Page 51 of Borrowed Time

“I’m surprised your brother allows you to go out and about on your own,” he said. “Flagstaff is a rough town and not the sort of place where an unaccompanied woman should be without an escort.”

Although I’d gotten that same impression, I certainly wasn’t going to let Samuel Wilcox think he’d scored a point.

Instead, I widened my eyes and replied, “Really? It seems like a much more civilized place than I’d expected. Certainly, I haven’t encountered anyone who was anything but friendly.”

“Impressions, Miss Prewitt, can be deceiving,” he returned, black eyes glittering. “I would take care, if I were you.”

After delivering that parting shot, he continued down the stairs and then turned right on the street, telling me he was probably heading home.

I, on the other hand, remained on the steps of the Hotel San Francisco for a few seconds more, watching him until his tall, black-clad figure disappeared amongst the throngs of people and wagons and buggies that choked the street.

Something in me wouldn’t allow myself to view those final words of Samuel’s as anything other than a threat.

13

AN UNEXPECTED INVITATION

Although Seth was relievedto see Devynn come back to the hotel a good twenty-five minutes earlier than he’d expected, his relief was short-lived after hearing what she had to report about her disturbing conversation with Samuel Wilcox.

“We should tell Jeremiah,” he said, but she immediately shook her head.

“What good will that do? The two of them already aren’t on good terms — ”

“To say the least,” Seth cut in, and her mouth pursed.

“Exactly. We already know Jeremiah is doing what he can to keep the other members of the clan from suspecting that he’s working with us. If I go running to him to let him know that his brother is up to his old tricks and he does or says something about it, then that will let Samuel know we’ve been communicating with Jeremiah. Best to let it go. Honestly, I think some of what he does is just to get a rise out of people.”

Seth had never heard the phrase before, but he believed he understood what Devynn was trying to say, and thought maybe it was true. However, she of all people couldn’t deny that SamuelWilcox was a lot more than mere talk, or he would never have kidnapped her mother and shot her father in the chest.

“Well, whatever else happens, Samuel was right about one thing,” Seth remarked. “This town isn’t safe for you to be walking around by yourself, and even if Jeremiah thinks he needs to work with you alone, I’m still coming along. I can wait in the back parlor if necessary.”

Her expression shifted then, and now seemed almost diffident. “That’s something we need to talk about,” she said. “Seth, using the amulet, I was able to move in time with just a little slippage, only a minute.”

He’d been wondering what she was up to during the time they’d been apart. It hadn’t been so terribly long after all, but he’d be lying to himself if he didn’t acknowledge how worried he was that she might travel in time without him, would make a much bigger jump than she’d been planning and not know how to come back.

Hearing that she’d been able to get it under control in such a way made him hopeful that they might have a real chance of returning to their own time.

“That’s amazing,” he said. “Do you have the amulet with you now?”

Because as much as he knew it would be rude to duck out without even a simple goodbye to the Wilcox warlock who’d helped them so much, Seth was still aching to get out of 1884 as soon as possible.

“No,” Devynn replied, dashing his hopes. “Jeremiah thought it better to keep the amulet at his house, since it would be so much safer there.”

Seth would have liked to argue with that stance, but he knew theprimuswas right. The Goddess only knew what kind of warding spells Jeremiah had placed on the office and the house itself, subtle enchantments that served to keep intrudersfar away. A hotel room — hell, even the safe they probably kept in the hotel office to store guests’ valuables — would be nowhere near as secure.

But even though he was forced to acknowledge that the amulet was much safer where it was, he still didn’t completely like the idea of it being in someone else’s hands.

Especially when that someone was Jeremiah Wilcox, although Seth had to admit the man had been nothing but helpful so far.

“Anyway,” Devynn went on, “because I did so well when I was working with the amulet, Jeremiah wants me to try to travel a little farther next time, maybe as much as six or eight hours. But he also thought I should check with you first, just because there’s more chance that I might go past my target again when I’m working with a larger span of time.”

Well, Seth supposed he should give Jeremiah some credit for making sure he was included in the decision-making process, rather than going ahead with Devynn’s experiments in time travel without bothering to check what her companion might have to say on that matter.

In the end, though, it was her gift and therefore her decision.

“What do you think?” he asked.

She released a breath and glanced toward the window. While he waited for her, he’d gone ahead and opened the drapes since he hadn’t known exactly when she would be back and didn’t want to sit in a dark room for what might have been several hours. The day outside was beautiful, the sky a pure, clear blue with a few billowy clouds floating past, but more clouds obscured the tops of the San Francisco Peaks, telling him they might have some real winter weather soon.

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