Chapter 21
“That’s impossible,” Tavis said.
“Why? Because I’m a woman?”
“No, because he was assigned to me.”
“But Michael came to me,” Anna said. “He told me Voltar had to be stopped.”
“When?”
“Several hours ago.”
“He came to me before I went into the time vault,” Tavis said.
“Before you went into the time vault?” The Chief Elder looked at the rest of the Council, who were talking among themselves in quiet whispers. “Do you mean to say you ignored Michael’s order?”
Tavis grimaced. “I had a vow to keep.”
“But this is the archangel,” the Chief Elder said. “What could be more important than an order from him?”
“My brother. I swore that I would come to help Faelan and protect the book. I keep my vows. And I don’t know if he meant for me to destroy him then or now.”
The Chief Elder frowned at Tavis. “Voltar has committed horrendous crimes against humanity. He’s responsible for millions of deaths.”
And he might have been stopped if Tavis hadn’t disobeyed his order.
“Don’t let your mind go there,” Faelan said quietly. “We’ve too much to deal with right now.”
Tavis nodded but the knowledge was oppressive.
“I think he’s been reassigned to me,” Anna said.
“No. You can’t fight him,” Tavis said.
“Excuse me?”
“I won’t let you get hurt.”
“Tavis Connor, you can’t tell me what I can and can’t do. That isn’t how things are done in this day and age. And besides, it isn’t your place.”
Tavis heard a chuckle and looked around to see several grins.
“Why don’t you just throw her over your shoulder,” Brodie muttered.
“Because I’ll stab him in the back,” Anna said, those beautiful eyes flashing fire.
The Chief Elder banged on the table. “The Council and I will discuss Voltar’s assignment with the Watchers.” After a few minutes, the Elder officially dismissed the unofficial meeting, and Tavis started to leave.
“When are we going to the bed-and-breakfast?” Anna asked, her expression not far from hostile.
“How about now?”
She gave him a level stare. “I’ll be in the car.”
The drive was awkward and quiet. After a few minutes, Tavis had had enough. “This is nonsense.”
“What?”
“You going after Voltar.”
“He’s mine.”
“I think he’s mine. I don’t want you to fight him. I’m afraid you’ll get hurt. And I owe it to you to protect you.”
“No you don’t.”
“I do.”
“Is this a misguided attempt to ease your guilt?”
Tavis felt like she’d slapped him in the face. “What the hell’s wrong with you? I took advantage of you. I’m trying to make it right.”
“You can’t make it right,” she yelled. She closed her eyes, and then opened them again, which was a relief since she was driving. “There’s nothing to make right. I told you already. You saved me. You don’t owe me anything.”
“Then why are you still treating me like a bastard?”
“I’m not.”
“You are. You’re acting like an ass. Where’s the woman I met in the dungeon? The woman who bathed my wounds and kept me warm. Hell, you helped me take a piss.”
“I just... it’s not you. It’s me.”
“I don’t like this you,” Tavis said.
Anna sighed. “I don’t either. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“I think I do. You’re frightened.”
“What would I be frightened of?” she asked.
“The same thing I am. This thing between us.”
She looked at him. “What do you mean?”
“It’s overwhelming. I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”
“That scares you?” she asked.
“It scares the hell out of me.”
She sighed. “So what do we do about it?”
“Stop ignoring me. That would be a good place to start.”
“I’ll work on it.” She glanced at him with the beginning of a smile and stuck out her hand. “Let’s call a truce.”
A truce sounded good. He took her hand, and they sealed the pact. “You’re not really intending to fight Voltar are you?”
That led to another heated discussion which lasted until she approached a white house with black shutters.
“Forget about Voltar for now,” she said. “Let’s find the book. We have a truce. Remember?”
They parked, and by the time Tavis figured out how to get the damned door open, Anna was standing in front of the car waiting for him.
“Do any of these bloody car doors open the same?”
“I forgot you hadn’t been in this one before. You’ll get used to it. Before long you’ll be driving.”
“I doubt that.”
“Bree said Faelan thought the same thing. Now he’s hooked on driving. Bree’s working on getting you an ID. Legal papers that prove your identity,” she explained. She stopped before she knocked on the door. “What are we going to say? That we think something is hidden here? Do you even remember which room it is?”
