Marked by Fate

by A J Kurtz

  “I understand why, and I probably wouldn’t have come with you if you had told me so soon. I know I’m in good hands with you now that I’ve had time to get to know you. And let’s just let things play out and see where they go. I don’t think it’s the best time to jump into a serious relationship with anyone.” She spoke openly and honestly with him.

  She saw him frown, but he recovered with a smile. She noticed he was good at keeping most of his emotions in check; although hiding how he really felt would eventually cause a person with the best intentions to break.

  “Thank you for not leaving. For a minute there, I thought you did. There’s a lot of stressful situations happening all at once, and the last thing I want to do is pressure you into anything you don’t want, so, I’m okay with letting things play out.” His fingers tucked golden locks of her hair behind her ear. They said one thing, but it was apparent when their eyes locked that they were betraying everything they’d just said with just a look.

  When they emerged from the house, they found Riah in the open garage talking to her Harley as if it were her child. “I’m going to miss you.”

  Kensie suppressed her amusement until Riah turned around to find them standing there holding back laughter. Riah’s eyes narrowed. “Not one word about this. Let’s get back to work.”

  “Kensie’s a novice; she’s still working on the ability to control her time travel. Riah, can you take us to where Jackson is, please?” Jaymes asked.

  Riah nodded. They all held hands and Kensie shut her eyes; she hadn’t felt brave enough to keep them open while traveling, yet. The air swished around her. She desperately wanted to feel her feet touch the ground, again, and it wasn’t long when she got her wish and her shoes landed on the ground. Her eyes flashed open.

  Kensie immediately sat down in the sand, as the dizziness dissipated. Jaymes sat down beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder, and rubbing her back softly.

  “I’ll go ahead,” Riah said, leaving to go find Jackson.

  Before Jaymes or Kensie could answer, Riah took off quickly. Kensie leaned against him and he wrapped his arms around her. She watched the salty waves as they crashed onto the sands.

  The silence between them wasn’t strange or awkward.

  Her head was feeling much better. She stood up and he followed suit. She turned to him with a smile.

  “Thank you for trying to make me feel better.”

  “You don’t have to thank me. Soon, traveling won’t affect you so much.”

  “I hope you’re right,” she said as they started walking away from the beach towards the boardwalk.

  “I want you to know that Jackson can be a handful. Even though I’m four minutes older, I feel like his big brother, and I’m usually the one who gets him out of the trouble he gets into.”

  Kensie took note of Jackson as they walked down the boardwalk side-by-side. What Jaymes had said made her a little nervous about meeting his twin brother. How in the world am I supposed to tell them apart?

  Riah came into view with Jackson. Kensie couldn’t believe how much the brothers looked alike. Her jaw almost dropped. One of Jaymes was enough, but he had to have a twin brother who was just as handsome as he was.

  “Jackson, this is Kensie Rockwell; she’s a part of my mission. Kensie, this is my brother, Jackson,” Jaymes said.

  Jackson’s blue eyes bored into Kensie’s soul and made her feel uncomfortable. Then, his eyes moved back to Jaymes.

  “We need to get out of sight and back to my safe house. We have a lot to talk about,” Jackson told his brother.

  With that said, they headed towards the safe house Jackson had been staying in. No one would be able to find them unless they were followed.

  Kensie didn’t understand why Jackson hadn’t said anything to her. He’d stared at her like she was some virus that people should stay away from. The thought ate at her as they walked.

  They entered a nearby brown building. To the right was a room that had screens up in the air, watching the surrounding streets. Jackson must have been keeping watch on the surveillance.

  “We’re safe, for now,” Jackson said.

  They headed into a living room on the left which had a sofa, recliner, and a small coffee table. The walls were painted a sea green color, which was one of Kensie’s favorites. Cushy green pillows were lined up on the blue sofa, making it appear as though it hadn’t been used prior.

  “Have you found anything out?” Jaymes questioned Jackson right away. Kensie found his approach strange since the brothers hadn’t seen one another in a while.

