Time of a Highlander (Arch Through Time, #12)

by Baker, Katy

  Her vision sharpened. The markings carved into the stone seem to shift before her eyes, becoming not random patterns but a language, the language of the Fae. She opened her mouth and words began pouring out. She didn’t know what they meant, only that they came from the stone, the Fae arch given voice.

  The words were low, guttural, and to Georgie’s ears sounded like they’d been dug from the very bowels of the earth. But they had the desired effect. A bright light flared, and when it cleared, the arch was filled with shimmering heat-haze. Within this Georgie could see a succession of flickering images, a myriad of times and places that this arch could take her to.

  But there was only one she needed.

  She concentrated, forcing her thoughts to picture one image alone. After a few seconds, the shimmering image within the heat-haze stabilized.

  She glanced at Blair. “Let’s go.”

  He squeezed her hand. Then, without another word, they walked through the arch.

  Chapter 16

  Blair’s stomach rose into his throat and for several heartbeats he felt like he was plunging off a cliff. There was the sensation of falling, although there was no wind or sound to give this away. He tightened his grip on Georgie’s hand. He would not lose her. Not ever again.

  It was over in an instant. His feet came down on something hard, and he staggered, keeping his balance with an effort. Immediately he drew his sword, spun around, looking for enemies.

  There were none. It was dark, with a crescent moon riding the sky high above and the smell of night flowers thick in the air. Above him, a thin arch that looked like the remains of a church window reared up, black against the night sky. In the distance he could see a cluster of stationary lights that might mark a settlement, but they were far brighter than any torch or candlelight he’d ever seen.

  When he was satisfied there was no immediate danger, he turned to Georgie. She was leaning over, hands on her knees, gasping in breaths.

  He laid a hand gently against her back. “Georgie, love,” he breathed. “Are ye well?”

  She slowly straightened. “I’m fine. That was rougher than last time. Made me feel a bit queasy.” She turned her head from side to side, looking around.

  “Well?” he asked her. “Is this it? Did we make it?”

  She peered at a line of moving lights in the distance. “Yes,” she said. “There’s traffic over there and that’s the local village with the hotel that I stayed in.” Her eyes found his in the darkness. “Welcome to the twenty-first century, Blair.”

  She spoke lightly, but he could hear the tension in her voice. He knew how hard this must be for her. She’d wanted so badly to go home and now here she was, but not under the circumstances she would have liked. Now, rather than going home, she was here to fight for her life and for the life of all the Highlands. The stakes could not be any higher.

  “Listen, love,” he said, laying his hands on her shoulders. “Ye dinna have to do this. Ye have already played yer part. There is no shame in waiting here until I get back.”

  She gazed up at him and he could see the fire in her eyes. “I can’t do that,” she said, her voice a low growl. “I vowed to stop her, and that’s what I’m going to do. We’re in this together. To the end.”

  He watched her for a moment. God, how he loved her. “Aye,” he nodded. “Together to the end.”

  He stepped back and looked around. So this was the twenty-first century? His mother’s time. She’d told him lots about it but he doubted her tales would come anywhere close to the reality.

  He breathed in deeply. He’d never in his wildest dreams thought that he would ever come here. In truth, he’d never wanted to. Blair had always been happy with where he was, when he was. But fate, it seemed, had a different plan for him.

  The eastern horizon was beginning to turn pink, heralding the arrival of dawn. He turned to Georgie.

  “We dinna have much time. Which way?”

  She looked around, trying to get her bearings. “The arch spat us out right where I told it to. If that’s the village over there with the road in the distance...” She spun, then pointed off to the west. “Then the site must lie in this direction. I think.”

  “That’s good enough for me.”

  He sheathed his sword, and they began walking. They reached the end of the field and climbed over a wooden fence into a lane surfaced with something hard like stone, which Georgie said was called tarmac. They followed this for a while, then came in sight of a collection of huts dotted around a field full of pits and earthworks.

