Belmary House Book Two (20 page)

She playfully bumped her hip against his and chattered on about when they would go to the castle to meet the current owner. He wanted to keep his eyes glued to her, but didn’t want her to think him acting odd, so only pulled her close to him and kept his eyes forward, pretending to be as delighted as she was at the first sight of a passing car.

Stealing a glance at Liam, who was engrossed in awkwardly trying to hitch them a ride, she pulled him away a bit. She stood on her tiptoes and put her arms around his neck, and he leaned down to hear what she was so eager to say, taking in her beautiful face and dancing eyes.

“I love you,” she whispered before kissing him.

He kissed her back, holding her so tight he was sure she’d be alarmed. “I love you, too,” he said, his heart breaking.

“Everything’s going to be fine, isn’t it?” she asked, her eyes full of trust.

It felt like it would kill him, but he didn’t look away. “Yes,” he said. If he could never do another thing for anyone in his life after this, he would know he had done what was best for Matilda. “Everything’s going to be fine, I promise.”

Tilly smiled up at Ashford as he reassured her, but she felt a chill all the same. Something wasn’t right in his eyes. She could always tell when they went flat like an old coin that unsavory thoughts brewed in his brain.

“I hope there’s a pool,” she said, tugging on his arm to rejoin Liam, who stared down the road for a car to flag.

Liam laughed. “This is Castle on Hill, Miss Jacobs. I’d give up hope of a pool if I were you.”

He smiled when a car finally rounded the bend and ran to wave it over. The blue station wagon pulled to a stop and a curvy redhead got out, holding up her phone.

“I’ve got two carseats so can’t fit you all, but I’ll call the taxi for you if you like.”

“Thank you, that’s kind,” Liam said, and she perked up at his voice.

“American? Me, too. From Texas.” She swept her long hair behind her shoulder and scrolled through her phone.

“Michigan,” Liam said, then pointed to Tilly. “Miss Jacobs here is from the west coast.”

“It’s always so fun when other Americans find us,” she said cheerily. “I’m Evelyn Merkholtz-Maclean. Ugh, sorry, I thought I had the number. Let me text my husband real quick.” She finished that and looked them over. “How long have you been at the camp? Did they change up the era? I always thought they did more of the eighteenth century out there. You guys look Regency.”

At first she sounded merely curious, but then she took a step closer to Ashford, shading her eyes to get a better look at him. Her mouth dropped open, and Tilly wondered if they should run, especially when Evelyn stood on her toes to really look at Ashford before staggering back a step.

“It’s you,” she accused, pointing. She immediately lowered her hand, and appeared to try to recall something. “Ashford? Right?”

“Do I know you, Mrs. Maclean?”

“I knew it,” she said, jumping up and down. “It is you. And yes, you most certainly do know me. Remember my friend was about to get tried for witchcraft and you were too all fired busy to help out? Then you disappeared through the walls?”

Tilly gasped at her accusation and harder when Ashford narrowed his eyes as if he did remember.

“My word, is that you? You made it out then, I’m glad to see. Good show, you. And your friend? I trust you rescued her?”

Evelyn sputtered. “Well, yes, but I thought I was crazy for a long time after that. You don’t just go up to someone and tell them you know they’re from another time, then disappear.”

Tilly groaned. That sounded exactly like something Ashford would do, unfortunately.

“I am sorry for that,” he said. “I must have been under a very tight schedule and the portal here is unreliable, so I would have had to take what I could get. Was that the 1790s or thereabouts? Terrible time to get stuck.”

“Yeah, it was pretty terrible,” Evelyn said sourly. “You can’t disappear again. I’ll put the baby seats in the trunk, but you’re definitely coming with me. I want Piper to meet you.”

“Piper Sinclair, the owner of the castle?” Liam perked up, looking eagerly at her and Ashford. “That’s perfect, since we came to try and speak with her.”

He hurried to help her with her two child safety seats, while Tilly and Ashford stood slightly away.

