Chapter 13
As soon as Ruby woke, she knew Evan was gone.
It wasn’t the absence of warmth beside her—he had never slept close enough for that—but the feel of the room itself was different.
The air lay flat and unstirred. No careful movements.
No faint scrape of leather or muted oath as he adjusted a strap or checked a blade he pretended she hadn’t noticed.
She didn’t like the feeling. It felt...empty. She sat up, looking around. The candle had burned out and a chill brushed against her skin, making her shiver. Where had he gone? And why hadn’t he woken her?
She spotted something written on the wall by the window. She swung her legs out of bed and crossed the room, bare feet cold against the floorboards. She read the message.
Back soon. Stay inside. Bolt the door.
No explanation. No apology. No hint of where he’d gone or why. Just a set of orders, as though she were a child who might wander into traffic if left unwatched.
Well. That wasn’t happening. She’d spent the last five years living in Edinburgh, navigating the busy life of Scotland’s capital. Different century or not, she refused to cower in her own city.
You chose this, she told herself firmly. You wanted to come here, remember? So it’s time you started taking control.
Now she was in Edinburgh, she was sure everything would be fine. She repeated it to herself once more, just to be sure, then left the room and headed downstairs.
The common room of the inn was already busy. The smell of frying fat and hot milk wrapped around her the moment she stepped off the stairs. A fire crackled at one end of the room and several patrons sat hunched over bowls and platters, eating quietly.
The innkeeper looked up as she entered, his expression brightening. “Morning to ye, mistress,” he said. “Will yer husband be joining ye for breakfast?”
The word hit her sideways. Husband? Ruby opened her mouth, already forming the words, he’s not my husband—
She swallowed the correction and forced a small smile. “No,” she said. “He’s... gone out early. Business.”
“Hungry?”
“Starving.”
The innkeeper grinned. “Neeps and bacon then. Best in the house.”
She took a seat in one corner, trying to appear calm when in actual fact her pulse was racing. She was here. Really here. Sitting in a seventeenth century Edinburgh inn. She clasped her hands in her lap and tried to take in her surroundings.
The innkeeper brought over a wooden platter of food and a cup of hot milk.
Ruby nodded her thanks and used the knife Evan had given her to begin eating.
When she took her first bite, her eyes nearly closed in relief.
God. It was perfect. Crisp bacon, salty and smoky, the turnips mashed and mixed with butter.
For a while, she allowed herself to simply eat and listen to the conversations going on around her.
Two burly young men were arguing amiably over the price of wool.
A woman wearing a tartan headscarf complained about the weather and her husband in equal measure.
Someone laughed too loudly at a joke Ruby couldn’t quite catch.
Normal life. Normal concerns. Nothing about dangerous smugglers or a man being hunted. Nothing about time travelers who’d stepped into the wrong century.
When the innkeeper passed by, Ruby laid a hand on his arm. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course, mistress.”
“Do you know a woman named Charlotte Douglas?” She hesitated. “Or Charlotte Campbell, as she must be known now.”
He frowned, thinking, then shook his head. “Canna say I do.”
Her stomach sank, but she pressed on. “What about Niall Campbell, her husband? Tall, blondy-brown hair.”
The innkeeper considered again, then shook his head more firmly. “No, sorry to say.”
The innkeeper walked off, leaving Ruby sitting with her hands around her cup of warm milk. Before she could take a sip, one of the other patrons—one of the young men who’d been discussing wool prices—leaned across from the next table.
“I know a Niall Campbell who fits that description.”
Ruby blinked. “You do?”
“Aye. He has a townhouse next to my master’s.”
Her breath caught. “He’s here? In Edinburgh?”
The man grimaced apologetically. “Not just now. Not been here for a while. He’s away at his estate in the country.”
Her hope collapsed just as quickly as it had risen. “Do you know where the estate is?”
He shook his head. “No idea I’m afraid.”
Ruby nodded her thanks and sat back, thinking this through.
The door suddenly opened and Evan stepped inside. Her traitorous heart did a little flutter at the sight of him. He paused just long enough to scan the room before crossing to her table and taking a seat.
She slid her plate toward him. “Try the bacon. It’s incredible.”
He glanced at the plate, then at her. “What are ye doing?”
“Having breakfast. What’s it look like?”
His eyes flicked to the patrons and then back to her. “I told ye to stay in the room.”
