Echoes of Time (Echoes of Time Travel Series: Book One)

by Rylee Swann

  Shawn sat fully dressed and cross-legged on one of the two twin beds, his head resting on a pillow against the headboard, and an open telephone book in his lap. His unbuttoned shirt revealed the hard chest that she hadn’t been able to keep her eyes off in the pool. Damp hair fell into his eyes as his gaze traveled up and down her body. Under his scrutiny, heat burned her cheeks.

  Apparently satisfied, he reached over to the nightstand between the two beds and slammed the receiver of the phone back into its cradle, never taking his eyes from her.

  Rayna flinched. Did he know I tried to make a call? No, he couldn’t know. He’s just putting on a show. Letting me know he’s got all the bases covered.

  She hoped.

  She pulled out a chair from a small round table and sat down. Averting her gaze from his, she was still hyper-aware of his eyes on her. He turned a couple of pages in the telephone book, the rustle of the paper loud in the otherwise silent room. From the corner of her eye, she spotted the gun on the bed beside him.

  He broke the silence first. “Do you know a good health food restaurant around here?”

  “Seriously?” She gawked at him. “Don’t tell me the big bad Shawn Paros is a vegetarian?”

  She silently admonished herself. She had to stop with the sarcasm. It would get her killed. But she couldn’t help herself.

  He said nothing to her outburst, his expression inscrutable. “Do you know of one?”

  “So you are a vegetarian?” she asked in disbelief.

  “I’m hungry and you’re trying my patience.”

  “But you said you’d tell me everything.”

  Well, it’s official. I do have a death wish.

  “I never said I’d make it easy though.”

  Nothing about his demeanor said he was teasing her, but she couldn’t help but take it that way and laughed. “What about vegetarian pizza?”

  The corners of his lips rose, the closest she’d seen so far to a genuine smile from him. “I cannot stomach anything that is not one-hundred-percent natural. Nothing processed or artificial. Pizza tends to not fall into that category.”

  “Wow, sucks to be you.” She laughed before sobering. “There’s this place with the most unappetizing name of The Green Pizza. They say they’re all natural. You could call them to ask and be sure and all. Besides, I don’t know of any health food places around here that stay open this late.” She read the digital clock on the nightstand. “It’s past ten.”

  “So it is.” He flipped through a couple of pages in the telephone book and crooked a finger at Rayna. “Come here.”

  “Umm, why?”

  He reached over and pulled the phone from the nightstand onto the bed beside him. He said nothing else, waiting for her to comply.

  Worried and frustrated, she tightened the belt on her robe and went to him. She sat on the edge of the bed, perched like a bird about to take flight. Her heart beat in her chest like hummingbird wings.

  He watched without comment until she’d settled. “You’ll do the talking. I’ll listen. Ask only about the food and its purity. If I like what I hear, I’ll let you know, and then you order this one.” He pointed to the ad in the phone book that described their specialty veggie pizza pie. “This is for delivery, of course.”

  “Okay...but what if they want payment over the phone?” she asked. He pointed to her handbag she’d left on the table when they’d arrived. “You’re not much of a criminal if I have to pay for everything.”

  While she retrieved it and returned to the bed, Shawn dialed the number and handed her the receiver.

  “Behave,” he said in a warning whisper.

  She nodded, pressing the receiver to her ear, but Shawn leaned forward and yanked it back down enough for him to hear both sides of the conversation.

  A male voice answered with, “The Green Pizza, freshest and healthiest on Long Island.”

  “Umm, hello. Do you deliver?” Rayna said in a shaky voice.

  “We sure do! No charge for orders over fifteen dollars. What can I get you?”

  “Uh…”

  Shawn tapped her arm and mouthed the words “calm down,” motioning with a hand for her to continue.

  “Okay, um, before I order I gotta make sure your pizza is like totally organic—”

  “It is, I can assure you.”

  “Let me finish. I gotta make sure there’s nothing artificial like dyes or additives. I get sick to my stomach if I eat anything processed. And my dad’s a lawyer who hates to see his little girl not feeling well.”

