Page 96 of No Place in Time

Cecily didn’t want to leave. She held Lady Veyron’s icy hand, looking down at this woman who was somehow her, who was dying in her place.

“Cecily,” Finn said gently, touching her shoulder. “We have to move.”

Cecily leaned down and kissed Lady Veyron’s forehead. The skin was cool.

Lady Veyron’s eyes opened one more time, a shadow of a smile on her lips.

“Live,” she said once more, then her eyes closed.

Finn pulled Cecily away. She stumbled, still looking back at the bed, at the woman who would die so she could live.

They slipped out of the chamber just as voices echoed closer in the corridor. Isabel led them in the opposite direction, moving quickly along passages Cecily barely saw through her tears.

Cecily couldn’t stop crying. The sobs kept coming, tearing from her throat. She pressed her hand to her mouth, trying to muffle the sound, but she couldn’t stop seeing Lady Veyron’s face—dying, accepting, telling her to live.

Finn put his arm around her shoulders. “I know what you must be feeling,” he murmured. “But we’re going to fix it. We have to keep moving.”

“This way,” Isabel whispered urgently, glancing back. “The chapel.”

They hurried through another corridor, then down a narrow staircase. The chapel was ahead. Its heavy wooden door stood open. Inside, the space was cold and quiet. Their footsteps echoed on the stone floor. Afternoon light filtered through the narrow windows, casting long shadows across the pews.

“The crypt,” Isabel said, pointing to a door half hidden behind a faded tapestry near the altar. “The entrance is there.”

Finn pushed the tapestry aside and pulled the door open. Stone steps led down into the darkness. The air that rose from below had a stale, earthy smell.

They descended carefully, Isabel leading the way with only a candle to light their path. At the bottom, the crypt stretched before them, low-ceilinged and shadowed.

Old stone coffins lined the walls. At the far end stood another altar, smaller than the one above.

“Behind there,” Isabel said, holding her candle up. “That’s where I heard them say they’d hidden the device.”

Finn moved forward quickly, with Cecily right behind him. They rounded the altar stone and looked into the alcove behind it.

Empty.

They were too late. There was nothing but disturbed dust on the floor and drag marks where something heavy had been moved.

“No,” Cecily breathed. “No, no, no.”

“They’ve already got it,” Finn said. His voice sounded tight.

“What do we do?” Isabel asked.

Finn was already moving back toward the stairs. “Come. We have to find them.”

They climbed back up to the chapel. Through one of the narrow windows, Cecily could see the courtyard. She drew in a quick breath. Julian and Benedict stood beside a wooden cart. Two guards were heaving the machine onto it, struggling with its weight. The device gleamed dully in the afternoon light.

“They’re loading it now,” Finn whispered, coming to stand beside her. “We’ve got to get it from them.”

Isabel was quiet for a moment, then she straightened. “I’m heading for the stables. I’ll create a distraction. It will give you a chance to get to it.”

“Isabel—” Cecily started.

“It’s the only way.” Isabel looked back at them, her face set with determination. “Wait until you hear shouting. Then grab it and go.”

She slipped out of the chapel before either of them could argue.

Finn and Cecily pressed close to the window, watching. The guards had lifted the machine onto the cart. Julian was securing it with ropes. Benedict stood nearby, giving orders.