Lizzie stood with her hand held open, looking down at the gold. "Thank you, that's so kind, but I don't think-"

"She willna need it," Quinn boomed, scowling at Piper. She blushed. "Why does everyone have such a low opinion of me?"

"Historical precedence, lad," Lachlan said, clapping him on the good shoulder. "Dinna take offence. Let Lizzie take the gift. I'm sure your extended absence from the farm has caused some sort of trouble that it may help solve."

"And if you don't need to sell them, they're very pretty," Piper said encouragingly.

Now Catie quietly sniffled in the dark, cramped s.p.a.ce while Lachlan ground the necessary herbs. Lizzie kept jumping at every sound while Quinn patted her hand. Piper's head ached worse with every pa.s.sing minute and she wanted to urge Lachlan to hurry, but he was being methodical, not wanting to take a chance of the spell not working.

Before he began the chant, he kissed Catie's forehead and told her he loved her, causing her to sob in earnest. He clasped Quinn's arm.

"I dinna say it enough, perhaps I've never said it." He looked at Piper and she nodded encouragement. "But ye've done well. I have faith in ye to continue to do well."

Piper's throat closed up at the sentiment, and she hugged Quinn hard around the neck.

"Thank ye, Lach," Quinn said, clearly nervous about returning.

Piper squeezed Lizzie's hand and gave even the reluctant, crying Catie a hug and kiss on her tear streaked cheek.

Feeling as silly as she ever did when they performed the spell, she sang Mary Had a Little Lamb after Lachlan chanted.

Catie, Quinn and Lizzie cut their fingers and all held tightly to each other, while she clung to Lachlan's hand. They'd never tried this spell where they sent someone away and stayed behind themselves. Piper secretly wanted to see Bella's children, and she would have loved to see her old friend Pietro, but she knew she shouldn't wish to get sent along for the ride. They had things to do here.

A gust of wind blew through the closed pa.s.sage and she held her eyes shut tight, always a bit skittish, no matter how many times they did this. Something intuitively told her she did not want to see what happened during the transition.

The air settled and she opened her eyes. The candle they'd lit had gusted out and she reached for her phone for some light. Before she could click anything, she heard Catie's sniffle, and hurriedly turning on her phone, saw that they were all still there.

"What in the h.e.l.l?" she asked, looking to Lachlan. He shrugged.

"Ye better do it, Piper," he said, looking meaningfully at her. Since she'd been possessed by Daria, her powers were stronger than ever, but she feared using them.

"Is it the castle?" Lizzie said in a hushed voice.

"No," Piper snapped, then sighed. Why hadn't it worked? "Lachlan's done it so many times," she said, shaking her head. "I don't get it."

"Love, it's all right. If ye feel certain it works inside, ye must do it."

Her head throbbed and her vision blurred, but Lachlan squeezed her hand rea.s.suringly.

"Close your eyes and buckle up," she said.

Lizzie squeaked nervously, then everyone went still. Piper poked around in the recesses of her mind, finding the spot, the tiny dark spot that still remained, and prodded it, telling it to wake up and get to work.

A buzzing feeling tingled over her skin and she said the words without thinking them, just opened her mouth and let them fly.

Lachlan's grip almost broke her hand and she forced the terrifying power from it's hiding place and into the pa.s.sage. A burst of light exploded behind her eyes and she cried out from a pain so terrible, she was momentarily blinded.

"It's blocked, or something," she said weakly, clutching her head to keep it from breaking.

The air in the tight s.p.a.ce grew even closer and she groped for the opening in the wall, desperate to be free. Lachlan pushed it open and helped her out, where she gasped for breath. She blinked against the dim light, grateful she could see, but the pain grew worse, thousands of hot needles trying to p.r.i.c.k through her skull.

"Love, ye're bleeding," Lachlan said.

Catie handed her a handkerchief from the waistband of her dress, her face drawn with worry. "It's killing her," she said, voice breaking.

Piper held the cloth to her b.l.o.o.d.y nose and saw that it was just a few drops. Everything above her shoulders crackled with pain. It was agony just to shake her head.

"It's not killing me," she said, not sounding the least bit believable even to her own ears.

In fact, she had to cling to Lachlan's arm to keep from completely freaking out. Something had forcefully blocked her when she tried to do the spell, like a hand pressing against her, or ... more like a claw. Lachlan put his arm around her and she rested against him, absorbing his strength. She felt his heart pounding hard and fast and knew he was almost as upset as she was.

Laughing nervously, she tried to sound airy, but it came out tense. "It's too late now to try it in the woods again. Let's get a good night's rest and we can head out in the morning." She looked from one to the other, everyone stricken and pale.

