Redeeming Vows (MacCoinnich Time Travel Trilogy #3)(36)
Author: Catherine Bybee

Selma crossed to a satchel and removed a large box. “I think this will explain a lot,” she said.

Lizzy sat and pulled him down to her side.

Selma handed the box to Lizzy.

“What is it?”

“My book.”

Lizzy’s hands carefully removed the lid and set it aside. Inside, the book Fin had witnessed Lizzy reading time and time again at his home sat. Only this book had evidence of age. The edges were tattered and well worn from use and time.

“Oh my God,” Lizzy exclaimed while her hands swept over the cover of the book in a light caress.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought when I found it.”

Lizzy’s brows pinched together. “You need to explain.”

Selma folded her hair behind her ears while she sat. “Okay, first though, you know I’m a witch, right?”

Fin’s back stiffened.

“I think you’re a Druid, Selma, but if you’d prefer to be called a witch, fine by me.”

“Lass!” Fin shot her a warning. They didn’t talk freely of their heritage.

“Oh, give me a break, Fin. She knows more about what’s going on than we do at this point.”

His jaw clenched.

“Anyway,” Selma continued, “I see things others don’t. The cops often seek my advice on missing person’s cases. After you and your son disappeared, along with Blakely, the police called me.”

“Why you? That seems a little too coincidental, don’t you think?”

“Not really. Jake, Blakely’s partner, traced a lot of his activity back the month before you guys dropped of the face of the earth. You bought a bunch of stuff with your credit card that seemed out of character according to some of your co-workers. At least that’s what Jake told me.”

“Your book was on the list.”

“Yeah. Jake called the police department I worked with occasionally in Ohio, who contacted me on his behalf. He offered to pay my way here so I could poke around, maybe give him a few answers.”

She spread her hands wide indicating the room in which they sat.

“The first time I set foot in this apartment I knew something bigger than an abduction had taken place.” Selma’s face paled.

Fin reached to take Lizzy’s hand in his. Simon’s abduction by Grainna was the last thing that took place in the apartment before they had all been swept back in time.

“What then?”

“I knew someone evil had been here. That you feared for your son.”

Fin felt a kinship with the woman speaking. Her gifts were similar to Amber’s. He agreed with Lizzy, Selma was kin to them. She was a Druid, not a witch.

“I also knew you’d be back.”

That explained why the woman waited for them.

But to determine the precise day didn’t seem possible.

Liz took to her feet and walked around the room.

“Why is everything exactly the way I left it? Why didn’t the landlord take possession and sell my stuff for back rent?”

“I haven’t gotten there yet. A man from an antique shop called me a few days after I arrived and told me he had something for me. That’s when I was given this.” She motioned to the book in Lizzy’s hand.

“Didn’t the dealer question the age of the book?”

“Mr. Harrison handed me a crate with this buried inside a chest. He didn’t know what was inside of it.”

Fin held up his hand. “Are you saying that our family bequeathed this to you and it’s been safe all these years?”

Selma nodded. “You could say that. I was told that a strong family trust shuffled the crate around the world at specified times until it landed here a few weeks after you disappeared. No one was more surprised than I to find my name in the will.”

Some of the tension fled Fin’s shoulders. “Do you know what this means, lass?” he asked Lizzy.

She sent him a puzzled look.

“We must find our way back in order to set all of this up to happen in the future.”

A slow smile spread over Lizzy’s features. “Of course. I would have left instructions on how we get back.”

“You left me a note, but I’m not sure how much good it’s going to do.” Selma retrieved the tattered book and fingered through the pages until she found what she searched for.

The paper used was from the supply Myra brought back with her, the ink difficult to decipher.

In several places, holes wore into the parchment and it appeared as if some had been burned deliberately.

The script was in Lizzy’s hand.

Selma,

You don’t know us, but we need your help.

A large space followed with only a few words readable. The letter gave the date and instructions to hold Elizabeth’s apartment with the money obtained by the contents in the box. Anything left over was hers to keep. This part was clear and obviously followed by Ms. Mayfair.

Here the letter fell into disrepair and left only a sprinkling of words that held no meaning.

To…home… Observe the stars…only days…use the energy of…all around. Soar above…

Ancients…vows…death and sorrow… Redemption.

Liz lifted the paper to the air and tilted it to the light shining in from the window. “This can’t be all.”

“That’s all there is,” Selma told them. “I hope it means something to you, because I couldn’t make any sense of it.”

Liz’s gaze met his as a wave of panic swept up his spine.

“What else was in the crate?” he asked.

“Not a lot. Todd’s cell phone, which Jake has.

There was a ruby the size of my thumb that I sold to pay for this place like you asked. Some cloth used to preserve the book and a strange rock.”

Fin shot to his feet. “Where’s the rock?”

Selma retrieved her bag once again. She dug inside, removed aged cloth, and uncovered the stone, one of the six sacred stones that moved them through time. She handed the Ancient’s gift to him.

Once his fingers touched the surface, a soft pale light glowed from deep inside.

Selma gasped and reached for it again. With her touch, the light pulsed. Liz stood and added her hand. Waves of blue hummed and pulsed along with the beat of their hearts.

Hope spread inside Fin’s chest.

All was not lost.

****

They had tons to do, but Liz would be damned if she wasn’t going to take advantage of the indoor plumbing with a hot shower and a working toilet. As the steaming water cascaded off her skin and the strawberry scent of the shampoo penetrated into her scalp, Liz wondered about the words left in her own handwriting to a person she didn’t even know. The entire passage started with the word home, which obviously meant the sixteenth century keep.