  Georgie slowed to a stop and pulled him down behind a hedge. “That’s it,” she breathed. “That’s Adaira’s dig site.”

  Blair squinted through the undergrowth. The site lay quiet and dark. He couldn’t see any movement. If they’d come to the right time and place, it should be busy.

  “Ye are sure this is the right moment?”

  Georgie watched the site, an unreadable look on her face. She bit her lip. “I...I don’t know. If only we had a way to check the date.” Then her eyes widened, and she slapped herself on the forehead. “Idiot! Why didn’t I think of this before?” She unslung her knapsack and took out the small black cell phone she’d had with her when he’d first encountered her in Beaumont’s jail.

  She pushed a button, then waited anxiously. “Come on,” she muttered. “Please don’t be out of juice.” The screen suddenly lit up and Georgie peered at it for several seconds. Then she let out a slow breath. “It’s found a signal,” she said, holding up the display for Blair to see. “And look at the date. We’ve traveled back in time three days—or three days by our reckoning anyway.” She nodded sharply. “We did it.”

  “Ye did it, ye mean. Lord help me, I canna believe I’m a time-traveler! If Ross and Ramsay could see me now, they’d be sick to their stomachs!” He couldn’t help grinning.

  Georgie smiled too, but then sobered abruptly. “Look. Messages from my dad. Lots of them. Asking where I was. Why I’d not been in touch. How worried he was.” She closed her eyes. “Oh God. Dad. How could I have done this to him?”

  “Look at me.” When she didn’t respond, he repeated the command. “Look at me.” She did as he asked, and he fixed her with a stern gaze. “We will make this right. Understood?”

  She stared at him for a moment, then nodded determinedly. “Understood.”

  “Good. So. We are in the right time. The question is then, why is the site so dark? I thought Adaira Campbell—”

  He cut off at a sudden roaring noise off to his left. His hand jumped to his sword hilt. “What is that?”

  Georgie laid a hand on his arm. “It’s all right. It’s just a vehicle. Several vehicles, actually.”

  As they watched, a row of large white boxes on wheels came hurtling down the road. What had Georgie called them? Vehicles? The gate to the site swung open, and the vehicles poured inside, screeching to a halt. The doors opened and men wearing black came pouring out. Blair tensed. They were all carrying the metal cylinders that Georgie had called guns.

  A moment later a smaller, sleek-looking black vehicle pulled up. The door opened, and a tall woman stepped out. She had long dark hair and a stern expression. Although he’d never seen her, he guessed from the sudden grinding of Georgie’s jaw beside him that this must be Adaira Campbell.

  “Tell everyone to spread out around the perimeter,” she snapped to one of her men. “And be ready to come to the arch when I call ye. I dinna trust Beaumont one inch. When we make contact, I want him to see I still hold the upper hand, despite him having got hold of the Builder. Make sure he sees my forces, my weaponry. I dinna want him getting any stupid ideas about who’s really in charge of this operation.” The man nodded and dashed away. Adaira Campbell glanced at the vehicle, then snapped to a second man. “Bring him.”

  Her associate leaned towards the vehicle and pulled a figure through the door. It was a middle aged man with his hands tied, and from the bruises on his face it looked as though he’d been roughl
y treated. Georgie gave a little cry of anguish.

  “Dad!” she breathed. “Oh my God. Dad!”

  She made to move and Blair’s hand shot out, grabbing her wrist. “Not yet. Remember what we talked about!”

  She hesitated, watching with a horrified expression as her father was dragged after Adaira Campbell deeper into the site. Finally, she nodded.

  SEEING HER FATHER SENT a hot spear of anguish right through Georgie’s stomach. She’d missed him terribly and now, to see him in this state, in Adaira Campbell’s clutches, was almost more than she could bear. She felt the almost uncontrollable urge to dash from their hiding place and go after him. Only Blair’s steady presence at her side stopped her from doing that and wrecking all their plans.

