Timeless Vision (17 page)

“Can she do it without my blood?”

“I am sure she’ll try. There are many powers greater than mine,” Wayne said. “Though my intentions were specific, it’s not impossible for her to circumvent them.”

Tara shook out her hair and pinned it back up again. Leaning forward, she pursed her lips as she studied the tourist map. “There are subways near the nexus. We can start our search there.”

“I can,” Nick and Wayne said in unison.

“You must stay out of sight,” Wayne added. “Behind the protective wards your cousin created here. If she knew your blood was essential, she wouldn’t have been focused on me. Should she learn the truth, that your blood will break the spell, we’ve lost the war before the battle begins.”

Tara’s foot tapped a staccato beat against the wood floor. “I’m not sitting in some proverbial ivory tower waiting for news of your triumph,” she said. “I’ll go with you or I’ll go in spite of you.”

“Easy there, killer,” Nick crooned. “I have a few ideas.” He gently moved the ancient documents aside and unrolled a new stack of oversized papers. “These are the building blueprints for a three block radius around the nexus.”

“Holy cow, Nick.” Her auburn eyebrows winged up in surprise. “That takes thorough to a new level.”

“Our best chance to catch her is to drop a net over the nexus quickly,” Nick said.

Wayne nodded. “We can divide the search area into three segments -”

“Thank you for not leaving me out.”

Wayne stopped and stared at her. How could she believe he’d take a chance with her life? “Three,” he repeated. “Nick, Sterling, and me.”

“Then four of us covers more territory faster.” She crossed her arms over her chest and he had to drag his eyes back to her face.

“You’ll stay here.” Couldn’t she see the sense in that? “If the witch captures you, we’re done for.”

She sniffed. “I will
not
be left out. Talk some sense into him, Nick. I can hold my own.”

“Again, I say, easy.” Nick’s sharp tone put an end to her bickering. “My plan wasn’t just a search, but a trap for the cult.”

“I like that.” Tara’s eyes glittered with anticipation. “When do we start?”

“You will not use her to bait your trap,” Wayne warned. He locked gazes with Nick across the table.

“Not a chance,” Nick agreed. “I’ve been giving this a lot of thought since you showed up and I think I know where to start. If I’m wrong, we can regroup and redirect quickly enough.” He rubbed at the lines etched into his forehead. “Aunt Siobhan has agreed to help me out.”

“My mom did what?”

“She and I will visit various hotels posing as mother and son looking for a rehearsal dinner venue and an accommodations package for a wedding.”

“You really think the witch and her cult are hiding in a hotel?” Wayne asked. Though he had little understanding of this era, such a public place seemed far too easy to be detected.

Nick nodded. “It gives her the perfect cover. Employment and facilities for her followers, access to every resource, and a steady cash flow. There are several properties near the nexus that have been privately owned since the city was founded.”

“If you are so sure, why don’t we just march in there, take her out, and call it done?”

Silently, Wayne seconded Tara’s question.

“Because if we guess incorrectly, she has the advantage again,” Nick answered. “Much as Wayne did in the past, I want to eradicate her now instead of later.”

“We know my arrival was noticed. You were with me at that time. The witch or her followers may recognize you.”

“I’m not exactly helpless,” Nick said. “But thanks for the concern.”

Seeing the battle gleam in Nick’s eyes, Wayne believed him. Trusted him. The young man had certainly proved his resourcefulness time and again since Wayne had arrived. “What shall we do while you are out there?” he asked.

“I want the two of you to learn the name of the witch leading this cult, and find out if she’s your long-lost cousin or something.”

The request startled Wayne almost as much as Nick’s full knowledge of the rotted branch of his family tree. He’d been asleep, presumed dead by all concerned, for centuries. He had no idea how the cult had survived. “How am I to do that?”

“You knew the cult at its beginning. Don’t try and claim you didn’t know the primary players, the alliances, and who brought the coin. You trained on Avalon. I’m sure you have special gifts beyond the resources we have protected for just this contingency.”