  “Wow, I never heard of that but our food really is one-hundred-percent natural. Nothing processed. You won’t get sick.”

  “Yeah, sucks to be me.” She offered a little fake self-conscious laugh and raised her gaze to Shawn when he tapped her again. He nodded and pointed to the ad. “Okay, then. I guess I’ll trust you. I’d like the large veggie.”

  “Great. Anything to drink? We have bottled spring water.”

  “Yes, cool. Two quarts. This is for delivery.”

  Shawn shook his head and held up four fingers.

  “Uh, wait. Make that four bottles of water.”

  “Sure. I just need your credit card number and your address, and we’ll have this out to you in around forty-five minutes.”

  Rayna gave him the information, hung up the phone, and scurried back to her chair before Shawn could stop her. She didn’t like being so close to him. Not because he could hurt her—which he could, she reminded herself—but because his touch made her skin sizzle with electricity.

  Shawn raised a brow, offering a little smirk. “Is he a lawyer, your father?”

  “No.” She fiddled with the strap of her purse, slowly raising her eyes to meet his. “Why did you kiss me?”

  “You wanted me to.” He opened the nightstand drawer and tossed the phone book back where he’d gotten it.

  “What? I did not!” She thought her cheeks would burst into flames any second.

  Leaning back, he appraised her. “I’ve hinted at many things and that is what you want to talk about?”

  “No, yes...no! I mean...you’re infuriating!” She grabbed the lapels of her robe and tugged them together.

  Shawn reached back and plumped his pillow, unperturbed by her discomfort. “You did want me to.”

  Desperate to change the subject before she did the unthinkable and asked him to kiss her again, she blurted out, “Are you really an alien?”

  “Half,” he replied in his laconic manner.

  “Half? What does that mean?” she said, exasperated.

  “I’m also half human.” He kept his expression unreadable, but Rayna thought she detected a slight hesitation.

  “Are you lying to me?”

  “No.”

  “Look.” She threw her hands up in the air. “Could you string more than one sentence together at a time? I feel like a dentist trying to get anything out of you.”

  He took a breath, his gaze sliding to a point behind her. “This is not easy. I’m not used to talking about this.”

  Her mouth formed a little surprised o. “Then why did you agree to tell me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  She motioned impatiently for more, and he shrugged.

  “I really don’t know. Telling you anything about myself goes against everything I’ve ever been taught. Everything I’m comfortable with.”

  “Taught?” she said.

  “My time traveler training.” He said this as if Rayna really was pulling a tooth from his head—wrenched from his mouth reluctantly.

  “Wow, so many questions are spinning in my head now. I swear, if you’re screwing with me…”

  “I’m not.” He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his eyes. He stared at her for long moments as she held her breath, fearing if she spoke now he’d clam up for good. At last, he seemed to have come to a decision. “My mother was an Earth emissary to my home planet. One of the first. Something malfunctioned and she crash-landed and was stuck th
ere for a long time before help could arrive. She fell in love with my father, and first my brother, and then I, was the result of their union. Kyle, my brother, is three years older than me. We’re not twins, not in the conventional sense.”

  In a soft voice, Rayna dared to speak. “She was there that long? Couldn’t she have called for help?”

  “She crashed into the ocean. Her ship was destroyed. My father got to her first, pulled her out before she died. He kept her from being executed by the”—he paused while searching his vocabulary for the translation of the Parosian word—“tribunal. Four Parosians died when she crashed.”

  “Wait, Parosians? Isn’t your last name…?”

  “Paros. I took my home planet’s name as my own when I came to Earth.”

  “Oh. So, um, if she landed in the ocean, how did four of your people die?” She kept asking questions to keep him talking, fearing for her own sanity should she allow herself time to think through what he was telling her. Terror lay in wait below the surface, and she didn’t want to become the next scream queen after Jamie Lee Curtis. That, she reasoned, would not bode well for her at all.

