Time Travel Romances Boxed Set (42 page)

This one evidently had served to seal the
well.

“
It’s a beauty, isn’t it?”
Darian asked pertly, ducking his head out of the well’s shadows.
They exchanged greetings, then looked to the stone in unison.
Darian demonstrated the mechanism that opened and closed
it.

“
Remarkably well preserved,
probably because it’s been out of the elements. We’ll never figure
it out, of course, no hint these days as to what these things
meant.” He pursed his lips. “These stones must have been important
once, seeing all the work people put into them.”

“
Oh, yes,” Aurelia
breathed. “They were.”

She stepped closer, ignoring the considering
light in Darian’s eyes. This was the stone raised in memory of her.
The crescent moon signified her status as priestess, the arrow
arched against the curve of the moon showed her mastery of the
crossbow. The fact that the arrow was broken signified her passing
away.

And the world serpent encircled it all just
as he surrounded the world and held it intact, consuming his own
tail in an endless cycle of death and birth.

Aurelia ran her fingertips across the relief
sculpture of herself, thought of all the men that had put their
labor into seeing her safe beyond the days of their own lives, and
her heart clenched.

Their efforts had been for nothing in the
end. Aurelia had been protected, she had survived, but she had
awakened to a barren new life.

Too late, Aurelia realized not only that she
could love Baird but that she did love him. Wildly, madly and
passionately.

But she had figured out the truth too late
to make a difference. If Aurelia had been able to confess love when
Baird feared she was manipulating him, would it have made a
difference? Her heart ached with weight of that possibility.

But Baird was gone as surely as he had been
over the centuries. New York was as remote as the shadowy
otherworld of the Dreaming that Aurelia glimpsed. How could she
pursue him across the seas, without ship or sail, without Tex’s
helicopter, without this coin they all held in such esteem?

Without Baird, Aurelia was alone as she
never had been before. Only now she understood the full weight of
the solitude he had endured as a child.

Falling in love, if indeed Baird had, would
have been a tremendous shock to him. New ground, as it were,
instead of the appearance of the trusted and familiar, as it was to
Aurelia. That coupled with the dreams, for a man who did not dream,
would have challenged all he knew to be true.

In five days.

Aurelia sighed, hindsight showing all too
clearly that things had moved overly quickly between them. If only
she had known then what she knew now, all might have come
differently.

But it was too late. Her pride nudged her
with the unwelcome reminder that Baird did not want her, that
whatever interest he had had in her had been exhausted in her
bed.

“
Look at this inscription,”
Darian urged and Aurelia shook her head at this reminder of the
other man’s presence. “Too bad modern scholarship doesn’t have the
key to read these letters any more.”

Aurelia studied the familiar runes and
easily read them. “Here lies Aurelia, daughter of Gemma and Hekod,
priestess high -”

“
Cursed to sleep until her
lover is proven true.”

Aurelia’s gaze flew to Darian in surprise.
His eyes shone with an odd brightness and she suddenly did not feel
safe in his presence. “I thought you could not read that,” she said
cautiously.

Darian smiled and there was something in his
expression that made Aurelia aware of the damp chill of the old
well.

“
No, I said modern scholars
couldn’t read it. But, I remember many, many things that others
have carelessly forgotten.” He winked with confidence. “Must be
sign of superiority.”

A lump rose in Aurelia’s throat and she took
a step away. “I do not understand.”

Darian grinned. “Of course, you do,
Gemdelovely Gemdelee. We both understand and remember a great deal
more than everyone else.” He moved quickly to block Aurelia’s path
to the stairs. “Maybe that’s why we’re meant to be together.”

“
We are not meant to be
together!”

Darian’s voice turned hard. “If you’re
hoping for Bridei to come back, you’ll have a long, long wait,
Aurelia. This time, I’ve really scared him to the core. He won’t be
back.”

Aurelia’s mouth went dry. “What do you know
about Bridei?”

“
More than you, obviously,”
Darian said with assurance. “He and I have met here many, many
times, but you slept right through it all.”

