by Shannyn Leah
“Dammit, Jax!” Declan yelled, sounding in need of assistance.
Jax turned, just as the man who knew their names touched the far wall, and a vortex opened at his fingertips.
What the hell? That isn’t possible either.
“It’s been fun,” the Rogue hollered over the red whipping winds.
Over Jax’s dead body. He refused to let this Rogue just slip away. Jax needed answers and this man was the only one to give them to him. He no longer trusted the word of council.
Jax raced across the room, but was too late. The Rogue stepped into the swirling color, and it closed before Jax reached it.
“No!” Jax yelled, crashing straight into the wall as it closed. “No! Damn it! No!” He slammed his fists against the wall.
Five years of being in the field and he’d never let a Rogue escape. Never. And through a wall. A wall? Explain that to his dad.
“Son of a bitch.”
“Hey,” Declan touched his shoulder. “We saved the doctor.”
“We lost the Rogue.”
“But, we saved the doctor. We have to go. We’ve already been here too long for comfort,” Declan said, as if like time-rips were ever comfortable.
Jax was less than satisfied, but followed Declan into the hall. The doctor had returned to Gabrielle’s room, and was standing beside her. The nurse was also present again, washing the perspiration from Gabrielle’s forehead. With her eyes still closed, Gabrielle didn’t see the blade the doctor held above her chest.
Declan picked up his pace, starting across the hall to rescue Gabrielle from the blade. It would take Declan less energy than fighting the Rogue to tackle the doctor who they’d come to save. He might be book-smart, but Declan wasn’t lacking in the physically fit department. Jax worked out every day with Declan right beside him. Even Gabrielle knew how to defend herself from a bad situation, but right now, this was Amy’s destiny.
Declan’s judgement was clouded as he stared at his sister. The rules were clear they couldn’t interfere with this time rip or they’d create another one. To stop whatever was going to happen in Gabrielle’s room would alter time again.
Jax grabbed Declan’s jacket, and pulled him hard. Surprised, his brother fell backwards against him, just as the blade sliced through Gabrielle’s chest and a horrifying scream a thousand times worse than before, deafened them both.
“No!” Declan’s shriek was muffled by Jax’s hand and Gabrielle’s scream eroded the hallway.
Jax yanked Declan back into the other room, shutting the door and slamming his brother against the wall. “It’s not Gabby,” Jax reminded him.
Declan was in a panic. “He stabbed her.”
“Declan, it’s not Gabby. We wait until they’re done.”
“Done mutilating our sister. Your sister. What if they kill her before we make it back to her?” Declan shoved him off and tore away, pacing the length of the room.
“Stop the what if questions and help me create a distraction to get to her out of this time rip before she dies.”
Chapter Eight
THE ESTATE QUIVERED in anticipation. Annalieese had called every servant and barked out orders at a rapid pace. The servants scrambled around the premises in preparation for the arrival of the council.
Brea ignored it all. Sitting in the two-story library, she stared, mouth gaping open, at the floor-to-ceiling bookcases which she suspected held generations of Winters’ reports of their time travel adventures. She longed to curl up on one of the wing-back, leather chairs in the corner and absorb the historical words hidden within this four walls. She wished to do just about anything, instead of sitting here being monitored by Jax’s distraught parents.
Victor and Annalieese kept her in their sights at all times. Victor paced, slamming his impatient fist on the table every five minutes with Annalieese attempting to calm him down for the next ten. They waited for the sibling trio to return...more specifically, waited for Jax.
Brea could tell Victor was angry, simply fuming about her defiance. Well, tough on him. She wasn’t bonding with Victor. That old man had less of a chance of her listening to him than Jax did.
When the Winters time travel door flew open, the gateway vortex she’d only heard about, appeared before her very eyes. It was more spectacular than anything Brea had ever seen before in her life. The mass of blue and white electricity swirled her thoughts away, leaving Brea in stricken awe.
Victor quickly extinguished her mixture of amazement and enchantment when he grabbed her upper arm, lifted her to her feet, and almost dragged her across the floor.
If Jax, Declan, and Gabrielle hadn’t staggered into the room looking like the vortex had torn them apart, Brea would have shown Victor exactly how many times he could touch her in such an aggressive manner. But her attention diverted to an over-exhausted Declan carrying a passed-out Gabrielle in his arms. Jax’s arm was firmly wrapped around his brother’s shoulder, but the rest of him looked drained of energy.
Annalieese finished Brea’s gasp.
“What happened?” Annalieese started toward her children, but Victor held out his other arm, stopping her, as a stream of light washed through the siblings. Brea’s eyes widened as the yellow glow forming in Declan’s chest began swirling through his veins, passing the surge of energy into the others where their skin touched. The force had the same effect on Jax and Gabrielle, darting through their veins. With a final bright flash, it realigned back to Declan and vanished.
Gabrielle gasped and opened her eyes.
With a surge of fresh energy, Jax’s arms encircled his siblings and they stood there for a long time, still, in their own time. Brea couldn’t help but appreciate the connection, the bond, between the siblings, and for a split second, she wanted to be part of it.
