Highland Shifter (MacCoinnich Time Travels #4)(22)
Author: Catherine Bybee

“Calm down.” Simon attempted to grab her hands, but she moved away.

“It needs to come off.”

“Relax, Helen.”

“Relax? Easy for you to say. The thing isn’t fused to you.”

“If the Ancients wanted it anywhere but around your neck, you’d be able to remove it easily. Don’t fight with it.”

Simon and his Ancients, those spiritual beings he credited for everything that happened. She didn’t lend much belief in spirits.

Helen stopped pulling and walked briskly to the junk drawer in her kitchen. There she found a pair of pliers and moved them to the chain.

“Halt!” Simon yelled his voice stopped her instantly. “You may be destroying my only chance to return home.”

The pliers fell from her hand, hit the counter, and then tumbled to the floor. He was right. Her own insecurities and fears were making her rush to action. “I’m sorry. You’re right.” Her hands shook with the force of her fear.

“We’ll figure out what makes the necklace work. Together.”

“But what if I wake up in your time and you’re here?”

“You won’t.” Simon’s hands rested on her shoulders.

She wanted to believe him but didn’t know what to believe anymore. “You don’t know that.”

“I’ll not leave your side.”

“But—”

“Shhh.”

Not leave her side? Her body tightened in a ball of pressure. What the hell was wrong with her?

* * * *

Amber palmed one of the small stones and rubbed her thumb along its smooth surface. “I know you’ve done this for a reason,” she voiced to whatever, whoever might be listening. The Ancients only appeared in dire times. This obviously wasn’t one of them. Simon might be missing from this century, but Amber no longer felt the forbearing weight of loss she did when he’d first stepped out of this time. She guessed the lack of acute pain was due to Lizzy’s emotions calming. Bearing the weight of other peoples’ emotions, experiencing their joy, pain, and sorrow, became more oppressive with each passing year.

This was her Druid gift.

Lately it knifed her like a curse.

Her burden was shared with her parents. Her father, Ian, encouraged her to find a husband, someone of her own to love and start a family. Each suitor Amber turned away, unable to bear their touch or experience their lingering pain.

Lora’s premonitions had faded as she aged, giving Amber hope that hers would diminish, too.

Through the years, the pain of the family faded enough to bear their direct contact. But even that became increasingly difficult. Simon was a part of that family. Although they didn’t share any blood relation, he was a brother to her. She missed him.

A knock on her chamber door sounded, followed by her mother’s voice. “’Tis me.”

“Come in.”

Lora’s skirts swished along the floor as she crossed the room. She wore grace and elegance as others would wear a scarf. Her mother’s long dark hair was bundled into a snood at her neck; the lace matched the deep umber color of her dress.

“Are you still studying the stones?”

Amber returned her eyes to the table on which the smaller stones lay. “Aye. The Ancients are trying to tell us something.”

Lora lifted one of the stones and rolled it in her hand. “Agreed. And I think I may know what they’re suggesting.”

“You’ve had a premonition?”

She shook her head. “More feeling than anything predetermined.”

“Don’t leave me waiting.”

Lora lifted the stone to Amber’s chest and tilted her head to the side in thought. “When I close my eyes I see a necklace. Nothing ornate, or made with any precious metal. A simple design any of the villagers might fashion.”

Amber lifted her palm to her mother. The stone fell into it. “A necklace? As a way of disguising it?”

“Mayhap. Remember Simon’s suggestion years ago about hiding the larger stones in plain sight. He said something about a pet rock.”

Amber laughed. “Lizzy’s endless explanation of a pet rock lasted for weeks. But yes, I remember.”

Lora sat on the edge of the bed and folded her hands in her lap. “I thought of Simon, as a child, talking about pet rocks. Now these small pieces of the sacred stones may very well be lost if left unattended. Placed in a piece of jewelry, or in the handle of a knife, they wouldn’t disappear without notice.”

“I think you’re right. I’ll ask Cian to take me to the village tomorrow so we might obtain materials to achieve your goal.” Making jewelry wouldn’t bring Simon back, but the task might empty her mind and help guide her to the answers she sought.

Chapter Ten

“They’re sending my things.” Helen hung up the phone and turned Simon’s way.

How had he seen the necklace around her neck and not thought of home? Clearly, there was a simple design of Celtic knots inlaid around the stone. Maybe because he was used to seeing such designs, he didn’t pay any attention to Helen’s. But he should have noticed it before now.

“What will happen when your boss arrives and doesn’t find you there?”

“I really don’t care. I obviously can’t trust him.”

“You must let him believe he came here undetected. ’Tis the only way we can determine what he sought.”

“Are you suggesting we wait for him to do it again?”

“It may not come to that.” The distress covering Helen’s face forced Simon to keep his thoughts to himself. Something about Philip Lyons felt dark. If Amber were by Simon’s side, she could better determine the man’s motivations.

“He’s going to be more than pissed when he gets to Scotland and I’m not there.”

Simon rubbed the stubble on his chin. “When your enemy is angered, they act irrational.”

“Oh, joy!” Helen said without amusement.

“It will take at least two days before he returns.”

“That doesn’t seem like a lot of time.”

“We’ve more than enough time to penetrate his home as he did yours and learn more about him.”

Helen’s jaw dropped open, her eyes grew wide. “Break into his house?”

“We aren’t going to steal anything, lass. We’re only going to look around.”

Helen ran a hand through her hair. “It’s still illegal.”

“You can stay here. I’ll go alone.” The task would be easier solo anyway.