His lips parted. He licked them and then looked away. “How did you guess?”
I shrugged. “Because it’s what I would want. A friend to be a companion instead of someone who was constantly trying to undermine me. Who hated the sight of me.”
He swallowed. “But I can’t have that.”
“Why not?” My heart pounded.
“Because you would be just as indignant over my bargains as she is. Probably more so. You’d grow to hate me.” He continued walking and muttered, “It’s my destiny, to be forever alone.”
I knew how that felt. Two timelines, no true partner. But at least I had a family to lean on.
Speaking of which. Robin stopped and pointed. Up ahead a cottage sat beside a babbling stream. Though it appeared much different than in my own time I recognized the spot instantly.
“This is where Grammy B’s house sits. Will sit, I mean.” I hadn’t realized how long my family had owned that piece of property.
Robin paused and stared at the place. “It’s been over two hundred years and it looks exactly as it does in my memories.”
The light from within flickered and a woman’s figure moved past the window. “Is that her?” I asked Robin.
When he nodded, I took a step forward and then another.
“Where are you going?” His tone was filled with panic.
“To talk to her of course.”
“But you said you wouldn’t.”
I turned to face him. The waxing moonlight caught in his sapphire irises. “You don’t want me to warn her? Then make that my favor.”
Robin blinked. “What?”
“My end of the bargain is that I won’t talk Clara out of bargaining with your echo self.”
“You won’t.” Robin shook his head as though unable to believe I would be so reckless. “You have too much to lose.”
I shrugged. “Robin, I’m a middle-aged woman. I am used to losing. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Do you really want to find out if I’m bluffing?”
He prowled closer. “I could take you away from here. Sell you to one of my kind.”
“Is that what you want to do?” I searched his face.
Slowly he shook his head.
I paused the same way I did before doing a rigorous move during a floor routine. “Then make the favor that I won’t talk Clara out of bargaining with you.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking,” he pleaded. “The next one—”
“Her name is Ursula,” I snapped. “Not the next domino you have set to fall. That’s right, she’s not in a bargain with you. So this is it. Either you let me wreck the timeline or you go back to where you came from, bargain less.”
“I thought we were friends.” His tone was quiet and filled with a note I couldn’t read.
A lump formed in my throat but I still managed to get the lie out. “We can never be friends, Robin. Friends look out for each other, not just themselves.”
Heartbeat. Heartbeat. Heartbeat. An eternity seemed to pass between the two of us, gazes locked, wills battling silently. Everything rode on his next move. On his choice.
Robin exhaled audibly. “Joey Whitmore, as a favor to me to finalize our bargain, I ask that you do not try to dissuade Clara from taking on her own bargain.” He held out his hand.
I took it and gripped it hard. “Accepted.”
Purple, blue, and gold swirls twined around our hands, sealing the magical pact. A world of emotion registered in his eyes. Fear, sadness, and what I thought was a glimmer of respect.
Robin vanished.
My hand fell to my side and I closed my eyes. That was harder than I’d imagined. Even with all he’d done, Robin had come to matter to me.
I moved down the hill. There was a split log bench beside Clara’s front door. I tucked my feet up and wrapped my cloak around myself to conserve body heat. Then, there was nothing to do but wait.
I had made a promise. And Joey Whitmore kept them. But one thing that Robin had taught me very well. It’s not what you vow, but what you don’t vow that counts.
Hours passed. Inside the family had gone to bed. I could hear a child’s occasional cough and the sound of a woman weeping. I wanted to knock, to go in and comfort her but I didn’t dare leave my post. The house blocked the worst of the wind but my body was half-frozen when he arrived. A stranger in fine clothing with piercing blue eyes. He emerged out of nothing and nowhere. There