Wayne closed his eyes against the hard challenge on Nick’s face. Sterling’s vision gave him a good view of the room and the shared glance between the O’Malley cousins. Was he really going to use his magic against another relative? It seemed no matter how far he traveled, his mother found a way to be right.

“You know her name is essential to finishing this. When your gifts and the printed records here run dry, Tara’s computer skills will be more than enough, I’m sure.”

Wayne looked to Tara. Her gaze slid to the full bookshelves lining the walls under the eaves. There was nothing to do but get started.

~*~

Tara gave Nick a goodbye hug, more than a little worried he was diving into stormy seas without a lifeline. “Please be careful,” she whispered at his ear. “And bring my mom back safely.” What that woman had done to Wayne from across a crowded street still sent chills down her spine. “She’s dangerous.”

“I know.” Nick gave her shoulders a squeeze. “You be careful here too, okay?”

The gravity in his voice startled her. At every turn, she realized her cousin’s branch of the family had carried the greater burden. Yes, she was the latest O’Malley charged with protecting an invaluable relic, but Nick’s side had protected so much more.

Insecurity and doubt tapped a merry dance through her head as Nick’s footsteps faded to silence in the secret stairway.

Behind her Wayne cleared his throat. “I do not know where to start,” he said in a voice rough with uncertainty.

She turned and tenderness swamped her. Shoulders slumped, one hand splayed over Sterling’s head, Wayne looked absolutely lost. Fragile, despite his build and obvious strength. The man had mysteriously traveled though time to complete a 1500-year old mission. Other than his strange accent, which was fading, and his outdated ideas about society, he’d stepped into her time without much of a hitch. He’d deconstructed a crime scene and shown a tremendous capacity for adaptation during his every encounter in her world.

Now, ordered to think back to his own time, he was stumped.

“Start wherever you like,” she suggested. “I’m going downstairs for my tablet.”

“Not alone.”

Her eyes wanted to roll and she bit back a sharp retort about her independence. “The house is safe.” She gave him a smile. “Sterling can be my escort. You look for something that feels familiar. I -
we
- will be back momentarily.”

At his nod, the greyhound moved to her side. It felt wrong to leave Wayne with that world-weary expression and worry tugging at his eyebrows, so she and the dog hustled back into the main part of the house. She considered making a pot of tea and decided against it. No reason to leave her poor knight alone any longer than necessary.

Her knight?
A couple of sizzling kisses didn’t exactly give her exclusive rights to him, but thinking about her world without him now that they’d met made her shiver. Gawain the Gallant had been her ultimate fantasy date when she was an awkward teenager. Not just because of her fascination with medieval legends and vivid dreams. The stories of his quests, his feats of valor and his acts of kindness created an ideal the boys around her couldn’t possibly live up to.

The only person happy with her lack of a social life had been her overprotective father. Imagining her dad’s reaction if she brought Wayne home for Sunday dinner made her laugh out loud.

Then she sobered. Even if he agreed to such a ludicrous suggestion, she had no idea what would happen to him - or to her - when they were done with this.
Better not think about that
. They had enough trouble bearing down on them with this whole witch on a power trip thing. With Sterling on her heels, she quickly gathered her tablet, three bottles of water, a bag of pretzels, and a bowl for the dog. The sooner this was over, the sooner her other questions would be answered.

When she returned, Wayne was sitting at the table, hunched over an open book, a short stack of other books near his elbow. He didn’t spare her a glance, though he muttered a thank you for the water she offered him.

That’s when it hit her. He hadn’t thrown himself into the research the moment she’d left, he’d been watching her through that magic bond he had with the dog. “You’re a phony,” she accused lightly.

His head snapped up and his blue eyes swept over her. “That is not a compliment.”

She ignored the little shiver she got from those mesmerizing eyes. “Not really. But it’s not an insult either,” she said. “You’re sitting there pretending to work while you’re watching my every move through Sterling.”

With his hair tugged back, she could see embarrassment or shame staining the tips of his ears. “You must be protected at all costs,” he said. “Your life hangs in the balance thanks to a spell I cast.”