Ruby scowled, irritated by his tone. “Do I look like an unruly toddler to you? No? So stop ordering me about like one.”
His mouth flattened. “Ye shouldnae be down here alone.”
“I’m not alone. The room’s full.”
“That’s not what I meant and ye know it.”
She crossed her arms. “Then perhaps you ought to stick around and explain why it’s not safe instead of sneaking out while I’m asleep and leaving me a bloody note!”
“I didnae sneak anywhere,” he snapped. “And I’d thank ye to—” He exhaled sharply, clearly biting back something sharper. “I went to discover where we can find yer cousin. And I did. I know where we can find Charlotte.”
“Oh?” she said lightly. “At Niall Campbell’s estate in the country?”
The surprise on his face was deeply satisfying. “Ye already know?”
“Funny how listening gets you places. And there was no sneaking involved.”
For an instant, he looked genuinely off balance. Then his expression shifted. “And ye know where this estate is?”
Her smile faltered. “Um. No.”
“Then it seems my sneaking was needed after all.” He picked up a piece of bacon, took a bite, then curled his eyebrow, his cocky smile returning. “Ye are right. That is good.”
Ruby pressed her lips together before taking a sip of her drink. It was some kind of posset, warm and slightly spiced. She tried to maintain her annoyance but she felt it slipping away.
How can I feel annoyed? I’m in Edinburgh. I’m with Evan. And I’m one step away from seeing Charlie. Everything is perfect!
EVAN DIDN’T RELAX UNTIL the city walls were behind them.
Even then, he kept turning in his seat, eyes skimming the road, the press of people around the gates, watching for unfriendly eyes marking their passage. He saw none. But that didn’t mean they weren’t there.
Clucking to the horse, he flicked the reins, urging the beast on. The stalwart white mare flicked her tail in annoyance and carried on plodding. He’d hired the horse from the innkeeper with coin he could ill afford to part with, but speed and anonymity mattered more than thrift.
He kept his cloak pulled high and his shoulders hunched. As they moved through the city, he glanced back, alert for a passerby who lingered too long, or someone following who slowed when they did. Nothing. Just the road, muddy and rutted, stretching away behind them.
In front of him, Ruby sat up straight, looking around eagerly as they rode. She seemed...excited. In fact, she could hardly sit still, practically bobbing in her seat—much to the irritation of the horse.
And she’d not stopped talking since they’d left.
“Charlie makes the meanest chocolate brownies you’ll ever taste.
I don’t know what she puts in them—she refuses to tell me—but I’ll get her to make some when we get there.
You’ll love them. Although I’m not sure she’ll have chocolate.
Do you have chocolate? Never mind, I’m sure she can substitute something else. ”
And so it went. Evan didn’t recognize half the things she was talking about—chocolate and brownies for one—but he didn’t interrupt. He was happy to let her voice wash over him like a cleansing stream. After all, after today he wouldn’t hear it anymore.
His gut clenched at that thought.
They had left the noise of Edinburgh behind them and stone walls gave way to hedgerows and open fields, the land rising and falling in familiar lines that tugged at something deep in his chest.
He knew every inch of this route. Had known it since he’d been a boy. He could have ridden it blindfolded once, could have told you where the ground dipped after rain, where the wind cut sharp in winter, where the view opened suddenly to green and sky.
He hadn’t thought he’d ever see it again.
Ruby looked over her shoulder at him. “You all right?” she asked. “You’ve barely said a word since we left the inn.”
“That’s probably because I couldnae get a word in edgeways.”
Ruby laughed, a bright sound that eased the tension in his shoulders like nothing else could. “Sorry. I babble a bit when I’m excited. Oh, I wish I had my phone so I could take a snap of Charlie’s face when she sees me. It will be priceless!”
There she went again. Phone. What was a phone? There was so much he didn’t know about her. Now he would never get the chance.
The further they went, the heavier his thoughts grew.
Ruby was watching the countryside roll by, eyes bright with a kind of wonder that made his chest ache.
She didn’t belong here—he knew that in his bones—yet she fitted beside him in a way that had begun to feel dangerous. Wrong in all the ways that mattered.
Finding her cousin had always been the end of the road. He’d known that from the start. And yet, sitting there, with the road unfolding ahead and her back brushing his chest, he realized something.
He didn’t want to leave her behind.