He sucked in a breath, bracing himself for the bullet's impact.

A sharp crack rang through the church. Gray dust rained down. D'arco had enough time to tilt his head back and scream out a denial before the tall statue hovering above the altar broke away from the ceiling and crashed onto him. It spun as it fell, giving Saul a split second view of the statue's face before it disintegrated. The Virgin Mary, hands outstretched in supplication.

Looked like Saul had a purpose on this earth after all.

He threw himself sideways on impact, but was on his feet, crawling over the pile of crumbled stone before the dust had begun to settle. The statue hadn't been big enough to bury D'arco completely, and after a few seconds of digging, Saul was able to yank his lifeless hand free and pry Reegan's bio bracelet from his fingers. Miraculously, it was intact.

Two minutes, forty-five seconds.

Coughing, Saul stumbled around D'arco's body to the sacristy door. "Reegan!"

He saw the bomb first and judged its size and strength in a handful of heartbeats. If he could clear the nave before it blew, he'd have a chance. Clearing the church altogether would be a safer gamble.

His gaze found Reegan and Silvia next, laid out side by side on the floor a dozen feet away.

Heart in his throat, he stumbled over, dropping to his knees at Reegan's side. "No. Please, no." He stretched out a shaking hand. The shallow rise and fall of Reegan's chest greeted his touch. "Thank God." He pressed his forehead to Reegan's while he fought back grateful tears. "Come on. Wake up. You've got somewhere you need to be, remember?"

A light smack to his face produced no response. Saul checked the bio bracelet. One minute, forty-five seconds. "Reegan!" A harder shake. A harder slap. Still no response. Panic crept in.

He scooted around Reegan to Silvia's side. "Silvia! Come on, honey. Wake up. I need you."

His voice drew a twitch. Her fingers clenched, then went slack. Saul threw a glance at the bomb, then again to Reegan's bracelet. Synced exactly, they continued to count down, oblivious to Saul's growing desperation. One minute, fifteen seconds.

He raised his face to the ceiling, praying for inspiration. It seemed a fitting place to do so. What he hadn't expected was a clear and uncomplicated answer to ring through, as though God himself had offered the solution.

So simple.

His fear fell away. Lowering Silvia's head to the floor, he shifted to sit between them, and brushed unsteady fingers over Reegan's face. "Okay." He took up Reegan's hand. Joined their fingers. Pressed their palms together. "Okay, babe. Time for you to go home. It's going to be fine. It's all going to be fine. I'm here, and I'm going to keep you safe."

His words fell on deaf ears, but they helped anyway, brushing away the last of what he needed to say, to anyone.

Thirty seconds.

Saul turned the bio bracelet so that his finger was poised over the button that opened the portal. He took a deep breath, fixed his gaze on Reegan's face...and pushed it.

Chapter Twenty-One.

The disorientation lasted a span of ten rapid heartbeats. Saul knew because he counted them. Through the slow sinking sensation, to the terrifying certainty he was falling, to the gentle coasting stop that eased his stomach from his throat back to where it belonged. Ten heartbeats. Maybe three seconds.

Utter silence and darkness followed the cessation of movement, then his senses kicked in one at a time. He noticed his own breathing first-the rapid, panicked gasping he'd been battling moments before he pressed the button on Reegan's bracelet. A cold breeze, chilly enough to raise goose bumps on his skin, brushed his face. It tasted metallic, as though blood lingered in the air. Close by, someone else breathed. Not the clipped and frenzied inhalations he battled. These were deep and calm.

Reegan. And possibly, if his ears weren't betraying him, Silvia. Unconscious but alive.

He'd succeeded. Activated Reegan's time portal. The church's stone tile floor had been bumpy. Gritty with dirt. Now, the surface under his cheek was smooth. Glasslike and cool.

Despite the evidence, he stayed curled into a ball, counting out seconds. Ten. Thirty. Sixty. Ninety. D'arco's bomb would've gone off by now. Either they truly had escaped into the future or the detonator had failed.

Or they were all dead, and all his questions regarding the afterlife were about to be answered.

A soft, barely discernible glow appeared around him. A halo of rectangular lights. He blinked, uncurling when the added illumination brought the crumpled figure next to him into focus.

"Reegan." Saul scooted the few feet to Reegan's prone figure. He was breathing, but blood trickled down the side of his face unchecked, stained the small bandage on his cheek, and welled over the edges of a nasty gash on his arm. Saul huffed a laugh, choking on it, and set two trembling fingers against Reegan's lips. "You're a mess."

