I slipped down the staircase, knowing that Luca was probably already where he left me, glass of water in hand. I had to hurry.

I moved through the dining hall, where servants were clearing the tables, and out into the courtyard, surrounded by three levels of arched colonnades. The moon was climbing higher in the sky, casting deep, spooky shadows. A couple moved through, whispering to each other, then, spotting me, hurried off.

I swallowed hard, wishing I had that glass of wine now. I’d down it in one gulp. Maybe it’d give me the courage I needed to face the weirdo. I lifted my chin and pulled back my shoulders, refusing to appear afraid, even if I was terrified inside. He knew where Lia was.

I moved down through the ground-floor colonnade, looking left and then right, wondering if I had misunderstood him. But then I saw his silhouette in the far corner, leaning against a wall, casually waiting on me.

I stopped, a few feet off, and looked back. We were alone for the moment. “You know where my sister is?” I whispered in French.

“I do.” He pushed off the wall and walked around me. “You may drop your faulty French now, Gabriella. I know you are not who you pretend to be.”

I made myself stand still, to bear his stare. He didn’t touch me. But it was like he had.

“You resemble her.”

“Nay, I do not. You are playing with me. You have not seen her.” I turned to leave.

He reached out and touched my arm, deceptively gentle. “I have. She is with the Paratores.”

I froze, hands on my skirts. The Paratores. Impossible. Right? Or most probable of all…. I had convinced myself we would’ve gotten to her before they had the chance.

Slowly, I turned to face him.

“Come closer, Gabriella,” he said. “What I have to tell you is for you to know alone.”

I moved closer, and he offered his hand. Reluctantly, I reached up to take it, and he pulled me into the corner, until my back was against the wall. He traced my cheek with the back of his knuckle, down to my jaw, then down my neck, studying me. There, he let his hand drop. “You did not let me finish. Evangelia resembles you, not in eye or hair color, but in the fine bone structure of your face. It is unmistakable. And she has drawn you, your portrait. I knew you as soon as I saw you.”

He did know Lia. How else would he know such things?

He stepped back, letting me absorb his words.

Two sets of boots came running into the courtyard.

Vannucci pressed a hand against my mouth and pushed me into the wall. “Stay… still,” he hissed.

It was Luca and Marcello, hands on the hilts of their swords, looking about madly. But they barely paused to peruse the shadows before they were off to the piazza. They thought I had gone out… to Il Campo, perhaps home to the palazzo.

Slowly, he moved away from me, the sick expression on his face telling me that he liked being close to me.

“What do you want from me? Why not take me immediately to her?”

He let out a humorless laugh. “There are a hundred different reasons, silly girl. The Paratores are Florentine. That presents certain… challenges.”

“But you were with them. You saw Evangelia.”

“I did.”

“Then you can get me to her too.”

“I could…if I chose to.”

I stared at him. What did he want?

He leaned in, his hand against the wall above me, to my right. With his left hand, he gently touched my temple, as if trying to coax a solution out of me. “Think, Gabriella. What would I want from you?”

Did the guy think I would…? My face twisted in revulsion. He laughed softly, as if he could read my thoughts. “Nay, I have plenty of women to warm my bed. I need something more from you.”

I cast about for what he was after, bewildered.

He leaned in, and his breath warmed my ear. “I want… Castello Forelli.”

I pushed him back and took a step away, unable to tolerate his proximity for a moment longer. He wanted me to sell out the people who had rescued me, fed me, sheltered me? The people who had done nothing but show me kindness?

He laughed again, circling me like a wolf about to devour a trembling, lone lamb. I ignored him, trying to figure out a solution, something else I might give him in exchange for my sister. “Is she a prisoner? Or a guest?”

“A guest, for now. Lord Paratore finds her fascinating. He says she showed up among the tombs two days past, the same tombs where he first saw you. She hit her head in her struggle with Paratore’s knights, and ever since, she has been speaking of a time ahead, that she `traveled through time.’ And,” he added, his eyes narrowing, “she remembers nothing of your `home’ in Dordogne.”

I stared at him, hard, glad that he seemed to think her demented. But she’d arrived only two days ago? When I’d been here a full week. “She …she must be terribly injured. I must see to her. At once.”

“And so you shall. The price of your reunion is but this one task: You must find a weakness in the castello that my allies can utilize.”

“You intend to hand over the castello to the Florentines?” I said incredulously.

He grabbed my arm, sending shards of pain to my shoulder. “Keep your voice down,” he hissed. He looked out to the courtyard and then back to me. “If you want to be with your sister again, you will help us gain access.”

“Every man in Castello Forelli will die defending her.”

“Nay,” he said dismissively. “No one’s ideals are as high as they believe. Life is too precious. They shall surrender.”

I shook my head. “You do not know the Forellis or their knights very well.”

