Redeeming Vows (MacCoinnich Time Travel Trilogy #3)(46)
Author: Catherine Bybee

Fin’s breath fanned her ear when he spoke.

“Maybe now that you’ve found your gift, you could catch her.”

She shivered. Fin held her closer.

“I’d love to get my hands on her neck, but at the same time, I’d be petrified.” Considering the amount of power the woman had, touching her might be like staring into the eyes of Medusa. Although Grainna may be in the body of a goddess, she had the soul of a snake-haired demon.

“You’d have to have some mighty powerful protection, that’s for sure.”

“Do you have any idea how to conjure that kind of protection?”

“Didn’t you say Grainna holds the power of hundreds of Druids that she’s killed?”

“Yeah.”

Selma swatted a bug on her bare arm. “Then it would take the strength of hundreds to combat her.”

“Hundreds of Druids?” Fin asked.

“That would be impossible,” Liz sighed.

“Maybe not Druids, but souls. Decent, spiritual people working toward the same goal.”

“How would we obtain that without exposing who we are?”

Selma shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe if this Ancient came down like an angel and guided the masses to listen to you to defeat her, the people would listen.”

“Like that’s gonna happen. Elise hasn’t even appeared to us since before the last showdown.”

Fin ran his hand down her arm, instantly calming her. Feeling helpless never weighed on her like it did now.

“We must find a way to render her powerless in order to destroy her.” Fin mused, his voice distant.

“We need to find our way back first.”

“I know, lass. We will.”

Liz wanted to be more confident, but as the hours ticked on, hope faded.

Selma let out a deep sigh and pushed herself away from the heat of the fire. “I’m going to see what our celestial friends over there are looking at.”

Jake snorted and tipped his beer back for another long pull as Selma sauntered away. Her hips swung in step with her hands attracting Jake’s eye. Liz let a smile slip past her lips.

Jake caught her grin and stuck out a defiant chin. “So, my buddy Todd finally settled down?”

Liz shivered as a gust of cold air blew off the ocean. Fin held her closer. When had she grown so comfortable being surrounded by his arms? His scent?

“He and Myra are very happy,” Liz told him.

“Does he wear a kilt like you do?” he asked Fin.

“No. He refuses. I think his exact words were,

‘There’s no way in hell I’m going to wear a skirt.’”

Jake choked on his beer. “Now that sounds like Todd.”

“’Tisn’t a skirt,” Fin defended the garment he’d grown up wearing.

“The hell it isn’t.”

Fin snorted, the roped muscles on his arm flexed with irritation. “Women wear skirts.”

Jake opened his mouth to air his retort, and Liz cut him off. Fin had already voiced his concern about Jake’s lack of trust in them. The cop’s continual threat to turn them in hung in the air like thick fog.

Although he’d seemed to ease into believing their stories, Liz knew firsthand that blindly accepting time travel, Druids, and witches was impossible without proof. When Myra had come to her with the tale of Tara’s disappearance and subsequent travel through time, she didn’t believe her at all. Or at least not much anyway. Even when Myra proved she held the power to move objects with her mind, Liz really didn’t believe she traveled through time. Not until she stood on the snow-dusted hills of Scotland did she truly believe.

“It’s a kilt. And it’s sexy as hell.” Liz hoped her comment would disperse Fin’s temper. She didn’t want to see him and Jake come to blows.

Lifting a brow in her direction, the hard lines on Fin’s face softened. “Sexy, is it?”

Sometimes men were so easy. “Easy access, too.”

Fin’s hand stroked her waist under her arms and allowed his thumb to trace the outline of her breast, his touch hidden from Jake by the sweater she wore. Chills of pleasure and something else drifted in her mind.

A soft moan rumbled low in his chest as his lips descended on hers. She reached for him just as Selma strode up to the campfire chatting. “I think I know the date that you two are going home.”

Her words registered to both her and Fin at the same time. Their kiss forgotten, they snapped their attention to her.

“When?”

“There’s a full moon in two days.”

“So?”

“There’s also going to be a total eclipse of the moon starting at eleven-fifteen.”

“That has to be it.” Liz turned in Fin’s arms and looked him in the eye. “On the tapestry, there’s a spot with a dark circle surrounded by a thin line. It has to be what Lora wanted to portray.”

“What are you saying, Selma? The stars are going to align and throw these two back in time?”

Jake’s sarcasm grew thicker with each word.

“Your skepticism is getting old, Jake.”

“So is all this mystical, magical bullshit.” He stood and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Why are you here, again?”

“To keep an eye on all of you.”

“Oh, yeah, so you can what? Turn them in, keep them from going back, and help their family survive.

Help Todd survive? Nice way to show your friend you care.”

“Todd knew I would do anything for him. He was like a brother to me.”

“Is. Is like a brother. Todd isn’t dead,” Liz spoke up, trying in vain to remind Jake that no harm had come to Todd.

“Was,” he corrected. “If you want me to believe your story, then Todd is long since dead.”

“Not where we’ve come from. But there’s no guarantee he’ll stay whole and healthy if we don’t get back there.” Their shouts were drawing attention to them from the other people on the beach. Liz pushed herself out of Fin’s lap and lowered her voice.

“Todd would want you to help. We’ve already gone over this.”

Jake turned his back to them and took a few steps toward the water’s edge. He ran a hand through his hair; the dew from the ocean spray had the short strands standing on end. “I don’t know what the hell to believe with you guys. About the time I started to move on, get used to the fact that Todd wasn’t coming home, you guys show up and offer some hope he’s alive.”