She stepped out from behind Daniel. “I know you and Boann can’t meddle. You made that clear when we met in Garretsville. I don’t want any more magically infused diamonds, either. They’re a one use proposition. So, why are you here?”
“Oh, just checking in so I can assure your family you are well. I am not forbidden to step through time now and again.”
She shook her head. “You wouldn’t have had to be here physically to know I’m well. Your presence can only mean one thing.” Meredith lifted her chin. “You know a way to get around the fae council’s notice.” Her heart in her throat, she stared him down. “Am I right?”
“Not entirely. However, I like the way you think, and I so enjoy finding ways to circumvent the council.” Alpin’s smile grew as he studied her. “Perhaps if we put our heads together, we can come up with a way you might have the best of both worlds without drawing undue notice.”
“Wait,” Daniel said. “What have you done with our household staff? They would know we have a guest.”
“Your cook and maid are napping comfortably in the servants’ lounge below. They’ll be none the worse for their unintended break.”
“Your appearance gave me quite a start. If you don’t mind, I’d like to sit for our conversation. A dram of something bracing wouldn’t go amiss, either,” Daniel muttered. “Shall we adjourn to the study?”
“An excellent idea.” Alpin retreated into the room he’d come from.
Meredith entered, followed by Daniel. Her husband stirred the fire to life with a poker and added a few logs before crossing the room to the sideboard where the decanters were kept. He poured whiskey shots into tumblers.
“None for me, Dan,” she said before he could pour the third glass.
“Shall I fetch you some tea, love?”
“No. I’m fine.” She drew in a long breath and gathered her thoughts. “Alpin, when you gave me the diamonds and we talked about time travel, you said sometimes portals are left open indefinitely. Am I correct?”
“Aye.”
“How are Brían’s clan members getting from their hidden valleys to the farm? Are they using a portal, or are they walking out through the weakening barrier?”
“They cannot walk through the barrier. We have created a portal for them.”
“Is it … I mean, are those types of portals like subway tunnels that only go from point A to point B?” she asked.
“I have no idea what subways are, but passages through time and space can’t be only from one point to another, Meredith,” Daniel said as he sat in the chair behind the desk. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have had to concentrate specifically on the date and place you landed when you came to Garretsville. We wouldn’t have had to worry about your ending up in another place or time. Aye?” Daniel said, flashing a questioning glance toward Alpin.
“You are correct. No matter how or where the passage is initiated, we cannot alter their nature.” Alpin nodded.
“So, they’re like a doorway to anywhere in space and time?” Meredith frowned. “What prevents the clan members from going astray when they enter?”
The fae man sat slouched in the chair, with one leg crossed over the other. He propped his elbows on the arms of the chair and steepled his fingers. Alpin appeared to be amused by their conversation.
“It’s always fascinating to watch humans puzzle these things through. The clan members do not go astray because Boann or I accompany them. We’re the ones who set the course, and we’d prefer that they not know they could go anywhere in time they wish. Let’s keep that our little secret.”
“Sure.” Excitement surged as the possibilities spun through her mind. “Is the portal the clan uses open all the time?”
Alpin shrugged. “As it happens, it is.”
“That door through time exists in the twenty-first century, love,” Daniel said. “We’re in the nineteenth.”
“Time isn’t linear. It doesn’t start at one point and stop at another. We’ve already established that.” Meredith glanced at Alpin. He seemed to be enjoying this immensely, and she wondered if letting them work it out somehow meant he wasn’t actually meddling. “Am I correct? Does the portal exist in this era as well as in the future?”
“It does.” He tapped his two pointer fingers together and canted his head as if in thought. “The tricky part is not drawing attention to the fact that anyone other than the Baiscne clan, myself, or Boann are using that particular passageway. It’s meant for the occasional transfer