  Jackson sat down on the sofa right beside Kensie, but still wouldn’t acknowledge her existence. She could feel the anger brewing inside her, ready to confront him for being such an asshole. She’d seen his type before—Someone who thinks they’re better than everyone else—Doesn’t need help because they know everything...and she knew they would never get along.

  Jackson smelled like he’d just recently gotten out of the shower and sprayed cologne. He smelled good, but she wasn’t going to budge on the fact that she didn’t care for him.

  Jackson leaned forward. “What I’ve learned is that someone hired people to follow you, so I think we should come up with a plan to throw them off once we figure out where the real artifact is. I haven’t found any leads to where it is, have you?” he inquired while giving Kensie the side-eye look for a quick second. He turned his focus back to his brother. Kensie sucked in her cheeks, doing her best to stay quiet.

  “I dug through some old files at the MMEA when I was back in time, and there was something mentioned about one of the Guardian artifacts it was called, ‘Olmec blue jade owl’. I think it’s in Pennsylvania; somewhere deep in the forest,” Jaymes answered.

  “We should narrow down your search and split into teams. One to throw them off and the other to retrieve the real artifact.” Jackson suggested.

  As much as Kensie didn’t like it, she had to admit to herself that Jackson’s plan was their best bet at retrieving the artifact. “Jackson’s right, we need to throw off whoever’s following us, or at least try.” Jaymes froze in place, his eyes widening as he stared at her. Riah arched her eyebrows and gave a grin as she watched everyone’s reactions.

  Jackson turned to Kensie. “My brother dragged you into this mission?” he whispered to her, finally accepting the fact that she wasn’t going anywhere. He sounded concerned.

  “Since I’m a novice traveler, he said he wanted to help me…” she whispered back and trailed off.

  Jackson threw his head back and laughed. He focused on her. “Always there to save the day, he’s good at that. Women love a man from the future. Did he tell you that you’re most likely going to die?” He stared at her, waiting for a reaction, but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction. She wasn’t there for Jackson’s amusement. For a moment she had felt warmth in his voice at the start of their conversation and then it had disappeared. There was something seriously wrong with this man.

  “I know I’m one of the few people that can pick the artifact up, and I’m willing to put my life on the line to save everyone from possible civil war,” she shot back at him. Jackson’s mouth fell ajar.

  “Maybe you’ll be of some use after all,” he quipped.

  “Are you listening?” Jaymes interrupted their conversation. Riah stopped talking in mid-sentence and shook her head at Jackson.

  “I heard you,” Jackson stated.

  There was a thick layer of tension building in the room. Kensie knew they had issues, but she never realized it ran so deep. Was it because of losing their mother and Jaymes’s girlfriend years ago, or was something she hadn’t heard about yet?

  Her muscles began to relax, feeling the side effects of all the time traveling they’d been doing. It made her miss her own bed back home.

  “We need to rest and then we’ll pinpoint the area the artifact is in. We’ll go in teams as Jackson suggested. I’ll see you all in the morning, I’m beat.” Everyone said
goodnight to Riah as she headed upstairs.

  Jackson stood up and walked over to a cabinet, taking out a bottle of whiskey. He poured everyone a drink and handed the glasses out. “We’re celebrating early. I never thought we’d be so close to finding the artifact,” he admitted.

  “It’s still too early to celebrate. We don’t know what these people have planned for us,” Jaymes said.

  “Point taken,” Jackson said, then took a drink from his glass.

  “So, brother, what have I missed? Tell me about your mission.” Jaymes shifted his weight in his seat. The guys began to converse and Kensie drifted out of the conversation, growing more tired and the whiskey that she drank left a horrible aftertaste in her mouth. When she tuned back in, Jaymes was explaining everything he thought was happening with Morgan, and she remained silent. There still wasn’t enough proof that the Kelly family was behind everything and she held on to a glimmer of hope that Jaymes was wrong.

