Free Timeless Vision by Regan Black

serve as the translator Wayne obviously needed.
    “Were you able to learn anything about the thief?”
    “He wore the magic like a cloak, but he was not the one with the power.”
    She wasn’t sure how that detail made her feel. “Can you tell me what you did to, umm , reveal the theft?”
    “Explanations would do you no good.” He rolled to his feet in one fluid motion.
    “I’m not an idiot,” she said, hurrying to stand as well. The room swayed just a little. She recovered quickly as Sterling braced against her leg.
    He grinned down at her. “Of course you are not the idiot. You’re a tavern keeper and quite good at it.”
    She caught herself before she explained yet another progression of the vernacular. “What now?”
    “Now you shall keep to your business and I will take care of mine.” He picked up his leather jacket and broadsword.
    He was suddenly damned eager to cut her out of the search. It made her that much more determined to stick close. “You need a translator.” And she needed a chance to become the hero rather than the goat in her family. With every passing hour since she discovered the dagger had been stolen, she felt increasingly hollow, as if she was dissolving from the inside out. She wasn’t about to confess that squishy sense of failure to this brave and strong knight or he’d find a way to leave her behind for good.
    “I understand the language.”
    “You only think you do. We’ll catch the thief faster if we stick together.” She could see he wasn’t buying it. “I can help, Wayne.”
    “The hound is the only partner I need.”
    “Really?” She wanted to drill her finger into that hard chest of his. “You think you’ll be just fine out there without any money, using your magic to blend in whenever you need to?” She snorted. “No way. I have brothers and I know that’s male pride talking, not a valid strategy.”
    “It is not pride.”
    Tara planted her hands on her hips just to keep them off him. “Whatever’s pushing you is messing with your logic.”
    “Goodness.” He rolled his shoulders back, his presence crowding the small space. “I am not here for pride or my glory. I act with honor in all things for the cause of goodness and peace.”
    Okay . As a motto, delivered with such earnest conviction, he made it sound like a good one.
    “This thief is an instrument of darkness. Of evil,” he continued, staring at her as though he could will her to understand. “Without powerful magic he would not have countered the wards or found the dagger so quickly.” He stepped closer to her, towered over her. “Dominant, dark magic gave him that tool to observe your reactions.”
    She shivered. “You can find him.”
    “It may take some time, but yes, I will find him.”
    Though they hadn’t been acquainted long, she knew he meant to find the person wielding that dark magic, the person who’d learned about the dagger and hired the thief. “Nick and I can help you. We know this city, this time, in ways you don’t. Think of the house and your belongings. Nick obviously has things in place to support your search.”
    “And I’m grateful,” Wayne said. He scooped his hair back from his face, his jaw set. “The advances here may be of little help. I am likely searching for a force not of this time.”
    That was a sobering thought. She would be as uncomfortable in King Arthur’s era as Wayne was here and would like to think she’d accept help graciously. Studying his stoic features, she could tell there was more he wasn’t saying. Having lived and worked with men her whole life, she suspected it had something to do with a woman. “Do you know who is behind this?”
    “The magic has familiar markers,” he replied. “That is all I can say for certain.”

Chapter Five
     
    “He is on his way, my lady.” the guard reported.
    “Thank you, Darius.” The woman perfected her posture in the chair, her shoulders back and her spine rigid. Her power subdued for this