“So if he is Gladiator G.I. Joe,” I rubbed my palm over my chin and sized up Tara, the statuesque dragon slayer. “Then that makes you Xena Warrior Barbie.”
“Corey Chastain, you did not just call me that!” She arched her brow and swatted at me. I ran backwards to the hay-filled wagon, taunting her.
Grinning as Tara caught up to me with a punch, I caught Kate when she tumbled off of Trip’s back and into my arms. We burrowed down under the straw sniggering and stealing kisses until the others caught up and climbed aboard. Dirk, our fearless leader, pretended to step on us to get to the driver’s seat. Then launching up from the hay, we attacked him, burying him in mounds of the stuff. An all-out alfalfa war ensued, strewing hay all over the road.
Dirk escaped, took up the reins, and whistled to the mules. The wagon rocked forward and Kate fell into my arms, giggling. We dove under the golden blanket again. Ah, the taste of Kate’s lips—
“Get a room!” Trip growled, arm hanging over Tara’s shoulder. Kate flushed and kissed me again before crawling out to bask in the sunshine as the wagon jostled us toward the village. Kate tilted her face to the sun. I picked straw out of her hair and gazed over the campus.
The day beamed a bright sky as vibrant as a field of bluebonnets. Tara’s golden hair reflected in the sunlight as she shifted on the hay bale to lean back against Trip’s chest. Trip’s usual scowl paused when he pressed his chin to the top of her head, then resumed as he plucked a straw and set it between his teeth. Mel and Donnie sat at the end of the wagon with their legs dangling off. Mel leaned back on her elbows and let the sun warm her cheeks. She hummed a familiar tune, pale hair the color of Tara’s and mine wafted in the breeze. We watched the beauty of the summer drift by to the accompaniment of croakers and chirpers.
It felt so good to be out of that underground bunker. Three weeks of constant training, memorizing files, and testing as jump commanders without a peek of sunlight drove us stir crazy. A bit giddy, we soaked in the honeysuckle air and acted our physical ages for a change.
We spent our hibernation in intense physical and mental training, side by side, giving Kate a chance to get close to everyone on the team. That included Trip. They were already pretty tight, but we felt if our mission to expose the infiltrator was going to succeed, then Kate needed freedom to spend time with all of us equally. Counting on her uncanny intuition on the jumps, we all opened ourselves to her. Her innate ability to love unconditionally without reservation bonded us to her, the secret keeper. Her ability to care for others amazed me, and seeing the whole team attached to her gave me joy. Mostly.
I shrugged dark thoughts away. I just wanted to enjoy this awesome day with my girl. I pecked Kate on the cheek and slung my arm over her shoulders. She slowly blinked at me and pressed her palm against mine. We laced our fingers together. She held my gaze, her pupils wide with emotion. She drew closer, trapping me in her intensity. Nothing satisfied me like her love-filled expression. Nothing captured me like her pure attention focused solely on me. She drew a shaky breath and turned her face back to the sun and nestled her head against my shoulder.
The screeching sphere descended suddenly. Vacuumed into swirling light fractals swishing around us like whitewater rapids, we were abducted and then dumped at the edge of a cliff. A sheer drop to a rock-strewn beach below reminded me of Kate’s jump when she had faced the Daddy monster three weeks earlier. This was not the same world, though. Only one sun lit the sky here.
People dressed in drab garb wandered the plain around us. Listless and dull they roamed without purpose.
“Okay, Keepers, eyes peeled.” Dirk turned a slow circle, making sure we were all accounted for.
Kate pressed against my side and I took her hand. She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Why have we jumped? We aren’t supposed to be activated, yet, right?” She reached her other hand to touch Mel’s arm reassuringly.
“Mama Ty said we were going to go to the Scriptorium first,” Mel murmured as she scanned the people milling around.
The Scriptorium existed on two planes, the cave under the gazebo in the heart-shaped lake and a portal to an immortal world. Jump teams went to receive instruction, a spiritual preparation for their time at Heartwork Village. Since we had been separated from the Chartreuse team to form a secret task force called The Keepers, we still needed to go there. We didn’t even know who would be in charge.
“I told you we should have kept our weapons!” Trip spat and shifted his stance, back to back with Tara, both in full warrior mode.
“Guys, check it out.” Donnie pointed over the edge of the cliff to the ocean and we all turned our attention to the foaming waves as they rolled in to crash against the rocks.
An enormous head rose out of the billowing sea, horns first. Salt spray crashed around it and streamed down the massive scales as feral orbs blinked open. It rose quickly revealing the colossal giant of a monster as it lurched toward us. Muscled arms the size of dual stadiums jutted from his slimy torso. A tail crashed behind him causing tsunami like waves to fracture and speed in opposite directions.
He halted with one foot in the ocean and the other foot on the land, threw back his head and bellowed. Darkness spewed from his mouth to blot out the sky. The people screamed and ran in all directions, panic-stricken and chaotic. Some ran off the cliff edge and fell to crunch on the rocks far below.