Reegan stirred, the movement nothing more than a twitch, but it satisfied Saul. He raised his head, searching for Silvia.

The rectangular lights were panels. He could see that now. They came to life in increments, revealing the room bit by bit until there was no mistaking its alien-like feel. They'd definitely left St. Brendan's. "Reegan?" Saul whispered.

Silvia, sprawled on Reegan's other side, stirred. Saul pushed onto his elbows, reaching a hand over Reegan's supine form when her eyes flew open and she cried out. "It's okay. We're back. I think."

She blinked at the ceiling, swallowing. "What happened? I don't remember."

Probably for the best. Before he could draft an answer, a door swished open on the far wall. Saul tensed, ready to fight.

A large man filled the doorway, shiny bald head reflecting the artificial light shining from the walls. He stepped inside, and sound followed him, a low drone that fell in pitch every moment, as though they all stood inside a giant dying engine.

A limp cigar dangled from the man's lips, but that didn't hold Saul's interest as much as the gun he held. Saul assumed it was a gun, although it didn't resemble any he knew. The man held it like a weapon, pointed in front of him, barrel-first. His other hand held a red-stained cloth to the corner of his mouth. "Reegan?" he barked.

"He's here." Saul pointed. Reegan still had yet to move.

The man stepped forward, squinting. "So he is. Is he okay? Wait." He swung the gun round to Saul. "Who the hell are you?"

Reegan hadn't covered this part of the plan with Saul. Ostensibly because it wasn't supposed to occur. "I'm Saul. Saul Kildare."

"No shit." The man dropped the gun. It dangled at his side. "The hunky P.I.?"

"Um. Yes?"

The man doubled over with a surprised laugh. His hand fell away from his swollen, bloody lip. "I thought for sure D'arco's apes would take you out. They broke into my office the second Reegan jaunted. Checked my computer and realized who he was going to see."

"Reegan wondered how they'd found him. He thought they might have hurt you to get the information."

"Not as much as I'm gonna hurt them when they get back."

Silvia stirred again, and Saul scooted around Reegan to help her. They pulled each other into a sitting position. Saul cupped her face in his palm. "Are you all right?"

"I don't know." Her voice wavered. "Emilio found us. Cammie...is she okay?"

Saul shushed her. "She's alive. She'll be all right."

"What happened? How did we get back? Is Victor here?"

"What do you remember?" It wasn't a comfortable question. He wasn't sure he could stand a recounting of how Cammie had been hurt.

"Hardly anything. I'm sorry. It was all so sudden. I woke up when they burst in. I heard Cammie yelling. And then Emilio hit me." Gingerly, she touched the bloody cut on her scalp.

She had no idea her husband was dead. Despite everything that had happened, she'd admitted to loving him. Conflicted about how to break the news, Saul hesitated.

The other man, it could only be Maxie-he fit Reegan's description perfectly-lumbered over, squatting to shake Reegan's shoulder. "We need to get him up and out of here. The portal's going to activate in two minutes."

"Where's Victor?" Silvia wobbled to her feet while Maxie lifted Reegan under the arms and dragged him toward the door.

Despite the rush, Maxie handled him gently, supporting his head against his ample belly. "He'll be coming through next with his three trolls. I owe him a little something."

A punch to the face was Saul's guess. He pulled to his feet, following. Time to 'fess up. "He won't be coming back through."

Maxie paused on the threshold, Reegan limp in his arms. "Excuse me?"

Saul glanced at Silvia's pale face. "He won't be coming back. Him or his men. They're dead, and the building where we came from..." He wavered, uncertain. "The other side of the portal? It's gone. Destroyed."

Gaze vehement, Maxie gnawed his cigar. "You sure?"

That the bomb had gone off? No, he couldn't be, really. But was he sure D'arco wasn't coming back? Very sure. "Yes. He's dead." He gritted his teeth. "A statue fell and crushed him. The bodyguards? One got hit by a falling tree. I can't be positive, but I think the others are dead too."

In the corner of his vision, Silvia had gone still. Saul couldn't bring himself to look at her. He wasn't sorry in the slightest, but his feelings for D'arco didn't have the deep ridges and valleys hers did. He wouldn't have respected that in the past, but she'd taught him something these past few days.

When she spoke, her words shocked him. "So we're safe."

They were here. Saul couldn't speak for how safe they were. He shrugged.

Maxie harrumphed and shook his head. "That paperwork's gonna suck monkey balls. Okay." He jerked his chin at Saul. "Help me with Sleeping Beauty here. I need to think about how we're going to handle this."

