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"Always," Quinn whispered but Gabriel was prevented from answering when Nick offered, "Welcome back, Gabriel."
Gabriel lifted his head and looked at his friend just before Nick added, "So you came back to help us stop Katherine, yes?"
Quinn was grinning at him as she teased, "I've said it before and I'll say in again: You really have the worse taste in women."
His focus never left her face as his finger traced her jaw. "There has only ever been one woman and she's the finest woman I've ever known."
Her heart gave one long, slow pull before she replied, "Sweet talker."
He reached for her hand before he looked to the others in the room.
"So what did I miss?"
For the next hour Gabriel sat and listened as they brought him up to speed with what they had learned. After, he looked to Tessa.
"Your work, the Codex and necklace have been destroyed?"
"Yes."
There was compassion in his expression as he went on, "I'm sorry you had to do that but it really is for the best."
Tessa blew out a breath before she replied, "I know. Humans are not ready for the responsibility of time travel, I get that. Especially after this lovely web we find ourselves in."
Cole reached for his glass and turned his attention to Gabriel as he asked, "Tell us about Katherine."
Gabriel stood and started to pace. "I knew her as a kid but even then there was something about her that was off. I avoided her, I know that sounds silly since she was several years younger than me, but I never got a good vibe around her. She tried to have her brother and me killed, setup the attack, killed a girl and tried to frame it on me."
Quinn sharp inhale caused Gabriel to turn to her. There was love looking back at her but there was another emotion too and one she could only describe as fear. "She's very dangerous but she's also crazy, literally. In a few days she'll come after me, she did before."
Quinn's voice was very soft in response, "The attempted murder from the newspaper clipping."
"Yes, it wasn't her but someone she hired. If we can get her to come after me personally, once she's arrested she'll be locked up for life -- I've found enough on her to guarantee that -- which means she won't be walking the streets in the future so she will never get an opportunity to come after Quinn."
"We're actually on the same page. We've just been discussing how to lure her here. And we think the promise of the Scarcliff treasure is as good as anything," Shane suggested.
"I agree, I think the Scarcliff treasure is a good lure since there's a connection to me, and she's obsessed with me, but it can't be a formal party since she's a lot like a kid in many ways so the venue has to be one that would appeal to her."
"Like a fair," Quinn offered which pulled a tender smile from Gabriel before he added, "Yes, on the grounds of Whispering Winds if you are okay with that, Nick."
Nick stood, "A fair it is."
"With a dunking tank?" Quinn asked as a flood of memories made her heart ache.
"Of course," Nick replied.
"On one condition," Gabriel looked at Quinn as a wicked grin curved his lips. "This time, you're going for a swim."
Later that night Quinn and Gabriel lay in bed. Quinn's head was resting on Gabriel's shoulder as his fingers moved lazily up and down her spine. She was feeling so relaxed she almost didn't have the energy to speak but there was something she wanted to know.
"How did you get the miniature?"
"It's an odd story."
She lifted her head to rest on her upturned hand. "I'm listening."
"I was young, maybe six, and already I was pinching purses. I was scoping out my target when I felt the prickle of warning that someone was watching me. When I turned in their direction, I was oddly intrigued by my watcher because she was really old, clearly over a century. In my short life, I had never seen anyone that old before but it was the way she was watching me so intently that really piqued my interest. I had the sense that she was reading my thoughts before I even had them. When she started towards me, I was tempted to run but something kept me from doing so. I'll never forget the look in her eyes when she stopped right in front of me and then she reached for my hand and pressed something into it. As she wrapped her hands around mine she looked determined but it was her words that struck me because they were so strange. She said, 'Something wonderful awaits you but you need to go through the bad first.' It was eerie and her eyes, a color not blue but not green, seemed ancient but so very wise. After those rather cryptic words, she turned and walked away. I looked down at what she had given me and it was the miniature."
"And you kept it?"
