“This is disturbing,” the Chief Elder said. “Very disturbing. We’ve never known what happened to Nigel Ellwood. It has come to our attention that Bree Connor is a descendant.” The Elder’s eyes fell on Bree. Faelan made a disagreeable sound and put his arm around his wife as if defying the Council to show any interest. Tavis had heard some of the warriors talking about the Council’s interest in Bree and Shay because of their unusual abilities.

“If all this is true, then where did the book we have come from?” Duncan asked.

“We believe Frederick, my ancestor, found it hidden in the chapel,” Bree said.

“Does this mean there are two books?” Brodie asked.

“I’ve never heard such a thing,” Sean said. “I can’t believe there were two books. We need to see the one Tavis had.”

All eyes turned to him. “I don’t remember where I put it. Everything is kind of muddled from then. I know I had it when I came out of the vault. I can’t remember seeing it after that. Angus could have stolen it.”

Anna immediately jumped to Angus’s defense. “Angus wouldn’t steal it. He had spent months searching for the book.”

“Maybe he hid it,” Faelan suggested.

“That’s possible,” Tavis said.

“But where?” Shay asked.

“I don’t know. We were in a house of some kind. It was white, I think. There was a woman there.” Tavis frowned, trying to remember.

Bree sat forward on her seat. “Mrs. Edwards’s bed-and-breakfast. Angus was there. He had a notebook with him.”

“That’s where Tristol captured me,” Tavis said.

“Remember that dream I had about you?” Bree said to Faelan. “The one where the dark-haired man snatched you? It must have been Tristol taking Tavis. He looks like you. I saw a dark-haired man in the hallway, and he gave me the creeps.”

“What did he look like?” Tavis asked.

“He was gorgeous, tall, long dark hair.”

“Sounds like him,” Tavis said. Faelan had been there in the room next to his. What a bloody damned coincidence.

“If we’d known,” Bree said, “we could have saved you so much pain.”

“I’ll go to the bed-and-breakfast and look for the book,” Anna said.

“I’ll go,” Tavis said.

“I don’t need help—”

“I’m coming.” Tavis frowned at her.

Fire flashed in her eyes, but she didn’t say anything more.

“I should let you know,” Tavis said to the Council, “Michael assigned Voltar to me.”

That got everyone’s attention. They all started talking.

Anna stood up. “You can’t be assigned to Voltar. I am.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

THAT CAUSED ANOTHER ripple of shock. “You?” Tavis said. “That’s impossible.”

“Why? Because I’m a woman?”

“No, because he’s mine.”

“But Michael came to me,” Anna said. “He told me Voltar had to be stopped.”

“When?”

“Several hours ago. When did he come to you?”

“Before I went into the time vault.”

“Before you went into the time vault?” The Chief Elder looked at the rest of the Council, who were talking among themselves in quiet whispers. “Do you mean to say you ignored Michael’s order?”

Tavis grimaced. “I had a vow to keep.”

“But this is the archangel,” the Chief Elder said. “What could be more important than an order from him?”

“My brother. I swore that I would come to help Faelan and protect the book. I keep my vows. And I don’t know if he meant for me to destroy him then or now.”

“Voltar has committed horrendous crimes against humanity.” The Chief Elder frowned at Tavis. “He’s responsible for millions of deaths.”

And he might have been stopped if Tavis hadn’t disobeyed his order.

“Don’t do it,” Faelan said quietly. “Don’t let your mind go there. We’ve too much to deal with right now.”

Tavis nodded dumbly.

“I think he’s been reassigned to me,” Anna said.

“No. You can’t fight him,” Tavis said.

“Excuse me?”

“I won’t let you get hurt.”

“Tavis Connor, you can’t tell me what I can and can’t do. That isn’t how things are done in this day and age. And besides, it isn’t your place.”

Tavis heard a chuckle and looked around to see several grins.

“Why don’t you just throw her over your shoulder,” Brodie said.

“Because I’ll stab him in the back,” Anna said, those beautiful eyes flashing fire.

The Chief Elder banged on the table. “The Council and I will discuss Voltar’s assignment with the Watchers.” After a few minutes, the Elder officially dismissed the unofficial meeting, and Tavis started to leave.

“When are we going to the bed-and-breakfast?” Anna asked, her expression not far off from hostile.

“How about now?”

She looked him up and down and nodded. “I’ll be in the car.”

