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“Works for me,” Finn said.
They both looked expectantly at Cora.
She pushed her plate away and finished her drink in one nervous gulp. It was all happening so fast. She’d never participated in a half-baked, harebrained scheme like this. At least, not as a full-grown adult whose professional career was to uphold justice. All it would take was one mistake, and they’d be so screwed. But neither of her partners in crime seemed to have a problem with the plan, and she was out of ideas. Maybe she was overthinking it, and everything would be great. Maybe they’d actually learn something useful.
“Fine,” she said in a rush, before she could change her mind. “But I’m driving.”
Finn flashed her a grin and called, “Shotgun.”
Liam pulled his head from the fridge and shut the door. “You can’t.” He gave Finn a look of pure commiseration as he plunked three beers, a half-eaten pie tin of strawberry cheesecake, and a package of Oreos on the table. “She said no weapons, remember?”
Cora closed her eyes, dropped her face into her hands, and began massaging her forehead. Yup. Everything was going to be great.
3
THE WORLD WAS on fire. The scents of burning gas andgun smoke and decay hung thick in the air, choking Liam until he couldn’t breathe. Soldiers marched through a war-torn village in the desert, their boots kicking up dust and shattered glass as they gunned down civilians. Planes bombed oil rigs in the ocean, the fiery explosions silencing hundreds of lives. Protesters dodged bullets and tear gas, rioting as armed tanks rolled down abandoned city streets. Nations were at war. Newspapers and television stations spoke of the great energy crisis. Civil upheaval. Social collapse. Global warming. Image after image shuffled through Liam’s mind like a deck of morbid playing cards in a game that was inescapable, and everybody lost. Each scene the angels showed him was startling in its violence, more shocking than anything he’d ever witnessed.
“No more.” Liam tried to shield his eyes, but his hands wouldn’t cooperate. His body felt mired in tar, his lungs stinging with acrid soot. “Please, I’ve seen enough. Make it stop.”
“There is no stopping,” thousands of voices cried in unison. The noise punched through Liam’s bones like cannon blasts. “This is the future, and it’s all your fault.”
Liam awoke gasping, legs tangled in the bedsheets, and heart beating out of his chest. A fine sheen of sweat covered his shaking limbs as he slowly sat up and leaned against the headboard. Through bleary eyes, he checked the clock on his nightstand. It was just past midnight. How unfortunate. He’d never get back to sleep now.
Cursing under his breath, he kicked off the covers, swinging his legs over the side of the bed.
Cora’s cat, Angel, made a grumbling meow, poking its head from beneath the pile of blankets near the foot of the bed. He gave Liam one of those lofty stares of disapproval that all cats had perfected since birth.
“Sorry,” Liam said in a hoarse whisper. “It’s the nightmare again.”
Ever since the evening of Finn’s house party, Liam had been plagued with images of what the angels had revealed. Before, he’d roiled with jealousy over Finn, secretly hoping to outwit fate and keep Cora for himself. But now he carried this crushing burden of unwanted responsibility overshadowed by an inescapable sense of doom. This wasn’t just about him anymore. No matter how much he hated the idea of Cora loving another man for the rest of her life, Liam had to see it through.
“It breaks protocol for us to show you the future,” Agon had explained. “But you need to understand the magnitude of the task we’ve given you, and the dire consequences should you fail. Cora is going to have a child who will someday bring much-needed peace to the world. She and Finn will teach their child the meaning of kindness and compassion. Honesty and integrity. Love. All these things will nurture the young one’s brilliant mind, fostering a deep-seated passion for helping humanity and the earth. The child is destined to unravel the mystery of cold fusion. Unlimited energy would become available to all. Tensions between nations would ease, and the earth would begin to heal. This was meant to happen back in your time, rogue. Had you not taken Cora from her intended fiancé in 1844, war and countless tragedies might’ve been avoided.”