“And you do not understand the intricacies of Toscana politics. Go, Gabriella. Fetch your sister and return to Normandy, if that is where you are truly from. Simply be on your way and never look back. Leave Toscana to us.”

I considered his words. Maybe it was best, for me to leave, fast, before I could mess it all up further. I’d done enough damage to Marcello and Romana’s coming marriage. Maybe I could somehow warn Marcello in time, after I had Lia…somehow, some way, we had to find our way out again. Without selling out the good guys.

At least, all the way. “How will I get word to you?”

A smile spread across his face and for the first time, I saw his white teeth, gleaming in the moonlight. “That’s a good girl. That’s a very good girl.” He leaned forward and pinched my right cheek between his thumb and forefinger. “I’ll come to you at Castello Forelli. They do not yet have just cause to decline me a measure of hospitality. Be certain you have what I need when I arrive.” He leaned closer, dropped his hand, brushed his lips swiftly across each of my cheeks, and then strode off, his dark cape fluttering behind him.

I wiped my cheeks with my hands-as if I could wash off his kisses-and shuddered.

The good news was that my sister was alive and within reach.

The bad news was I had just made a pact with the devil.

I hurried across the piazza, staying near the side in case I needed to pause and hide in the shadows. Marcello and Luca would freak if they knew I was out at night, unescorted. They were still looking for me. When they found I wasn’t in the palazzo, they’d probably return to the dance, certain they’d just missed me in the crowd.

I saw them then, moving through the tunnel, toward me. I ducked into a stone doorway and froze, listening to their muffled voices echo across Il Campo but unable to tell what they were saying.

I had to leave, return to Castello Forelli on my own, and figure out a way to get to Castello Paratore and free Lia before Lord Vannucci got there himself. Otherwise, I was doomed to play spy for them…and I couldn’t live with myself if I sold the Forellis out.

I thought through my plan to reach Castello Forelli. I could hide in the woods if I came across any rogue bands of mercenaries or soldiers. It was my only chance. In the light of day, I’d never make it.

The men disappeared into the Palazzo Pubblico and I rushed up and through the tunnel, then down Via di Banchi to the Rossis’ home. Hurriedly, I knocked at the door, and a wide-eyed servant allowed me access. “Lady Betarrini! Lord Forelli was just here, looking for you.”

“Yes,” I said, feigning confusion. “Somehow we got separated in the crowd at the dance and then I was outside, all alone.” I brought a hand to my chest as if even the memory brought me breathless with fear. “I am so frightfully weary. I believe I might be taking ill.”

“Oh, my poor, dear, lady.” She drew me in and shut the door, locking it behind me. I eyed the keys on her waistband, knowing I would need them to get into the stables and get a horse. There was no way I could walk all those miles in the stupid tapestry slippers. My feet would be a mass of broken blisters by the time I arrived. Lady Forelli had been my height, but clearly, her feet had been a half-size smaller.

She tucked her arm in mine and led me upstairs. “I’ll help you out of your gown and you can go right to sleep. You’ll see. You’re probably just overwrought with excitement over the ball and all those dashing young men.”

“I’m certain you are right,” I muttered, faking my agreement.

She unlocked the door and entered the room in front of me. Before she could hook the ring back on her waistband, I turned to her and presented the back of my gown. “Oh, please, dear lady. Suddenly I feel faint. I must be out of this dress in an instant!”

I forced back a small smile when I heard her drop her keys to the table as she immediately set about her task. I had seen enough of her to know she was kindhearted but a bit forgetful. Forgive me, friend, I thought, as I carefully placed my lace handkerchief over the keys.

“Would you like me to brush out your hair, m’lady?” she said once I had shed the russet gown.

“Nay, nay,” I said turning to her. “I can see to it myself. But I might want to take a turn on the rooftop, gain some air, if my stomach doesn’t settle. You know how it is. Can you help me into this other dress?”

I lifted my regular gown out of a trunk at the foot of my bed and handed it to her. She held it up as I put my arms in, then turned to allow her to button it up the back. “I know how you feel, m’lady. If I dare to eat onion, my stomach gives me fits all night.”

I hustled her to the door, and she paused there a moment, looking befuddled. She put her hands in her pockets as if looking for something. I held my breath. “Oh, dear. I have the strangest sensation I’m forgetting something.”

I bodily turned her and gently urged her outward again. “If you remember what it is, come back at once. It’s late, and no doubt you’re as weary as I.”

“Yes, yes,” she muttered, walking, not at all convinced, but obedient, above all things, just as a good servant ought to be.

I closed the door and leaned against it for a moment, then hurried to shove my other things in my two valises. I wrapped the bread in a cloth, and stuffed it in too. I took the round bottle of wine, emptied it in the chamber pot, and then filled it with water from a pitcher, popping the cork back in.

Then I rushed to the door and quietly pulled it open.

He nearly gave me a heart attack.