“No. Could we say we’re thinking of getting a room soon and wanted to see each one? I’ll see if anything looks familiar.”
“I came here once,” Anna said. “I was retracing Angus’s steps, and Bree had seen him here. But there weren’t any available rooms.”
An elderly woman with white hair and a flowered dress answered the door. He didn’t remember seeing her, but Angus said he’d sneaked him in.
“You don’t have to knock,” she said, and then her gaze fell on Tavis. “Faelan. You’re back. How lovely to see you and...” She frowned at Anna.
“I’m not Faelan,” Tavis said. “I’m his brother.”
“My, the resemblance is remarkable. Well then, come inside. Do you need a room? I have one left.”
“Just one?” Anna asked.
“Did you need two?” The woman’s eyes narrowed. “You’re not married?”
“Engaged,” Anna said quickly. “We’re engaged.” She put her arm through Tavis’s and put on a fake but brilliant smile. Anna’s smile could charm anyone.
“I suppose that would be fine. I get a lot of nice comments about this room. It’s cozy. Let me show you.” Mrs. Edwards took them upstairs. “Your brother stayed in the room at the end. His friend was in the one beside it. Here we go,” she said, opening a door. “What do you think?”
“Very nice.” Anna raised her eyebrows at Tavis.
He shook his head.
“We’ll take this one,” Anna said.
Tavis gave her a surprised look. Had she misunderstood?
“It’s perfect,” Anna said.
“Good. Come with me, and we’ll get the paperwork all sorted out.” After they had finished, they went upstairs.
“What are you doing?” Tavis whispered when they started up the stairs. “This isn’t the right room.”
“We have to check the other rooms. We can’t wait until they’re vacant.”
“We’re going to sneak inside?”
“Of course. We’ll wait for the guests to step out, and if they don’t…”
Women warriors. How had the clan come to this? “We can narrow it down a bit. It isn’t this room or the two where Faelan and Bree stayed. It must be the one across from us or beside us.”
They crept to each door and listened. They heard voices so they went back to their room to wait. Anna sat near the window. Tavis took a chair across from her.
Anna checked her watch. “They’ll have to go out to dinner sometime. Are you listening?”
“What?” He couldn’t stop looking at the bed, imaging him and Anna there, sheets twisted, bodies slick with sweat. Blimey, it was hot in here. He shifted in his seat and wiped his forehead.
“I know what’s bothering you. I can help if you’d like.”
Surge. He shifted again, wishing he had on his kilt instead of Faelan’s jeans. He cleared his throat. “What did you have in mind?”
“I’m a good listener. It can’t be easy coming back to the place where an ancient demon kidnapped you—” Anna frowned at him. “That’s not what’s bothering you, is it?”
“No.”
“You’re thinking about sex, aren’t you?”
He looked at the bed again and considered lying. “Aye.”
She started laughing. He’d never heard her laugh, and he was stunned. The lust he’d felt gave way to something so strong, it felt like a hand crushing his heart.
“I shouldn’t laugh,” Anna said. “But Bree said the effects of the time vault are very strong. Hunger for more than just food.”
Tavis was still trying to find his voice. “You have a beautiful laugh.”
“Weren’t we just talking about sex?”
“Aye. We can talk about it some more if you’d like.”
“Or you could take a cold shower while we wait,” Anna said.
“Or we could eat.”
“I bet you’re hungry.”
“I could eat my boots if I had some salt.” He grinned, and when she smiled in return, it took his breath.
“Then let’s go to dinner,” she said. “Let’s have pizza.”
They walked past several shops, and he tried to observe the other people without staring. He wasn’t always successful, and he decided that there were some strange people in this time. But pizza was a wonderful thing. Or maybe it was just his raging appetite.
“Do you want another slice?”
He nodded and took one. “Good,” he mumbled.
She rolled her beautiful eyes. “I never would have guessed.”
“You have a good appetite for a woman,” he said.
“You think I’m eating too much?”
“Not at all. I like watching you eat.”
“Are we back to the sex again?”
A woman at a table near them looked over at them. He grinned. “I think we’d better change the subject.”