The breath left Aurelia’s lungs in a rush.
“You are Bard!”

A malicious smile launched over Darian’s
lips. “None other than the son of Erc himself,” he said
cockily.

This was the man at the root of her woes!
Fury rolled through Aurelia and she lunged at the other man.

“
You murdered my brother!”
she bellowed, an ancient part of her bent on taking vengeance out
of this man’s hide.

Darian was flattened against the wall by
Aurelia’s assault. He swore as she raked her fingernails down the
side of his face, then snatched at her wrists.

Aurelia struggled against his grip and hated
that he was so much stronger than she. If only she had had her
crossbow!

“
Temper, temper!” Darian
slammed Aurelia’s back against the wall, looming over her as he
held her wrists above her head. She fought to free herself, hating
how he leaned his chest against her breasts.

“
You know, you should have
married me when you had the chance, and all of this could have been
avoided.”

“
I had no chance! That was
all a lie to draw Thord into your web of deceit!”

Darian laughed and Aurelia hated him doubly
for what he had done. “You do remember everything! Good, then there
won’t be any pretending between us.”

“
There will be nothing
between us!”

“
Oh, really?” Darian
sobered. “I swore a pledge a long time ago, Aurelia, a pledge that
both you and Dunhelm would be mine.” He pressed against her and
Aurelia hated the feel of his erection against her belly. “Although
I never expected you to show such promise.”

He closed in for a kiss and Aurelia spat in
his confident face.

“
Bitch!” Darian grimaced
and held her wrists with one hand while he wiped away the spittle.
He glared at Aurelia. “I could take you now,” he assured her
darkly. “But I’d rather wait for you to come willingly to
me.”

“
Never! I will never
surrender to you!”

Darian chuckled and the cold sound sent a
shiver over Aurelia’s flesh. “That’s where you’re wrong, Princess
Aurelia.”

He slid his free hand down the length of
Aurelia, pausing to pinch her breast. “You know, I like a woman
with some fight in her…”

If he wanted fight, he would get it from
Aurelia. She slammed her knee up into his groin.

Darian howled and loosed his grip. Aurelia
squirmed free and dove after the pickaxe he had been using in the
excavation. She pivoted as she swung the weapon high, only to find
Darian leaning in the doorway. His arms were folded across his
chest and a smile played over his lips.

“
Go ahead,” he
invited.

He thought she would not be able to kill
him!

Aurelia stepped forward, not fooled by
Darian’s bluff. “You should not be so confident that I will not
strike a blow,” she assured him. “It was I who made the first kill
for my father’s forces on the day you invaded.” She heard her voice
turn cold. “Would that it had been you who took that arrow.”

Darian’s smile broadened and he did not step
away from Aurelia’s advance. “Well, it wasn’t then and it won’t be
today.”

“
You are overly
confident!”

“
Just imagine what the
murder of a society archeologist at Dunhelm would do to Baird’s
reputation?” Darian mused. “Especially when it’s already well known
that the owner of Beauforte Estates is fighting this historic
investigation tooth and nail.”

Aurelia paused. “But Baird has supported
your work all along. Indeed, he seems more concerned about details
than you!”

“
Ah, not according to the
reports I’ve been making to the society.” Darian’s smile flashed.
“Apparently, he’s been most obstructive, coming within a hair of
tossing me off the property.”

“
But that’s a
lie!”

“
And just between you and
me, the chairman of the society is this close” - Darian measured an
increment between finger and thumb - “to demanding the government
seize Dunhelm as an historic site. You know, this place is so
historic, a real cultural gem, that it would be irresponsible to
let it pass into private hands, especially private hands that have
no respect for the past.”

“
You cannot do that to
Baird! He has invested heavily in restoring Dunhelm! Dunhelm means
everything to him!”

“
Exactly!” Darian confirmed
with relish. He flicked a glance to the pickaxe that Aurelia had
half-lowered to the ground. “So, go ahead, kill me and bring this
all to a quick conclusion.” He snapped his fingers. “‘Hotelier’s
Lover Murders National Heritage Preservation Society Archeologist.
‘ The government would seize Dunhelm in a flash.”