Marcello stood there in the doorway, left hand on the casing above, right thumb tucked into his waistband. Luca was across the hall, arms crossed, leaning back against the wall.

“Where are you going, Gabriella?” Marcello asked me.

“I have no time to explain,” I said, pushing past him.

He caught my arm and whirled me about. “You shall explain. It may be different in Normandy, but here in Toscana, only certain sorts of women scurry about unescorted in the night.”

I wrenched my arm from his grip and resumed my flight down the stairs, Marcello right behind me. I had no time for this. With trembling hands, I searched for the right key for the door that led to the stables.

“Nay,” Marcello growled, pulling the keys from me. They clattered to the ground. “You are not leaving!”

Luca came down the stairs slowly, and glanced back up, as if wondering if our voices would draw a servant.

But Marcello only continued to stare furiously at me.

“Marcello, I need to go,” I said urgently. “It is for the best. For you. For me. Please, please let me go.”

“Where are you going? You’ve only just been introduced to the men who might aid you in your-“

“Back to Castello Forelli,” I said, feeling as if I might cry. “If your father and brother will have me. Only for a few days, until I figure out where I will go next.”

He frowned at me in confusion. “Did something frighten you?”

“Nay,” I said, pacing a bit. He had to stay here-if he showed up, back home, Lord Vannucci might take Lia away, back out of the deal. I looked back up at Marcello and chewed my lip, considering what I could tell him. “I think Lia is back there, near your home. I want to get back. I fear I might miss her, and that we shall never be reunited.”

“You asked to come here.”

“And now that I see she isn’t here, I must move on.”

He took a deep breath and held it. “We will see you to safety. You can leave when you choose. I only intend that you not come to harm.”

“You cannot accompany me. What would Lady Romana think? You are betrothed to her, remember?”

He stepped back, as if my mentioning her name had splashed cold water on his face.

“I will escort you, then,” Luca said, stepping forward.

“Nay, nay. I will draw far less attention if I travel alone.”

“Untrue! Do you not remember what became of you the last time we traveled that road?” Marcello said.

“Exactly my point. We were part of a train full of soldiers. You are like magnets, pulling your enemy forces in. They will ignore a single rider.”

“Marcello…” Luca said. He held up a piece of paper.

The note. It must’ve fallen from my waistband when I disrobed, and Luca had nabbed it from my room. Marcello looked at me out of the corner of his eye and then reached for the paper. He unfolded it and scanned it.

I closed my eyes, bracing for what was to come.

“What does it say?” He leaned toward me. “Gabriella, what does it say?”

“He knows who has my sister,” I translated softly.

“Who? Who knows?” Marcello said. “Where is she? It was Lord Vannucci, wasn’t it? He was the one who gave you this note.”

I shook my head, my eyes still closed, and then let out a gasp when he took hold of my shoulders and shook me.

“Who has her?” he ground out, suspicion making his eyes cold, studying me. “There is only one family that would make you keep her whereabouts a secret.”

I nodded, looking to the stones at my feet. It was going to look bad, any which way I cut it. “The Paratores,” I whispered. I looked up at him, misery washing through me.

“What do they want? What is their demand, for you to be reunited with your sister?”

The quickest way out of a mess is to face the truth, Dad always said.

I steeled myself and made myself look at him as I said it. “They want Castello Forelli.”

Marcello released me, almost shoving me in his frustration. He lifted his hands, and they shook with rage as he paced away from me, then clenched them into fists.

“I wasn’t going to give them what they asked,” I pleaded, stepping toward him. At least, I wasn’t going to totally sell them out. “I was going to figure out a way. Make them think I was giving them access, but allow you to know the truth in time. I could not…I would not…Marcello.”

He glanced at me, his face a mask of fury. Over and over he shook his head. His eyes moved back and forth as if he was thinking, trying to come to a solution.

I looked to Luca, hoping he might help me out a little. See what we could not.

He walked down the remaining steps slowly, gripping the balustrade pillar. “If you think about it, Marcello, it could be quite perfect.”

His master looked to him as if he might be going crazy.

Luca held up a hand. “No, think on it a moment. The Paratores believe they finally may have access to the castello. Their intent will be annihilation. All previous treaties will be null and void as soon as their men enter. We would be free to kill every last one of them. Be done with them. Storm their castle and claim it for the Sienese, making our outpost nearly invincible. Consider it, m’lord. We can arrange it all, while here.”

I shuddered at the thought of men dying.

But my feelings were clearly the only twenty-first-century ones in the room.

Marcello ceased his pacing and stood before me. “Can you maintain the charade? Truly, see it all the way through?” His tone was calmer now, as if his fear for me returned. “If the Paratores-or Lord Vannucci-discover that you intend to double-cross them, they will not hesitate to slit your throat. Or your sister’s.” He shook his head. “There will be no second chance, Gabriella.”

