Page 5 of Killing Time

No, it had been my unpredictable time-travel “gift” again, snatching us away and sending us decades into the past.

Seth only nodded and said, “That’s good to know,” before walking around to the passenger side of the car and opening the door for me. I headed over there and sat down, and I had to admit to myself that the leather seats were a lot better padded and comfier than the ones in his ’20s-vintage Dodge.

Once I was settled, he went around to the driver’s side. Maybe he gave the slightest tilt of his head toward his brother before he opened the door and got in.

He sent me an unsmiling glance.

“Let’s go home.”

2

AN UNDERSTANDING

He’d knownthat some changes must have been made during the twenty-one years he’d been gone, but Seth still stopped just inside the door to his bungalow, pausing there so he could try to absorb how very different the place looked.

The dark beams that crisscrossed the living room ceiling had been painted white, and so had the fireplace mantel. The only structural elements that appeared to have remained the same were the blue tile firebox surround and the oak floor under his feet, although it looked as if it had been sanded down and restained a lighter color.

All the paintings and knickknacks were gone, but someone had left behind a flowered couch and matching curtains, along with an angular coffee table. Seth had no idea why they hadn’t taken those items with them when they moved, except maybe they’d gotten tired of the busy floral print in shades of blue and green.

Goddess only knew that it was giving him a headache after just a few minutes standing in the room.

“What a shame,” Devynn murmured, and he looked down at her.

“What’s a shame?”

“That they painted over the woodwork,” she said, and pointed at the ceiling. “Someone must have come along and restored it at some point, because it’s definitely back to the original dark wood in my time.”

That was something of a relief, although, after wrestling with the reality of hisprima-in-waiting being kidnapped by Jasper Wilcox, Seth wasn’t sure whether he could count on Devynn’s future to even come to pass.

“Good to know that people in your time have some taste,” he remarked, and she set down the bags she was carrying and came over to give his arm a squeeze.

“I know it’s a lot,” she said. “But at least we’re here, and we’re together. We’ll figure out the rest of it. I know we will.”

He got the feeling she said those words more to boost his spirits than because she had any real confidence that they’d be able to best Jasper Wilcox, who had to be one of the most powerful warlocks in living memory, but that was all right. Better to be falsely confident than preaching doom and gloom the whole time.

Besides, she was right about one thing. They were here together, and that mattered more than he could say. He found it a little surprising that no one — not Abigail, not the elders — had made any noises about an unmarried man and woman sharing a house, how it might look to outsiders, but he supposed they had more important matters on their minds at the moment.

Also, with the civilian population of Jerome so greatly reduced, the McAllisters probably didn’t need to worry so much about what other people might think.

He managed to smile, then said, “You’re right, of course. Let’s get this stuff put away, and then we can figure out what to do next.”

Devynn appeared game, because she immediately bent down to pick up the bag of clothing she’d set down on the floor. Since the day was so nice and cool, they’d left the groceries in the trunk for the time being, figuring they’d put them away once they’d hung up their clothes and gotten the lay of the land.

They both headed toward the main bedroom — Seth noticed at once how she hadn’t even inquired if she should take the smaller bedroom and was very glad of that — and then she stopped, peering into the bathroom with obvious delight.

“Well, that’s one upgrade I can get on board with,” she said.

He peeked over her shoulder to see the space had been completely redone in blue tiles in a color that matched the fireplace surround, with a darker border running midway along the wall. To his surprise, the sink and toilet were also blue.

A blue toilet?

“Is blue your favorite color?” he asked, figuring he should try to be polite.

She grinned. “I wasn’t talking about the toilet. I was talking about that glorious shower.”

Seth looked over to his left, in the spot where the big clawfoot tub had once stood. In its place was a blue bathtub — to match the toilet and sink, he assumed — that was built into the wall. Above it, a shower head had been mounted in the tile.

“You don’t like bathtubs?”

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