CHAPTER 21

The clock on the mantelpiecewas getting on her nerves with its relentless tick-tock-ing. Kalli looked up at the hour as she rolled her shoulders. It had not been that long since Dariux left to do his daily surveillance, but she felt a pricking unease. She usually used the time to organize their data and analyze patterns and theories, but today she had trouble concentrating.

A key rattling in the door flooded her with incomprehensible relief. He was back, thank goodness. The relief was short-lived, however. A moment later, he stepped through the door, pale, disheveled, and clutching his arm. She knew at once something was wrong.

“What happened to you?” she said, jumping to her feet.

“Don’t fuss. It’s just a scratch.” He locked the door before coming towards her.

“But how did it happen?” she asked, going to him to help him remove his coat, uncovering the bloodied sleeve of his shirt with his makeshift bandage.

“I was attacked by muggers on my way back.”

Her fingers worked fast at undoing the buttons of his waistcoat and shirt.

“My instinct was telling me something was wrong. Where did it happen?”

“Just behind the hotel in Cavendish Square. Two thugs jumped out of the shadows cast by the trees.”

“Damn it, Dariux, and you fought them? Why didn’t you just give them what they wanted?”

“That’s what I did at first. They wanted more and planned to search me. I couldn’t risk them finding the listening device, so I had to fight them.”

She frowned, conceding he had a point. Still, she disliked him being attacked or injured in fights. Removing his shirt with great care, she peeled the sleeve off the wound. The bleeding had slowed, but a trickle of blood still escaped sluggishly from the gash.

“This needs to be disinfected and closed. Let me get the first aid supplies.”

She ran towards the adjacent bedchamber and retrieved their medical box from the back of the wardrobe. When she came back, he had taken a seat by the fire and was sipping some brandy, his wounded arm flung over the armrest of the chair.

She dragged a chair over and took a seat next to him, cradling his injured arm on her lap.

“I’m going to inject the anesthetic now. This is going to sting, but only for a moment,” she warned, before she pricked his arm with the thin needle. She then sprayed his wound with antiseptic.

He responded with a muffled grunt, closing his eyes and leaning his head back on the chair.

When the wound was clean and the bleeding staunched, she patted the skin dry and applied the closing tape, blending it with the skin on his arm. She observed her handiwork. There, that should heal properly now.

Neither of them had spoken a word while she tended to his wound, but now she looked up to find him studying her under hooded eyes. His gaze darkened when it fixed on her breasts, and for the first time, she became aware of her own state of undress.

The room was warm, the fire keeping it heated despite the chill outside, so she only wore a fine linen chemise. Her unbound breasts bounced softly with her every movement, celebrating their freedom from the restrictive corset she had to wear daily. She relished the moments when she could be comfortable, unencumbered by the many layers of clothes the ladies of this time had to wear.

But now, under Dariux’s assessment, her deshabille took on a sensual tone. She stretched, lifting her hands over her head, and his eyes followed her movement. He was in a strange mood. Obviously aroused, but there was something darker lurking underneath it.

She was about to ask when he spoke, breaking the protracted silence. “They are back.”

It took a moment for her arousal-addled brain to catch his meaning. Longer still to process the significance of his statement.

“Oh. That’s good news. You must be relieved to find them.” She smiled for his benefit. Never mind that her heart was feeling the pinpricks of a crack starting. He wouldn’t suffer any such effects, of course. But he didn’t seem relieved. Or happy. He looked serious. And determined.

“We need to visit them tomorrow morning. Before we lose them again.”

“Yes, of course. What do you plan to tell them?” she asked, busying herself with the medical supplies to avoid looking at his face.

“The truth seems the most straightforward path. It’s way too late to hide what happened from either of them. There is no purpose to do so.”

“All right, then. And what if she wants to stay?” She looked at him now, daring him again.

“We have been through this, Kalli. That is an absolute no. I’ll be in enough trouble as it is.” His voice was hard, allowing no disagreement.

“Is that what you are worried about? Getting in trouble? If that’s the issue, it can remain a secret. I won’t tell a soul. I’ll even change her details in the dossier.”

“Are you suggesting we lie and conceal pertinent information?” he asked, his half-scandalized, half-amused tone making her smile.

“Not a lie. We would simply omit unnecessary details.”

But he shook his head, implacable. “These are not trivial details. Who knows the consequences of such a move for humanity’s future? Hell, I worry we might have disturbed our present enough as it is. I’m trying to minimize the damage.”

“I understand. Really, I do. But I feel so bad for them! And so guilty.”

“I know how you feel, Kalli. But our guilt is no reason to act irresponsibly. We will visit them tomorrow, tell them what happened, and inform them we are leaving the day after that.”

“So soon?” Her heart had somersaulted and dropped to the bottom of her feet.

“There’s no reason to delay, and every reason to wrap up this mission and depart as soon as possible. We have collected the information we came to find. The more we stay, the more waves through time we will create. And you see what happened today. It is no big deal, but it made me think. What if something serious occurred to one of us? What if they disappear again?”

She looked down. “You are right, of course. I’m just dreading the visit tomorrow. The pain we will cause... Can we give them at least a week? Would it make that much more difference?”

He looked straight at her, and she wanted to hide from his too perceptive gaze. It made her feel exposed, vulnerable. Of course, she felt bad for Avondale and Olivia, but she was also doing it for her own benefit. To scratch a few more days in his company. The notion was so pathetic. Any moment now, he would start chiding her for her foolish, romantic notions. But when he spoke, there was no condemnation in his tone.

“All right, then. We will stay for one more week. Provided she agrees to depart with us at the agreed time and place.”

The understanding and pity in his eyes were almost harder to bear.