I stared back at him. “It is a great risk. But I am prepared to do anything-anything-to get my sister back. So please, let me be off. They’ll be far more apt to believe I could sneak away from Castello Forelli and to them if you and your men are here in Siena.”

“But why would they believe that we let you return, alone?”

“I will say I escaped, in the dark of night, while you all were still at the ball.”

“We’ve seen firsthand how good she is with a rope,” Luca said.

“But wouldn’t they expect me to come after you? Or at least send some men?”

“Not ifyou want her gone,” Luca said softly. “She is coming between you and Lady Romana. You are unaccountably drawn to each other. And you cannot let anything break this union with the house of Rossi.”

I held my breath and kept my eyes on Marcello. Luca spoke nothing but the truth. We both knew it.

“Scorned, her heart broken, Gabriella is willing to sell out the Forellis. Her only goal is to regain her sister and flee,” Luca finished gently.

Marcello’s eyes were warm again, searching mine. He seemed to struggle to swallow, then he gently took my hands in his. “It is an enormous, grave risk.”

I let a smile spread across my cheeks. “I’m becoming accustomed to it.”

He reached up and touched my face, and Luca turned away.

“Gabriella,” Marcello whispered, shaking his head. “I’ve never known a woman like you. If we had met before-“

“When? Your betrothal to Romana has been in motion for too long for us to stop it,” I said, turning away. But he held me fast and stared at me until I dared to look back into his eyes.

“I shall never forget you.”

“Nor I, you,” I whispered back.

His handsome face a mask of anguish, he leaned down, closer, as if he intended to kiss me.

But then we all heard it.

Luca turned toward the door. Marcello straightened and released me.

People, laughing, talking, shouting. Returning.

He grabbed the keys from the ground, swiftly cycled through them, and shoved the right one in the lock. He pushed me through, but grabbed my hand and whispered, “Send me word through Cook. Trust no one else. I shall be nearby in three days. Tell Paratore to attack in four.”

I nodded, even as he shut the door in my face and turned the lock. I stayed still, feeling foolish for my irritation at him for shutting the door in my face, knowing it was impossible to do anything but that, listening to the men making fumbled excuses, feigning drunkenness as the rest of the household passed. “We were considering a moonlit ride,” Luca said, his words slurred. “But then we thought we might be apt to fall on our backside if we were to attempt it.”

“Lord Marcello, I am surprised to find you indisposed,” Romana said, when the rest of the footsteps receded. “I didn’t see you imbibe all evening.”

“I confess it was me and my wretched debauchery,” Luca said. “I drew my lord in, celebrating our victory over those Florentine scoundrels on the road. We quite forgot ourselves.”

“Quite,” she said icily. “You forgot yourselves so thoroughly you left me behind at the ball. It was… a horror.”

“Forgive me, beloved,” Marcello said lowly. “It shall never happen again.”

Nay, I thought. It shall not. I would see to it myself. No more interference with the man’s hopes, his family’s dreams of security. I would free my sister, and we would be away.

More people came in then, but Marcello and Lady Rossi seemed to hover. I could not bear to break away from my eavesdropping. And until the household turned in for the night, it was not safe for me to ride off down the road anyway. I would run a serious risk of interception.

“Marcello,” she said lowly, almost too quiet to hear. “Did you accompany Lady Betarrini home?”

“She was here when we arrived. A servant told us she was complaining of stomach ailments and had gone to bed.”

“Poor girl.” But her tone was more of relief than any genuine empathy.

“Romana, I’ve asked Lady Betarrini to depart before sunup.”

“Oh? Where is she going?” It sounded as if they had paused halfway up the stairs. I leaned closer, pressing my ear to the crack in the door.

“To Castello Forelli. She confessed certain… feelings toward me. I made it clear that my heart could only belong to you.”

I knew he was only taking up the story we had agreed on, soothing her fears, just as I wanted him to do, but it still stung, hearing him say it.

It was quiet then. Were they kissing? Or had they just moved too far away for me to hear any more?

I sighed sadly. Well, that was over before it even got started. Gabi’s stellar love life resumes its amazing run!

I was dragging a crate over to my horse, preparing to mount, when Luca showed up, dressed to ride. “What are you doing?” I said. “I thought we agreed it best that I go alone.”

“You thought it best. Lord Marcello and I thought it foolish.” He put a hand up, palm facing me. “With just the two of us, we’ll still not be as likely to draw attention. And if stopped, we can claim to be man and wife, traveling through the night.”

“I don’t-“

“Gabriella, they won’t let you out the city gates without me. And Marcello has charged me with the task of devising the battle plan with you.”

I hadn’t thought of the city gates. “Well then, be quick about it,” I said in irritation, knowing he had me.

He grinned and helped me mount. “Do you have your sword?”

I patted my shoulder strap. I preferred the back sheath to the one on the saddle and had found a couple of them here, on a peg. It gave me faster access and was reasonably hidden.

