A name threatened to burst from Kincaid’s lips, but he kept it to himself. Grainna was long dead. “Can you trace Giles, Colleen? Narrow the timeframe?”

“I might. Then what? Do we send a team to retrieve him? We can’t afford to lose warriors.”

Kincaid shook his head. “No. You send me and me alone.”

Rory huffed out a breath. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m not. I can keep anyone and everyone in this room from touching me, and I alone can bring Giles back without the aid of a portal. Can you do that, Rory?”

He and Rory had fought side by side for years. He understood the other man’s concern, but no one in the room could boast Kincaid’s unique ability to retrieve Giles. Bringing others would certainly open them up for loss, a loss Colleen pointed out they could ill afford.

“I hate to agree, but Kincaid is right. If Giles was removed to trap us, the play will be on them when we send our immortal,” Colin said.

“He’s not immortal,” Rory reminded them. “Just cocky.”

Kincaid felt a rare smile on his lips. “You’re just jealous.”

“Bloody ass.” Rory’s expression hardened but he didn’t argue more.

“It’s agreed then,” Colin said. “Colleen will trace the flow of energy. Kincaid, you should rest until we have a lock on Giles. We’ll go from lockdown to high alert and schedule more scouts on watch. Any objections?”

Kincaid systematically met the eyes of all the warriors; each one gave a nod, and lastly Rory grunted his approval.

Up in his room, Kincaid set out a fresh uniform and checked his weapons for charge. With everything set for a twenty second recovery, he stripped and forced himself to lie in bed. He stared at the ceiling and felt his natural defenses shield him. He pushed the unease of his pending solo journey from his mind and attempted to sleep.

When he closed his eyes, he saw her…the woman in the portrait. He tried to shake her image and found a dull pain settling behind his brow.

****

The women had all gone to bed, and Giles sat at the desk trying to make sense of what he read. Each passage indicated different people, different unions. None of them talked of powers or illness. The more he read the more frustrated he became.

Simon returned with another pot of coffee, which Giles couldn’t help but accept. Though he knew at some point, the caffeine would probably leave him in a heap on the couch, who knew when he’d ever have the opportunity to drink the real stuff again in such quantities.

“Find anything?” Simon asked.

Giles pushed his fingers beneath his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes. “Nothing that makes any sense. It reads like a bible. This couple begot these children. These children begot these. I understood about the strong family bonds long before now. I see no reason this information is important or how it might help serve Amber.”

“Is it a complete family tree?”

“Not hardly. There are generations with very little information. Missing links and names that changed with marriage. I even added an entry or two after I had learned of a branch that wasn’t represented in the pages.”

“From other books?”

“No, no…from the warriors. When they return, they sometimes have intel that helps fill in some of the pages.”

“You’ve spoke of these warriors. Who are they?” As the hour grew late, Giles could hear the thick Scottish accent fill Simon’s tongue. With Amber, it was simply there. With Simon, it was as if he was readapting to his new time and slipping in and out of the brogue.

“I’m not sure how much I should tell you. I’d hate to change the course of the future by saying something vital.”

“A little late for that, don’t you think? Besides, the Ancients wouldn’t have assisted you into this time if they didn’t want you here.”

“You really think the Ancients had a hand in this?”

“Who else?”

Giles couldn’t imagine. “The Ancient power is so seldom talked about in my time. I’ve doubted it existed.”

“Who do you think guide us then? The moon?”

“It’s hard to believe in something you’ve never seen with your own eyes. So few people have any faith in a higher power in my time. Oh, they may say they do, but do they truly believe it? No.”

Simon sat forward, leaned on his elbows, and lowered his voice. “The Ancients are real, second only to God. I have seen their power, witnessed them…as has Amber.”

Giles swallowed and felt Simon’s words soak into him. He shivered in the warm room.

“They brought you here, and I for one will learn everything I can from you. I have sworn to protect Amber and, so far, have only been able to stand by and watch her deteriorate toward a slow painful death. You may not see exactly what the Ancients want you to see because you’re not looking hard enough…or because you don’t believe they hold the answers. Lora would never have sent Amber to this time if the answer to her survival was anywhere else. I have to believe we will find a way to save her. She did not survive Grainna only to die now.”

Simon’s hard stare made the coffee sit like a stone in his gut.

“Now, let me ask you again. Who are these warriors and what is it they do?”

Chapter Six

Kincaid stood among his peers who all held expressions of doubt and concern. Unless they were traveling to retrieve another branded warrior, none of them had journeyed in time alone. Ever. Safety in numbers and all that…

He couldn’t say for sure if any of those in the room held any blood relation, yet Kincaid considered each of them a brother…a sister. They were his family and had been since his father abandoned him. Leaving them was the only thing about the trip that bothered him.

What was he worried about? He’d find Giles, grab him, and bring him back.

“You have the path?” Kincaid asked Colleen. The blank expression on her face would have troubled him if he wasn’t used to her stoic exterior.

“I have a path.”

He peered closer.

She blinked twice.

What are you not telling me?

“I don’t like this!” Rory said.

“We heard you the first time.” Owen shoved the other man’s shoulder as he spoke.

“Give me one good reason two of us can’t go.”

Colleen responded to Rory while never losing eye contact with Kincaid. “The loss of two warriors is twice as hard as the loss of one.”