Thirty Minutes to Heartbreak Box Set (Books 1-3)

by Nadia Scrieva

  “Well, there would be more photographs—so you’d have to get used to the media attention,” Thornton said. “I might need you to dress up and attend cocktail parties with me, company functions, that sort of thing. The Kalgren Tech Charity Ball will be held in a few months, you know, if the world doesn’t end.”

  “Sounds exhausting,” she responded. She looked up and thanked the waiter who had arrived with their drinks. “So what you need is a public girlfriend—not someone to enjoy time with privately, just for yourself?”

  He reached across the table and took her hand. “No, I need that too. I just thought I’d list the crappy parts of the position first. Now, for the good parts—we can pretty much afford to go anywhere and do anything you want. And, if the world does end on August 12th… well, we don’t have to spend our days alone before them.”

  “I like this offer,” she told him with a small smile. She downed her first shot of espresso. “I think I might be able to fulfill the bulk of your ‘girlfriend’ requirements.”

  “Great!” he answered, a smile of relief taking over his face. Yes! Now I just have to find a way to shove her in Pax’s face so she can be reminded of what she’s throwing away—I am still Thorn Kalgren, desirable bachelor and successful businessman. She shouldn’t take me for granted, and she shouldn’t expect me to wait forever! She certainly shouldn’t go around flirting with my father in my own house!

  Para frowned at this, and fought the urge to throw one of her espresso cups at his head. Instead, she polished off the final two shots before moving onto her coffee.

  “Wow, you’re just drinking all of that black?” he asked. “Doesn’t it taste terrible?”

  “I don’t need to sugarcoat a pill in order to swallow it,” she answered. “I can be a big girl and take my medicine—it’s best to call things what they are. Thanks for being so direct with me about this whole ‘girlfriend’ thing.”

  “Thanks for being so easy to talk with,” Thornton answered. He studied her face, appreciating her foreign-yet-familiar features, and the soft curls of her deep indigo hair. He had never seen a woman with such an otherworldly hair color, but it appeared to be natural. He noticed her checking her watch periodically. It’s nice to see that Medea has an appreciation for time. Our time is short and we have to use it wisely—if Pax realized that, she wouldn’t have dumped me out to the curb with the trash. I deserve to be treated better than that.

  Para was chewing her lip as she looked at him curiously. “Your job’s not all that’s bothering you,” she remarked.

  “It’s not even the least of it,” he answered with a nervous smiled. “It’s strange. I am really stressed about this comet, and the company, and everything—but it’s the emptiness in my personal life that bothers me the most.”

  “I understand that. Maybe it’ll do us both some good to try a relationship,” she said gently. She polished off her coffee in one swig.

  Thornton smiled. There was definitely something special about this girl—even when she was guzzling down caffeine, her every motion was graceful and measured. A back-up plan, he told himself suddenly. If things never work out with Pax, she wouldn’t be such a horrible back-up plan. I do need to get on with my life, after all. Pax may be in her twenties, and she may think she has all the time in the world, but I’m nearly forty! I realize that we’re devas and we have techniques to stay youthful. We will live longer than most people, but we are ultimately mortal and time really is limited. Medea’s beautiful, intelligent, and sweet—my number one priority is making Pax insanely jealous, but maybe… maybe this is what I need right now.

  “Medea, there’s something I need to know,” Thornton said with a hesitant smile. “Since you’re going to be my girlfriend.”

  “What?” she asked, a bit upset by his thoughts. She began to feel as though her little plan for revenge had begun to spiral out of control. It was working too well.

  “Your last name.”

  “Meadows,” she answered, far too softly. Para let go of her coffee cup as it began to crack under the grip of her fingers.

  * * *

  Asher stepped out of the shower and began toweling himself off in the men’s locker room.

  It wasn’t that the early-morning personal training session had tired him out, or even caused him to secrete a single drop of perspiration, but it had certainly been stressful. He had found it challenging to discern how hard he needed to push his client without going too far for the human man’s capacity. The first day of work was always stressful, he supposed. It should get easier. The shower helped him to relax a little.

  A fellow trainer stepped out of one of the other showers, glancing at Asher’s body as the deva toweled his face dry.

  “Hey man, you look kind of familiar. Were you on the news sometime recently?”

  Upon receiving a death-glare from Asher, the man threw up both hands and stepped back. “No disrespect, bro. You just look very fit, that’s all.”

  “I am fit.” Asher growled and ignored the other man as he tugged his pants on. He reached down and retrieved his cell phone and saw that there was a voicemail waiting for him. He put the phone to his ear so that he could listen.

  Hi, Ash—this is Medea calling. I just saw Thorn for coffee, and he offered me something a little more concrete and substantial than the "no strings attached" arrangement you suggested. I have agreed to try being Thorn’s girlfriend for the time being—just to see where it goes. I hope you’re cool with this. You didn’t seem too serious about me in a romantic way—I’d really like if you could still teach me how to fight and all. I hope you’re not offended; I really enjoyed hanging with you. Can we still be friends?