It was only the two of them and he hadn’t moved, yet the room seemed to shrink. Her body heated as if they were inches apart rather than the long length of the table. In her ears she heard an echo of her pounding heart. There was no possible way she could hear
his
heart from this distance. No way that didn’t involve a magical link of some kind. She cleared her throat and forced her gaze to a point where the view wasn’t full of a hunky knight from King Arthur’s Round Table.

“What was he like?” she asked.

“The hound?”

“No.” She bit her lip. His eyes tracked the move. “My mind’s jumping all over the place. Sorry.” She felt the blush rise in her cheeks and hoped repeating the question would distract him. “What was King Arthur like?”

Wayne’s eyes widened before his face relaxed into a wistful smile. “Dedicated. Understanding. Battle-tested. His views on peace, justice,” Wayne swallowed, “and equality made his enemies think he could be overthrown easily.”

“You were close?”

“We were friends long before my pledge to become a knight.” She could see Wayne’s heart and mind had traveled back to his time. His fingertips absently traced the edges of the book in his hands. The skin at the back of her neck reacted as if he’d touched her.

So much for the theory that a history lesson would relieve her inappropriate fixation with him. “Why did you agree to something as impossible as this?”

Sterling wandered over and laid his chin on Wayne’s thigh. How silly she was to envy that easy, personal contact and intimate bond. She’d never let herself that close to anyone. She’d been happier with the fantasies in her dreams.

“He needed me,” Wayne replied. “Few, even in that era, would understand or accept the assignment he proposed. It has come to pass just as he said. Rooting out Morgana requires far more than valor and heart.”

“It requires strong magic.”

Wayne nodded. “To say it plainly, yes.”

“There were more of you?”

“Arthur invited three of us to the first and only meeting. We all know he considered himself the fourth.”

“He led by example.”

“No. He denied himself that role for this quest.” Wayne closed the book and set it aside with an exasperated sigh. “I fear your cousin expects me to know more than I do.” He reached for the next book on the top of the stack.

She didn’t fight the change of subject. “He expects us to try our best.”

“While he is out there alone against her.”

“He’s not alone.”

“Because the O’Malleys are so numerous.” His smile erased any resentment from the comment.

She laughed. “You and I should both be more grateful for numerous O’Malleys. In this case I meant Nick has many friends who can help him find the cult. And my mom is rather formidable.” She raised a hand when he opened his mouth to argue. “Before you lecture me about privacy and discretion, remember Nick is a cop. His job is to uphold the law. He’ll find a way to get the information we need without putting anyone in danger.”

Wayne opened the book while he held her gaze. “Numbers won’t intimidate this woman. She is powerful.”

“So you’ve said.” Tara had seen it firsthand. She plugged in her tablet and took the chair at the opposite end of the table. “Let’s hope that makes her easy to find.”

“What will you do with your machine?”

“It’s called a tablet,” she informed him gently. “There are programs and websites that can help us trace family ancestry.”

“Backward or forward, matters little.” Wayne grunted, his face a mask of skepticism. “We don’t know who she is or who she came from.”

“We know she must be tied to one of the family-owned hotels,” Tara said, warming to the idea. “We know she has deep ties to the cult and ancient lore.” She massaged her fingers as she decided where to start her search. “She’s not some runaway who got lost in the system.”

“All right.” Wayne leaned back in the chair, his head tipped back.

“You keep reading and I’ll let you know if I stumble onto something.” It took a substantial effort to keep her mind on the search and her eyes on the results on her screen as they set to work. He made a far more interesting study than long lists of names and corporations.

On a heavy sigh, Wayne closed one book and reached for another. He read for hours, turning pages, pacing back and forth with books in hand. He read the last book of the stack in the chair and when he closed it, he folded his elbows on the table and rested his head on his forearms.

“Any progress?”

“Little.” He didn’t bother looking at her. “My eyes ache. It seems Peter preserved my original notes on the families we were sure supported Morgana and those we had doubts about. Generations of O’Malleys continued the effort.”

So why wasn’t he volunteering a name? “Then this should be easy. Give me a name and I’ll see if it corresponds to anything I’ve got here.”