everything that’s happened since I left.”
Julia’s mind was spinning. Brenna believed Talon’s story. That he’d met Hegarty and that Hegarty intended to send her home. Every word had been a lie. And yet ...
Could the leprechaun send her home? Excitement set up a fast thrum in her veins. She looked at Talon, then back to Brenna. “What if Hegarty doesn’t come back for me?”
Brenna squeezed her hand, then released it. “We know how to get in touch with him. Old Inghinn in the village has some connection to him we don’t quite understand. But he’s told us if we ever need him, she’s the one to go to.”
This was it. The way home. All she had to do was ask them to call Hegarty for her and he’d send her home.
Her gaze flew to Talon. Though he didn’t break character, she could tell by the tightening of his jaw and the lack of a gleam in his eyes that he wasn’t pleased.
For an unguarded moment, warmth lifted inside her at the thought he might miss her. Then she remembered why he’d called her in the first place. To perform some task.
Except ... God, she was so confused. Who had really called her back here and why? Talon’s ring? Catriona’s necklace? Hegarty? Or a combination of all three?
Was she here to perform some task for Talon as he’d believed? Or had she simply, accidentally, punched Catriona’s return-trip ticket?
The viscount rescued her from the swirling whirlpool of her thoughts. “You’re welcome to stay at Picktillum as long as you wish, Julia.” He smiled. “If ye wish to delay your departure and learn a bit about the past, I’m sure Brenna would enjoy the company of someone from home.”
Brenna grinned. “You have to meet our son. He’s almost a month old, but I think he’s going to look just like his dad. I thought he was going to have blue eyes, but every day they get lighter.”
Julia smiled, unable to resist Brenna’s warmth. “I’d love to see him.”
The viscount turned to Talon. “I thank you for bringing her here. For helping Hegarty, whatever your reasons. You’re both welcome to stay until the wee blighter arrives.”
Julia noticed the difference in their invitations. Hers for as long as she wished. Talon’s only until Hegarty arrived. But if Talon noticed, and she knew he had, he didn’t react. Again he gave that ridiculous bow.
The viscount started toward the door. “Come, Hertford. We’ll allow the women time to talk.”
Julia’s gaze leaped to Talon’s, unspoken questions in her eyes. When was he going to steal the chalice? And after he did, would he leave her here, disappearing from her life once and for all? Or would he take her, too, in case he still needed her?
The gaze that met hers possessed a sharpness she couldn’t read. A promise. Or perhaps a warning for her not to betray his true mission.
She sent him back a message of her own. We need to talk. Please don’t leave me before we talk.
She knew she had to go home, but it was all happening too fast. Had she really talked to Talon alone for the last time? Had she already kissed him for the last time without knowing?
The old Julia laughed at her caustically. So what if she had? It wasn’t like she’d ever wanted him to kiss her. It wasn’t like she’d wanted him to hold her.
She didn’t need anyone in her life. She never had.
But those old, defensive thoughts no longer worked. She knew better now.
She needed someone in her life, someone to hold her. Someone to care about her.
And God help her, she wanted that someone to be Talon.
THIRTEEN
Talon stole through the passageways of Picktillum, the light from scattered oil lamps flickering on the walls, lighting his way. Julia had only recently gone to bed, but the time had come to take the chalice and leave and he’d not go before he saw her one last time.
It was her chambers he sought now.
He knew where to find the chalice. The ring had given him another vision of it during dinner, which had proved a wee bit awkward. He’d excused himself as having a headache, but Julia had understood the truth. He’d seen the unhappiness in her eyes.
All evening he’d watched her natural diffidence slowly melt beneath the friendly regard of the viscountess. She’d lit up when she’d realized Brenna was from her own time, clearly feeling a kinship with Brenna and her husband that he’d envied. He’d felt ... apart. Even jealous.
But then he’d watched the way Julia’s eyes had lit with laughter at something the viscountess said. Her sweet laughter had fallen over him like gentle rain, soaking into his heart, making his chest feel as if it were shrinking and filling at the same time, tightening until he feared his heart would soon cease to beat.
How in the name of all that was holy was he supposed to leave without her?
Yet he would not take her against her will. Even if he still needed her, dammit. She’d come to him for a purpose, and until he knew what that purpose was, he didn’t want to let her go.
He needed her.
His life would be so lonely without her.
Finding her bedchamber, he slipped inside.
The fire’s embers still burned, illuminating the small, golden-haired beauty sitting up in bed, her arms wrapped around her knees.
At the sight of him, she didn’t move, but watched him, something deep and raw in her eyes.
“I was hoping you’d come,” she said quietly, her voice tight. Unhappy. “Who are you now? Hertford or the Wizard?”
He crossed to her and slowly lowered himself onto the edge of her bed. Though he wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms, he did not touch her.
“Who do you want me to be?”
“Talon. Just Talon.” She watched him with pensive eyes. “I need to know the truth. Did Hegarty call me back? Or did you?”
“’ Twas me. ’Twas my ring.”
“But Hegarty gave you the ring all those years ago, didn’t he? The amethyst.”
“Aye.”
“And he gave Catriona the purple garnet. And Brenna the sapphire. I know Brenna was in trouble. Presumably Cat was, too, though she never said.” Her head cocked. “Why did Hegarty help you?”
Talon opened his mouth, then closed it again and rose, moving to stand before the fire. His past was just that ... past. And he’d no desire to discuss it ever again.
But a need rose past that hard lump of old misery in his chest, a need to give her a glimpse into that da
rkness. To give her something he’d never given another.
But not this. Though she claimed she wanted him to be merely Talon, she was wrong. The true Talon was a man she would not wish to know.
The truth was nothing he would ever give anyone.
“It was a bad winter,” he told her without turning around. “Hegarty’s magic helped me to survive.”
“He didn’t send you to the future?”
“There was no need to. The ring protected me.”
“Why won’t you tell Rourke and Brenna you were another of Hegarty’s bairns? Because they know Hegarty, right? And you don’t ever intend to give the ring back to him.” The censure was thick in her voice. “And because you don’t want them to know you’re the Wizard, the thief who intends to steal from them.”
The last came out harsh, cutting him. As he suspected she’d meant to.
His temper pricked. He returned to the bed to sit where he’d been moments before, and reached for the jewel that nestled between her breasts, lifting it to rest on his fingers. “You knew all along this was the true means by which you came to me, yet you never told me.”
She watched him warily. “It turned hot and started to glow right before I time-traveled. I’ve been confused about what role it played, especially after I saw the magic your ring could do. But, yes, I suspected it played a role in bringing me here. Especially when I figured out Catriona, who had given me the necklace, had probably come from this time. But I didn’t know anything for sure.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
A single brow lifted, the displeasure in her eyes sharpening. “I’d already figured out you were a mercenary in Castle Rayne under false pretenses. Looking for something you intended to steal. Why would I tell you I suspected I was wearing a powerful, magical stone? I was afraid you’d take it from me. And I’d already suspected it might be my only way home.”
Talon dropped the stone and lifted his hand to scratch his jaw with a frown. His stomach soured. “Ye think little of me.”
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