“Is she dangerous?” Tilly asked, not feeling like she was, but her suspicions were on high alert. “It doesn’t seem like she likes you.”

“I don’t think she’s dangerous,” he said slowly. “At least we’ll get our introduction.”

“No one believed me when I told them I met you,” Evelyn said. “Until you brought Piper’s sister-in-law here from 1729.” She looked him over disdainfully. “When she was barely seventeen.”

“The Ferguson lass?” he asked, stepping forward. “You know of her whereabouts? I’ve been looking for her and the other young lady. The actress.”

“You brought someone here?” Tilly asked. “They didn’t just fall through the portal?”

He groaned. “She tricked me into thinking she was the other woman, who actually belonged in this time. She wanted to find someone, and because of that, Miss - Miss, ah, Burnet was lost as well.”

Evelyn seemed to soften a little at seeing how upset he was, but she still kept her frown firmly in place.

“They’re both fine and where they belong. Again, no thanks to you.”

Tilly moved closer to him and took his hand, thinking she’d rather walk than get in the car with someone who was going to be mean to Ashford the whole ride. After, all what did this woman know about his life, and how difficult it was to keep up with everyone who got lost? And if someone actively deceived him, how was that his fault? It hurt her heart even more to see that Ashford didn’t look the least offended, probably used to people’s shrill ingratitude. Instead, he looked grateful to find out the people he thought he’d lost were fine.

Evelyn lightened up a bit and asked them if they were all from the past, and who brought them here. Liam pointed out who was from when and told her they had a request of the current owner of the castle, having heard she had great power. Tilly smirked at his blatant butt kissing, but Evelyn nodded at them seriously.

“Don’t get your hopes up. She hates everything to do with magic.”

Her face told them she felt quite the same, and Liam looked as if he understood. Ashford kept his face neutral, and Tilly worried that even though he acted like he didn’t, he’d got his hopes up and was afraid to have them dashed again. She knew she was prepared to do some serious begging once they met the formidable sounding Piper Sinclair. Because whether she hated magic or not, if it was true she was that powerful, they needed her help.

“You’ll still take us to meet her, though, won’t you, Mrs. Maclean?” Ashford asked.

“Oh, definitely. You’re my white whale, Lord Ashford.”

Ashford looked crushed, and Tilly couldn’t help but squeak out a nervous laugh at the bizarre turn things had taken. As Liam and Evelyn made their way toward the car, she squeezed his hand.

“The whale won in that book, right?” she asked, feeling a dreadful sense of foreboding at what they’d face at the castle.

Emma pored over the papers on her desk, the print seeming to go in all directions as she struggled to read it through her headache. Ever since she’d made her deal with Mr. Wodge, it was back, stronger than ever, and she was close to demanding action, not sure she could wait for the elusive Ashford to show up. Every time she thought something didn’t make sense, or worse, every time something
did,
her pain got stronger, and she forgot everything but trying to survive.

Dexter startled her by rushing into her office as if something was on fire, and she pushed the papers aside, alarmed at his pale face and wide eyes. He had his phone in his hand, and held it out for her to see, before looking down at it incredulously.

“I just spoke with Tilly’s gran, who just spoke with her mum. You won’t believe who she just spoke with.” Before she could attempt to guess, he blurted out, “Tilly’s back.” He pulled a chair close to her desk and fell into it.

Dumbly, Emma looked at the ceiling. The portal had opened without her or Mr. Wodge knowing about it? That didn’t make sense. He’d assured her he would know the instant Ashford arrived through it, due to some spell he’d put on it, or took off it, she didn’t remember. But he’d been certain. She almost told Dexter that, but the words died in her throat. Of course she couldn’t tell him such things. He was distrustful of Mr. Wodge, and for no good reason.

“Emma, are you all right?”

He reached over and took her hand and the pain subsided a little bit, but even Dexter’s miracle touch didn’t help her completely anymore. Mr. Wodge told her it would only get better when she was back in her proper time.

“If Tilly’s back, is Ashford with her? How come he didn’t— Does he have an opening for me?”

