Chapter 22
Chapter
Twenty-Two
ALBIE
Nothing could ruin my happiness.
The fire in Portia’s bedchamber crackled in the hearth.
Outside, the sea crashed against the cliffs.
Portia nestled in the bed between Tavish and me with a wooden tray of cubed cheese and squares of crispy bread Portia called “crackers.” We sat with our backs propped against a small mountain of pillows as we discussed how we’d spent the three weeks we were apart.
Although, I had to admit I was a little distracted.
But I challenged anyone with a pulse to focus when confronted with Portia in the scraps of fabric she called a “pajama set.” After we recovered from sealing the mate bond, she’d emerged from the bathroom in the snug, long-sleeve shirt and a pair of matching bloomers that barely covered her arse.
She called them “shorts,” which seemed like an apt description.
Tavish and I had borrowed loose trews from her fathers. I wasn’t entirely comfortable wearing the king’s clothes, but Portia had laughed when I’d voiced my concern.
“They don’t mind,” she’d said, kissing my cheek. “They’re just happy I found you.”
Tavish selected another cracker from the tray and topped it with a yellow cube of cheese. Unrestrained joy had lit his eyes when Portia brought the tray from the kitchen. When he tried to take it, she pulled it out of reach and fixed him with a stern look.
“This is a one-time exception to my ‘no food in bed’ rule.”
He placed a hand over his heart. “I’ll be as dainty as a maid at her first ball.”
Now he chewed happily as he built another cheese-and-cracker sandwich.
Portia turned soft eyes to mine. “So you were stranded in Razrothia?”
“Aye,” I said, the sound of Tavish’s bellow of rage and sorrow seared into my mind. “After you disappeared, Tavish and I were trapped on the demon plane.”
Tavish swallowed his mouthful. “It took us a week to find a water witch willing to carry us back to the earth plane.”
“And another week to fly to Scotland,” I added. “We went straight to the auld stones.”
Portia paled. “You used the portal?”
“Stepped right through,” Tavish said. “We landed in 1742, just one day after the day we left.”
“You could have been killed,” Portia said, looking sick.
I took her hand. “We didn’t have a choice, lass. But it didn’t feel like a risk to us. We would have risked anything to find you.”
She squeezed my fingers. “I would have done the same to find you.”
“Albie spent every waking moment studying his books,” Tavish said. He cast me a sly look. “He’s been eyeing your bookshelves, too. He can’t wait to get his hands on them.”
Heat crept up my neck. “Maybe I took a peek…”
“That’s all right,” Portia said, smiling as she gently adjusted my spectacles. “You can put your hands on my shelves any time you want.”
My cock tightened even as warmth flooded my chest. “Consider the offer accepted, lass.”
Her smile faded, and she looked down at her hands. “I need to tell you both something.”
Tavish set the tray aside. “What is it?”
“When I spoke to the chronomancer in the alley, he gave me a choice. I could take one final jump to complete my task as a Timekeeper, or go back to Razrothia to find you both.” She looked between us, tears gathering in her eyes. “I chose my duty. I chose to abandon you.”
“You didn’t abandon us,” I said firmly.
Tavish took her other hand and held it to his lips. “You did what you had to do. You’re a dragon princess, Portia, and you did your duty. You chose the right path.”
“But I left you,” she whispered.
“And we found each other again,” I said. “You summoned us through time and space. That takes incredible power, Princess.”
Tears spilled down her cheeks. Tavish pulled her against his chest, and I moved closer, wrapping my arms around both of them.
We stayed like that for a long moment, the fire crackling and the sea crashing outside.
Finally, Portia pulled back and wiped her eyes. “Everything feels perfect,” she said. “But it’s not.”
Apprehension stirred in my gut. “What do you mean?”
“We still don’t know why we don’t have any females.” She looked between us. “Aside from me, every child born in the last twenty-three years has been male. The Curse is broken, but our population problem remains.”
The fire popped, sending embers flying onto the thick rug in front of the hearth. Instead of winking out, they glowed brighter, threatening to burn holes in the thick weave.
“I’ll get it,” I said, leaving the bed and crossing the chamber. I stomped out the glowing fragments, then started back toward the bed. I froze mid-step.
My clothes were piled on a chair by the window where I’d left them after the three of us showered. But the book sitting on top most definitely hadn’t been there before.
And I’d know it anywhere, its dark leather cover plain except for the red rune in the center. The Complete Guide to Chronomancers. I’d studied it obsessively when Tavish and I returned to our own time. More than once, Tavish had pried the book from my hands, insisting I needed sleep.
But I hadn’t brought it with me through the stones when Portia called us tonight.
My heart pumped faster as I went to the window and picked up the book.
“What is it?” Tavish asked, rising onto his elbow.
I ran my fingertips over the rune. “I didn’t have this with me when we got pulled through the stones.” Disquiet settled over me.
“That’s your chronomancer book,” Tavish said grimly.
“Aye,” I rasped. The book had followed me. I flipped it open, and gray dust sifted from the pages and spilled to the carpet. A faint ticking sound filled the air.
Tavish was on his feet in a flash, his expression dark. “Fucking clocks again.”
Portia slipped from bed, wariness huddling around her. She stared at the book like she worried it would bite me. “The chronomancer said I only had to make one more jump. The gods should be finished with me now.”
The noise grew louder, the rhythmic tick-tocks forming a jarring, disjointed symphony. I flipped another page, and more dust fell to the floor. In all the years I’d owned the book, it had never produced dust.
Tavish wrapped an arm around Portia, who stared at me with stark eyes. “What should I do?” she asked.
I set the book on the chair and went to her. “Not you,” I said, touching her jaw. “Us. That’s the difference this time, lass. You’re not alone. We’re one, all three of us.”
Tavish nodded. “Whatever the gods have planned, we’ll face it together.”
The ticking grew louder, filling the chamber. I looked at the book over my shoulder. Moonlight from the window illuminated the pile of gray powder.
Not dust, I realized. Stone dust. From the auld stones.
“We have to get to the stones,” I said.
Portia made a strangled sound. “Now?”
I turned back to her. “We go where it all started. Back to the beginning.”
“Fuck,” Tavish muttered.
Portia looked like she might be sick. “Are you certain?”
I wasn’t at all certain. But centuries of study had taught me to look for patterns. “The auld stones are the one thing that connects everything,” I said. “The book. The chronomancer. You.” I took her hand. “The stones pulled you to them before. Maybe they’re pulling you again now.”
“Pulling all of us,” Tavish corrected, his expression grim but resolved.
I nodded. “Aye. All of us.”
Portia drew a shaky breath. “Okay. Then we have to tell my—”
The book slid off the chair.
It hit the floor with a heavy thud and fell open, pages splaying wide.
Golden light exploded from its center.
It burst upward in a brilliant column, searing my eyes. I threw an arm up and stumbled back. The ticking grew deafening, a thousand clocks marking time in a thousand different rhythms.
The light expanded, swallowing the chair and spreading toward my feet.
“No!” Portia shouted.
Tavish grabbed her and yanked her against his chest. “Albie!”
The world blurred as I crossed the chamber in a heartbeat. I wrapped my arms around them both, holding tight as the golden light reached us. It blazed around us, bleaching everything white.
And we fell.