Page 85 of Killing Time

Seth tilted his head at her. “How?”

“This is just an educated guess on my part, but….” The words trailed off, and she seemed to gather herself to continue with hertheory. “But maybe you were doing better with Jeremiah Wilcox, Devynn, because some of his power was joining with yours. I don’t think it was anything conscious, and yet — ”

“I think you might be right,” Devynn broke in, eyes now shining. “Or at least, when my mother traveled in time, the only way she was able to get back to her present while bringing my father along was because Jeremiah lent her some of his strength, some of his power, to get her across all those years.”

“Perfect,” Ruby said. “I’m not saying my powers are as strong as Jeremiah Wilcox’s, but you two have the amulet to help you along as well. I think the combination might be enough to do the trick.”

She sounded very confident, and Devynn didn’t seem too worried, either, her face shining in anticipation of finally returning to the place and time where she belonged.

And they had to make the attempt, especially now that they had to face the very real prospect of Abigail trying to take the amulet from them. Without it, they had no real chance of getting to the future they both knew they desired more than anything else, not with Devynn still concerned about her level of control over her somewhat shaky magical talent.

“Then we might as well go now,” he said. “I don’t want to give Abigail any excuse to come down here and demand that we hand over the amulet.”

True, the odds of his sister-in-law doing something like that might have been fairly low, considering how she rarely seemed to leave her back parlor, let alone the house. Still, why take the risk?

Devynn reached over so she could hold his hand. “You’re sure?”

More certain than he’d ever been of anything in his life.

He nodded. “Yes.” Looking over at Ruby, he added, “Is there anything you need us to do?”

“Just focus on where and when you’re going,” she said. “You and Devynn still have to steer the ship. I’m just giving it enough fuel to make it safely into port.”

A port in a time he still could barely begin to imagine. That was all right, though — the woman he loved seemed more than content to live in that world, so he knew he would be happy there as well.

Devynn’s fingers tightened on his. “I’m going to take us back as close to when I left as I possibly can. Okay?”

“Got it,” he replied.

She’d been in the abandoned mine shaft when she vanished, not sitting in this room.

He should be able to manage that.

“Thank you, Ruby,” he said softly.

Her lips curved in a smile. “Tell the future I said hello.”

The living room dissolved into darkness. For one unending second, the world shattered over and over again.

Until it resolved itself around him. He and Devynn were standing in the mine shaft, hands still clasped together, a small flashlight of some kind lying on the ground near their feet. It gave off just enough light to reveal the shocked face of a woman around Devynn’s age who stood about a yard away from the place where they’d just emerged.

“What in the world, Devynn?” the woman exclaimed.

21

FUTURE PERFECT

We were back.Even with Ruby’sprima-in-waiting energy boosting us, I still hadn’t been sure whether it would be enough to send Seth and me to the time and place we’d been hoping for — namely, as close to when and where I’d left as possible.

With Bellamy staring at Seth in shock but otherwise not seeming to be too worried about my absence, I had to guess that I hadn’t been gone for too long, maybe only a few minutes or so.

Or maybe not even that. Crazy to think that everything I’d experienced in the past had taken barely any time at all.

“This is Seth McAllister,” I said quickly, knowing I’d need to ponder the mechanics of time travel later on, when I had more time to sit down and think. “And Seth, this is my friend Bellamy. He and I met…a long time ago.”

She blinked. Although she knew a little about my talent — namely, that it had something to do with time but wasn’t controllable, which was why I never used it — this was the first instance where she’d been confronted by the reality of what my unpredictable gift might actually mean.

“You’ve been gone a lot longer than five minutes, I think,” she replied, speculation in her eyes, even as her mouth quirked a little.

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