Page 47 of Borrowed Time

Jeremiah held the amulet for a moment, as if weighing it in his palm, and then set it down on his desk. “It is clearly very powerful — and useful. And now that I know it was able to amplify your gift, I think it’s time we focused on Devynn’s talent. Being able to travel in space together is important, but without her gift of time travel, you still won’t be able to escape this place.”

Something I’d already worried about on more than one occasion. If we were stuck here permanently, I supposed Seth could go to the McAllisters and give them a carefully edited version of what had happened to him, but would his clan even accept me? And if the situation was reversed, would he ever be able to make a home for himself here among the Wilcoxes?

If Samuel wasn’t part of the equation, I might have been a little more hopeful about that particular outcome. But I knew he hated the McAllisters on principle…and I had a feeling he wouldn’t be too pleasantly disposed toward me, not once he discovered I was Robert Rowe’s daughter.

Some people never gave up their grudges.

All the same, I didn’t know how I felt about fiddling around with my gift, even with Jeremiah guiding the process. So many things could go wrong.

When I didn’t speak right away, Jeremiah continued. “And that is why we’ll need you to leave us now, Seth. This is the sort of work that must be carried out without any distractions.”

At once, his brows pulled together. “I won’t get in the way — ”

“It’s not a question of being in the way,” Jeremiah cut in smoothly. “It’s a question of mental distraction. You have utter control of your gift, but Devynn is not quite so lucky in hers. I don’t want anything to disturb her focus.”

As much as I might have wanted to argue with that statement, I knew he was right. I loved Seth, but if he stayed there while I was trying to work, I didn’t know whether I’d be able to concentrate the way I needed to.

Something in my expression must have communicated those thoughts, because although his jaw set, he didn’t argue further, only said, “All right. I suppose I can understand that. Should I go back to the hotel my way, or should I walk to make it seem more normal?”

“You may translocate,” Jeremiah replied at once. “It’s easier for you, and because I have a spell in place to prevent people from noting your comings and goings from the house, it isn’t as if anyone would have noticed yours and Devynn’s arrival in the first place.”

Well, that made things easier. At least, until it was time for me to go back to the hotel, which I assumed I’d have to manage on my own. It wasn’t as though I could pull out my phone and text Seth to head on over here to collect me.

Besides, I was a big girl. I should be able to handle the walk over to the Hotel San Francisco, since it was less than a quarter-mile away from Jeremiah’s house.

“All right,” Seth said. His gaze moved to me, and he added, “I suppose I’ll just wait for you.”

“It won’t be too long,” I replied. “We can go for lunch afterward.”

Maybe I was overstepping by promising we’d be able to get together for our noon meal, but after all, Jeremiah had already told us that Mrs. Barton would be back a little after twelve. It wasn’t as though I could stay the whole day here.

And because theprimusdidn’t protest, I had to believe he understood this first session of ours wouldn’t be a prolonged one.

Seth gave my hand a quick squeeze, then vanished.

Although Jeremiah’s expression still seemed neutral enough, I could tell he was glad we were alone so we could get down to work. He inclined his head toward the chair that faced his desk, saying, “You should sit down. We aren’t going to make any immediate attempts at time travel.”

“We’re not?” I asked, feeling a little foolish.

After all, wasn’t that the whole reason why I was here?

“Not right away,” he responded. “First, I need to get a better idea of what happened when you first tried to use your gift — what went wrong, and how, and whether the problems you experienced were always the same, or whether they changed somewhat depending on what you were attempting to do.”

In other words, attacking the issue in a scientific way, even though magic had absolutely nothing to do with science. However, I could see how trying to be logical about the problem might be the best way to approach it, since being emotional about my situation hadn’t done anyone any good.

“Sure,” I said, then lowered myself into the chair. After spending a few days in 1884, I was getting better at managing my voluminous skirts and not utterly crushing my bustle every time I sat down, but still, I longed for the lightweight, simple dresses of the 1920s.

Or the stretch jeans of my own time. Anything except a ten-pound dress and a corset, no matter how good my figure might look in those garments.

“Tell me about how your gift awakened,” Jeremiah said, and I launched into the same story I’d told Seth, where I’d somehow managed to send myself hours ahead in time and then had to wait for the rest of the world to catch up.

“Is there anyone else in either the McAllister or the Wilcox clans of your time who has a similar gift?” Jeremiah asked.

“Only my mother,” I replied at once, since that was the first thing my parents had tried to find out, desperate to see if there was anyone around who might be able to coach me through using my unpredictable and sometimes frightening gift. They’d even asked around with the de la Pazes and the Castillos, but no one in any of the local witch clans seemed to have my same time-bending talent. “But hers isn’t like mine at all.”

By that point, theprimushad sat down behind the desk. Now he steepled his long fingers under his chin, giving a remarkably good Sherlock Holmes impression — or at least, it would have been if he’d been wearing one of those silly hats or holding the curved ivory pipe the famous detective always seemed to carry.

“I know it didn’t start that way with your mother,” he said. “She was able to give herself an extra five minutes whenever she needed it, correct?”

---