Downstairs, Piper called Evie, who waited anxiously to see if it worked. She'd gone to hang around in the barn, always scared to get caught up in the blast radius of the spell. While Evie loved time travel novels, she hated and feared actual time travel.

When she learned they were going to sleep on it, she begged Lachlan to let Catie spend one last night at her house.

"I would so love to say goodbye to wee Magnus, and kiss his fat cheek once more," she said, clasping her hands and turning wide, beseeching eyes to Lachlan.

"I'll bring her back at the crack of dawn, if not before," Evie said, turning the same look on him. "Mags gets up at five, so it won't be a problem."

Lachlan relented and they left, leaving Lizzie and Quinn to attend to. Piper tried to tell them to take any room on the second floor, offer them clean towels and anything else they might need, but her splitting head wouldn't let her.

"Take the room ye were in when the physician bandaged ye," Lachlan said, taking her hand and leading her toward the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, he scooped her up, carrying her like a baby to their room. She protested the invalid treatment even as she wrapped her arms around his neck and nestled her face against his chest. His heartbeat was now rea.s.suringly steady and she closed her eyes and let the rhythmic thump soothe her.

Once in their room, he helped her get into bed, took off her shoes, and handed her a gla.s.s of water.

"You're so good to me," she said.

She couldn't hide how badly her hands shook when she accepted it and the water did nothing to ease the hot pain that still sliced through her. His face was tight with concern and he frowned, taking the gla.s.s before she dropped it.

"What happened?" he asked, sitting beside her and tucking the blankets up to her chin.

She wriggled her arms free and took his hand, trying to figure out what had transpired in the secret pa.s.sage. Her thoughts flapped around in her aching head and a dark image flashed through her mind. A shadowy presence, the thing with the claws. Sweat beaded at her hairline and she struggled to remain calm for Lachlan.

"There's something," she said. "Something was stopping me from doing it." She studied him, tracing the solid line of his jaw with her finger. "It felt like something from the outside, something angry, didn't want them to go back." Her eyelids felt heavy and she let them drift shut.

He jostled her shoulder, but she'd never felt so exhausted. "Piper, what if this has to do with what's happening in Bella's time?" His voice sounded so panicked, she forced her lids open and reached out to him. His eyes were wide with fear and he clung to her hands. "I shall try again. I'll go myself at once, and fix this."

This roused her enough to get her to sit up, and was rewarded for the effort with more stabbing pain. "No, you can't," she said, each frantic word making her weaker. "Look what it did to me. I can barely move."

He stood up and ran his hands through his hair as he prepared to argue with her. She closed her eyes against his tortured face.

"Then what do I do?" he asked.

She heard the wretchedness in his voice but was so very tired. She lay back down, feeling the cool, soft pillowcase against her cheek and used the last of her strength to answer, feeling oddly a.s.sured that what she said was right. "Try again tomorrow," she said. "Just stay here with me. Don't leave."

She felt the comforting weight of his hand on her side and snuggled deeper into the pillows, finally getting a bit of respite from the pain.

"I willna leave ye," he promised. "I will watch over ye all night."

Lizzie rushed into Quinn's embrace. She found herself shivering even though the room was warm, and Quinn's body emanated heat. Her mind couldn't settle. Were they stuck here? She couldn't believe she considered it in such a negative way, when she'd been fighting to get back for so long. What would happen to little Callum and the other Glens fighting against the illness raging through this very castle, so many years ago?

"Things have gone as wrong as they can go," he said, his lips brushing her hair.

At one time she'd thought of everyone she met in the past as a walking historical footnote, not really real. She certainly never thought she'd care so deeply for any of them. She stretched her arms around Quinn and held him with all her strength.

The warmth of his body and his hard chest pressing against her made her forget about the dire situation they might face if the spell failed again the next day. And the way Quinn's hands roamed down her back, she thought he might be willing to be distracted.

"We should get to bed," she said, foolishly feeling her face flood with color. The days of having to pretend to be a prim spinster chaperone were long behind her.

He nodded and slipped his arm through hers, and led her along the hall as if they were promenading in the park. He finally found the right bedroom after opening several different doors, and pulled her inside.

"I just want to look at ye for a moment," he said.

She watched his eyes as they flitted over her face, how he flinched at her bruises. She wished she looked prettier, and remembered the first time they'd danced, wishing she looked better then, too. It didn't seem to matter to him. He didn't seem to even notice all her perceived shortcomings.

"I know what ye're thinking, and wish ye wouldna," he said, running his fingertip lightly around the edge of her black and blue jaw.

"How do you know?" she asked.

"I used to notice ye look at the other ladies' finery as we took Catie about in London, and ye dressed so plainly as her chaperone."

"How did you possibly notice that?" Her heart beat a little faster as he tugged at the laces on her dress, loosening it to slide the fabric off her shoulders. He leaned over and kissed the base of her neck.