“How about clothes?”
“Clothes?”
“You’ll need some. I don’t imagine you’ll want to wear your brother’s all the time.”
“That’s a good idea. I don’t have any way to pay until I find my sporran. I had a few coins with me.”
“They wouldn’t work now anyway. Don’t worry. I have money. You’ll get some too. I don’t know how it was done back then, but warriors are paid now. It’s not like we can have regular day jobs.”
“We had clan bankers who took care of our expenses,” Tavis said.
Anna wiped her mouth. “We also have coordinators—people on the outside who provide services and help keep the clan a secret from the world. We call them buffers.”
“We had some, but not many.” Tavis leaned back and rubbed his stomach.
“Did you eat too much?”
“Aye.” He hid a belch behind his hand.
“You’ll be happy we have these fancy toilets later.”
He grinned. It was very strange but appealing to have a woman speak so bluntly. And it was pure Heaven to have her not ignore him. “I reckon I might at that.”
They went to several stores after they ate, and she showed him racks and racks of clothing. Some were so bizarre he couldn’t imagine anyone wearing them if he hadn’t spotted a few on the way here. He let Anna tell him what he needed, since it was all too much for him to comprehend. He’d traveled the world and seen many different cultures, but some of the clothing he’d seen in this time defied description.
“I think people are a bit barmy now,” he said after they’d returned to their room with their bags. “Why would that girl we passed on the street want her entire arm tattooed?”
“Lots of people have tattoos. We do.”
“But ours mean something,” Tavis said. “And they’re not human marks. You said yours are on your back?”
“Most female warriors get them there.”
“Can I see them?”
Anna looked at him and then sighed. She turned and pulled up the bottom of her shirt. In the dungeon, he hadn’t seen her back. When he’d checked her for injuries, he’d done it with her clothes on, not that they had covered much. He’d seen her thighs and glimpsed the juncture he’d been forced to breach, but he’d never seen her back.
Her skin was beautiful. Her spine was beautiful. And if her skin drew him, her battle marks took his breath. They were low on her back, circles and intertwining lines rising from a point above her hips. He couldn’t help but touch the marks. She jumped, but didn’t yell at him, so he didn’t stop. His fingers tingled, as did his own battle marks, as if they were talking to hers. He traced the lines to her waist and down again to the point. His finger continued along the line of skin just above her trousers and then around the side to her stomach. She shivered, and he moved the other arm around, encircling her waist. “I can’t help it,” he whispered, and pulled her gently against him.
She didn’t answer, but she also didn’t move. Her hands had been holding up her shirt. She dropped it and leaned back against him. He kissed her shoulder and his hands slid lower, down to her thighs. A soft sound rolled from her throat, and he turned her in his arms. As if they’d done it many times before, her arms went around him. He pulled her closer and lowered his head, stopping just a breath from her mouth. “I’m going to kiss you. Is that all right?”
She nodded. “You smell like pizza, but I don’t mind.”
He let his lips brush hers, then opened his mouth to taste her better. His hand wound in her hair, holding her close.
“I like pizza,” she said, pulling his bottom lip between hers.
“Me too.”
They were moving toward the bed when they heard the door to the next room shut. Anna pulled away. Her eyes were shimmering with passion, her lips moist. “They’ve left.”
Damn. “They’ll probably be gone for a while,” he said, kissing her neck.
She moaned and pushed him away. “We have to go.”
One minute. All he needed was one minute inside her. Probably not even that. Just a little more stroking with her hips and he’d be finished. She would need more. Especially after what had happened before. Lots of tenderness and time. They stared at each other. “Should I apologize?”
“No.”
“Then I won’t.”
They rearranged their clothing and slipped out. The door to the next room was locked. “I’ll pick it,” Anna said. “Ronan taught me a lot of things.”
“I suspected as much.”
She looked over her shoulder. “You don’t mean what I think you mean.”
“I might. Did he?”
“Did he what?”
“You know.”
Her blush was telling. “Once. We were both... troubled.” Tavis was shocked at the anger he felt. If Ronan had been there, he would have hit him. He knew it was unreasonable, and it made him feel bad. He liked Ronan. He was family, even if he was a womanizer. What right did he have to say anything? It was Anna’s life. Tavis hadn’t been here. He’d been sleeping in a time vault.