Jax pulled away and Declan steadied Gabrielle on her feet. Annalieese rushed to her side and demanded answers to the events of their trip.
Victor was less interested in what had happened and didn’t give any of them the opportunity to answer before demanding, “Where’s the Rogue?”
Jax’s eyes fell on his father’s fingers gripping Brea. “He got away,” Jax said slowly, his eyes finding Brea’s and silently asking if she was alright. She would be better if his father wasn’t attempting to throw his weight around like a giant buffoon. Jax caught a small nod from her and nodded back.
“He got away?” Victor sounded as disgusted as Jax looked.
Jax’s eyes landed back on his dad. “That’s what I said. Now, you explain to me what’s going on here. More specifically, why you’re gripping my wife like a piece of meat you intend on tossing on the grill.”
Victor tilted Brea’s neck and pushed her hair away from her birthmark. “Bond her,” he ordered. “Now.” He didn’t hurt her, but he made her angry. She tried to pull away, but Victor was built strong, and his fingers dug into her neck.
“You have five seconds to get your hands off my wife,” Jax warned.
Brea stilled at her husband’s threatening tone. Tilting her head, she found colossal rage in Jax’s flaring eyes. Different than his reaction in the tattoo parlor, this one was more protective, less controlling. Caring, but without obligation. From across the room, he sent a blanket of security to wrap around her and calm her own fears.
Annalieese stepped between the men, her worry for them swiftly taking precedence. “The council is on their way here,” she explained to Jax, trying to defend her husband’s uncalled for and barbaric behavior.
Jax looked around her, making eye contact with Victor. “Four seconds,” he said again.
“Bond her,” Victor said each word slowly, with clear precision.
Neither man stood down, placing Annalieese in the middle of the testosterone battle.
“Screw it,” Jax said. “You had two seconds too many.” He crossed the room and, in a quick movement, had Victor’s hand off Brea’s neck. His father deftly shoved him against a wall. In the same amount of time, Jax had gripped the back of Brea’s ne
ck in his hand. Her birthmark, having a mind of its own, pulsed a thousand beats against his palm. She couldn’t help but notice his gentle, soothing touch. It was almost loving compared to his dad’s controlling contact. The thought gave Brea a jolt of faith in her husband. Jax’s touch was anything but controlling. She recalled each time they’d come in direct contact before; she’d never felt he had been domineering. However, at the moment, the death grip on his father seemed commanding.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Jax shoved his arm against Victor’s throat.
“I’m saving you before they destroy you. Both of you.” Victor sent Brea a look she couldn’t decipher.
“Do you see where my hand is?” Jax demanded, drawing back Victor’s attention. “I’m ready. She’s not. And that’s not anyone’s business but ours. Council has a problem with that, I anticipate their visit.”
“You won’t when they get here,” Victor warned. “You’re always fighting us when you should have respect−”
“She’s not a pawn in a game−”
“That’s exactly what she is. A pawn in your destiny. And you need to take charge and stop letting the humanity you possess overrule you. You’re a Gatekeeper. Act like one.”
“If being a Gatekeeper means losing my humanity, then I give up the job,” Jax yelled. The actual act was impossible, but the sentiment touched Brea’s soul.
Of course it touched your soul, you two are soulmates.
“We’re going to our wing. Don’t bother us unless Gabby has a vision. Understood?”
Not one person nodded, but everyone acknowledged Jax’s request.
“If I were you, I would be more concerned about what Declan’s about to fill you in on. Not one book has been written about what just happened to us and it makes me wonder if we respect and accept council and their rules too willingly.”
Brea’s thoughts exactly. These were words to win her heart.
With that final declaration, Jax let go of Brea’s neck folded his hand around hers, and guided her out of the library.
Once in the hallway, Jax cursed, letting go of her hand to run his fingers through his messy hair. He kept his pace fast down the halls and she was forced into a run to keep up.
“What do you know about the council coming?” he barked over his shoulder, not hiding his concern.
“Nothing. I’m just a pawn in your destiny, remember?” She hadn’t meant for it to sound so accusing, especially moments after he’d stood up for her, protected her...claimed her. Contrary to her disrespectful words, she was grateful.
Jax stopped walking and she ran straight into him. He felt good: solid and warm.
“Dammit woman, do you see the shit your reluctance to bond has caused?”
One moment he was protecting her and the next he blamed her for everything. Hot and cold described her husband’s moods.
“They didn’t tell me anything,” Brea gritted through her teeth. “Be angry at me. Blame me for being nothing more to the people in this house, your family, than your bonder. You might as well throw me in the dungeon. I’m sure we aren’t far from it.” Her hands waved in both directions of the dark hallway. “That’s what my life is here. A prison.” Her tone lowered, but remained forceful. “And don’t deny it. I caught the babysitting squad you stuck to me.”
Why were they fighting? She needed to stop agitating him and let him calm down. She needed to calm down and then maybe they could have a civilized conversation...maybe.
He grabbed her wrist and growled back, “If you stopped being too good for us, maybe you would find it’s not so bad here.”
Brea narrowed her eyes on him. “Me? Too good for you? Have you looked around, my precious husband? It’s you who has been placed so high on the family pedestal that you’re blinded to the realities of life.”
