“I don’t understand any of this,” Chloe said.
“I know but you will.” She perched on the bed next to her. “How do you feel? Like hell?”
“Yes,” she said.
“And everything hurts?”
Chloe lifted her gaze to meet hers. “Yes.”
She nodded understanding. “That’s the time traveling. It wrecks you for a few days, but you’ll be fine soon enough.” Evie reached into her pocket and brought out something clutched in her hand. “Do you have one of these?”
She opened her fingers to show Chloe the piece of stone resting against her scarred palm, the scar that looked remarkably like her own. A strange sensation went over her as she reached into her jeans pocket and pulled it out. She held it up for Evie to see. Evie pressed one edge against her stone. It fit perfectly.
“It’s part of the keystone,” Evie said, her voice full of wonder.
Chloe’s gaze flickered from the stone down to her hand. She opened her fingers and rested the back of her hand against her leg, showing Evie the inflamed imprint. Evie placed her hand next to hers.
“You, too,” she said.
“Eve, I don’t understand any of this. I looked for you in Edinburgh after you disappeared in the museum. I thought you were kidnapped or worse.”
Dead. She didn’t want to say it aloud. A shudder went through her at the thought of losing her sister. Evie was her anchor to the world. When she thought she was gone forever, a well of panic had bubbled through her.
Her sister took a deep breath, expelled it. “I wished there was some way for me to tell you what happened to me, but there wasn’t.”
Chloe took Evie’s hand in hers and held it. “You can tell me now. I’m here.”
Evie smiled, her eyes lighting with joy as she nodded. “I’m so glad you are.” She squeezed her hand. “Remember the day on the Royal Mile when I left you and Bruce?”
She nodded, fear trickling through her hearing Bruce’s name. She thought back on that day and how distracted Evie had seemed and yet how attentive Bruce was. She wondered now if that was all an act. If he had been trying to get close to her—or Evie—to get his hands on the stone.
“I found a little antique store. It seemed to call to me. That’s the only way I can explain it.”
A gasp escaped her. She remembered the card in her back pocket. Reaching for it, she slipped it out and showed it to Evie.
“Mystic Treasures. It called to me, too. I found this in your luggage.”
Evie took the card from her. She traced the gold-embossed letters with her forefinger. “I should have told you about Moira.”
She handed the card back to her. Chloe peered down at the glittering letters. It was truly a mystical place.
“She gave you the stone, didn’t she?” Chloe asked and she nodded. She understood then why Evie had disappeared. She had fallen through time. It all made sense. “You had it with you at the museum that night.”
“I did. When I was in the bathroom, I heard the gunshots. The only thing I escaped with was the stone. I ran up the stairs.I…” Her voice faltered. She paced the short length of the room. “I don’t know how to tell you this, Chlo.”
“There isn’t anything you can’t tell me, now, Evie. We’re in this together. Whateverthisis.”
She had no real understanding of their current situation. But it was clear Evie was trying to tell her by starting at the beginning.
Evie cut her a glance and nodded, but there was still worry creasing her face. “When I ran up the stairs, a man grabbed me. I managed to kick him and get away. He followed me to the second level. He told me the stone called to him, but I hid behind a statue.” She halted her pacing and turned to face her. “Chlo, it was Bruce.”
She stared at her in silence, wanting to be shocked but wasn’t. She knew before Evie said it. She knew she was telling the truth. Because Bruce had attacked her in her flat.
“He tried to take the stone from you,” Chloe said.
“Yes, and I used it. I didn’t know what I was doing when I swiped my thumb over it. I had no idea it would send me back in time. I woke up in Callum’s bed.”
Chloe wiggled her brows. “That must have been fun.”
