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“There’s a freedom in knowing there’s no real future,” Darwin says, matching Lords’s tone. “I suggest you come with me after breakfast and meet my father. He’s aware of this. I think he’d support your efforts. At the very least, you’d have a safe base and access to the Fae Ways while you’re hunting Klotho.”
Lords nods. “I’d appreciate that. But, in the interests of full disclosure, I’m still a fugitive from the Council.”
“My father won’t care, and the fae courts owe nothing to the Mage Council. You won’t be the only fugitive to seek refuge in the courts.”
“Good.” Lords turns his head and brushes a kiss across Rachel’s temple. “Maybe we can do a little recruiting.”
Rachel lifts her head, offers him a wan smile, and goes back to eating her breakfast. I watch them, feeling like my heart’s taken a punch. I want—no, Ineed—to get back to my boys and my own Time. But if I didn’t, I’d want to stay here and fight alongside them. I know Lords is seeking vengeance and retribution, but there’s a nobility to their fight that calls to me.
“Without getting too personal,” I say. “Who were the people you killed after you escaped prison?”
Lords flashes me a smile with lots of teeth in it before he chews down another piece of toast. “Why d’you care?”
“I barely understand chronomancy at all, but one of its basic tenets is that there are clusters of people, things, events that come together again and again in the timestream and alter its flow. I’m trying to find all the players in Jade’s death in this timeline so I can figure out who might have been her killer in my Time.”
Lords nods. “A dean at Bevington by the name of Hector Gravka. He helped frame me. He was working with ajusticiarnamed Alexandra Smith. She presented the case against me to the Council. And a former Bevington student named Odin Nalkaine. His testimony about seeing me with Jade was what put me away.”
O? Funny, tequila-cursed O put an innocent man in prison? That doesn’t tally with the boy I know.
Dean Gravka, on the other hand, his bastardy is easy to believe.
“Thank you. That helps. Probably not right easy to talk about, so I appreciate it.”
“No problem. How d’you plan to get back to your own Time to use any of this knowledge if you’ve burned out your magic?”
“By calling in reinforcements,” I say, hoping against hope that Doctor Prince will be able to pull my arse out of the fire in this Time the way she has in my own.
Chapter5
The Chronomancer’s Brother
Unlike Lords, Doctor Carrie Prince looks just as she did when I last saw her at Bevington.
Her black bob is neat and shiny, framing her composed face. Her midnight-blue pants suit is tailored over the prominent hump on her shoulder. Her neutral lippie is perfect, until she presses it against my cheek as she pulls me in for a hug.
That’s new. We weren’t on hugging terms the last time I saw her.
“Teddy, it’s very good to see you.” She pats my cheek before she steps back and gestures to the man who has followed her into our houseboat. “Let me introduce Robert, my brother.”
A big beam breaks across my face. She’d lost her brother in my Time. I’m happy to see she’s gotten him back.
I can see immediately that the man is Doctor Prince’s identical twin. He has her dark hair, although his waves to his shoulders. His stronger jaw and deeper-set eyes make his face a masculine version of hers. He’s a few inches taller than either of us and has broad shoulders, but there’s a leanness to his cheeks and chest, a gauntness that Doctor Prince doesn’t have.
His dark, cold, intelligent eyes are all hers.
He clasps my hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Teddy. I’ve heard a lot about you.” He tips his head. “Some of it good.”
That draws chuckles out of my husbands.
Gabe greets Doctor Prince warmly. In my Time, they’d only met twice, but they’ve clearly gotten better acquainted since then because she gives him the same warm hug she gave me. Darwin’s greeting is cooler, and I wonder if that’s because he doesn’t know her as well, or if it’s because he’s half fae.
Doctor Prince has major reasons to hate the fae.
After we show Doctor Prince and her brother around the houseboat—a short tour since the houseboat is only five rooms and two decks—we sit down at the table in the galley for a dinner Gabe’s prepared. From what I’ve gathered, all three of their trio cooked. Their-Teddy picked up some of Auntie Jill’s baking skills, at least enough to make brownies from scratch. Gabe handled the day-to-day meals. And Darwin was famous for making over-the-top, ridiculously complicated, gourmet masterpieces, particularly for parties.
The meal Gabe’s prepared is simple but I already know it will be delicious. He’s become a dead good cook. There’s a green salad, lively with watercress and wedges of mandarin orange. That’s followed by chicken and rice. Sounds basic but it’s not when it’s in a tarragon cream sauce that my tastebuds are happy to wallow in. Doctor Prince and Robert turn down the chocolate pots Gabe has ready for dessert. I don’t make their mistake, savoring each creamy, rich spoonful while they sample local cheeses.
Since Gabe’s cooked and Darwin’s done Darwin things, including creating a centerpiece that’s a strange but beautiful double-helix of tiny, golden keys, I clean up. After I wash the dishes, I join everyone on the couches in the galley and accept a glass of wine from Gabe.
