“No. Not a word.”
“Then maybe she expects to be back.”
“She’s not coming back. She loves him.”
“You don’t know that…
“She told me so.”
“But surely what is between you is enough to…
Bridei came to an abrupt halt but did not look at him. “Meara told me this morning that Nessa carries my child, if that was not enough, then nothing is.”
Domech’s face fell. “Oh gods…oh Bridei…”
He shook his head, his features hardening until his face might have been made of iron. “There is nothing I can do. She has made her choice.” His throat felt tight, his eyes stung. He shoved every bit of emotion into one tiny part of his mind, where it throbbed with a constant, dull pain that he knew would be with him for a very long time. “She is dead to me now. I have a battle to prepare for, Domech. One I intend to win. Are you with me?”
Ohgod, what have I done?
This was wrong…soverywrong. She was kneeling on a dirt floor and Nathan’s arms were around her, but they were the wrong arms. She knew this with a certainty that sunk into her heart like a deadly weight, dropped on her only moments too late. Bile rose in her throat but she choked it down.
“How…how did you get to me?”
They were in the large chamber of the passage grave on Clough Hill, and at her feet was the little…time machine…that Angus had made.
“When you went missing…” He paused, pacing a few steps before turning back to her. “When you went missing, I was beside myself. I didn’t know what to do, and the police were no help.”
“You called the police?”
“Of course I did, I couldn’t find you anywhere! I thought you might have been dead! God, Nessa, I didn’t know what to do!”
She nodded, drawing her bottom lip into her mouth. He had truly been worried about her, and all the while she had been falling in love with another man.
Nathan continued, jarring her from her guilt-stricken thoughts. “Then Angus just shows up at my door one night, begging me to help him, and I followed him. Did youknowNessa? Did you know what that thing does?” Nathan nodded toward the contraption, which sat in a dusty beam of sunlight as if it were on display. “I thought he was crazy when he told me what it did, but I humored him. Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving? Why didn’t you at least say goodbye?” He was looking at her with eyes full of hurt, and an almost equal amount of anger. Had he really thought she meant to leave?
“No. I didn’t know…I mean, Angus told me that’s what it did, but I didn’t actually believe him! And I never meant to leave, I was following him to keep him out of trouble. I followed him here. I never knew it would actually work, I swear.”
Nathan looked at her a long moment, then sighed. “I’m sorry Ness, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions.”
Then something dawned on her. “Wait…you followed Angus to me? But he was there weeks before you showed up. How could that be?”
“Weeks? Oh my god, he was there that long ago?”
“Aye. He said he’d come back for me. That he went to get help. Then…then he had a heart attack. He died in my arms.”
Nathan’s arms tightened around her. “I’m so sorry Ness. I don’t know what happened. I went in straight after him, but I do remember accidently knocking the machine with my foot. Maybe I shifted it somehow…the time, or whatever.” He looked deep into her eyes, making her uneasy. “Ness, you had no idea he might have been telling the truth? That he had really figured out some ancient way to time travel?”
“No. I guess I should have believed him, huh?” She stood up on wobbly legs. “Let’s go, Nathan. I want to go home.”
“Okay, of course. But Nessa, let’s agree here and now to never tell anyone about this. I want nothing more than a nice, quiet, average life with you. If anyone found out…well, I’m just afraid it would turn into a circus. And if people got their hands on this thing and started day tripping back and forth in time, which they would, things would turn into a colossal mess very quickly.”
“Oh god, I didn’t even really think about that, but you’re right. It will be our secret forever. Modern man is in no way ready for ancient technology.” Her lips quirked in humor that she absolutely did not feel. Her world had just been turned upside-down. Again.
Walking into the nursing home was even harder than she’d thought it would be, but she wanted to get Gram’s things, including her wedding ring and the necklace she’d worn every single day since Nessa could remember. As she waited at the front desk for someone to retrieve them, Molly, one of the nurses that had cared for Gram, came around the corner carrying a stack of files.
“Nessa?” Her face filled with genuine sympathy. “Oh Nessa, I’m so sorry for your loss, dear.”
Nessa choked back the tears that threatened, and the back of her throat stung with the effort. “Thank you, Molly.”