  “Paros is almost entirely covered by ocean water. Around ninety percent, much more than Earth.” He pounded the mattress with his fist and winced. “We live mostly in water.”

  Don’t say anything flippant, she urged herself. Don’t. “So, you’re like a fish?” Damn. “I mean, wait, you’d be more like a dolphin? Dolphins are mammals, right? Sorry, I’m just trying to understand.”

  “I’m not a fish or a dolphin,” he said, his eyes narrowing in annoyance. “I’m a Parosian, same as you’re an Earthling.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said again. “This is a lot to take in.” She fell silent, her brain spinning with all the new information. “Oh, I get it!” she said after a time. “That’s why you felt better after being in the pool.” She smiled at his answering nod. “So, where does the time travel fit into this?”

  “Everything I’m telling you happened in the future. My mother decided to stay on Paros, and when Kyle and I were older, we chose to come here. We entered the time travel program as alpha testers. They told us that sometimes the correct timeline gets messed up and we’d be the first sent out to fix those mistakes. We spent a few years in training, both for Earth history and physically. I’m trained in all forms of combat, even those you’ve never heard of.”

  Rayna thought he left out a lot of details but before she could ask more questions, someone knocked on the door.

  Shawn leaped from the bed, taking his gun with him. He yanked Rayna to her feet and pulled her to the door. Motioning for her to open it, he stood where he would be hidden behind it.

  Renewed terror bloomed in her chest as she reached for the handle, rational thought fleeing. She’d gotten too comfortable while talking to Shawn, forgetting all about the dangerous situation she was in. Nothing had changed. He still treated her like a hostage, dragging her where he wanted and demanding obedience. A whimper slipped out.

  He hissed, “Answer the door, and be smart about it.”

  Biting back another snivel, she attempted to put on a brave face. Yet, her thoughts raced with terrified possibilities. What if they’d been followed? What if this was the police? What if it was someone knocking on the wrong door and Shawn shot him?

  She did her best to stifle a frightened moan as her brain forced her to think the worst. What if this was the person who’d tried to kill Shawn?

  5

  Shawn motioned with his gun for Rayna to open the door. He knew someone holding a pizza box was on the other side, and although he had sensed Rayna’s fear, he’d done nothing to allay it. Better to keep her off-kilter. She’d grown too comfortable with him. He needed her alert and quick to respond to his orders. This wasn’t fun and games. His life was in danger, and nothing else mattered.

  Upon opening the door, she heaved a relieved sigh and accepted the delivery. She thanked the delivery man, and after locking them back in the room, placed the box on the little round table in the corner.

  They ate in relative silence. The only thing he’d told her since his unbelievable revelations was that the pizza tasted good. Confiding in her all that he had already left him off-balance, and not in the mood for small talk.

  The most basic of secrets about him were no longer unknown to another living soul. He should silence her. Make it impossible for her to divulge what she’d learned of him to anyone else. Yet, at the same time, he knew he wouldn’t.

  Maybe his head was broken. Maybe this was what it felt like to go insane.

  As soon as he’d filled his stomach, he pushed his chair away from the table and stood, pulling Rayna up with him.

  She blinked in surprise. “What…?”

  “Time to go. Get dressed and be quick.”

  She scurried to the bathroom and shut the door. Coming out a couple of minutes later, she picked up her purse, and shoved her feet into her sandals.

  Gazing at her for a moment, a shadow of a smirk played on his lips. “Your clothes are still damp. Sucks to be you as you’re so fond of saying.”

  He kept a powerful grip on her arm as he shoved her out the door and to her car. He was done with feeling out of control and intended to reassert his dominance over the situation. “Move, move, move!” She stumbled in the darkness, and he kept her moving by almost lifting her off her feet as he strode to the passenger side door.

  “Ow, ease off, please.” She stumbled again as he came to a quick stop, but he yanked her upward until she stood on her own. She glared up at him, hurt mingled with fear darkening her eyes. “What the hell?”

  “Just shut up and get in,” he said.

