Her knuckles whitened as she gripped her staff and turned away from the pool. She held her hand above her head, her bent fingers tensed and ready. The blue crystal atop her staff hummed as a spark of white exploded at its center. The pulsating light grew and strengthened, setting the crystal on fire.
Ronan edged closer to the roaring flames. It had to be soon now. The air was so thick with pulsing energy it stung his flesh. A dull thud then a deep, monotone hum growled from the center of the pool. The dancing flames licking around the water’s edge slowed their movements, strained upward toward the moon, then solidified with a crackling pop that sounded like shifting ice across a loch.
He glanced back at Granny. The fingers of her raised hand trembled, then stretched open wide. Then like a guillotine, her hand swiftly dropped.
It was time. Ronan sucked in a deep breath and jumped.
CHAPTER3
Twenty-first Century Scotland
Edinburgh
“You’re late. Again. They are going to fire your ass.”
“Don’t start with me, Lilia.” Mairi Sinclair dumped her bulging work tote at the base of the back stair opening into the kitchen. “It’s not my fault this time.”
Her twin sister, who neither looked nor acted anything like her, didn’t look up from the electronic tablet propped against her breakfast bowl of fruit. “You’re always late and it’s always your fault,” Lilia said. “Why would this morning be any different?”
With one finger flicking through the paragraphs streaming down the screen, Lilia absentmindedly patted the other hand over to the bowl of fruit, fished out a handful of berries and popped them in her mouth.
“Granny,” Mairi said, knowing her sister would immediately comprehend exactly what she meant without further explanation. There wasn’t time. Granny had kept her awake all night, nagging her about jumping back to the thirteenth century. When she had finally stuffed cotton in her ears and managed to muffle Granny long enough to fall asleep, the unrelenting woman had somehow managed to show up in her dreams and continued the lecture. “And where is our Eliza this morning?”
Lilia slowly pulled her attention away from her reading and glanced around the kitchen as though she just realized where she was. “I don’t think she’s down yet. I haven’t seen her this morning. Why?”
“Because she and Granny are plotting—big time.” Mairi plunked her travel mug down beside the coffee maker, lifted the empty pot, and aimed it at her sister. “You couldn’t leave me one cup? Just one. Stinking. Cup?” She had barely clocked a couple of hours of sleep. Without at least a gallon of caffeine, she would never make it through a double shift at the hospital. A groaning sigh escaped her. This was going to be one hell of a day.
“Geez, you’re pissy this morning.” Lilia rose from the table, tucked the reading tablet into the hot pink briefcase on the table, and took the pot from Mairi. “Another pot won’t take but a second. Besides—as late as you are, I don’t see how it really matters anyway. If the hospital hasn’t fired you by now, maybe they won’t fire you today. Sit down and tell me what Granny and Eliza have done this time.”
“I don’t have time to sit.” Mairi leaned back against the kitchen cabinets, working her knuckles into the muscles knotted across her shoulders. She was exhausted—and tensed tighter than a whore in church.
Granny had not only kept the fire portal in the small hearth in her bedroom wide open with her image and voice echoing loud and clear from the coals of the dying fire, but she had also even gone so far as to project her rant through the heat vent in the bathroom and the study as though the newly installed ductwork of the old Victorian house was a freaking intercom system between centuries.
Her lecture had lasted hours. No. It had not been a lecture but more like accusing, shaming, and loading on the guilt by the gallons. Mairi rubbed the burning corners of her tired eyes. Granny had accused her of shirking her heritage, ignoring her destiny, and shunning her family. The stubborn old dear had spared nothing, using every form of emotional ammo at her disposal. Shunned and turned her back on the family.Those were the words that had stung the most. How could Granny say such a thing?
“She refuses to understand.” Mairi pushed away from the counter, pacing back and forth in front of the quietly gurgling coffeemaker. “I don’t belong in the thirteenth century—I just don’t.” She pointed at the floor. “I belong here.”
Lilia didn’t say a word, just thoughtfully sipped on a huge mug of coffee—the last cup of coffee, which she should’ve shared.
Mairi hit the counter with a frustrated thump. She might be a Sinclair time runner, able to skate back and forth across centuries at will, but that didn’t mean she had to give up all the niceties of the future to take up permanent residence in the past. Why couldn’t they all settle in different centuries? It wasn’t like they couldn’t jump time and visit one another whenever they wanted. It was no different fromnormalfamilies living scattered across the globe and only seeing one another on special occasions. Of course, how the devil would she know whatnormalwas?“Even with modern medicine—my healing abilities are needed here.”
Granny had used that angle in her argument as well. Each daughter of the time-runner clan possessed additional gifts as well as the ability to travel across time. Mairi’s particular specialty was healing with just a touch—so long as the Fates agreed with her actions and granted their approval.
Lilia remained silent, standing there with that doe-eyed stare that irritated Mairi even more. Lilia’s gift was visions—that and she was an empath.
Mairi flung her hands into the air. “I don’t know why we’re even having this conversation. Not only are you capable of visions, but you’re also an empath. You feel what I am feeling. You should already know what’s going on without my having to spell it out.”
“Coffee’s ready. Fill your cup. Get some caffeine in you and let’s go.” Lilia scooped her briefcase up from the table. “You know how Granny is once she sets her mind on something and you know Eliza is going to help her battle from this side of the time portal. Why do you let them bother you?”
“Because . . .” Mairi stalled out, her thoughts and emotions log-jamming her ability to speak. Because Granny had sacrificed so much for them—saved their lives and in the process put all her own hopes and dreams on hold until all four of the sisters were nearly grown. Because Eliza had loved them as their own, taking them under her wing when Granny finally returned to the thirteenth century to be with the man she had left behind. Because even though the two old women drove her insane, she loved them dearly and couldn’t imagine life without them.
“Because?” Lilia prompted, holding open the door to the stairs leading down into the garage.
“You knowbecause. Don’t play stupid.” Mairi took a scalding sip of the hot coffee, flinching as it burned her tongue. With a heavy sigh, she tightened down the lid on her travel cup. “I know what I want to do with my life, but it’s not exactly meshing with Granny’s plans.” Mairi stopped and stared down the worn wooden steps. “And I feel like a damn traitor.”
Lilia yanked open the car door, then glanced back at her. “You talked to Trulie and Kenna about staying here. Right?” She chugged her briefcase into the back of the car, then plopped into the passenger seat.
“Yes,” Mairi said as she slid behind the wheel.