He had his horse saddled in quick order and led the gelding to the front of the stables, eased opened the double doors, peeked out, and waited for me to come through too. Then he closed them behind me, and we were off.

I had to admit that even riding through the streets of Siena at night, I was glad I had a companion. It warmed me that Marcello could not bear to see me off alone.

He had sent his most trusted man to watch over me.

Or was it to watch me?

Maybe both.

We encountered no one on the way home to the castello. It was almost eerie how well my plan worked. No Sienese soldiers were on patrol, nor were the bands of rogue knights or Paratores. And the road was visible enough for us in the moonlight to make good time.

“You should always travel by moonlight,” I said to Luca. “It seems far safer than what we encountered en route to Siena.”

“Some days are better than others.” He pretended to sigh, as if referring to our battles as the good day.

Boys and their bravado. I had to admit, it made me laugh. And I needed a laugh about then. But my giggles were swallowed when Castello Paratore came into view with the morning light. Luca pulled up on his reins. “This is where you’re on your own. If you don’t show up by sundown, I’m coming for you and your sister.”

“Nay,” I insisted again. “Give me until sundown tomorrow.”

“Nay,” he said. “It will either work or it will not. If it works, they’ll believe you to be an ally and allow you to leave. If they don’t, you will be their prisoner. Why languish a day in their dungeon?”

“But if you’re going to defeat them, don’t I need to learn as much about their weaknesses as they wish to know about yours? That might take some time.”

He nodded, lips clenched. “Take care, m’lady. You enter the lions’ den. May the Lord shut their hungry mouths.”

I smiled, remembering the old Bible storybook our grandmother gave us. If only I might have the courage Daniel had shown….

“I’ll be at Castello Forelli, waiting. Please, don’t make me fret over you.”

I grinned. “I’ll do my best.” I wheeled my horse around, and we crossed the shallow creek that formed the border between the Paratore and Forelli lands, the border each family was forever trying to push forward.

I wound around it and eventually met up with the road that led to Castello Paratore and Firenze. It was well maintained, and I climbed the curves at a good clip, until two knights came trotting down the road toward me, Paratore crimson clearly displayed. Two other knights emerged on the road behind me. I pulled back on my gelding’s reins. He circled, agitated by the four new horses, but I made him stop, facing the castle.

“State your name and business,” said the man closest to me.

“Lady Gabriella Betarrini. Lord Vannucci sent me to speak to your master.”

The two knights shared a look. “Lord Vannucci, you said.” His eyes flicked toward my saddle, atop Forelli gold.

“Lord Vannucci,” I confirmed.

“You are alone?” His eyes moved down the road.

“I am now. But I am expected back at Castello Forelli by sundown.”

He stared at me a moment longer. “Come ahead, then.”

We rode up to the castle gates, a far steeper entry than Castello Forelli’s. But she did not boast as many towers as Marcello’s family’s home. Only two were visible from this side, but they looked formidable.

Heavy gates were cranked open, and we moved inside.

Lord Paratore was immediately striding toward me, a hulking knight and three others right behind him. I recognized them from the tombs and our battle the following day. “Ah, the lovely Lady Betarrini has at last seen the error of her ways and has come to seek shelter in a castle of real men.”

Yeah, I came because I thought you were so hot.

I stared at his green eyes, which were his best feature, avoiding his mouth, full of decaying teeth. I allowed him to reach up and assist me down, and I even managed to thank him.

“Lord Vannucci sent you?” he asked, as two of his men grabbed my arms.

“What-what are you doing?” I asked, struggling against them. But I could not free myself.

He stepped closer and slowly untied my cape, pulling it from my shoulders and dropping it to the stones at his feet. With wise eyes, he stared at my sheath a moment, then reached down to unbuckle it, sliding it from my shoulders and handing it to The Hulk. “My men returned with tales of a female Forelli warrior brandishing a sword. It appears they were telling the truth,” he said, lifting a delighted brow. He was pretty decent looking, except for his teeth. But the way he talked to me made me feel sticky with sweat. Ugh. This guy grosses me out.

I was already longing for the comforting weight of the sword on my back. It had been a long shot, hoping I could get in armed. But I still had-

“Check her legs.”

Inwardly, I groaned.

A knight guffawed over his good luck and bent to run his hands up my left leg and then down my right. When he reached my right calf, he paused and grinned up at me.

I stared straight ahead as he lifted the edge of my skirt and unhooked the other dagger sheath, strapped there. He was lingering, taking too long.

“Enough,” I said, putting my left foot to his shoulder and kicking him.

He tumbled to his rear, making the others hoot with laughter. He leaped to his feet, looking as if he wanted to slap me, but Lord Paratore held up his hand to halt him.

“You have my weapons,” I said. “Keep them. I’m here for one reason.”

