Marcus remained uncharacteristically somber.
Alyssa clung to her husband’s arm, her pretty face distraught.
Dillon’s countenance was more grim than Beth had ever seen it.
They all seemed fearful that something might go wrong and land Beth and Robert in her time permanently. As if they were there to say Good-bye instead of See you when you get back.
Since butterflies fluttered in her own belly, Beth couldn’t blame them. She didn’t know how exactly this whole time travel thing worked. And Seth remained infuriatingly closedmouthed about it.
What if something did go wrong? All she had been able to drag out of Seth was that he would send them to her time, but could not accompany them himself.
How could he return them to Robert’s time if he didn’t go with them?
How could he even ensure they ended up in Beth’s time—and not the Dark Ages or the Wild West or the friggin’ twenty-third century—if he didn’t go with them?
Could he even guarantee that they would be together wherever they ended up and not separated by several decades or centuries?
The mere possibility terrified her.
She glanced up at Robert.
If her husband was nervous, he hid it well.
Beth clung to his hand as if it were the only thing keeping her from falling off a cliff’s edge. Yet Robert just smiled and stroked the back of her hand with his thumb. Ruffling Marcus’s hair, he spoke casually of the weather, the progress he expected Marcus to make in his training while they were gone, and other mundane things as if it were just another day.
Beth rose onto her toes and kissed Robert’s cheek, then slipped away from the group. Cloaked by the foliage, she removed her medieval garb and donned the jeans and tank top that weren’t bloodstained, topped them off with her bulletproof vest and Bail Enforcement jacket, then added all of her weapons.
Somber faces greeted her return. Embraces ensued. Beth nearly burst into tears when Dillon—such a ferocious, austere man—clasped his brother to him for a long, tight hug, his eyes misty as he murmured something in Robert’s ear.
Robert nodded and clapped him on the back.
Once all had said their good-byes, Seth asked the others to leave.
With great reluctance, the group turned away and headed back the way they had come.
Beth looked up at Seth.
“You may have one sennight there,” he said. “No more.”
A week. Not much time. But she wouldn’t make a fuss, particularly since it had taken quite a bit of arguing on her part to get him to allow her more than a day or two.
“Hold tightly to one another,” he instructed, “and do not lose your grip.”
Beth decided holding Robert’s hand wasn’t going to be enough and wrapped her arms around him instead.
Still as outwardly composed as before, Robert offered no complaint. His heart pounded rapidly beneath her cheek, however, when she rested her head upon his chest.
“I love you,” she whispered, terrified something would go wrong.
“I love you, Beth,” he murmured, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
It happened so quickly she almost missed it. The scenery around them blurred and elongated as if they were in the Millennium Falcon and had just activated the hyperdrive. A strange feeling of weightlessness struck, like that she sometimes experienced in an elevator.
A second later, the world around them stabilized. And then she and Robert stood alone in a clearing vastly different from the one in which they had bid Dillon, Alyssa, and Marcus good-bye.
They now stood in the clearing. The one in which she had fallen.
The one in Texas.
Hot, humid air assaulted them, dampening their skin.
Beth leaned back slightly, still holding on to Robert just in case, and examined their surroundings.
Dry, brown foliage. Hard clay soil, cracked by drought. A scorching sun overhead. Parched trees with leaves shriveling and falling from their limbs. Annoying mosquitoes buzzing around. Kingsley’s crappy cabin nearby.
“This is it,” she said, hearing the wonder she felt reflected in her voice. “This is it, Robert. We’re in my time.”
Robert loosened his hold on her, sliding one hand down to lace his fingers through hers. Taking a step back, he glanced around. “This is the twenty-first century? This is the clearing in which you were wounded?”
“Yes.” She looked around uneasily as memory assaulted her. She heard again the explosive sounds of rifles, shotguns, and handguns firing. Saw blood spurt from Josh’s wounds. Felt bullets pierce her flesh.
Her free hand went to the grip of the 9mm in her shoulder holster.
Robert drew his sword and surveyed the clearing carefully. “Do you sense something?”
Beth swallowed hard, trying to quell the irrational fear that built within her. “No. I think it’s just what happened here before.” Her hands began to shake. “I don’t know. I didn’t expect it to freak me out like this.”