  “You’ve become Kensie’s mentor, I see. How kind of you, brother. Have you told her about Cassidy yet?”

  Jaymes tightened his fists. Kensie had to say something before they started fighting.

  “He told me about Cassidy,” Kensie interrupted.

  Jackson’s eyebrows knitted together. “He told you, everything?”

  “Why are you doing this?” Jaymes asked as he stood up.

  “She’s putting her life on the line, she deserves to know about everything, including what happened to Cassidy.” Jackson’s voice became more authoritative.

  Kensie’s eyes shifted to Jaymes. “What didn’t you tell me about Cassidy?” She frowned.

  “The only thing that I left out about Cassidy was that she tried to touch a different artifact and not long after that, she found out she had cancer. I don’t have concrete proof that it was from the artifact...Hell, it could just be a coincidence for all I know. The point is: we don’t know how the artifact will affect you, but I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

  Kensie had seen the pain in Jaymes’s eyes when he spoke about Cassidy. She imagined Jaymes was tormenting himself every waking moment for not saving the love of his life. There would always be a hole in his heart that would never be healed. The love Jaymes had for Cassidy reminded her of her parents and how close they were...she wished, one day, that she would have a love so strong that even time travel couldn’t interfere.

  Kensie thought about the sacrifice she’d be making for billions of people on the planet, and she concluded it would be worth dying for. She wanted to keep her family safe and help Jaymes’s timeline before the civil war broke out. I can do this...can I do this?

  Jackson shook his head. “She should have known before she agreed to it.” He turned to Kensie. “Nobody is going to blame you if you don’t want to do this. It’s not too late to back out.”

  His words were more weight on her shoulders. She’d decided she wanted to help, but she had her doubts and Jackson was pushing them to the surface, reminding her that she had another choice.

  Jaymes apologized and hung his head, exiting the room, leaving her alone with Jackson. Kensie’s stomach became uneasy and she wished she’d left the room to go after Jaymes, but something inside her wanted to be there with Jackson.

  Jackson raised his eyebrows in confusion. “Well, he said he’d never get involved with another traveler again, and yet, here you are about to possibly sacrifice yourself—for what? Will it even change anything? What if we make things worse? See, my brother doesn’t think about all that; he just does shit and expects everything to be fine,” he said in obvious frustration while taking a seat beside her.

  This was the first time he’d spoken to her directly, and she wondered why he cared about her touching the artifact. Why would he even care if I live or die?

  “I understand you’re frustrated and it’s a huge gamble for all of us. The least we can do is try, and hope that we can make a difference.” She half-smiled.

  He stared at her for a moment before saying anything more. “It’s getting late, we should get some sleep. There are two bedrooms upstairs Riah and Jaymes are in them, which leaves you to either choose to sleep with one of them or down here with me.”

  She walked over to the recliner near the sofa and sat down in it. Jackson left the room and returned with two blankets, and handed her one to cover up with. Once she began to relax, again,

  her eyes grew heavy and she fell fast asleep.

  Sometime in the middle of the night, Kensie woke, feeling sore from sleeping on the recliner, so she sat up. There was silence throughout the house, except for Jackson’s quiet humming.

  “Can’t sleep either?” he asked.

  “This recliner isn’t comfortable at all.”

  “You can come sleep over here with me, there’s plenty of room.” He patted the sofa.

  “I don’t think that’s appropriate, but thanks for asking.” She turned over, trying to find a good position to sleep in. She heard him across from her, chuckling over her moving around so much. She sighed quietly. The last thing she wanted was to give him the wrong impression, but she desperately wanted to get some much-needed sleep. “I don’t bite, come here,” he insisted.

  She hesitantly went over to him and saw how there wouldn’t be much room for her to lie down. What in the world was she thinking anyway? How would this look if someone saw them lying together? She went to turn back around when he gently grabbed her hand and brought her closer.

  “I’ll have to cuddle you in order to make this work, but I promise we’ll both sleep well.”