The drive was awkward and quiet. After a few minutes, Tavis had had enough. “This is bloody nonsense.”

“What?”

“You going after Voltar.”

“He’s mine.”

“I think he’s mine. I don’t want you to fight him. I’m afraid you’ll get hurt. And I owe it to you to protect you.”

“No you don’t.”

“I do.”

“Is this a misguided attempt to ease your guilt?”

Tavis felt like she’d slapped him in the face. “What the hell’s wrong with you? I took advantage of you. I’m trying to make it right.”

“You can’t make it right,” she yelled. She closed her eyes, and then opened them again, which was a relief since she was driving. “There’s nothing to make right. I told you already. You saved me. You don’t owe me anything.”

“Then why are you still treating me like a bastard?”

“I’m not.”

“You are. You’re acting like an ass. Where’s the woman I met in the dungeon? The woman who bathed my wounds and kept me warm. Hell, you helped me piss in a cup.”

“I just…it’s not you. It’s me.”

“I don’t like this you,” Tavis said.

Anna sighed. “I don’t either. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“I think I do. You’re frightened.”

“What would I be frightened of?”

“The same thing I am. This thing between us.”

She looked up then. “What do you mean?”

“It’s overwhelming. I’ve never felt this way about anyone.”

Her eyes were wide. She swallowed. “That scares you?”

“It scares the hell out of me.”

“So what do we do about it?” she asked.

“Stop ignoring me, that would be a start.”

“I’ll work on it.” She glanced at him with the beginnings of a smile. “Let’s call a truce.” She stuck out her hand.

A truce sounded good. He took her hand, and they sealed the pact. “You’re not really intending to fight Voltar are you?”

That led to another heated discussion which lasted until she approached a white house with black shutters. “Forget about Voltar for now,” she said. “Let’s find the book. We have a truce. Remember?”

They parked, and by the time Tavis figured out how to get the damned door open, Anna was standing in front of the car waiting for him.

“Do any of these bloody car doors open the same?”

“I forgot you hadn’t been in this car before. You’ll get used to it. Before long you’ll be driving.”

“I doubt that.”

“Bree said Faelan thought the same thing. Now he’s hooked on driving. Bree’s working on getting you an ID. Legal papers that prove your identity,” she explained. She stopped before she knocked on the door. “What are we going to say? That we think something is hidden here? Do you even remember which room it is?”

“No. Could we say we’re thinking of getting a room soon and wanted to see each one? I’ll see if anything looks familiar.”

“I came here once,” Anna said. “I was retracing Angus’s steps, and Bree had seen him here. But she didn’t have any rooms.”

An elderly woman answered the door. She had white hair and a dress with lots of little flowers. He didn’t remember seeing her, but Angus had said he’d sneaked him in. “You don’t have to knock,” she said, and then her gaze fell on Tavis. “Faelan. You’re back. How lovely to see you and…” She frowned at Anna.

“I’m not Faelan,” Tavis said. “I’m his brother.”

“Well then, come inside. Do you need a room? I have one room left.”

“Just one,” Anna said.

She looked at the two of them. “Did you need two?”

“Yes, but I suppose one will do,” Anna said. “I mean we are getting married.”

She frowned, but her wallet won out over her morals. “I suppose that would be fine. I get a lot of nice comments about this room. It’s cozy. You’ll see.” Mrs. Edwards took them upstairs to the room. “Your brother stayed in the room at the end. What a lovely couple. Now what do you think about this room?”

It had a big bed. That was all Tavis cared about. He didn’t care about covers and furniture. He just pictured himself and Anna in the bed.

“Very nice.” Anna raised her eyebrows at Tavis.

He shook his head.

“We’ll take this one,” Anna said.

Tavis gave her a surprised look. Had she misunderstood? “We will?”

“It’s perfect.”

“Right. Perfect.”

“Good. Come with me, and we’ll get the paperwork all sorted out.” After they had finished, they went upstairs to the room.

“What are you doing?” Tavis asked. “This isn’t the right room.”

“We have to check the other rooms. We can’t wait until they’re vacant.”

“What are we going to do, sneak inside?”

“Of course. We’ll wait for the guests to step out, and if they don’t…”

Women warriors. How had the clan to come to this? “We can narrow it down a bit. It isn’t this room or the one where Faelan stayed. And it wasn’t on the other end,” Tavis said. “It must be the one across from us or beside us.”