She couldn’t have gone too far; she had attended a last-minute meeting at ChronoSynthetics this morning. He snorted. That meant nothing. She could be in the fucking Hebrides and still be within an hour of London. He got into the car. The urge to do something, go somewhere, was strong. He almost felt like driving around looking for her. Stupid impulse. What would be the point? The area to cover was simply too large. He wouldn’t find her like that.
He had to think. Strategize. There were other ways of finding out her whereabouts. He was very good with technology and not above using less than straightforward methods to dig out information. He would find her. Nobody could vanish without a trace.
CHAPTER 39
Kalli walked throughthe ruins with a new sense of wonder. She had been to this place countless times before, but this time, it was different. Now she knew something about their history. She had seen what they looked like in different centuries and was happy to note that not much had changed in three hundred years.
It was reassuring to see that some things remained unchanged. As sentinels through time and human folly. Since the twentieth century, the ruins had been under the protection of the National Trust, but they had done little to preserve them. Still, the stalwart hardiness of the building withstood against the elements. Her fascination with this pile of stones was such that her father built her a tiny cottage near them.
In her childhood and youth, she had spent wonderful hours in this secluded place. It was part of their parent’s land, so it was private. Although they allowed visitors to come see the ruins, few people cared to do so, or even knew this place existed. She felt as if it was hers alone. That they had chosen it as the place for their time travels made it even more special.
She ran her hands through the familiar stone as she walked, remembering Avondale’s words about this place. An unexpected pattern of grooves caught her attention, and she peered into the wall.
How strange. There were words carved into the stone. She carefully tore away bits of vine and moss that clung to the wall. Had this inscription always been here? She wasn’t sure, but she didn’t believe so.
When she had cleared the space, her heart slammed against her chest at what the letters revealed.
K
If Time could go backwards
To the moment I lost
I would leap through the times
To the woman I love
Avondale Dec 14, 1872
She ran her hands through the grooves in the stone, reading the passage several times. Then took out her communication device and snapped a picture, just to make sure she wasn’t imagining things.
Could it be what she thought it was? Was this a message from the duke? And did it mean that he wanted to travel in time to be with his beloved? What else could it be? What other meaning could it have? The date coincided with the time they visited. It was only a few days after their departure.
Yes, this was doubtless from Avondale. Maybe he had got the idea from the multiple hints she had dropped. But could she make good on her veiled promise? Her heart plummeted as she realized she did not have the resources to go back and transport him in time. Maybe Dariux could, but he would never bother. He had been adamant in his refusal to leave Olivia in the nineteenth century, even though that would have required no effort on their part. To undertake another mission, just to bring the duke to the twenty-first, was infinitely more difficult. There was no way he would agree to that.
Her spirits, unstable as they were of late, took a nosedive and crashed into the hard reality of the damage they had created. Were there any other messages from the duke? Or maybe even from Olivia? She searched frantically all around, but there were no more messages. If they had sent any others, the messages may not have survived. But it didn’t matter. This one had survived, and it was enough.
