A low whistle sounded from the doorway. Doug Carlyle’s large form filled the space as he gaped at her. “Brilliant,” he said in a husky voice. “It’s. Wow.”
With a deliberate sway to her hips, Phoebe slunk toward Doug. Rising on tiptoe, she planted a kiss on his wide mouth. “You like?”
“A bit more than ‘like,’ I’d say.”
“Must I remind you two that I’m standing right here?” Moira put in, primly.
“And me,” I called.
Collum only groaned.
Phoebe hustled back over to the dressing booth and snapped a saucy wink at us as she pulled the curtain shut. Doug’s smile dropped away. His eyes closed on a deep exhale, as though preparing to cannonball into ice water.
His face oddly tense, he moved to the mirror and slipped off his jacket. “Ready when you are, Moira.”
“Ready for what, babe?” Phoebe stepped out, back in jeans and bright pink sweater.
Moira peered up at Doug. “You’ve cleared it with Lu, then?”
At Doug’s hesitant nod, Moira frowned. “Douglas Eugene Carlyle, you know I won’t be goin’ behind Lu’s back. It can wait till she’s made her decision.”
“Lu’s still thinking on it,” Doug said. “I thought it couldn’t hurt to be prepared.”
Static caused strands of Phoebe’s vivid purple hair to float away from her head. A gold ring winked in her left brow as she frowned. “Be prepared for what?”
When neither Doug nor Moira answered, Phoebe stomped a bare foot. “Someone better start talkin’ or I’m going to flip my—”
“I’m going with you,” Doug blurted. “To 1895. That is . . . well . . . I might be.”
I felt as though my jaw had hit the floor.
All the color drained from behind Phoebe’s freckles, until her face looked like a sun-bleached sheet splattered with rust. Her mouth opened. It snapped shut. She began blinking too fast.
I’d only seen that look once, back in 1153, when one of Thomas Becket’s guards had tried to kill her brother. It hadn’t ended well for the thug.
Collum took a step toward them. “Phee. Listen to what he—”
She stopped him with one upraised palm. “Don’t.”
Unnerved, I glanced at Collum, who looked back at me as he raked his hands back through his hair. We should go, he mouthed.
I nodded in utter and complete agreement.
Silence roared in the room, broken only by the whirring of the computers. Phoebe rounded on her grandmother. “You knew?” she asked. “You knew he was planning this and you didn’t tell me?”
“Wasn’t my tale to tell, now was it?”
I’d never seen Moira intimidated. Not by anything. But as her granddaughter’s face flamed to the color of a ripe tomato, the small woman slowly backed away.
“This is gonna be bad, huh?” I whispered as the door closed on the ominous silence.
Moira let out a deep sigh. “Aye,” she said. “Oh aye, I’m afraid so.”
Chapter 12
I WAS WRONG. IT WASN’T BAD.
It was war.
The next day, you could’ve cut the tension inside Christopher Manor with a Nerf sword. Over a strained dinner of shepherd’s pie, Aunt Lucinda announced her decision. When Phoebe leapt up in protest, Lucinda held up a quelling hand. “I understand your concerns,” she said. “And I assure you, I share them. When Douglas made his case, my first inclination was to decline. However—?upon further consideration—?as he is our best resource when it comes to Tesla’s machine, I believe Douglas has earned the right to make his own decision here.”
As the arguments ratcheted up to volcanic proportions, I kept my head down and my big trap shut.
I adored Doug. He was a gigantic, lovable teddy bear. The kindest person I’d ever met and the smartest by a wide, wide margin. But he’d never gone on a mission. And though Moira assured us she knew how to run the device well enough to bring us back, I knew that wasn’t what was bringing furious tears to Phoebe’s eyes.
“What if you seize?” she shouted across the table at a stormy-eyed Doug. “What if you get sick and we can’t get help? What then?”
“I’m not some bleeding invalid,” Doug snapped back. “Much as you like to think so.”
Collum spoke up through a mouthful of food. “It actually makes a lot of sense, Phee.” He studied the potato on his fork, carefully not looking at his sister. “It’s not as if any of the rest of us understands all the technical mumbo jumbo. Doug is our best chance to truly understand exactly how the enhancement works.”
Angry interruptions flew hard and fast across the table. Sickened by the discord brewing within this tight-knit clan, I shrunk in my chair, becoming as small a target as possible.
From her place at the head of the group, Aunt Lucinda rose. She didn’t speak until the table quieted. “Douglas,” she said, “will join you. It has been decided. Now that we’ve to contend with Gunnar Blasi, it is even more imperative that we have on hand someone with Doug’s abilities and knowledge to counter. And I will hear no more on the subject.”
The gentle glow from the massive elk-antler chandelier glittered in Phoebe’s eyes as she, too, stood and glared back at Lucinda. “So it’s been decided, has it?”
Ignoring her, Aunt Lucinda pinned Collum with a look. “And you misunderstand me. Under no circumstance are you to bring anything whatsoever back upon your return. The enhancement must be destroyed. And Tesla must be convinced of the danger of ever creating another. I believe our best chance of that would be to make contact with Jonathan Carlyle. Reveal as little of yourselves as possible. But do what you must to ensure that this is the end of Tesla’s experimentation with the device.”
Without a word, Phoebe snatched up her still-full plate and shoved through the swinging kitchen door. Dishes crashed in the sink. When the back door slammed, Doug rose and stomped off in the opposite direction.
Collum hadn’t taken his eyes from Lucinda. “Why . . .” He paused, jaw flexing as he tried to control the rage I saw rise up. “Why would we not bring back the enhancement? Why would we not utilize the one thing that might help us find my father? Or have you forgotten all about him?”
When Moira made a strangled noise, Mac wrapped an arm about her shoulders, but his eyes were on his grandson. “We canna take the chance, son. Much as it pains me, it is too risky to introduce something we don’t understand into this time period. Your gram and I agree with Lu on this.”
Watching the look of betrayal creep over Collum’s face, I thought maybe—?in this instance—?the adults were being too cautious.
What if the enhancement really works? What if this is the Viators’ one chance to change the parameters of the game but fear makes them pass it by?
“Um,” I said into the dead silence, “I think—”
A faint cry echoed from the baby monitor on the nearby buffet.
“Hope,” Moira muttered. “Go up and see to your sister.”
Her tone left no room for argument. The protest building inside me faded as Aunt Lucinda echoed her friend. “Go,” Aunt Lucinda said. “Please.”