"Because I couldna take my eyes off ye for even a second. Ye were always the most beautiful to me." He kissed her neck, under her chin, and leaned back to look into her eyes. His hands settled at her waist and his expression pierced through her. "Ye fascinated me."

"Do I still?" she asked, curling her fingers into the belt of his kilt.

Quinn pulled her closer so she had to tilt her head back to keep eye contact with him. His lip quirked up in a half smile as he dipped to kiss her mouth.

"Yes," he said, kissing her again.

Thankfully he still held onto her waist because her legs wobbled at the soft touch of his lips against hers. The frenzied moments in Bella's time had been full of desperation. She'd only wanted to make him see that he still loved her, that her heart was his. Now it felt true and serene, and as soon as she rested against him in her happiness, desire bloomed full force within her.

"Oh my word, I want you so much," she said, digging her fingers into his shirt and pulling. Blasted sling, blasted clothes. She burned to lay her hands on his skin.

"Aye, I feel quite the same," he said, tightening his hold around her back to raise her feet off the floor and move her toward the bed.

"This is real, right?" She caught herself before landing flat and sat looking at him. How much had pa.s.sed since they were last together, and how much still stood between them? "I'm sorry," she said one last time for good measure.

He shook his head. "It's behind us now. Catie is safe and we are together. But since we're rehashing things, I myself am sorry for not looking for ye when ye didna show up. When we get back, I'm going to hunt down that madman and break him into pieces for what he did to ye."

"Wodge?" She hadn't spared him a thought since she dumped him by the fallen log. She didn't want to spare him a thought now, but Quinn looked good and bloodthirsty. "Forget about him. He's probably in the Jura.s.sic period taking lessons in how to be more lizard-like." She pulled him to sit beside her, then kept pushing him until he was flat on his back. "Please, Quinn. Promise me you'll forget about him. He's dangerous, and he won't bother us if we leave off time traveling."

He carefully eased out of his sling and slowly rolled his shoulder. "It's a bit better, I think."

Narrowing her eyes at his refusal to promise and his slippery way of distracting her, she pulled at his acres of plaid, deciding she'd let him this once.

"You should leave it on, idiot." She instantly regretted the thoughtless word, meaning it as a silly endearment, but hating that he got called that so callously and frequently by his brother. She placed her hands on his chest, feeling his heart beat under her palm. "You're not really an idiot, you know."

He smiled. "I know, and am glad ye dinna think so. And I want the b.l.o.o.d.y thing off so I can better grapple ye."

"Oh, well, then." She leaned over and kissed him as he ran his hands down her sides.

Chapter 19.

Lachlan wrenched open his eyes, heart pounding with dread. How long had he been asleep? He'd meant to stay awake all night, keeping watch over Piper, but the strange and sudden tiredness that claimed her must have got the best of him, too.

He pulled himself out of the hard chair he'd expressly brought into the room to help stay awake and cracked his neck, forcing himself not to panic when he saw the bed was empty. Panic took over in full force, however, when the bathroom was empty. Not even a damp towel showed that she'd already taken a shower.

He tore down the stairs and slammed into the kitchen, startling Evie and Catie, who had just sat down to breakfast by the look of their full plates. Even wee Magnus, who sat in his chair between them, jumped and wrinkled his chubby face into the beginnings of a howl.

Evie quickly patted him, but her face echoed his feelings when she saw how distraught he was.

"Didna I tell ye he'd think we'd be late?" Catie asked cluelessly, offering Mags a comforting finger to squeeze.

"No, that isna it," he said, not sure he wasn't overreacting. He slowed his steps.

"Where's Piper?" The urgency to Evie's question brought back all his dread. Of course he wasn't overreacting. An evil witch had her in her clutches!

"She isna with ye?" he asked, already heading for the door.

"No," Evie answered, standing up. "We've been here for twenty minutes or so and haven't seen her come down. Have you checked the library?"

Lachlan looked at the soothing hand she'd placed on his arm and forced himself not to throw it off and run from the kitchen. He was angry at himself and stopped to take a breath.

"I fell asleep," he said, shaking his head. "I dinna know what came over me. I meant to watch her all night."

Evie put down her phone. "She's not answering." She gave Lachlan a long look, one that frightened him even more than he already was. "You've probably managed to stay awake during some pretty harrowing situations, right?"

He shrugged. "Aye, long night watches are common when ye're raiding or preparing for battle."

She swallowed hard. "I think something did come over you. I don't think you fell asleep at all. Something wanted Piper to get out of that room without you seeing. Or stopping her." She handed Magnus a bottle, making sure he clutched it properly, then turned to Catie. "Stay here with the baby."

"Where are ye going?" she asked, her voice becoming uncharacteristically small and afraid.