Page 17 of Killing Time

“It’s the same way in my time,” Devynn murmured in Seth’s ear. “Jerome is about fifty-fifty witches and civilians. They carefully vet everyone who comes to Jerome to live, whether buying or renting, so they know they’re people who can be trusted.”

Fine, so maybe that kind of arrangement worked out all right in the future…and maybe it was holding for now, even in the 1940s. But….

“Just because you trust these people doesn’t mean you’re not risking their lives by sending them into Wilcox territory,” Seth said out loud. He was doing his best to keep his tone as calm and even as Devynn’s had been, but he knew the words had come out angry and rough anyway.

“How can they be risking their lives when they’ll appear to be regular people to the Wilcoxes?” Gilbert returned. “The Wilcox clan will have no idea who they are.”

Devynn regarded the elder thoughtfully and then directed her next words to Helen, as though she somehow knew the other woman’s opinion held slightly more weight…if for no other reason than she’d been the one to keep the clan’sprimaalive all these years.

“I know you want to believe that,” she said. “And maybe you’re right. But none of us can ignore how the Wilcoxes got past your wards and cruised into town with no one to stop them. For all you know, they’ve come and gone several times to collect information and figure out where the best place would be to grab Ruby. With the magic they supposedly command, I’m sure at least a couple of them are also good at illusions and wouldn’t have looked anything like Wilcoxes.”

An uneasy silence fell after Devynn made that statement. Once again, the elders glanced at one another, and then at Abigail and Charles, as though they weren’t sure whether it might be better to let theprimaand her consort weigh in. Many times, aprima’shusband had very little say in the way his wife ran their clan, but in this case, with Abigail so weak and Seth’s older brother one of those people who always thought his way was the right way, it didn’t surprise him too much that Charles’sopinion was given as much weight as those who were actual elders in the clan.

“It’s not anything we probably want to acknowledge,” he said, his tone harsh. “But Miss Rowe has a point. We can’t know if the Wilcoxes have been here before, and therefore we also have no way of knowing whether they would recognize one of our civilian friends if we were to send them on this errand. As much as you might believe the amulet they carry is an abomination, it still gives her and my brother an advantage we shouldn’t ignore.”

Both Josiah and Gilbert frowned, and Helen’s expression turned thoughtful, as though she was inwardly trying to weigh the pros and cons of their separate plans and decide which one of them had the most merit.

Abigail, on the other hand, only looked tired. Maybe she’d used up her very small store of energy with that single outburst.

“We could take the amulet from you, you know,” she said, words that didn’t sound too threatening when uttered in such a limp tone.

However, Devynn only tucked the thing back in her pocket and stared straight back at theprima,her jaw firm.

“You could try,” she said, and shifted so she was closer to Seth and able to loop her arm around his. “But I don’t think you’d be able to get hold of it before Seth blinked the two of us right out of here. You see, it amplifies his powers, too, and now he can easily teleport while holding another person.”

The elders looked at Charles, and he shook his head ever so slightly. No point in speaking aloud, not when it was clear he’d just told them not to bother trying.

Well, it seemed as if his brother had gained just a little wisdom along the way.

Abigail shifted in her chair, and when she spoke, her tone bordered on petulant. “I suppose there’s no way we can stop youfrom going,” she said. “But when the Wilcoxes catch you, I and the elders will disavow all knowledge of your presence there. If you go to Flagstaff, you will do so under your own free will and using your own resources. We will have nothing to do with you using that abomination to further your own ends.”

That pronouncement seemed a little rich, considering that it would benefit the present-day McAllisters more than anyone if he and Devynn somehow managed to find Ruby and bring her safely home to the Verde Valley.

But he wouldn’t bother to argue, not when it sounded as if theprimahad just given them a free pass.

“We understand,” he said, and while he could feel Devynn tense, he knew she wouldn’t interrupt, not when this was really between him and hisprima.

Who also happened to be his sister-in-law, although Seth was still having a hard time thinking of Abigail that way. Maybe if he’d been able to meet his nephew and see him interact with his parents, he might have felt differently about the situation, but because he hadn’t seen a single moment pass between his brother and his wife that seemed even slightly affectionate, it felt as if they were still hardly more than acquaintances even after all those years spent together.

Helen spoke then, probably feeling that she needed to interject something resembling rational conversation into their discussion.

“When will you go?”

Seth looked down at Devynn, and her shoulders lifted ever so slightly.

It seemed she wasn’t sure of their next step.

Well, neither was he, but even though her dreams and the information the elders had provided the day before about the power of magic on the dark of the moon indicated that they hadsome time to work with, he still didn’t see the need to drag his feet on this.

No, they needed to get going as quickly as possible.

“Tomorrow morning,” Seth said. “That’ll give us some time to make our final plans and get ready. Also, since it’s a Sunday, there will probably be a lot of people from out of town up there to see the last of the fall foliage.”

At least he hoped the trees would still be hanging on to a bit of color at that elevation. Most of them had been bare when he and Devynn had been there in November of 1884, but that had been a week later than now, and he knew how fast the leaves would fall when they were getting toward the end of their run.

But Devynn didn’t offer any protest, although he wasn’t sure if that was because she knew from personal experience that there would still be some fall color in her hometown…or because she didn’t dare admit to knowing Flagstaff well when she was standing in front of people who knew nothing about her Wilcox heritage.

“May the Goddess grant you good fortune,” Helen said after a bit of pause. It seemed clear to Seth that she’d been expecting Abigail to offer some sort of blessing and had stepped in when she realized theprimahad no intention of being so gracious.

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