  Her eyes grew wide and watery, lips parting in shock. Or hurt. Or whatever the hell her expression represented.

  She didn’t move until he hissed, “Move!”

  Once in the driver’s seat, Rayna fumbled with the car keys, stabbing at the ignition and missing it twice.

  “Dammit,” she said under her breath as she dropped them and reached down to frantically pick them back up.

  Rayna’s fear ate into Shawn. He didn’t like its intensity. Her alarm seemed to tear a hole in him, making him tense, which was the opposite of what he wanted, of course. He wanted her nervous, but not terrified, so he could regain a semblance of control. Be in charge, rather than have some sort of partner in crime. He worked alone and wanted it to stay that way.

  She finally got the engine started, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the steering wheel. He thought about telling her to calm down, but at the last second stopped himself. He’d shown enough weakness.

  “Where are we going?” she asked in a shaky voice, staring straight ahead out the windshield.

  “The ocean.”

  She nodded, switching on the headlights, and backed out of the parking space. Adjusting the rearview mirror, she headed out onto the road.

  They drove in silence for miles. Without her constant chatter, he turned on the radio to fill the void. She sat ramrod straight, eyes focused ahead, hands at ten and two on the steering wheel. He wondered what might be going through her mind. What unanswered questions consumed her. How desperate she might now be to get away from him. Ten times he considered breaking the silence with an attempt at small talk, and ten times wondered what the hell was wrong with him.

  Silence was better.

  Then why did he miss the sound of her voice?

  “We’re almost there,” she said, startling him out of his reverie. He took a deep breath, inhaling the sweet tang of saltwater, his pores opening as if to drink it in. “But I won’t be able to drive right up to the beach. It’s usually barricaded.”

  “Just get as close as you—”

  Twice something hit the car with a thump. Shawn ducked, recognizing the sound for what it was—gunshots. This couldn’t be random. He’d been shot by an unknown sniper only hours before. Whoever it was had put a target on his back.

  Rayna yelped. “What was that? Did you
feel that?” She studied the road behind them through the rearview mirror. “Did I run over… What is that?”

  “Drive faster. Get us to the ocean.” When the car didn’t pick up speed, he shouted, “Ray, go faster!”

  Ping, ping, ping!

  “Oh, my god, what’s happening?” Rayna’s voice rose in panic as the car veered into the oncoming lane.

  Shawn grabbed hold of the steering wheel, guiding the car back into their lane, but Rayna had eased up on the gas. “Ray, we’re being shot at. A sniper probably up on a rooftop. You have to drive. Get us to the beach!” At the terror that overtook her face, he said, “Don’t be the rabbit, Ray. You got this.”

  Pressing her lips into a thin grim line, she shot the car forward and pushed his hand off the wheel.

  “I’m nobody’s rabbit,” she said, and made a sharp, tire-squealing right onto a side street.

  He slid into the passenger door hard, but showed no pain from his reawakened gunshot wound. Twisting in his seat to face the rear of the car, he drew his gun from his shoulder holster. “Keep it steady, Ray.”

  Looking up to the roofs of the buildings he guessed the shooter might be on, Shawn waited for the next burst of gunfire. Seconds later, bullets rained down on the car, shattering the rear windshield and embedding in the back of both their seats.

  Sonofabitch doesn’t care who he shoots. Guess that means she’s not working with him.

  Rayna squealed in terror. Shawn fired back, aiming for the bright muzzle flashes. His bullets couldn’t travel the same distance as the sniper’s but might give him pause.

  “Alright, Ray, I just bought us some time. Get ready to run.”

  “What? I’m not going with you. I can’t!” This time she sped up rather than slowing down. “I’ll stay here.”

  He reached down and yanked off his shoes. The scent of saltwater overwhelmed him, making his head spin with need. They were close, so close. “Stay here? In the car? And maybe die? Or come with me and—”

  “Maybe die?” She spared a glance at him as she slammed on the brakes. The car squealed to a stop, its rear end shimmying and pulling them sideways.