Liam bowed his head, crushed by guilt as the memory of Agon’s words washed over him. He had no knowledge of modern science, but he could still imagine a world with unlimited energy. Everything would change for the better. Back in his old life, horses and carriages, oil lamps and candles, even coal-burning stoves, were luxuries he could not afford. He’d never forget the bone-deep chill of winter in Ireland, huddling with his brother’s family in their tiny cottage. The dying fire in the hearth was often their only source of light after nightfall, and the cold was so invasive, spidery fingers of frost would creep through cracks in the thatched roof until their breaths misted in the air.
Unwilling to dwell on such dark thoughts, Liam rose from the bed and went to the kitchen in search of a drink. Sometimes, a shot of good Irish whiskey was the only thing that could ease his spirits. Either that, or—
“I didn’t expect to see you awake.” Cora’s soft voice was sweeter and far more comforting than anything he’d get from a bottle. She was curled on the living room sofa with a mug of hot tea. The crisp, herbal scents of bergamot and lemon permeated the air around her. Wrapped in a faded quilt with her hair a tumble of ringlets around her delicate face, she looked younger and more vulnerable than usual.
It reminded him of the first time he’d ever seen her. She’d been reading a book in bed, surrounded by a mountain of ruffled pillows, when he’d climbed through her bedroom window like the lowly thief he was. From the moment he saw her, she’d been like a beacon of light in his dark life, smiling at him like an angel as she chattered away and helped bind his wounded foot. He’d been speechless, at first, wondering if he’d accidentally stumbled through some back door into heaven.
Cora was never for him; he knew that. A poor thief who had nothing but the ragged shirt on his back wasn’t meant for someone like her, but somehow, they’d become friends, anyway. The day she admitted she loved him, the day they decided to run away together... He’d known it was wrong, but she’d stolen his heart and he couldn’t give her up. A starving man doesn’t turn down a feast fit for a king, no more than a pauper would walk away from a cavern full of riches, and Cora’s love was better than any of that. She was every dream he’d never dared hope for. If only he’d known how that dream would end.
The fateful night they’d tried to flee on horseback brought with it another crushing wave of guilt. It had been raining, and her horse had slipped. One moment, they’d been racing toward their shining future together, and the next... Liam swallowed hard. He’d held her for hours after she fell. He’d begged her not to leave him. Pleading with God, and every saint he could remember. He’d bargained with the only things he had—his life, his soul—promising to give her up, to take her back home and never see her again. But his prayers went unanswered. She’d died in his arms, taking his heart with her. What happened afterward barely had any meaning. He’d been too stricken with grief to defend himself, and too numb to realize the danger he was in until it was too late.
“Insomnia?” Cora asked, drawing him from his dark thoughts.
Liam blinked as the memories faded. The past was over, and she was here now. Strong and healthy and gloriously alive. “Something like that.”
“Join the club,” she said with a weary sigh. “I’ve spent the last few hours staring at the ceiling and finally gave up. My mind just keeps spinning with everything going on at work, and when I do manage to fall asleep...” She trailed off and took a sip of tea.
Liam walked into the living room and took the other side of the sofa. “What is it?”
She tugged at a loose string on the edge of the quilt. “Let’s just say, my dreams aren’t the best company lately. I’m told it’s common in situations like mine. I guess my brain wants to replay the whole ‘submerged underwater and struggling to breathe’ thing.”
“Christ, Cora.” He’d been so wrapped up in his own problems he hadn’t even stopped to think she could’ve been plagued by nightmares after what happened at the lake. As a dedicated police officer, Cora always acted so strong and focused, but of course she’d be struggling on the inside. People didn’t just bounce back from near-death experiences like nothing happened. What the hell was wrong with him? He should’ve known. He suddenly wanted to reach out and gather her into his arms. The urge to do it was so strong he clenched his hands into fists and reminded himself of all the reasons he couldn’t get too close.
“I’ll be fine,” she said with a shrug. “It’s just one of those things. I’m sure it’ll fade soon enough.”