  She was so exhausted that arguing with him would be pointless. She lay on the sofa and he wrapped his arm around her; his body pressed against hers as she felt the warmth coming from it which made her begin to feel sleepy.

  “This will be our secret,” he whispered into her ear. “Goodnight beautiful.”

  Why was he suddenly being so kind to her? It was a far cry from the person she’d met when they arrived there and how was she to respond to him?

  “Goodnight twin number two,” she whispered back to him.

  The warmth of their bodies made her feel comfortable, so much that her worries began to fade away. Maybe this wasn’t an awful idea after all.

  Kensie wasn’t certain how much time had passed, all she knew was that noise came from upstairs that woke her out of a sound sleep; feet shuffled against the floor and creaks from the floorboards were heard growing closer until a door opened. She rushed to get up, grabbed her blanket, and hurried over to the recliner to pretend she was sleeping as whoever it was descended the stairs.

  8

  Jaymes

  After getting a good night’s sleep, Jaymes showered and found an extra pair of clothes that belonged to his brother. It wasn’t anything he used to wear, but he couldn’t be picky. Jeans, a black tee and a matching leather jacket. They had been in such a hurry to find Jackson that he hadn’t brought any clothes with him, and now dearly regretted that fact. He could have gone out the night before to buy a new suit, but hadn’t because of how tired he was.

  Once he was ready, he headed downstairs to find Jackson snoring on the sofa and Kensie on the recliner. He understood why she didn’t come sleep with him but thought she would have shared a room with Riah. He never expected she’d stay downstairs with his brother, and even though they weren’t together, it bothered him.

  Kensie stirred. He tried to quietly leave the room so he didn’t wake her.

  “Jaymes?” she whispered.

  The sound of her voice calling for him made his heart swell and gave him butterflies. He turned back around towards her.

  “I didn’t mean to wake you,” he whispered.

  She wrapped the blanket she’d slept with around her and joined him, as they headed to the kitchen.

  “I needed to get up. I wanted to talk to you, alone,” she said as they entered.

  “What about?” He sat at the center island and she sat next to him. How could anyone look this gorgeous first thing in t
he morning? Jaymes thought.

  “There’s so much going through my head that it’s difficult to keep track of everything. I realize that you’ve done a lot of things to protect me and I’d like to have an honest relation... friend...friendship with you. I don’t want to have to hear things from a third party. I’m an adult and I can handle whatever it is I need to know.”

  “You’re right, I’m sorry.”

  “You’ve gone through so much, and I want you to know that we can talk about anything. You carry this weight around with you not trying to burden anyone with it, but I can see how much it pains you. You’re not some burden to me, you’re my friend.” She flashed a hopeful smile at him and reached over, placing her hand on his.

  At first, Kensie had been just another mission to him, until they met; that had quickly changed his mind and heart. Sure, she was attractive, yet, there was much more to her than he could have ever hoped.

  He smiled back. “I never wanted to keep all these things to myself. I don’t need anyone’s pity. Then again, I’ve never had anyone who wanted to listen. Thank you for caring, Kensie. If we ever get time away from all this, I’d love to talk with you about everything.” He noticed that her eyes lit up. He must have said something right. And the truth was, she was a woman you could tell your hopes and dreams to, even your darkest secret, and she wouldn’t ever judge you for it. She cared about people, especially ones she was invested in.

  “Before we came here…” She ran her fingers through her long hair. “We had a special moment together, and maybe it was a moment of weakness from these impossible expectations put on us, or something I’ve been trying to deny myself of...I don’t regret kissing you.”

  He moved his hand from under hers and gently rubbed her hand with his thumb. “You’re driving yourself crazy because you kissed me, and you feel like you don’t deserve to be happy? Kensie, you deserve the world and so much more.” As he rubbed his fingers on her hand, he noticed her cheeks turning rosy. But before he said anything else, she grabbed hold of his shirt, pulling him close, and wasted no time kissing him. His hand moved back through her hair as he kissed her, beginning to lose himself between each kiss and the next.