His face fell. “I don’t know. They didn’t come through the house. They’re in some village in Scotland. I’m still waiting to hear—” He jumped as if electrocuted and took out his phone, looking at it as if it was a cobra about to strike. “Oh my God, I hope this is her.”

He brusquely answered the phone, standing up with tears in his eyes as he heard who could only be Tilly. He babbled about how happy he was to hear her voice before glancing suspiciously at Mr. Wodge’s door, which was shut.

“He’s at lunch,” she lied, not sure why the words rolled off her tongue without any thought at all.

He pressed the speaker button. “Tell us what to do. Emma’s right here next to me.”

He beamed at her, and down at the phone, and her heart ached at his happiness. She wished she could share it, but a heaviness settled over her shoulders and all she could do was force a smile.

“There’s a portal up here, in Castle on Hill. You can fly into Aberdeen. We’ll meet you.” There was a pause and some scuffling on the other line and Tilly quickly amended, “Er, just rent a car. There’s only one inn here, it’s easy to find.”

“Is Lord Ashford with you?” Emma asked coldly, blinking at Dexter’s look. She softened her tone. “Why are you in Scotland?”

A long pause in which her skepticism grew. Something wasn’t right about this conversation. It was as if Tilly was being fed lines.

“He’s not in the room right now. I just talked to my mom and was crying so I sent him out. Um, there’s a portal here,” she repeated. “That’s why we’re in Scotland. Listen, get up here as quick as you can. I’ll tell you everything when I see you guys.”

“Yeah, of course. We’ll leave as soon as we can get a flight,” Dexter said, looking at her for approval.

“Why aren’t you coming back to London?” she asked.

“The portal here works better, has more openings,” Tilly said. “Julian just found out about it.”

Julian was it? It seemed odd that the stuffy man she recalled would allow such familiarity. Even Dexter raised his eyebrows at hearing her call him that, but he only shrugged, waiting for an answer. She waved for him to take it off speaker, troubled that she didn’t know what to do. She forced herself not to look toward Mr. Wodge’s door.

“Hang on a second, Til,” Dexter said, muting the phone. “What?” he demanded.

“None of this seems odd to you?” she asked.

“Everything about this has always seemed odd. Because it is odd. But she’s back, that’s her on the phone. If there’s a better portal up north, we should go. This is what we’ve been waiting for.”

His voice faltered on the last words and the fact of how difficult it was for him to be arguing about her going back broke through her hard shell of pain and confusion. She knew he wanted her to stay but was too selfless to act otherwise. For a split second, everything seemed very cut and dried. There was another portal that worked better, and she was only a few hours away from it.

A shot of blinding pain burst behind her eyes and she groaned, unable to keep from pressing her hands to her face to try and stop it. But wasn’t Ashford dangerous? Who knew what brainwashing Tilly had gone through while she was with him. These new thoughts tumbled in to complicate what had been simple only a moment before, and she once again didn’t know what to do.

Irritated at Dexter grabbing her hands and his anxious look, she shook him off and took a deep breath.

“I’m okay, just a bit overwhelmed. Yes, of course. Why don’t you book us a flight. I’ll put everything away here and run home to pack.”

Her voice sounded robotic even to her own ears, and Dexter continued to look at her worriedly, but picked up his phone and told Tilly they were as good as on their way.

She smiled and waved him off, making a big show of putting her papers in order, only wanting him to hurry and leave so she could see if she’d done the right thing.

***

Solomon listened behind his office door, closing his eyes in triumph that Ashford had returned at last. Clever, not to use the portal here, but the one up in Scotland to avoid him. Which meant he must have somehow found out who now owned his house. Solomon kept a tight grip on his temper, waiting for Emma to finish up her conversation. He knew the second she was able, she’d join him.

Instead of using up his energy trying to block the ancient spells on the house, he’d diverted them all toward Emma, which he knew had to be agonizing. The buzzing alone was enough to make one quite desperate, and that was how he needed her.