  She bit her lip and dug her finger nails into her palm to get control of herself. She had to stick to the plan. That was the only way this could work.

  Taking calming breaths, she tried to think this through. She had no idea how her power as a Builder worked, but she did seem to have some control of the arches, to the extent that she could use them to travel to a point in time of her choice.

  She was still stunned that it had worked. The arch had deposited them exactly three days in the past—at least by the reckoning of their timeline—in which case Adaira Campbell was just about to contact Charles Beaumont after he’d captured Georgie.

  In a few hours time, Campbell would use the threat of hurting Georgie’s father to compel her to build a Great Arch. Which meant that the Great Arch had not yet been built. Which meant Adaira Campbell did not yet have a way into the Highlands. Which meant if Georgie could stop this from happening, could alter this moment, all of that would never happen.

  Well, that was the theory at least. Thinking about it made her head hurt.

  Blair narrowed his eyes, studying their surroundings. “It’s all clear. Come on.”

  Together, they left their hiding place and crept closer to the site, crossing the open fields that surrounded it and avoiding the road. Dawn was breaking in the east, the sky turning pink and orange, but it was still dark enough to give them cover. It wouldn’t stay that way for long. They had to hurry.

  They reached the perimeter fence that circled the site and hunkered down behind a bush. Georgie looked around but couldn’t see anyone in sight. Blair, however, had gone deathly still, his icy eyes scanning the terrain. A moment later he pointed to the left. Georgie stared in that direction and eventually made out one of Adaira’s security guards standing by the fence. He’d been so still that Georgie hadn’t spotted him at all. She let out a long breath. If Blair hadn’t been with her, she’d have been captured already.

  “Stay here,” Blair murmured in her ear. “Dinna move until I get back.”

  Without waiting for her reply, he disappeared into the gloom. She felt exposed and vulnerable without him by her side, and her heart began to pound. She watched the security guard for one, two, three heartbeats when suddenly a dark figure climbed the fence and silently dropped behind him. There was a blur of movement, a brief struggle, and then the guard dropped without a sound.

  The figure approached her. “Quickly,” said Blair’s voice from the other side of the fence. “Climb over. I’ll keep watch.”

  Georgie swallowed. The fence was taller than she was and made of smooth wooden panels without hand-holds. She backed off, gave herself room, then ran at it, jumping at the last minute. She got her hands over the top, then scrabbled for a moment before managing to pull herself up and over. Blair caught her as she slithered down the other side.

  They went still, listening, but there was no evidence that anyone had detected them. Blair put his finger to his lips and then indicated for her to follow.

  Blair moved as silently as a cat, flitting from shadow to shadow, and Georgie did her best to keep up with him. Any minute she expected to hear a shout as somebody discovered them, but all remained silent. Blair suddenly raised his hand and Georgie froze. From up ahead came the faint sound of voices.

  They edged closer. Two security guards were talking quietly, guns slung over their backs, cigarettes hanging out of their mouths. Blair picked up a stone and hurled it off to the left. It made a clattering noise as it hit the metal wall of a storage shed.

  “What was that?” one of the guards said.

  “Probably a cat,” the other answered. “Naught to worry about.”

  “Easy for ye to say,” the other replied. “Ye are new and havenae come across our boss’s temper yet. If we miss something, she’ll string us up. I’ll check it out. Stay here.”

  The first guard hurried off in the direction of the sound. Blair waited until he’d left and then moved stealthily closer to the one left behind. He crept up behind the man, his feet making no sound on the damp earth. Georgie’s heart was in his mouth. If that guard turned around...if he used that gun...

  But Blair knew what he was doing. She could have sworn she saw that careless grin on his face again, the one that said he was enjoying the danger, enjoying risking his life. But Georgie didn’t enjoy it one bit.

  Blair grabbed the guard from behind, getting an arm around his neck, and dragged him back into the gloom near the fence. There was a crack as he rapped him across the head, and then the man slumped to the ground, unconscious.

