Page 53 of Killing Time

“She’s been in love with Jasper forever. Like him, her magic revolves around magic itself, so to speak, so she’s spent a lot of time studying it and strengthening her gifts, thinking that would be the thing to bring them together. Some people would probably say they were too close cousins to be together, since she’s a direct descendant of Jeremiah’s sister Emma, but Lana would always argue that it didn’t matter, that Rebecca had already given him a son and all she cared about was being a good and faithful wife to him.”

Seth found himself shaking his head. “That’s the one thing I can’t seem to understand, no matter how much I try. Why would anyone want to marry a Wilcoxprimuswhen they must know it’s nothing more than a death sentence?”

A thin smile, and Adam replied, “Everyone wants to think they’re the exception.”

Maybe so, but it still made absolutely no sense to him.

“Also,” Devynn put in, “things are different in my time, but my mother told me how the Wilcox women used to view being with theprimusas a necessary sacrifice to keep the line unbroken. It was kind of an honor, I guess.”

Some honor,Seth thought,dying before your time because of a curse a crazed witch placed on the clan decades before you were even born.

But this wasn’t the time to ponder the Wilcox clan’s admittedly odd quirks. No, he needed to understand why Adam thought his cousin Lana was somehow key in all this.

“Okay, I suppose I can see why Lana might be upset that Jasper went to all this work to kidnap the McAllisterprima-in-waiting. But I still don’t quite get why she might be able to help us.”

Adam flickered a glance at Devynn, as if wondering why her companion was being so dense. However, his tone was even enough as he replied, “Like I said, Lana’s gift is magic itself.She’s a very, very strong witch…and she’s extremely annoyed with Jasper right now.”

A pause, and the Wilcox warlock smiled.

“As they say, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”

13

FLYING THE COOP

I wasn’tsure what I’d been expecting of Adam’s cousin Lana — maybe someone quiet and bookish, the kind of woman who might worship a man like Jasper from afar but who would never have the nerve to present herself as a possible candidate for marriage — but any of those vague notions pretty much blew themselves right out of my mind the second she walked into the restaurant.

Her black hair was perfectly coiffed, lying just at her collarbones, and her full mouth wore red lipstick just a shade darker than mine. And clearly, she wasn’t too worried about attracting attention, since her close-fitting dress was almost the same color as her lips, striking with her inky hair and dark eyes.

Quite a few male heads swiveled as she made her way back to our booth, but she must have been used to that sort of attention, considering how she never broke stride or even looked to one side or the other, instead intent on her destination. As soon as she came near, both Seth and Adam stood up, and she inclined her head slightly toward me as she slid into the booth.

Somehow, she managed to make even that awkward maneuver look downright graceful.

We knew there were no other Wilcoxes in the restaurant — and she must have realized that as well — because she said by way of greeting, “I’ve never met a McAllister before.” Her dark eyes flickered toward me. “And you — I can’t quite make you out.”

“My mother is a Wilcox,” I said politely. I couldn’t help feeling a bit outmatched by having such an amazing creature sharing our booth, but I told myself this wasn’t a competition. “My father is from a clan in Massachusetts.”

“How very fascinating,” Lana responded in tones that seemed to indicate she wasn’t terribly fascinated after all. Then she looked over at her cousin. “They’re trying to stop Jasper, I assume.”

“Yes, we are,” Seth said. Although he’d given her a polite smile, he hadn’t otherwise reacted in a way that would make me think he was at all entranced by her, which only made me love him that much more. “Adam said you might be willing to help.”

A waiter walked by our table, and Lana immediately lifted a hand. “A Manhattan, please.”

I had the impression the man had been on his way to help someone else, but he stopped and said at once, “Of course, miss. Anything for the rest of you?”

Cocktails seemed to be the order of the day in this era, but I’d never been one for mixed drinks, and the few I liked — margaritas and cosmos and daiquiris — probably weren’t on the menu in 1947 Flagstaff. Instead, I asked for a glass of wine and Seth followed suit, while Adam requested a Tom Collins.

With the matter settled and the waiter heading off to fetch our drinks, Lana said, “Anything to get Jasper to abandon this ridiculous scheme of his. I’ve tried to tell him on many occasions that there’s absolutely no evidence to suggest that binding himself to aprimafrom another clan will do anything to break the curse. But because the Wilcox men have tried everythingelse, to no avail, it seems that Jasper is allowing himself to get lost in improbabilities rather than acknowledging that the situation is one we’ll all have to live with.”

I wanted to ask her why — when she certainly seemed like the kind of woman who could have pretty much anyone she wanted and was clearly smart and articulate as well — she’d be willing to throw all that away on a life that would last for her maybe two or three years at the most.

But I wasn’t that brave…and it really wasn’t my business, either.

“I’m glad you want to help,” Seth said, and she gave him an indulgent smile.

“I haven’t said that I would,” she responded. “But I also haven’t said that I won’t. I want to know what we’re working with here. From some rumblings I’ve sensed within the clan, I know that Jasper was successful in taking Ruby from McAllister territory. Anything after that, however, currently escapes my grasp.”

“She’s not being held in Flagstaff,” I said, and decided for now not to say anything more than that. If Lana ended up agreeing to be part of our rescue mission, then she would have earned the right to know more. “But the place where she’s being kept has been protected with all sorts of spells to keep her from escaping.”

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