  “What the fuck?” muttered Asher. He immediately pressed the speed dial button to reach his best friend.

  “Hey, Ash!” answered Thornton after a few rings.

  “What’s going on, Thorn? You asked Medea to be your girlfriend? She and I were really getting along!”

  “Yeah, man. I’m really sorry to interfere—but I kind of need her help at the moment. I think I can use her to make Pax jealous.”

  Asher threw his towel down on the bench with a force that caused the bench to crack. “She deserves better than that! You asked her to be your girlfriend so you could use her?”

  “Aw, come on. You were just going to use her for sex anyway. She told me you pulled the ‘no-strings attached’ card. We both know what that means. It means you get free booty-calls when you want, and ignore her the rest of the time.”

  “Yeah, but...” Asher fumbled. But I need her too—she helps me take my mind off Mara. “I wasn’t doing that. I was taking it slow and being nice. I was just getting to know her.”

  “You should have told me! I didn’t know you were serious. She didn’t know you were serious. Look, Ash, I’m really sorry…”

  “Whatever, man.” Asher promptly ended the call and shoved the phone back into his jeans. A grunt came from behind him and he turned to the sound of the voice.

  “Girl problems, man? Here, have a smoke with me,” said the other trainer.

  “Can we do that in here?” Asher asked, looking longingly at the extended cigarette.

  “Why not? Just put it to your lips and puff,” said the man with a laugh. “It relieves stress. Give it a go.”

  Asher’s shoulders sagged and he nodded slowly. “Sure. Yeah, sure.”

  Grasping the slim cylindrical object, Asher brought it to his mouth and positioned it between his lips rebelliously. He pointed his finger at the end and used a small flame of prana to light the cigarette.

  “Cool trick,” said the other man, impressed.

  “Thanks.” Asher inhaled deeply, letting the poison linger in his lungs before breathing out leisurely. The smoke tasted disgusting. It tasted like rotting corpses that had been left in the sun and were being swarmed by flies and vultures. It tasted like something he deserved to taste.

  “My name’s Dario Roberts, by the way,” said the other trainer.

 
“Ash. Ash Burnson.”

  “Burnson? Any relation to that pretty dead actress, Bridget Burnson?”

  Asher frowned. “Yeah. She was my brother’s wife.”

  “Aw, too bad, man. What a babe!” Dario’s mouth settled into a crooked grin. “Sometimes I still watch her movies and jerk off.”

  Asher slammed his locker closed a little too violently. The door ripped off its hinges and folded inward. “Don’t say shit like that,” Asher warned the other man. “I’m serious.” He shook his head angrily, imagining what Pax would have done to this man if she had heard him speak about her mother in that way.

  “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. Did they ever catch the guys who offed her?”

  “No,” Asher responded, tugging a sweatshirt over his head, “but we will.”

  “Hope so, man.” Dario puffed deeply of his cigarette. “So she married your brother, huh? Did you ever get a chance to… you-know. Maybe when he wasn’t around…”

  “Just stop talking,” Asher said quietly. The fingers clenched around his cigarette began to tremble, and the cigarette began to blacken and burn under his fingers. “She was my sister-in-law.”

  “I’m sorry—real sorry. Well, it’s good to meet you, man. We personal trainers gotta stick together—it’s a tough job. Wanna know my secret?”

  “Not really,” said Asher.

  Dario reached into his locker and withdrew a bottle of tequila. “Here’s the gold. This is my secret to being buff. I always train under the influence of alcohol—when I can’t feel the pain, I push my body further than I would be able to sober. Hurts like a bitch in the morning, but it’s gotten me far.”

  Asher furrowed his brow at this. He knew he was being extremely hypocritical considering that he had probably poured more liquor into his body in the past few months than Dario could handle in a lifetime—but he could afford to do so. “Training while using alcohol and cigarettes will ultimately make you much weaker.”

  “I need something to take the edge off of a hard day. I may look amazing, but I’m not a god.”

  Asher stared at the booze and the smokes and thought about how they would shorten this man’s life significantly. That did not seem like such a terrible thing. He thought about how many more poisons he would have to consume to achieve the same effect.

  “Count yourself lucky,” mumbled Asher.

  “What?”

  “Never mind.”

  “I swear, man,” said Dario, pointing at Asher with the hand which held the fuming cigarette, “You remind me of someone from somewhere. I’ve seen you in the newspapers before.”

  “It probably wasn’t me,” said Asher as he drew a lungful of tainted air through the little white tube. He grabbed his gym bag and tossed it over his shoulder.

  “No. I never forget a face. I know I’ve seen you somewhere.” Dario stared at him for a moment before his eyes lit up. “Hey! Weren’t you the one dating that rich bitch?”

  “...What?” The muscles in Asher’s face twitched and his eyes became hard. If Dario had been only slightly smarter he would have known not to continue.

  “That busty slut, what’s her name... you know. The Kalgren Tech heiress with the sweet tits...”

