Page 82 of Killing Time

He didn’t bother to respond, but that was all right.

I already knew what I needed to say.

“This girl from the future just wanted to let you know that you’re going to die alone.”

Seth’s arms tightened on me, and then Jasper and the shadowy basement and his cloaked lackeys were gone.

20

PRIMA POWER

Upuntil the very last minute, Seth honestly hadn’t been sure whether his plan was going to work at all. Adam had dissuaded him from teleporting into Jasper’s house right away, saying that Devynn wouldn’t even be brought to the basement until the last minute, so the only thing he would have accomplished was showing up several hours earlier than he needed to and possibly alerting Jasper to his presence.

Seth realized Adam had a point, and instead allowed him to continue their drive to Flagstaff, where they stopped to see Lana so she could lay as many spells of protection on him as possible. Where exactly she’d learned to do all this, he wasn’t sure, but if all the books piled on the tables in the bungalow where she lived were any indication, she’d done a lot of work augmenting the powers she’d been born with through reading every esoteric volume she could find.

And once that was managed, the hour had inched close enough to the dark of the moon that Seth thought it was time for him to send himself into the basement. Because he’d already been there before, he knew exactly where he was going. What he hadn’t been so sure of was whether he could get his talent to dowhat he needed, which was to blink himself in and out and back and forth as fast as he could, hopefully confusing Jasper and whatever other Wilcox warlocks might be there with him so Seth would have a clear shot at freeing Devynn and then getting the hell out of there.

Without the amulet to give him the boost he needed, he was pretty sure none of it would have gone according to plan. The magical device had done the job, though, with those befuddled Wilcoxes — Jasper included — tripping all over themselves and looking like something right out of one of those Keystone Cops movies Seth had watched when his parents used to take him and Charles to the theater over in Prescott, years and years ago now.

He also hadn’t missed the impressive kick that Devynn had landed on that one Wilcox warlock’s groin. The man probably wouldn’t be walking straight for a week.

The living room of his bungalow surrounded them now, telling Seth they were safe, but he continued to hold her for a long moment, wanting to reassure himself that he really had managed to free her from Jasper Wilcox’s clutches and that they wouldn’t have to worry about theprimus’smachinations ever again.

She snuggled against him, arms still tight around his waist, which seemed to tell Seth that she also needed as much reassurance as possible right then. After a long moment, though, she released her hold just enough so she could gaze up into his face.

“That was amazing,” she said, big blue eyes full of relief…and a decent measure of respect for the near-impossible feat he’d just accomplished.

“Youwere amazing,” he replied, then bent so he could press his mouth against hers.

She kissed him back immediately, a sure sign she wasn’t so scarred by her kidnapping experience that she wanted toavoid physical contact. His body warmed at her touch, positively aching with need…and yet he knew they needed to go see Ruby and let her know everything had gone off without a hitch and that Jasper’s horrible plans had come to nothing in the end.

“But we should probably go see Ruby now,” he added, and Devynn’s brows lifted. He realized then that she could have no idea of what had happened over the past few days, how Ruby had become his ally in getting her away from Wilcox territory.

“It’s past midnight,” Devynn pointed out, and he only shrugged.

“I doubt she’s gone to sleep yet.”

Devynn still looked dubious, but she didn’t bother to protest. “Okay. I suppose it’s a good idea to let everyone know we got back safely.”

Well, Ruby first, and then Seth guessed theprima-in-waiting could spread the word from there. That kiss he’d just shared with Devynn had let him know the only thing he wanted this night was to get home as quickly as possible so he could take her in his arms and they could reaffirm their connection to one another in the comfortable, oversized bed in the master suite.

Hand in hand, they left the bungalow and walked down to the house Ruby shared with her mother and sister. At that hour, almost all the homes on the street were dark, but the light next to the front door at Ruby’s place was on, and Seth saw at once that a lamp in the living room still shone as well.

He knocked, but quietly, just in case Louise and her younger daughter were already asleep and theprima-in-waiting was the only one holding vigil on this dark, moonless night.

Almost as soon as his hand touched the door, it opened, and Ruby looked out, her expression one of utter relief.

“Come inside,” she said, although her words were pitched low enough that he thought his guess was correct, and her mother and sister were sleeping elsewhere in the house.

They sat down in the living room, where a single shaded lamp glowed from the far corner. A book lay face down on the coffee table, a signal that Ruby had been doing what she could to stay awake until she was able to get word as to whether their mission had been successful.

“We won’t keep you up for much longer,” he said after both he and Devynn had declined an offer of some water or tea. “But we thought we should tell you that everything worked out just fine. I’m sure Jasper is still gnashing his teeth over how we were able to escape, but — ”

“But he’s just going to have to suck it up,” Devynn cut in. “Maybe next time he’ll think twice about trying to sacrifice someone at the dark of the moon.”

Ruby’s eyes widened slightly. “Do you really think he would do something like that again?”

Seth wished he could say no, that Jasper Wilcox had learned his lesson. But considering how angry theprimushad been when he realized his prize had been snatched away from him….

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