The monster took a swipe at the cliff and the earth crumbled into the ocean taking dozens of people down with it and catapulting others into us. Kate and Mel, hit by a flying man, sailed down the hill. I turned to run after them when the ground beneath my feet gave way.
Darkened sky descended in black fog pillars to eclipse the day, and I couldn’t discern the black loam of the cliff from the inky darkness. I scrambled, clawing and grabbing to keep from spilling over the ragged edge.
We were thrown into midnight with screams and wails as our only orientation. Descending shrieks and crashing waves far below chased me toward chaotic moans and shouts above.
“Corey!” I heard Trip’s voice above the chaos. It sounded near.
“Here!” I clung to the side of the precipice.
“Take my hand!”
“I can’t see you, Trip!”
“I’m here. I’m right here.”
He sounded so close. I trusted Trip with my life, he’d become one of my best friends over the last three weeks. I wouldn’t be able to hang on much longer. I drew a deep breath, released the root I dangled from, and arced my hand into the darkness above me.
I hit solid muscle and felt it clamp around my forearm.
He lifted me slowly and I pumped my legs into the side of the cliff. Together we made purchase until I collapsed on the ground beside him. He clutched my shoulder in one of his large palms and gripped my forearm.
“Thanks,” I huffed. “Thanks.”
He pounded my shoulder and lifted me up.
“Kate. Where is Kate?” I breathed heavily as we rose to stand side by side in the darkness.
The roar of the monster muffled Trip’s reply. So dark, I checked my step, afraid to move. We could step right off the edge if we tried to move in the absolute darkness.
A flicker drew my attention. I looked down at my chest. A reddish golden glow emanated from the center of my frame. I followed the light trail to see Trip’s face illuminated by the radiance. His mouth hung open and his eyes grew round as he stared at the light coming from me.
Other faces appeared in the circle around us. Kate, Tara, Mel, Donnie, Dirk and the strangers were drawn to the only circumference of light left in this world. Trip reached out and touched my shirt where the light centered and it skimmed up his arm and landed in the middle of his chest, flashing a brilliant white, then simmering to the golden glow.
Our eyes met.
“Whoa,” he whispered and turned his hand around to gawk at the luminosity staining his fingertips.
A loud screech enveloped us, and then deposited us on the black-top road beside the
hay wagon. We staggered, trying to gain our bearings.
“Wha what just happened?” Kate squinted her eyes against the sudden brightness. A trickle of blood flowed from a gash on her temple. I moved toward her just as she gasped and turned toward Mel. “Mel, are you okay?”
Mel swayed on her feet. Donnie and Kate, nearest her, rushed to take her by the elbows and assist her to the flatbed trailer.
I grabbed the first aid kit from the storage under the driver’s seat and ran to the back of the wagon. I dabbed at Kate’s face with gauze while she fussed and crooned over her friend. “Mel sit here. Drink this water.” She cracked the seal of a bottle of water and pressed it to Mel’s lips.
“I’m fine.” Mel waved us away. “Just got dizzy.” But she accepted the water bottle from Kate and sipped again.
Kate took the cloth from me with a sweet smile and pressed it against her wound. “Thank you, Corey.” She kissed my cheek and left a burning imprint where her lips touched. Then she turned back to Mel, Donnie and Tara to make sure they were okay.
I urged Dirk and Trip to the side. “What just happen?”
Dirk slowly wagged his head back and forth. “Unprecedented. Never happened before.”
“What do you mean? We get ripped out of this place all the friggin’ time.” Trip’s arms were covered in the same black soil as me.
“No, not just the jump, though we aren’t on active status. Quantum Spheres shouldn’t be forming yet. The weird part is being dumped in the middle of the campus. We’re supposed to reappear in the QHR.”
The quantum jumps always took us back to the Quantum Home Room for detox. “Obviously this wasn’t a sanctioned jump,” I said.
“So the infiltrator sent us there?” Trip asked.
Dirk shrugged. “Let’s get to the QHR.”
I rubbed at my chest. A tingling sensation remained where the light had blazed.
ALSO BY LaDONNA COLE
THE TORN
Book One
The Holding Kate Series
THE KEEPERS
Book Two
The Holding Kate Series
Coming Soon
DRUMMER BOY
A Family Christmas Story
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Information
Also By LaDonna Cole
Dedication
The Immortal Song
File One: Report
File Two: The Keepers Files
File Three: The Science
File Four: Origins
File Five: The Inner Circle
File Six: QPS: Eye On The Prize
File Seven: QPS: Debriefing
File Eight: QPS: Preparation
File Nine: QPS: The Dudgeons
File Ten: QPS: Uneasy Truce
Special Sneak Preview: The Keepers
Purchase Links
About the Author
Contact the Author
Meet the Designers
The Keepers Files 1.5 A Holding Kate Series Book Page 6