  Blair flicked her a glance, with a gesture indicated that she stay where she was, and then took off after the second guard, keeping low and darting from shadow to shadow.

  A moment later he was back and indicating for her to follow. Yes, he was definitely grinning. Crazy. Blair was crazy. Georgie was so scared she felt sick.

  But she followed him, and like this they crept through the site, careful to avoid the roped off trenches and teetering walls, until they reached Adaira Campbell’s office. Several metal cabins dotted the area—the office, the tool shed, and several storage sheds. The door to Adaira’s office was closed and light glowed from the window showing Adaira’s silhouette sitting at a PC.

  Anger clenched Georgie’s stomach. Oh, how she would like to march up to that office and confront the damned woman! But that’s not why they were here, and Georgie had to rein in her anger. They would stand no chance in an all-out fight against Adaira’s forces.

  “There. Look,” Blair whispered.

  She followed the line of his gaze and saw that a faint light shone beneath the door of one of the storage sheds and there was a guard standing outside. Her heart skipped a beat. That must be the place.

  She and Blair crept carefully closer. They took cover behind a large metal bin. Blair motioned for silence and then cocked his head, listening. He stayed that way for a long time and all Georgie could hear was the thump, thump, thump of her own heart as the minutes ticked by. Finally, Blair seemed satisfied. He silently drew a dagger from the sheath at his side.

  “I’ll take out the guard,” he whispered by her ear. “Only come out when I’ve done that. If I get caught, dinna show yerself. Ye must get back to the arch. Agreed?”

  She swallowed. If Blair got caught, there was no way she was going to leave him here, but right now was not the time to argue. “Okay.”

  He nodded once, darted from their hiding place, and leapt at the guard. The man looked up just in time to see Blair bearing down on him but didn’t have time for more than a startled grunt before the hilt of Blair’s dagger caught him flush on the temple, taking him crashing to the ground, his eyes rolling back in his head.

  Keeping low, Georgie hurried across to Blair. He set the blade into the lock on the shed door and wrenched it off. He pushed open the door, and they stole inside.

  Within, a low lamp hung on a shelf, illuminating a shed full of spades and shovels—and a man slumped in the corner.

  “Dad!” Georgie cried, skidding to her knees by his side.

  Her father raised his head at the sound of her voice, his eyes going wide. “Georgie?” he gasped. “What are you doing here? You have to get out! That woman who offered you the job? She’s bad news. She says you stole some
thing from her, she’ll hurt you if she finds you!”

  “I know,” she replied. “We’re here to get you out. I didn’t steal anything. It’s a long story.”

  His eyes alighted on Blair. “Who’s that?”

  “My name is Blair MacAuley,” Blair replied, setting his dagger to her father’s bonds and slicing through the rope. “We dinna have time to explain but ye must come with us.”

  “It’s okay,” Georgie said to his wary expression. “You can trust him.” She looked up at Blair and smiled. “I do. I trust him with my life.”

  Her father looked between them then nodded. “That’s good enough for me. Holy shit, girl, but you’ve had me frightened. Where have you been? Why haven’t you been answering any of my calls?”

  She drew in a deep breath. “I’ll tell you everything, just as soon as we get out of here. But, Dad? You’re going to see some strange stuff. Stuff that won’t make any sense, stuff you’ll find hard to believe. But you have to trust me and do as I say. Right?”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “What are you mixed up in, Georgie? I’ve heard some pretty strange claims since that Campbell woman kidnapped me. She’s been talking about magic and time travel and all sorts of crazy things. What’s going on here?”

  “Those things Campbell was talking about? It’s all true. That’s what I’m mixed up in. But I don’t have time to explain. You’re just going to have to trust me. Can you do that?”

  He regarded her for a long time. Then he nodded. “Of course I can. You’re my daughter.”

  She helped him to his feet. He grunted in pain and stumbled so Georgie pulled his arm over her shoulder and supported him to limp to the door.