Page 68 of Killing Time

When they climbed the porch steps and knocked, Charles answered a moment later. “They’re in the back parlor,” he said as he stepped out of the way so his visitors could come inside.

Of course everyone had gathered there. The Goddess forbid that Abigail should have to hold court anywhere except from her favorite chair.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, though, Seth couldn’t help feeling a little ashamed of himself. While he didn’t think much of the way Abigail seemed to handle her duties asprima,he had to admit that he had no idea what kind of pain she was in or how much effort it might be for her to even get herself out of bed every morning. Frustrated and worried he might be, but that still didn’t give him the right to judge her actions.

Even if he might have liked to, considering everything that was at stake.

She straightened in her chair as Seth entered the room with Helen and Ruby at his side. For just a moment, theprima’smouth compressed, and it came to him in a flash.

Abigail didn’t like herprima-in-waiting. No, not at all. Was it simply that she wished her only child had been a girl who might carry on after her, or was it more that she didn’t like the way her overall frailty seemed even more pronounced whenever Ruby, vibrant and beautiful and clearly a force of nature, was around?

Maybe a little of both.

About all Seth could do was hope that Abigail’s ingrained hostility toward her heir wouldn’t get in the way of finding Devynn and bringing her back to Jerome.

Theprimastared at him, and he could already feel his body growing taut with dread.

That was not the gaze of a woman who planned to offer a helping hand.

“I told you and that witch-girl that this was your foolish scheme and yours alone,” Abigail said, pale eyes fixed on his face. “If she hasn’t come back, it has nothing to do with us.”

Even Charles looked a little shocked. “Abigail — ”

“No,” she cut in, tone both peeved and imperious, “we are not going to risk ourselves to save a woman we barely know. They knew they were taking a risk going into Wilcox territory. If Seth’s friend managed to get herself trapped there, then it’s her responsibility to get out. Stirring up trouble with the Wilcoxes is the very last thing we need.”

Hands clenched into fists at his side, Seth took a step forward. “Without her, I wouldn’t have been able to get Ruby out of there. Are you going to ignore the help Devynn gave us?”

“Besides,” Ruby put in, also shifting her position so the two of them stood next to one another, providing a united front, “I think most people would agree that Jasper was the one who ‘stirred up trouble.’ Devynn and Seth wouldn’t have had to putthemselves in harm’s way if it weren’t for him causing this whole mess in the first place.”

Gilbert spoke then. His voice sounded calm enough, but Seth noticed the way the lines around his eyes seemed even deeper than normal and guessed he was not happy about having to defend hisprima’sstance.

“We don’t even know for sure whether Miss Rowe has been captured at all,” he said. “Yes, it sounds as if our people in Payson have done an excellent job of trying to track her down, but we also need to remember that those forests are vast, and if she somehow lost control of her vehicle and went off the road, it could take many days to determine where she actually is.”

Although Seth supposed the older man might have a point — the forests around Payson were dark and dense, and it would take a veritable army of volunteers to search them adequately — deep in his heart, he knew Devynn wasn’t there at all. He still couldn’t quite piece together what had happened on Highway 87 last night, but whatever it was, Jasper Wilcox had been at the heart of it as usual.

And that meant theprimuswas holding Devynn captive somewhere.

He opened his mouth to speak, but Abigail waved an impatient hand.

“I don’t want you bothering me with this foolishness any longer, Seth. The important thing is that Ruby is safe. That was why you went into Wilcox territory in the first place. Your friend seemed like a clever enough girl — I’m sure she’ll figure out a way to come safely home.”

“Just like that,” he said, his voice hard. “A woman alone, trying to get away from a crazy warlock who’s more powerful than all of us put together.”

Abigail’s faded blue eyes narrowed. “He’s not crazy. Power-hungry, yes.” She paused there for a moment before adding,“Honestly, even if Jasper has your friend — which I doubt — there’s no reason to believe he’ll do anything except let her go eventually. After all, it’s not as if she would be remotely useful to him.”

On the surface, maybe not. She certainly couldn’t serve the original purpose for Ruby’s kidnapping, not when she wasn’t aprima-in-waiting, the one person Jasper needed to break the curse.

Or at least, what theprimusthought he needed. According to Devynn, the actual solution lay in the future, not here in 1947, so all of Jasper’s machinations had been for nothing.

Unfortunately, Jasper Wilcox didn’t seem to be the type of man to let it all be bygones and allow Devynn to simply walk out of his territory.

“It’s good to know that the help she gave means absolutely nothing to you,” Seth remarked.

Then he turned and stalked out of the parlor before Abigail — or any of the elders — had a chance to reply.

When he was halfway down the porch stairs, however, he heard light footsteps coming from the house and saw Ruby hurrying toward him.

“Oh, she was justawful,” she said as she joined him on the middle porch step. “I had to get out of there before I positively bit her head off. My mother always says I need to show Abigail the proper respect, but just between you and me, I don’t see much about her that’s deserving of respect.”

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