The Sunstone Brooch : Time Travel Romance Katherine Logan (no david read aloud TXT) 📖

Austin said. “Only a time traveler would know about the MacKlennas’ and Frasers’ involvement with the brooches. If it was Erik, he was planning for the future.”

“David, I think you should put your brooch in the slot and see what happens,” Kenzie said. “If the drawings are gone in the future, we’ll never know if it was significant.”

I don’t give a shit. I just want to get the hell out of here.

Kenzie walked toward him. “David, let’s try it. Then we can pack up and go.”

If that will get me out of here faster, I might as well do it.

David returned to the wall and removed the diamond brooch from his pocket. He was responsible for protecting the brooches and the clan. Was he putting the stones or their lives in danger? Should they vote, or was the decision his to make?

He turned to Ensley, hoping she could guide him one way or the other. “Ye’re Erik’s daughter. What do ye think?”

“Erik brought JC here to the farm, then hurried back to the Badlands to rescue me. We don’t know how he did that, but this wall might explain it. I want to know. Don’t you?”

“So do I,” Austin said. “I agree with Kenzie. These drawings may not be here in the future. I mean, I’ve never seen them before.”

“Okay then. Everybody move back, and if we get even a whiff of peat, run like hell!” David’s gut was in his throat. He took Kenzie’s hand. “Stay behind me.”

“No, McBain. I’ll stand beside you. If you get sucked into the void, I’m coming, too.”

He wiped the sweat off his brow. Kenzie’s declaration should have worried him, but he found it comforting. “Then let’s do this together.” He put the diamond brooch in her hand and placed his over hers. Then he guided their hands to the petroglyph, and together they pushed it into the carving. For several seconds, nothing happened.

And then the wall began to open to the cranking sound of a grinding chain. David shoved Kenzie behind him. “Back up, everybody. We don’t want to get sucked in.”

Austin wrapped his arms around Ensley. “Please don’t rush in there.”

She looked up at him. “Don’t worry. I want us to make it home in one piece. We have a lot to do.”

Austin kissed her, and the couple melded into each other. David had seen Austin with dozens of women, but he’d never seen the former basketball star so enamored, and Ensley was equally enamored with him. No, they weren’t enamored. They were definitely in love.

When the gears ground to a halt, the door stood open about ten feet. “Everybody grab a lamp.” They all grabbed one and turned them to shine into the darkness, illuminating a room twice the size of the anteroom.

“Goddamn,” David said.

“I second that,” Kenzie said. “Is this what the Confederate treasure looked like when you saw it for the first time?”

David was momentarily speechless, and all he could do was shake his head. Finally, he found his voice. “It was nothing like this. That was a small cave with chests of gold and valuable artifacts. What ye’re looking at here is a hundred times the size of that treasure.”

Then to Ensley, he said, “Do ye still have room on the camera’s memory card?”

“I think so,” she said. “I’ll shoot as much as I can.”

“I’ll get videos,” Austin offered.

David led the group into the cool room, shivering at the stark temperature difference. The room looked like the inside of a junkyard, with random shit piled floor to ceiling. But it wasn’t piles of junk. It was a treasure of inestimable value.

There were dozens of Roman statues, scrolls, chests of gold, silver, and bronze coins, large silver serving vessels, silver spoons, marble furniture, a reclining couch, and even a chariot with four bronze horses. David was mistaken about the size of the room. It wasn’t twice the anteroom’s size, but more like four times, and it must have taken years, maybe centuries, to accumulate it all.

“David, if the Illuminati knows about this, they might want it more than the brooches,” Kenzie said. “We should move all this to our secure storage. But, how’d it all get here?”

“Through the vortex, I guess,” David said, “But once I go through the data, photographs, and videos, I might find a clue.”

She walked away. “I’m going to look behind some of the larger items. I might find evidence of another entrance.”

“Be careful,” David said.

Austin sidled up next to David, opened his hand, and whispered, “I just found this gold ring. I don’t know what the stone is, but can I have it and give it to Ensley someday? I mean, if this all came from Erik, it already belongs to her.”

David didn’t like the idea of taking anything out of here until there was a complete inventory. Still, since the ring was for Erik’s daughter, he decided to keep his opinion to himself.

“Sure,” he said. “It’ll be beautiful when it’s polished. But”—David glanced around to see if he could signal Kenzie to help Austin with his ring selection, but she was crawling around on the floor—“if ye’re thinking of an engagement ring, it’ll need a matching wedding ring, and possibly one for ye, too. I mean, this could all be gone by the time we get home.”

“I’ll look,” Austin said, pocketing the ring.

Ensley joined them, beaming. “Is this the treasure of the Knights Templar?”

“No, they came after the Romans. The Romans left England in the early 400s AD, and the Vikings settled in Jarlshof about four hundred years after that. I don’t know for sure, but I bet it came from the Roman occupation of England. Maybe the Caledonians collected part of it, and the Vikings stole it from them.”

“David,” Kenzie yelled from across the room. “Look over there.” She pointed. “Sunlight. There’s an exit to the outside.”

David dashed toward the light. “No! Stay back! That’s not sunlight.”

“What is it?” she asked, hurrying to his side.

He wrapped his arm around her. “It’s the bright