“I thank ye, but nae.” Taran looked down at the child in his arms with something so fierce and raw that Noah had to look away for a moment. “She stays wi’ me all the way tae…” he blinked the moisture from his eyes. “All the way.”
Noah checked the rest of the group for injuries, finding scrapes and bruises on everyone, another shallow gash on Finn’s shoulder, and a slight cut above Paige’s left eye, smeared with blood that she’d wiped away without complaint.
He moved toward Skye, needing to see for himself that she was unharmed.
Austin stepped between them. “She’s fine. Tend to your own.”
Skye’s green eyes met Noah’s, and the look that passed between them carried the weight of everything they couldn’t say. She gave him the smallest nod, as if saying;I’m all right. Don’t provoke him.
Noah forced himself to turn away.
As he moved through the rest of the group, he noticed the guards had drifted to the edge of the tunnel, their vigilance crumbling along with the walls around them. Two of them sat with their swords across their laps, their eyes fixed on the ceiling rather than their prisoners. The other two stood close together, muttering in low, rapid voices, not bothering to heed Keir’s movements as he went to join Finn.
“Will ye let the lass sit?” Taran asked Austin, indicating a space beside Paige. “She needs the rest.”
“She stays with me,” Austin snarled, mimicking Taran’s words as he paced anxiously in the narrow space, but always within reach of Skye. His composure seemed to fracture with each new tremor and rockfall.
“This is madness,” he spat at Skye. “Your selfishness has put us in this deathtrap. When we’re free of this, your father will learn of your deceit.” He stopped, leaned so close she must have felt his breath on her cheek. “Iwill certainly not forget it.”
Skye said nothing. She stood with her spine straight and her hands clasped at her waist, armored in her own stillness.
“Austin,” Taran called, his face drawn with worry. “I ken little of portals and their outcomes. Our only experience was an accident o’ sorts. So I’m askin’ one last time for yer help. Ye’ve admitted tae countless trips through the portal. And ’tis clear from the different items in the Citadel that ye’ve been tae many different times and places. Paige and I need tae return tae the time ye both came from, tae get Emily the help she needs. We cannae take a chance on endin’ up in a time that cannae help her. How have you determined yer destination? How did ye insure ye always came back tae the same place? I’m askin’ ye how tae make sure we dinnae end up in a place where the limitations for the child are even worse than they are here.”
Finn snorted. “Worse than this? Look around you.”
As if to prove his point another rumble rolled beneath their feet, and a chunk of stone fell not three feet from where Paige sat. She flinched and clutched Brody tighter but said nothing, merely nodding to Taran that they were okay.
Austin scowled. “I’m not your travel guide. Go where you will, or not. I don’t care. I’ve fulfilled my end of the bargain.” His gaze slid to Skye, possessive and cold. “Now I intend to see thatyouwill fulfill yours.”
Noah couldn’t hold his tongue any longer. “You can’t expect?—”
“It’s the intent.” The blurted words came unexpectedly from the younger guard who’d been whispering to his companion. He spoke before he seemed to realize what he was doing, his fear clearly stronger than his obedience.
“What do ye mean?” Taran asked.
“You will be silent!” Austin commanded.
The guard flinched, shot a fearful glance at Austin, and another at the collapse blocking the tunnel. “You must hold fast to your intended destination in your mind, or the portal will take you where it pleases. You must know precisely where you want to go, the time period, even the specific place if you know it. At the very least, you need to have in mind the purpose you seek when arriving.”
“Aye,” Taran nodded. “Which is why Paige and I were able tae come tae this time without even realizing we’d chosen it. Our single intent was for Paige tae reunite with Austin. So it brought us tae this world.”
“Yes,” the guard nodded.
“But ye’ve been able tae come and go. Paige and I couldnae go back. Why?”
The guard shrugged. “I’m not sure. Perhaps because you hadn’t fully realized your intent yet? What you came for?”
Paige looked up at Austin with an expression of such sorrow it twisted Noah’s heart. “No,” she said, almost in a whisper. “We certainly had not.”
Noah let the guard’s words take root in his mind.Intent.If he used the portal, he would need to focus on a destination with absolute clarity.
He looked at the solid wall behind Paige, where the portal was supposed to be, and tried to push away the nagging thoughtthat they could be waiting for something that might never appear.
Even if it did, he wouldn’t go without Skye.
Another tremor vibrated through the stone around them, triggering a deafening crash not far down the tunnel, and visibly widening the fissures above their heads. A large slab of stone shifted, dropped a few inches, but thankfully held.
Paige gasped, eyes fixed on the ceiling as the guards scrambled to their feet, eyes darting, searching for a place to hide that didn’t exist.