“Your pedestal far outranks my own.”
“The sun must be burning your retinas up there, because you are obviously not seeing clearly.”
“Maybe you do need a night in the dungeon.”
“Try it. I dare you.” She stared him down, wondering if she would land her ass on a cement floor and be forced to spend the night with rats and bugs.
When Jax’s threat just hung in the air, his jaw so tight she was sure he wouldn’t be able to speak another word, she yanked her arm out of his grasp and stormed to their wing, without looking back at him once. When the door slammed a second time, she knew he had entered right behind her.
She had been so close to feeling normal this afternoon. Maybe even closer to feeling what normal felt like. Eve had been a blast of refreshing and accepting air. Then suddenly Victor had confirmed exactly what everyone saw when they looked at her: no more than a Second. Just like her whole life, the undermining feeling invaded her body and she felt degraded.
Brea slammed the bathroom door shut, needing a break from Jax. But he stormed right inside behind her.
“What is wrong with you?” she demanded.
“This was my bathroom, before it was ours.”
Ours? Ha!
She groaned, fisting her hands at her side. “I hate everything about this.” She felt the fight escalading once more.
Jax tore his shirt over his head. She didn’t hate that. He reached into the shower to turn on the water, stretching and flexing his back muscles for her. She didn’t hate that either.
He turned back to speak to her. “You’re making it difficult not to hate our situation right now,” he said.
“I could have been coming in for a shower.” She’d been trying to hide from him, and give them space to cool down, but he didn’t know that.
He smirked. “Sweetheart, I’m not stopping you.”
Her eyes widened.
His pants dropped right to his ankles and he stepped out of them, kicking them aside and wearing only dark grey briefs.
“Jerk,” she said.
Thank goodness he wasn’t butt naked, because she couldn’t guarantee her traitorous body would be able to walk away.
“I’ve had a jerk kind of day. I watched my sister almost get stabbed to death. Lost the Rogue. And learned the Unborns are actually born. So maybe being a jerk comes with the job.”
Gabby was stabbed? To death? How was she alive? Unborns were born? What? What!
“So unless you’re coming in the shower to help relieve some of my stress, get the hell out.”
Sympathy gone.
Nothing more than a bonder.
She slammed the door behind her and fell against it.
Infuriating.
Her stomach growled and she glanced down. Fine time to have an appetite.
Chapter Nine
JAX STOOD UNDER the pelting water for longer than usual. The glass encasement steamed, his body warmed, but nothing could rinse off his frustration. Not with his family, the council, or her.
Brea would be the death of him, but at least he would have a pretty face to look at. Or the scrunched up, dare me face she wore around him like a delinquent baiting the grown-up.
The two of them were in dire need of a sit down, a long conversation to clear up her mistrust in him...to start. But not tonight.
He soaped his body, mentally scrubbing away the insignificant events of the time rip, while recapping and noting the vital elements. He always needed time alone to sort through what to include, and what not to, in the finalized paperwork to email to council.
However, today, he didn’t look forward to the hours ahead of him for two reasons. The first included Brea’s suspicious eyes bouncing back into his head, lingering there and accusing him of acting like the asshole she thought he was.
The second involved contemplating whether to hold their discoveries until council arrived on their doorstep. He could see council already, arriving in the next couple of days with their high and mighty, superior position attitudes. Their drawn, evasive lips and serious faces not giving away any evidence to whether they were previously aware that Unborns were actually born. His gut told him they we
re very aware.
Jax shut off the water, grabbed a towel, and wrapped it around his waist, before stepping in front of the mirror and considering whether to shave or not. He rubbed the jaw of his overly exhausted face, deciding to shave in the morning. He reached for his toothbrush instead. As he brushed his teeth, he found himself becoming unusually agitated with council.
Jax had never been the person to play entirely by the rules, but he knew them and understood why they came into play. He knew which buttons he could push without causing serious an uproar. He would never go against bonding, had his wife not been ready and persistent. But not showing up until the end of his Gatekeeper graduation hadn’t been off limits.
There were restrictions to everything.
Today, however, believing to his deepest core, that council knew the situation regarding Unborns, rubbed Jax the wrong way. It could be because he was a firm believer of the truth over lies. Or that he didn’t like being kept in the dark when he and his siblings risked their lives in every time rip. Hell, his sister could have died today if they hadn’t distracted the doctor and nurse long enough to successfully open the rip and get Gabby home. He felt the flames of fire begin to stroke within him, and he suspected the flames burning inside were similar to ones Brea felt about Seconds being unworthy to Gatekeepers. Brea would never say she felt undermined, but watching her fight him, their bonding, their rules...everything, told him she didn’t feel like she measured up to his family. Seconds shouldn’t feel degraded because they weren’t born into a Gatekeeper’s family. No wonder they had Rogues going back into time.
He stared at his tired reflection. He’d been up long over twenty-four hours. His head was used to it, but his body still protested the long hours, and the long hours to follow on paperwork. He had no choice...it was his destiny. He accepted that. In fact, he loved that he was born to do something purposeful with his life, he just didn’t like being kept in the dark