Rendezvous With Yesterday (The Gifted Ones #2)(113)

“Nay. He was unconscious when we left.”

She squeezed her eyes shut.

It was her second greatest fear. Josh didn’t know she was all right. He probably thought she was either buried in a shallow grave where he would never find her or the captive of some freak sexual predator who had been helping Kingsley and Vergoma.

“Seth,” Alyssa inserted into the leaden silence, “there is much I do not understand in all of this, but mayhap one thing most of all. When you brought Bethany to our time, why did you leave her alone, confused and unprotected in the forest with no knowledge of how or why she had come to be there? ’Tis not our nature to be unkind.”

“She was never vulnerable,” Seth responded. “I placed her directly in Robert’s path, knowing mere minutes would pass before he found her.”

“But why did you tell none of us this?” Robert demanded.

Beth shared his frustration. So much fear and confusion had gripped her until she had come to terms with the fact that she had traveled back in time.

“I fear ignorance in this instance was necessary,” Seth told them. “I risked much to bring her to you. There are others who believe that such interference as this will spark dire repercussions and should be harshly punished.”

Beth frowned. “Others like you, you mean?”

“Forgive me, but I can say no more.”

Which only made Beth want to know more, but she could tell pushing it would be futile.

“Beth cannot go back?” Robert asked, resting his cheek on her hair.

“Nay,” Seth said. “Altering her fate in her time would have too many repercussions.”

Beth couldn’t quite make it all work in her head. “Living in my own time would have repercussions,” she said, still trying to silence her sobs, “but living in this one won’t?”

He gave her an apologetic Hey-I-don’t-make-the-rules kind of look. “I am not the architect of your fate, Bethany. I am merely a participant.”

Did that mean she had been destined to go back in time all along? she wondered.

Then something in his words struck her. “Wait. You said I can’t go back and live in my time. Can I go back for a visit? Can I go back long enough to see Josh and let him know I’m okay and… tell him good-bye?”

“’Twould be unwise.”

“Why?” she demanded.

“As I said, I risked much to bring you here. Those who fear the consequences of such actions—”



“But I won’t be staying. I just want to see for myself that Josh is okay, to let him see that I’m okay, and to say good-bye. That’s it. I won’t tell everyone who will listen that I’ve traveled through time.” She paused and bit her lip. “I mean, I’ll probably tell Marc and Grant. They’re our best friends and like family and I don’t want them to go on believing I’m dead or being tortured or something. And I don’t want Josh to have to lie to them once he knows the truth. But if you know all of that other stuff about my life there, then you know they can be trusted, right?”

He tilted his head to one side, studying her carefully.

“Right?” she repeated when the silence stretched.

“A moment, if you will,” he murmured.

Alyssa shifted, her gaze darting back and forth between her and Seth. “Are you reading Beth’s mind?”

“Aye,” Seth answered.

Beth cringed inwardly. That was creepy. How much could he see? Her thoughts? Her past? Everything?

At last, he nodded. “As you wish.”

Beth straightened. “What?”

“I will return you to your time for a brief visit.”

Elation flooded her.

He held up a finger, staying her before she could speak. “But you must return all of your modern possessions to that time and leave them there.”

Damn. That burst her bubble a little. “Even my guns?”

“Even your guns.”

Reluctantly, she nodded her agreement. “It’s worth it.” She would get to see Josh.

So much relief and happiness flooded her that she was tempted to jump up and down like a child viewing presents on Christmas morning. “Can Robert come with me?”

Seth smiled. “Aye, Robert may accompany you.”

Woohoo! Now she did jump up and down, jostling Robert and making him laugh since she had not relinquished her hold on him. “I know it’s futile to ask , but I have to do it anyway. Can we bring Josh back to this time with us when we return?”

“Nay,” Seth informed her gently. “I am sorry, but ’tis not his fate.”

That dimmed her spirits. “I’m really beginning to dislike the word fate,” she grumbled.

Seth chuckled. “You are not the first, nor will you be the last, to tell me so.”





The next morning, Robert, Bethany, Seth, Dillon, Alyssa and Marcus all rode to a secluded glade in the forest outside of Fosterly’s walls. While Seth voiced no objection to Marcus joining them, he had refused to allow Michael, Stephen or Adam to do the same.

As usual, he gave them no explanation.

Maybe he just didn’t want anyone else to see how he was going to take them through time, Beth speculated as Robert helped her dismount.

Marcus remained uncharacteristically somber.