“Are you finished daydreaming?” Anna asked, frowning.
“Sorry,” Tavis said.
“I’ve almost got it. There.” Anna turned the knob, and the door opened. “Be quiet. Mrs. Edwards is nosy. If she hears anything, she’ll be up here in a second.”
They slipped in, closed the door, and Anna turned on the light. The bed was unmade, luggage was open on the floor. Tavis looked at the room. “This is it. I remember Angus bringing me here.”
A look of sadness crossed Anna’s face. She looked around the room and sighed. “Angus must have been so excited to find you—of course he thought you were Faelan. Imagine how thrilled he would have been to find out there were two brothers and two time vaults.”
“I was afraid to tell him my real name until I knew he could be trusted. Did you love him?”
“I did, but not like that. He was my best friend. I always figured he was the closest thing I would have to a soulmate.” Her gaze met Tavis’s and moved away.
He wanted to know more about Anna and Angus’s friendship, but didn’t think this was the time or place. “I wish he’d lived,” Tavis said. “He saved my life. Ian left a letter for Faelan telling him about my time vault, but he hadn’t found it. Faelan didn’t know about the letter until I told him. If Angus hadn’t found me, I could have been locked in there forever.”
“And we had no idea you were there. We thought Angus had summoned a time vault for a demon.” Anna touched Tavis’s arm. “I’m glad Angus found you.”
That made Tavis glad. “As am I.”
“Okay, let’s find the book. Do you remember putting it in here?”
Tavis walked around the room and opened a door. “I remember this,” he said, looking at the tub.
“You think you hid it in here?”
“I don’t know.” He checked under the basin and in the closet. “It’s more likely in the bedroom.”
They searched under the bed, the shelves, the walls. Anna was bent over looking on the closet floor when they heard voices approaching.
“It’s them,” Anna said. “Hide.” She pointed to the high bed and quickly slid underneath. Tavis joined her, hoping his feet weren’t sticking out the bottom.
The door opened. “Thank you for dinner,” the woman said.
“It was my pleasure, but I’ve got indigestion now.”
He wasn’t the only one. Tavis’s stomach was in knots. He slowly turned his head and looked at Anna. She slipped her hand into his. His stomach rumbled softly.
“You need some Pepto, hon?”
“What?”
“Your stomach’s rumbling. I have Pepto in my purse if you need it.”
“Wasn’t mine. Lord, but I’m tired.”
“All that walking and eating,” she said. “Let’s turn in early. I brought that new book you wanted to read.”
Tavis and Anna lay quietly as the couple readied for bed. This was a mess. His back was starting to ache. His wounds had mostly healed, but one or two were still sore. And his right heel was going numb. “I say we just slide out from under the bed and excuse ourselves,” he whispered to Anna when the woman started opening and closing drawers.
She shook her head. “We have to find the book,” she whispered back. “Wait until they fall asleep.”
The couple finally retired, and Tavis’s eyes crossed as he waited to see if the bedsprings would hit him in the face. It was close.
The woman giggled. “What are you doing?”
“We’re at a bed-and-breakfast. I say we get our money’s worth.”
“I thought you were tired.”
“Just a little quickie.” The bed squeaked, and Tavis heard clothing being removed. Anna’s hand clenched on his as nightclothes and underthings fell to the floor. Tavis was sweating, imagining getting caught. Imagining it being him and Anna in the bed. He was getting hard, and his stomach burned with indigestion. Damned time vault.
The woman giggled again.
To hell with this. Tavis motioned for Anna to follow him, and he slowly started sliding out from under the bed. He bumped his head once, but the occupants of the bed didn’t notice. The room was dark, and the lovers were so preoccupied, Tavis figured they might have a chance to escape. They’d have to come back, but by God he wasn’t going to lie under the bed and listen to them mating while he was ready to burst. They crawled to the door. Tavis opened it and slipped out. Anna followed, and they quietly closed the door before hurrying back to their room.
“Can you believe that?”
Anna grabbed Tavis and kissed him.