“Gone.” It was Duncan who answered, leaving me to assume Duncan was the name Gabriel had taken when he’d come to live among us.
“Do you think she’s in the past?”
There was a slight hesitation. “I dinnae know.”
“If you know something, brother, tell me now. This all could be over. You could come back home. You’ll be restored. Will you give her to us or let the demons have her? They won’t give up. They’ll send more of the human minions they possess, who will be more than the pests they’ve been so far.”
A long pause ensued before Duncan said, “Maybe.”
The betrayal felt like a slap. I put my hand on my cheek and spun the other way. But I wasn’t careful and my dress sleeve caught on the hedge, rattling the branches.
“Who’s there?” Duncan commanded.
I ran for it but knew I’d get caught. But the answer to how to access my powers came to me as I remembered exactly what had been going on in my head when I’d traveled here to my present day. I just had to focus on a destination and want it with all my heart.
Duncan would catch me any second. I turned left and wished really hard. Tears blurred my vision, so I missed the glow and stumbled into another time, another place. Somewhere I hadn’t been and had only heard about. I wasn’t sure how I knew I was where I wanted to be, but I did.
Thunder rolled overhead. The sky was covered with thick, darkening clouds. I didn’t know all the rules yet on whether it had to truly be night or just feel like night in order for the veil between the worlds to thin. Absent a guidebook, I assumed it had to be truly night. I didn’t think that was the case now. The storm was darkening the sky, not the actual time.
Next, all I had to do was find the witch who had spelled Duncan, like that would be easy without a description or name. The only clue I had was that she had been in a tavern. I kept an eye out as I walked through town. Not long after, I noticed I was being noticed, likely because I wore a gown in jewel-tone green fit for a princess. Everyone else wore shades of brown-colored clothes free of color dyes.
I ducked down a smaller walkway and caught sight of laundry hanging on a line. A dark cloak hung there. I silently apologized to the unseen owner and vowed to bring the garment back when I was done. I slipped into the cloak and was grateful it was large enough to cover the dress. I lifted the hood over my head, knowing with the approaching storm I wouldn’t look suspicious. Then I got back on the main road lined with merchants packing up their wares, given the rain that was likely to soak us all.
As I walked, I thought about Duncan’s willingness to give me up. What I intended to do had to be the compromise. If I fixed his past, our paths might never cross. He might not end up at the fairy-tale-like castle near the cliffs when I went as he’d only left the McAllisters he’d saved to find his son. It hurt my heart to think about it, but his happiness had become very important to me somewhere along this crazy journey. If we were truly spelled, fixing this would end the ache in my heart I had for him.
Just down the way, a door to a larger building was open and music poured out. From my vantage point a building or so away, I could see people sitting at tables inside. This had to be the tavern.
From the story Duncan had told, the witch was a barmaid there unless there was another tavern. However, I didn’t think there was competition for such things in small towns like this.
Cautiously, I neared the building and peered in the first window I came to. I looked for a woman taking orders or serving food and found Duncan instead. He sat in the back just like the story he’d told. When his head shifted my way, I stepped out of his line of sight.
I’d gone further back in time from the day we were married. This Duncan wouldn’t know me. Yet the pull was stronger than ever. My heart raced in my chest as the sky rumbled with thunder. I fled, knowing my plan couldn’t work with him in there.
“Wait.” Duncan’s voice was imprinted in my brain, and I quickened my steps. I made a sharp turn as he called out again, likely feeling the same magnetic force between us that I did.
A woman caught my arm. “Come with me,” she offered.
We slipped in the door by which she stood. “Thank you,” I said when the door was closed.