Paratore smiled then, and I again concentrated on looking at his eyes instead of his wretched teeth. “You are beautiful, m’lady,” he said, tucking a knuckle under my chin, “but I must say I fished the fairest Betarrini from those Etruscan tombs. I have a special weakness for women with blonde hair.”

He did have Lia. My heart sped up, and I glanced around, as if I might spot Lia wandering the ramparts. “Where is she?”

“Resting,” he said. “Come, m’lady. We have much to discuss. If you give me what I seek, you shall see your sister this day.”

He offered his arm and the guards dropped their hold on me.

After a moment’s hesitation, I laid my hand on top of his and allowed myself to be ushered inside. As the doors closed behind me, I stifled the desire to scream. Why did I feel as if I had just made a fatal error in judgment? That I should have broken away and done my best to escape?

The other men floated away down two hallways, leaving us alone in a den. Maps of Firenze and Paratore land dominated one wall, the border clearly marked by the new path of the creek. I turned away from it to face him.

“Please, m’lady, sit.” He gestured to a generous settee and waited until I obeyed, then he took a chair with a high back directly across from it. He folded his hands. “You and I were not properly introduced. You have to understand that I thought you some sort of .. loose woman, out in such odd clothing that day at the tombs. Our women wear nothing like it. I would’ve never attacked a noblewoman.”

My skinny jeans and top. There was no sense in arguing with him. He was trying to make amends.

“I see the Forellis have put you in proper clothing, as I’ve done for your sister.”

Lia. Just the thought of being with her again made my heart speed up.

“May I see her?”

“In time, in time. As I’m certain Lord Vannucci explained to you, there is only one thing I will trade you in exchange for your sister. Access to Castello Forelli.”

“And I will not even consider such a betrayal, until I know for certain that you have my sister and she is well.”

He smiled. “Oh, she is very well. I think you will find her quite content here.” He leaned forward. “We are not the monsters the Forellis make us out to be.”

“It is unfortunate when neighbors find themselves on opposites sides of a dividing line,” I said, trying to sound understanding, like he might win me over. “It is bound to cause much strife.”

“Much,” he said. He steepled his fingers in front of his face and peered at me.

I waited him out, determined to say nothing until I knew she was okay.

“I see that you are uncommonly resilient. Far more stubborn than your sister. She’s rather…” He played with the horsehair on his chair’s arm-“dovelike.”

Apparently, he didn’t know my sister that well yet. Still, I waited. If you have harmed even a hair on her head, I swear I’ll-

He rose and offered me a hand. “Come. I will show you the dungeon where your sister is kept.”

Dungeon? I rose, ready to attack, but he laughed, and I caught the glint of teasing in his green eyes. “Come along,” he said over his shoulder.

We moved to a grand staircase that curved up one side of the grand salon and then down a hallway to the last room. The floor had thick Persian carpets and Danish tapestries lined the walls, much as they did at Castello Forelli.

He knocked at a massive, ornately carved door. Was this a game? I held my breath.

“Yes?” came a feminine voice from the other side. Lia.

“M’lady, it is Lord Paratore. I have a visitor with me whom I think you would like to greet.”

She opened the door, then, and her blue eyes went wide with excitement when she saw me. Was she real? Or was I dreaming? I pulled her into my arms, never more happy to see my sister than I was in that moment.

She was here. With me.

Which was both good and bad news.

“Might we… might we have a moment, m’lord?”

“Please,” he said, gesturing into the room. “But come and speak with me in an hour, will you?” He gave me a look that told me not to argue.

“An hour,” I confirmed.

He closed the door behind us, and I drew Lia deeper into the room. She enjoyed far more sumptuous quarters than I had been given, but then, Lord Paratore apparently did not have a potential bride in one wing. At least, that I knew of..

“Where have you been?” Lia asked me.

“I could ask the same of you!” I said in a hushed whisper. “I arrived a week ago. Yet I heard that you arrived only two days ago?”

“Right. I landed in that tomb, but you were nowhere around. I wandered over here to the castle….” She gave me a sorry look. “It took me a bit to put it together. I claimed that I’d had a bump on my head.”

Hearing English again was like a hug from home. A step closer to being there! “You told them…you were from the future?”

She nodded, looking embarrassed at her foolishness. “Lord Paratore told me he’d seen you, but you’d been taken away by those terrible Forellis.”

“Terrible? No, they’re wonderful. I-“

“But Gabi, how did you get here so far ahead of me?” she asked, shaking her head in confusion. “We were together, our hands on those prints, and then you were gone a second ahead of me. It was as if you became dust before my eyes. And then when I arrived and you weren’t with me-I thought I’d lost you for sure.”

I shook my head, remembering that moment. “I think it has to do with when we pulled our hands from the prints. My split-second ahead of you was the equivalent of days, almost a week, here.” I grasped her hand. “We need to get back to the tomb, Lia. I think we both need to be there. If we put our hands on the prints again, maybe we’ll fast forward, back to our own time.”