“
It’s all lies!”

Darian smiled coldly. “Well, it’s not my
favorite solution, since I’d be deprived of having Dunhelm myself,
but it would certainly destroy Baird. Again.” His gaze hardened.
“Trust me, Princess Aurelia, I can make it so.”

Aurelia felt sickened by this confession.
Too late, Aurelia saw the hate that motivated Darian, a hate that
echoed too clearly of the Bard whose deeds she knew too well.

How could she have missed the obvious?

But she would not give Darian the tools to
steal Dunhelm away from Baird. Even if Baird had spurned her, she
knew how important this place was to him. And she would do what she
could to keep Darian from destroying all Baird had built.

The power of her love was far far greater
than her need for vengeance. Aurelia cast aside the pickaxe and
Darian chuckled.

“
You cannot make Dunhelm
your own if the government seizes it.” she declared, but her
bravado was weak.

“
Close enough.” Darian
shrugged. “I’ll be in charge of the site and eventually, if all
goes according to plan, the society itself will be mine, as
well.”

“
You cannot do this to
Baird,” Aurelia whispered. “It would break his heart to lose
Dunhelm.”

“
That’s the precisely the
point.” Darian moved suddenly and braced his hand above Aurelia’s
shoulder, leaning so close to her that she recoiled in distaste.
“Although there is still one pesky detail to be
resolved.”

Aurelia could barely form the word.
“What?”

Darian’s eyes gleamed. “I also vowed to lay
claim to Hekod’s lovely daughter.”

“
No!” Aurelia pushed past
him and ran for the stairs.

Darian’s mocking laughter followed her and
Aurelia remembered his assertion that she would come willingly to
him. “No! Never!” Aurelia scrambled up the stairs in her
desperation to escape.

She had to help Baird!

There was one thing Aurelia could do, one
thing she had to do, one thing she had never dared to do before. It
was a once in a lifetime solution and she would never be the same
afterwards.

But the stakes were high enough to merit the
deed. Aurelia had to summon Baird and this time, she had to make
him fully understand the threat against him and Dunhelm.

The moon, mercifully, would be full on this
night.

Perhaps that was a portent of success.

Aurelia lunged into the hotel and Elizabeth
turned in surprise. “Where can I find someone to cut my hair?” she
demanded breathlessly.

*

It was six o’clock on a Thursday night in
May and Baird was staring out the window of his office at the city
far below. New York was the same as it always had been, but Baird
knew he was different.

The business ran as well as ever, better in
fact since Baird had acknowledged the power of his own intuition.
He made decisions more quickly now, trusted his gut instead of
wasting time chasing supportive statistics. If anything, Beauforte
Resorts was a stronger company than it had ever been.

But success had become hollow.

Maybe it always had been, but Baird had
needed Aurelia to open his eyes to the facts. He jingled the change
in his pockets, not quite ready to admit he needed her more than
that.

Baird’s apartment in the Manhattan Beauforte
was the same, but its plain functionality no longer pleased him. He
found himself rattling restlessly around in it at night.

The apartment was empty, just like his
life.

Baird had always been alone, that wasn’t
new. What had changed was that he didn’t want to be alone any more.
The yawning emptiness that he’d actively chosen now bothered him as
it never had before.

He often caught himself staring into space
when he should have been working, lost in a vision of blue, blue
eyes with a faint rim of silver-gray.

Just like he was now.

The dreams had stopped as soon as Baird left
Dunhelm, although that moment in Inverness had proven to be the
beginning of something far worse. What had been his dreams now came
at any hour of the day, bursting into his mind with a vividness
that competed with his own photographic memories.

The slightest thing brought them on - a
snippet of William Morris wallpaper reminded him of a Victorian
parlor he had abandoned to seek Aurelia, a waft of incense brought
memories of a Byzantine church where he had turned back to the
Orkney Islands. Each and every one of them was a testament to a
time he had proven himself worthy, then gone to seek Aurelia’s
hand.