The Wellspring (Kaitlyn and the Highlander #12) - Diana Knightley Page 0,81
lives. We want to change Padraig Stuart’s life. If you go back to the past, Magnus, if you take all the vessels, what if you cease to exist? What if, god forbid, Archie or Isla cease to exist? I disagree, vehemently.”
“All right, Kaitlyn, all right, I understand yer reservations, but we hae tae talk tae Lady Mairead. She has a hand in it, I need tae ken how tae stop this. She might be the only one with knowledge.”
He sounded weak and tired, his eyes closed.
“Okay, where is she?”
He sat quietly for a moment. I thought he might have fallen asleep. Then he said, “I believe she will go tae the museum.”
“When?”
“There were a few days between when I left and when ye and I were captured, the attack on the kingdom had begun, I think, as soon as I left, but I daena think the castle will hae fallen yet.”
“So Lady Mairead might be there, yeah, that makes sense. Hammond, too. As soon as Quentin gets back we’ll send him to the future.”
“Aye, and he can warn Hammond.” He sounded sleepy.
“Are you tired?”
“I am more hungry, can ye push the button and call forth a feast?”
Forty-six - Kaitlyn
That night we were watchful. I was to call for help if anything was remiss, and we would rush him to the hospital. James was sleeping with his phone in the guest room. Zach was wearing pants to bed, just in case.
But Magnus, though still in bed, was slowly feeling better. He ate almost half of his feast before he fell asleep, and claimed he was going to be dreaming of what he would eat the next day.
Going to the bathroom winded him.
I didn’t sleep.
My anxiety was sky high.
He woke up in the morning and slid a hand up my thigh. Without even opening my eyes, I said, “Uh uh.”
He chuckled, “I daena think ye hae ever said, ‘uh uh,’ tae me before.”
“I am sure I have, it’s rare, but having had a heart issue in the past twenty-four hours makes it a no-no. You know this.”
“Och, m’body is in mutiny.”
“Well, you’ve put it through a lot. Your face is telling the story of it. Your heart is begging for some downtime. I think your body maybe just wants you to rest, to maybe not time-jump, to chill out, for a bit.”
“And tae nae hae a wander in yer gardens? Tis a cruelty. I might nae survive it.”
I opened an eye. “Don’t say it, you’ll scare me.”
“My apologies, mo reul-iuil.”
“How about this, every day that you have to forgo sex, I’ll give you a little ticket. When we know you’re feeling strong and healthy and ready for sex, you can turn the tickets in for a big — not just a wander in my garden, but a soirée, perhaps a concert and a dance on the lawn, maybe if I’m lucky a picnic in the grass—”
“I like what ye did there.”
“I thought you would like it.”
I opened our drawer by the bed and pulled out my notebook and my fancy pen. I tore off a piece of paper and wrote: one sex ticket for Master Magnus. I presented it to him.
He joked, “Och, I am the luckiest man in the world, I hae a ticket.”
“True, my love, and wait until you see how I take the ticket—wait, no, that wasn’t as sexy as I thought it would be. I’ll just take the ticket normal and be sexy after.” I grinned. “But now, because you don’t get morning wake up sex, I’ll go see about your breakfast.”
“In bed?”
“Yep, you get all the things in bed—”
“Except the one thing I want. Tis a cruel world.”
“I’ll make sure you have strawberries and whipped cream on your breakfast, it’s hard to feel the world is cruel with all that.”
Quentin, Hayley, and Fraoch returned mid-afternoon from hiding the helicopter. They landed on the beach in front of the house and laughing briefly with Zach in the kitchen, entered our room, followed by Zach, Emma, and Beaty. They settled around on the carpet by our bed.
I asked, “Where did you hide the helicopter?”
Quentin said, “I thought the mountains of Afghanistan, but who knows what is happening there? So Hayley had a great idea, we jumped it to Area 51, the year 1950. It took two jumps to get the right place, but we dropped it at the Air Force Base.”
Hayley said, “They’ll be surprised, but it’s just one of many unexplainable things they’re hiding now.”