“Or…will we go deeper? Into history.” She shivered and crossed her arms. “I don’t know about you, but this is about as deep as I want to go.”

I smiled. “Can you imagine Mom here? Dad, had he gotten the chance?”

“Oh, they’d go crazy,” she said.

I nodded and my smile faded. “We have to try, Lia. To get back to Mom.”

She nodded too. “You’re right, of course.”

“So how can we get you out of here?”

She frowned. “Get me out? Let’s just tell Lord Paratore we are heading out on a stroll, and make our way down to the tombs.”

“I…don’t think it’s going to be that easy. He’s made you feel a guest in his home. But he is using you as a pawn, Lia. He wants me to betray the Forellis in exchange for your freedom.”

She frowned. “Then we must escape. Right away.” She rose and looked back at me.

I nodded, but couldn’t seem to move.

It took all of two seconds for her to figure out my reason for hesitating. “Oh,” she said, grabbing my hand and sitting again. “You met someone.”

“No. Yes.” I looked at her. “Not anyone I can have, on a hundred different levels.”

“The unattainable. Always the most attractive. He is a knight at Castello Forelli?”

“He is likely to become Lord Forelli in time,” I said miserably.

She sucked in her breath, bringing her fingers to her mouth. “You really gotta stop aiming so high, girl.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s over.”

“But it began?”

“Before it began.” I didn’t want to talk about it anymore. It made me feel sad and weepy, to finally come so close to finding someone I might fall in love with, and then to have to let him go-

“How did you talk him into letting you come here, to his enemy?”

I gave her a sad smile. “You’re my sister. He has a brother. He understood.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Gabs. If I hadn’t come, maybe you would’ve lived happily ever after with him.”

“No, no.” I pretended to whack her across the shoulder. “Stop with the schmaltzy romancy stuff,” I said. “You know I never go in for that.”

“You didn’t,” she pressed, staring at me. “But there’s something different about you, Gabi. Something’s changed.”

“Yeah, we jumped through some time continuum,” I deflected. “It’s gotta change us somehow.”

She lifted her chin, and for the first time, I saw how her cheekbones and jawline were very much like mine-exactly as Lord Vannucci had said. I always thought we were so different, her as blonde as I was brunette. Her straight hair to my curls. I had four inches on her. But we did share the same facial structure.

“You have a lot more connecting you here than I do,” she said. “I’ll gather my things, and we’ll be off. I’d like to meet your lord, anyway, before we leave him behind forever. It will help me spot the right kind of guy for you in our real time.”

I stared at her. “Lia, you still don’t get it. We are in the middle of some of the toughest Sienese-Florentine relations in history. Do you remember what year Siena fell?”

She shook her head. “I never really listened during those tours. I was too interested in the art.”

“Me neither,” I said, rising to pace. “But I’m worried it’s soon. I think Firenze was fully in power when the Renaissance happened, which is around the corner too. Do you remember the year that started?”

She shook her head. “What about the plague? Has the plague happened?”

I felt woozy and quickly took my seat again. The plague. The Bubonic Plague. I shook my head. More than a third of Siena and Firenze had died in those years-I remembered that much.

“No, I haven’t heard of anything like it happening. Fevers, but nothing widespread. Just your typical medieval maladies. So it must still be coming.”

“We have to get out of here, Gabi,” she said, wringing her hands. “It’s one thing to play at this lords and ladies thing, another to take on the plague.”

“I have a plan, but it means you’re going to have to lay low till I come for you. Lord Forelli and his men are going to break you out.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. Then she strode over to a wall and ran her delicate fingers over two swords and a bow. “I dunno,” she said. “Find me some arrows, and methinks I could fight my way out.”

I smiled at her lame medieval-speak. “I’ve had to do much the same this past week.”

Her blue eyes widened. “You’ve used a sword? In battle?”

“Twice. Tried to bring it with me in here, but they caught me. As soon as you can, secure some arrows to go with that. Tell Lord Paratore you wish to practice. Pretend you’re a beginner, so he has no idea how good you are. Appeal to his sense of pride and generosity. Flirt with him if you have to.”

She shivered. “Ugh. No way.”

“Lia, look at me. You have to do what you must. We are in a fight for our lives, whether you feel it yet or not.”

“I think you’re exaggerating.”

“No, seriously. Trust me. I’ve seen guys die.”

She clamped her pretty lips shut and stared at me. “They will try to kill us?”

“As soon as they realize we have double-crossed them,” I whispered.

“Really? Lord Paratore has been nothing but kind to me. Giving me more food than I want, this room, art supplies-“

“It’s all a ruse. He’d kill you in front of me if he knew it’d make me give him what he wanted.”