Saul came forward, lifting Reegan's feet, and they carried him through the door into a room so very un-future-like, Saul did a double take. Antique wood furniture. Puffy upholstered chairs. Even a bar, complete with brass foot rail and crystal decanters. He regarded them blandly, without a flicker of want.

They deposited Reegan on the couch, where he finally gave a sign of life, lifting his hands to his face with a pained moan. The desire to be near him felt as all-encompassing as his need for a shot of vodka had that night at Once in a Blue Moon. The beauty of this need was that Saul wasn't going to fight it. He shifted Reegan's legs against the back of the cushion and sat, taking up his limp hand. "Hey." He squeezed unresponsive fingers. "You okay?"

Eyes still closed, Reegan mumbled an answer, and Saul smiled.

"Be still, my beating heart." Maxie hovered at the back of the sofa. "I was kidding about the Sleeping Beauty shit, okay? You're not going to kiss him, are you?"

"I might." Events were catching up to him. Social niceties didn't top the list at the moment. "You got a problem with that?"

"Only that you shouldn't be here to do it. I can't believe you survived the trip." Maxie lifted his eyes to Silvia, who'd sunk into a nearby chair. "You need a drink, sweetheart?"

Gaze blank, she shook her head.

"Well, I'm having one." Gun in hand, Maxie crossed to the bar, remarkably graceful for a man of his size, and poured three fingers of something dark into a tumbler. It disappeared in one swallow. "Better." He set the gun down before pouring another. It got the same treatment. "Do you have any idea-" he waved the empty glass at Saul, "-the danger you put yourself in by being in the portal when it activated."

Saul's gaze drifted to Reegan. He'd gone still again, but his chest rose and fell in regular increments. "Reegan explained it to me."

"He did? 'Cause I was being facetious."

Saul smiled at the genuine shock in Maxie's voice. "Yes. He did."

"Just how long were you stuck there?" Maxie asked Silvia.

"About two days."

Maxie's eyes widened even further. "Two days? And you survived?"

"Thanks to Reegan and Saul. Yes."

Reegan's fingers wiggled in Saul's grip. He moaned, and his eyes fluttered. It took all of Saul's restraint not to crumple into his arms. "Hey." He brushed a lock of dusty hair from Reegan's forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Yeah, hotshot," Maxie cut in. "How are you feeling?"

A frown crossed Reegan's features. "Saul?"

"Yeah." Having his life turned upside down these past couple of days didn't measure up to the shock of waking up over a hundred years in the future. What he'd left behind and what he might have to endure had just begun to filter in these past few minutes, and he'd been scared. Terrified.

Hearing his name on Reegan's lips washed that all away.

"Why am I hearing both you and Maxie at the same time?" He blinked his eyes open, wincing against the bright light. "I'm in the jaunt room?"

"You are." Saul cut his gaze to Maxie. "We all are. Silvia too. We made it back."

"Alone?"

The question confused Saul until Maxie glanced at his watch and shrugged. "Looks like it. Your boyfriend said the others wouldn't be coming back. Looks like he was right. The portal never reactivated. It's been nine minutes."

"What happened?" Reegan pushed to his elbows. Saul pushed him back. "Just stay put. You've got another nasty bump on your head."

"Silvia's okay?"

"I'm fine." She joined them on the couch, slipping in behind Reegan before resettling his head in her lap. Smiling, she trailed her fingers over his uninjured cheek. "You did it. You kept your promise."

"Two days?" Maxie shook his head. Looked to the decanter and smacked his lips. "I've never, never read another account where a jaunter survived two days in the past."

"It wasn't exactly a cakewalk. I was shot at, hit by a car, almost hit by a truck..." Reegan covered his face. "There's more, but I'm not telling you."

"Why, is it something embarrassing? You didn't fall in the shower, did you?"

Saul couldn't help it. He laughed.

"Oh, Christ." Maxie covered his ears. "Don't say any more. I don't want to know what sexual acrobatics you were attempting when that happened."

Reegan glared. "I was alone."

"Like I said."

The levity dropped from Maxie's voice. He came around the bar to face them, arms crossed while his eyes took in how the three of them were huddled together on the couch. He homed in on Saul. "If Reegan did actually warn you about the portal, why did you risk it anyway? That's what I want to know. Please don't say true love. I might keel over under the force of my amusement."

Saul stroked a hand over Reegan's arm. "You don't believe in true love?"