Chapter Twenty-Two #2
“I mean…yeah, I guess so.” She didn’t know why she hadn’t thought of that. Great. Now she was even more nervous about using the astrolabe.
Griffin asked, “May anyone use the astrolabe, or just Rose? Or perhaps it is anyone who has a magical way with stones?”
“Good question,” Jason said. “Rose, can you write down exactly what you did to make it work?”
“Sure. I’ll email you.”
“Uh, can you write it out by hand, and give it to me tomorrow?”
“I guess.”
“Let us hear more about the time travel,” Griffin said impatiently. “I had thought that nothing would ever surprise me again, but I confess that I am astonished.”
Emily frowned and asked him, “Do you want to go back to your time?”
Rose feared that if he said yes, Emily would seriously consider it. “But I can’t even control the astrolabe yet,” she interjected. “Plus you wouldn’t be able to get decent glasses! And you would die without coffee.”
“Or from the plague,” Ryan added, with a worried look at Rose.
“By no means would I go back,” Griffin said firmly, holding up a hand.
“It has been so long that I would be a stranger in my own life. Nor would I wish to return to war and bloodshed, for I was already sick to death of them many centuries ago.” He took Emily’s hand.
“I am more content than I have ever been in this good life I have built with my sweet bride.”
Rose sighed inwardly. It had not been hundreds of years since Henry had been a duke. It had been a few weeks. If he returned to his own century, he’d fall right back into his old life.
Jason asked, “Why did the astrolabe travel back with you? When Henry came here, the astrolabe stayed in the nineteenth century.”
“Before, my fingers just rested on it,” Henry said. “This time, we were both holding on to it.”
“I was going to let go, but I forgot,” Rose added.
Jason nodded. “And the astrolabe took you back to the same geographical location, which is the way it worked in the historical documents we have. But you were able to move Henry through both time and space before.”
“Maybe that was because Rose had the moonstone,” Emily guessed. “It was meant to be with the astrolabe.”
“That might make sense,” Jason agreed.
Ryan, whose arms were folded across his chest, gave a short laugh. “Nothing about this makes sense.”
Emily glanced at Rose, then pushed her chair away from the table. “I’m going to run to the ladies. I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll go, too,” Rose said, being fluent in girl code.
Once the door to the restroom had closed behind them, Emily demanded, “What happened with you and Henry?”
Rose had expected this exact question after Henry’s talk about admiring and cherishing. “Like I said, I know he was the worst when you guys came over. But—”
“He was jealous,” Emily guessed. “Wasn’t he? About Aaron maybe dating you.”
Rose felt a bit of relief that her best friend understood things so well. “Actually, yeah. We had this big fight right after you guys left.”
“So he doesn’t hate us?”
“No. I think he feels stupid. And then he told me, you know…that he liked me.”
Emily fixed her with a stare. “And then what happened?”
Rose laughed. “Exactly what you think happened.”
“Ahhh!” Emily grabbed her arm. “So now I’m not the only woman who’s had sex with a man from another era.”
The woman with spiky gray hair walking into the restroom raised her eyebrows at this, then passed them to go to a stall.
Emily demanded in a lower tone, “Was he all awkward and polite?”
“No. He’s very…” Rose searched for the right word. “Thorough.”
“Oh my God.” Emily shook her head. “Does he really have to leave?”
Rose felt sad all over again every time she thought about that. “He doesn’t know what to do with himself here. And he’s not making a big deal out of it, but he’s a freaking duke who lives in a palace. I wouldn’t give that up, either,” she said honestly.
Emily hesitated before saying, “You’re not thinking of going there, are you?”
“Well, I wasn’t invited.” The toilet flushed and the spiky-haired woman went over to the sink to wash her hands. Rose wrapped her arms around herself. “He says I would hate it. And I could never leave Ryan. He’s the only family I have left.”
Emily frowned thoughtfully. “Couldn’t you go back and forth, though?”
The idea filled Rose with dread. “Just doing it once freaked me out. And did I tell you I passed out afterward?”
“Oh, geez.” Emily’s eyes filled with worry. “Are you okay now?”
“I’m fine. But who knows what time travel does to your body, you know? Henry felt sick and dizzy, too.”
“I should’ve thought of that.” Emily shook her head. “Well, you’re not going back with him next time, right? Just sending him back?”
“Yeah.” Rose didn’t want to talk about that anymore. “We should head back. Everyone’s probably being super awkward.”
As they moved through the restaurant, it took Rose a moment to realize that the male laughter she heard across the crowded dining room was coming from their table. What the heck?
Emily said, “What’s so funny?” as she and Rose walked up. In their absence, the food had been brought out, and Rose’s stomach growled at the sight of her pecan Belgian waffle.
Griffin smiled. “His Grace was telling Ryan and Jason about trying Malort.”
Huh. So Henry was able to laugh at himself, after all. Rose exchanged an amused look with Emily as they took their seats.
“So Rose,” Jason said. “You’ve got it hidden in your apartment?”
“Yeah. But I don’t know how to get him home from there.”
Griffin asked, “What if you tried it near the painting?”
Emily looked dubious. “But honey, he didn’t come out of the painting.”
Jason said, “Like I said, our documents talk about going back in time, not going anywhere in space, and that’s how it worked the other night, too. I’m guessing you both have to go to his house in England.”
Ryan asked, “How are they supposed to travel overseas with a high-profile stolen artifact?”
“Hey, guys,” a familiar voice said. Rose looked up to see Aaron approaching the table.
Oh no. Had he heard Ryan? Her brother was looking up at the FBI agent and smiling, but she could tell he was scared.
She forced herself to smile, too. “Aaron, hi!”