She paled, and I regretted my frank words. But she had to know. Had to know what we were up against. Had to be ready. “And… and you’re sure there is no other way out?” she asked.

“Not that I’ve seen yet,” I said.

“Okay, then,” she said, patting her knees and rising. “Hurry, Gabs. The faster you go, the faster you can return to me.”

I pulled her into my arms and hugged her. “Be ready, Lia. Day or night, be ready. All right?”

She nodded.

I turned from her then, before I gave in to the impulse to take her hand and try and run out of this place together now. I moved down the hall, down the stairs, and back into the den, where Lord Paratore waited for me. He must have heard me coming, but he did not turn from his place in front of the map of Paratore land.

“You will deliver what has been asked of you?”

“I-I don’t know. Is there no other way, m’lord? Nothing else I might give you in exchange for my sister’s life?”

He looked down at the table before him for a long moment, then turned to face me. “There is nothing else, m’lady.”

I wrung my hands. If I showed no hesitation, he might doubt me. In truth, it wasn’t difficult to work up. He looked from my hands, up to my face.

“You and your sister are obviously fine, noble women, and that is unfortunate. But there is no way around it. I must use the tools I have at hand.”

“Women are hardly tools.”

“They are at times. A man will live and die for the right woman.” He moved forward, circling me as Lord Vannucci had. “Sir Forelli…I wager you have caught his eye, have you not?”

“He is promised to Lady Rossi.”

“Lady Rossi represents nothing but an alliance for his family.” He shook his head and rubbed his chin. “Nay, you must have caught his eye.”

“I know no such thing.”

“Don’t play with me, Lady Betarrini. I know men. And I’ve known my share of women. And you aren’t as innocent as your younger sister-I can tell that much.”

I stared straight ahead for a moment, then looked to the ground. “I may have caught his eye.”

“Good, good,” he crooned. “Then he will be blinded by love, never suspecting that I have found a hole in the corner of his chicken coop. Keep leading him on. Use his weakness for our strength.”

I nodded, feigning misery.

He again put a knuckle beneath my chin and lifted it, forcing my eyes to his. “Ahh, he has spun his web around you as well. You are in love with him?” His eyes hardened with suspicion.

“In truth, I fancied myself in love,” I said. I pulled away from his hand and went to the picture window, with its view of the courtyard. “But he sent me away. He said that I was interfering with his alliance with Lady Rossi’s family. There was no other way than for me to leave. The timing, however, was providential. He had no idea I would be coming straight to you.”

He moved over and placed his big hands on my shoulders. “I am sorry for your pain.” Slowly he turned me around, his hands still on my shoulders. I dared to look him in the eye. Was he trying to comfort me?

No, he was testing me, trying to sort out what was truth, what was lie. But I could see he wanted to believe me.

“You shall use your pain,” he said, a sick smile twisting on his lips. “Turn it into anger, vengeance, Lady Betarrini. And you shall get your reward. Not only your sister, but horses, and a chest full of gold to see you safely on your way. I’ll even send four guards with you, as far as Firenze. But we shall wait until Marcello returns home. I want him there to witness it, when I breach his defenses at last. He is the last of the line of Forellis. With him gone, no other can stand in my way.”

I looked back at him, as if considering his words. Then after the right amount of time, I simply said, “Agreed.”

Now let go of me.

Instead, he moved his hands to my neck, caressing it, but the threat was clear enough. He rubbed his thumbs, back and forth across my jugular vein. “M’lady, you do understand that if you doublecross me, I shall hunt you down and kill you. But not before you see your sister suffer in ways that you have never imagined. Evangelia is quite… untried, yes?”

If I’d had a sword I would’ve run the man through right then. But I controlled myself “You dare to lay a hand on her-“

“You are hardly in the position to make threats, m’lady. Do you understand me? Are you ready to serve me as your lord?”

I nodded, unable to speak. For a moment, I considered charging upstairs and trying Lia’s lame plan for escape by fighting our way out. Better to die fighting than to die via torture. But I knew Marcello, too. I knew I could trust him and that he would do everything in his power to get her out of this place. And we’d have a far better chance with the Forelli men beside us.

But he was then ushering me to the door. “Thank you for your visit, m’lady. Return to me with the information I seek, or your sister will be ushered out of her quarters and into a far less appealing room, one with chains and all sorts of unsavory tools.”

I turned toward him, but he shut the door in my face, a smile on his lips. Did he half hope I proved to be his enemy so he could take it out on Lia? I shook my head, trembling at the thought. The hulking knight led my gelding forward and watched me come near. I felt numb, lost in a stupor.

He lifted me into the saddle, tucked my feet into the stirrups, and slapped the horse on the rump. Two more knights opened the gates before me, and I plodded out, glancing back over my shoulder to Lids narrow window. She was there, watching me.

I raised my hand to wave, but then they were shutting the gates.

Shutting me out.

Shutting her in.