CHAPTER 17

“They are gone,” Dariuxannounced as he stalked into their room three days later.

Kalli looked up from the instruments and breakfast leftovers on the dining room table. “Who? Where?”

“Who do you think? The duke and the woman from the twenty-first. Our study subjects for the last few weeks.” He hated to snap at her, but after discovering they had lost track of their subjects, he had only the barest leash on his temper.

Kalli sighed. “You really should stop calling her ‘the woman from the twenty-first.’ We already learned her name. It’s Olivia. Anyway, how do you know they left? They just arrived in London two days ago.”

“I went on my usual reconnaissance mission this morning. To learn about their plans. I snuck into the duke’s gardens and turned the surveillance microphone on the house. The servants said the duke and duchess have gone to France.”

“The duke and duchess?”

“Oh, yes. Did I forget to mention that startling bit of news? Apparently, the duke and Olivia got married.”

Kalli gasped and stood up to approach him, wide-eyed. “They married? But when? Why?”

“I don’t know, Kalli. You are the one studying emotions. What do you think?” He rubbed his face and took a deep breath. The situation was worsening with each passing day. Nothing was going according to plan. He should have aborted the mission the moment they realized they had dragged a woman from another century into the past with them.

But Kalli’s eyes were shining with excitement after her initial shock. “That is fantastic! It must mean they are in love, just as I deduced. Dariux, this proves my theory!”

“No, it doesn’t. Love is not always the reason for marriage. Even if they were in love, it’s another complication. Nothing fantastic about it, Kalli. It just creates more problems for us to untangle.”

At last, appearing to catch on to his black mood, Kallie took on a more sedate tone. “I’m sure it will all turn out well in the end, Dariux. Don’t stress over it. They likely went on a honeymoon and will be back soon.”

“I don’t know how you fail to understand the gravity of these events. Two people who shouldn’t have met got married. We are talking about marriage, Kalli. A sacred institution. On top of that, they have disappeared, and we don’t know when they will return. We made a mistake by letting it go on for so long. This could be catastrophic.”

“What could we have done to prevent their actions?”

“We should have taken her back to the twenty-first at once. We should have aborted this mission. If it hadn’t been for your desire to study their feelings, I would have done just that.” He was being unfair. A low voice in his head, all but muted by his frustration, was telling him this was not Kalli’s fault. He was not concerned with fairness at the moment. He needed to lash out.

She gasped in outrage. “How dare you blame me for this? You’re responsible for bringing someone from another century with us! You are in charge of the time-travel technology.” She poked her finger into his chest, punctuating her accusations.

She was right, which only compounded his guilt and frustration. He stalked to the window and threw it open, taking a deep breath. Unfortunately, the London air wasn’t clean, so he turned away with a grimace.

“You are right. This is my fault. And I must fix it. We’ll bring her to her time as soon as they return, then go back to ours.”

Kalli frowned, horrified. “We can’t do that! It would be cruel. We should give her the choice of whether she wants to stay or go.”

“Absolutely not. She is going back.”

“But—”

“No.”

She had already had too much influence on his decisions regarding the woman they had dragged here. He was putting his foot down this time.

“This is not open to debate, Kalli. I’m in charge of this mission, and I will make this decision.”

“How can you be so insensitive?”

The disbelief and disappointment in her eyes stung, and he struck back. “It wouldn’t be an insensitive thing to do if we hadn’t let them become involved in the first place. You wanted to use them as case studies. They are your lab rats. Guess what, Kalli? The rats used for investigation rarely fare well.”

She was silenced. He had scored a direct hit and had won the argument. But he didn’t enjoy seeing her hurt look, even if there was some truth in his statement. He had to fix this.

“Listen—”

“No, you are right. I was so caught up in my studies that I failed to consider the effect on them.” She sank into a chair, looking defeated. “What have I done?”

He crouched in front of her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t lay the blame on you. There’s plenty of responsibility to distribute. And they are both adults. They are also responsible for their actions. It is not an ideal situation, but now we must put reason above emotion.”

The smile she gave him had no trace of warmth. “Of course. You must always do the rational thing. I understand.” She stood up and grabbed her coat. “I believe I’m going to take a walk now.”

“Kalli...”

But she had left, slamming the door in her wake.