  The cigarette in Asher’s hand disintegrated as his prana began to flare. The strap of the bag on his shoulder burst into flames, but Dario did not notice this and unfortunately, continued to speak.

  “Wasn’t it Amara? Yeah! Amara Kalgren. Was she your woman? Man, I would give just about anything to tap that pretty blonde pussy...”

  Dario tried to keep speaking, but he found it challenging as his jaw broke into numerous pieces and several of his teeth were suddenly rolling around on his tongue.

  Over the next few seconds, Dario made a very intimate acquaintance with Asher’s fist. Very intimate, and repeatedly so. The knuckles were relentless in their effortless assault, making a profound connection with Dario’s face. Again and again. Asher didn’t stop until the man was unconscious.

  “Looks like I made a great impression on my first day of work,” Asher mused. He walked back to the shower to wash away the blood that had splattered on his arm and chest. “I think I need another cigarette.”

  Chapter 28: Zero Hour

  The Burnsons, Kalgrens, and a few members of the Solyst family sat around on sofas in the living room of the Kalgren Compound waiting for instructions. The atmosphere was tense as Layla flicked through the channels on the television.

  “…Even if you don’t live anywhere near where the comet is expected to hit, you need to get to a bomb shelter. If this is not an option for you, try to seek a safe, solid structure underground. Large-scale earthquakes will spread throughout the entire planet upon impact. If you live near water, try to get as far inland as possible; gigantic tsunamis are expected to bombard coastal regions, with waves as tall as 500 feet. The atmosphere will be filled with millions of tons of dust and ash, and we can expect that there will be no sunlight for several months to years. Make sure your shelter has an air filter. The planet will grow extremely cold, so make sure you have methods of staying warm. Most plant life and all crops will die without sunlight, so make sure you have access to plenty of canned foods and nonperishables…”

  “It’s going to be madness out there,” Amelia said softly, “every man for himself.”

  Rose put a hand on her friend’s shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. It’s the first of August, and we’re going to take care of this thing today.”

  “Sure you are,” said Nyssa skeptically. The dark-skinned woman stood in a corner, aside from the group, glaring at the television angrily.

  “The comet is 25 miles in diameter, and is expected to strike Australia at noon on August 12th, Pacific Time. Make sure you have medicine and first aid kits in case of emergencies, matches and lighters, flashlights and batteries, radios, gas masks, blankets and warm clothes. It’s also a good idea to plan for your shelter’s waste disposal, and to stockpile seeds for planting once the atmosphere clears…”

  “This is depressing,” said Asher, turning off the TV telepathically. “It’s not going to happen.”

  “I hope not,” said Gordin Solyst softly. He was standing near his time-traveling daughter with a dreary look on his face. “But even if it does hit, we will be fine.”

  “Mrs. Kalgren?” said a skinny scientist with huge round glasses who had poked his head into the room. “Ten minutes to impact of the first four rockets.”

  “Thank you, Wayne.” Rose waited until the man had exited the room before turning to the devas and rubbing her hands together. “Okie dokie, we’re approaching zero hour. My rockets are going to hit that comet, and hopefully either destroy it or knock it off its path. I need Pax to teleport up there and report what kind of damage it does. Does anyone else want to be on my reconnaissance team?”

  “I will go,” Vincent said with a nod.

  “Me too,” Raymond said. “We had better head up there now and check out the comet before the impact so we can determine how successful it is.”

  Rose placed her hands on her hips angrily. “Thorn, can you stop texting your new girlfriend, and focus on this?”

  “Sorry, mom,” Thornton said, clearing his throat.

  Amara rolled her eyes, sending her friend a knowing look. He’s just trying to make you jealous.

  I know. Pax did not know why she actually did feel jealous. The text messages were going to her phone! She was the girlfriend in disguise, so why did it bother her? She fought the urge to pull out her phone and respond.

  “I’ll go upstairs with them too,” Thornton offered. “Wanna come, Ash?”

  “Sure!” said Asher eagerly. “I love space travel as much as the next guy. Doesn’t everybody want to be an astronaut when they grow up?”

  Amara groaned. Pax, he’s so stupid. Make him stop being so stupidly adorable.

  Vincent nodded, pointing at the Solyst family. “Gordin and Adult Nyssa—stay here and protect the women
. Pax, you may begin the teleport.”

  “Sure. Come on, guys—stand close to me, in a circle, and make sure you are touching the person beside you,” Pax ordered.

  “Wait!” Rose shouted. “I have radios for all of you to use.”

  “What are these for?” Vincent asked as he suspiciously eyed the small device.

  “You know, so you can communicate in space.”

  Vincent smiled. “We have telepathy, darling.”

  “Well, excuse me for trying to be helpful!” Rose said in a huff. “My bad.”

  “Let’s get going, boys,” Pax ordered, taking several deep breaths, both to concentrate and to enjoy the atmosphere while it was still breathable. When the other devas had gathered around her, she placed a hand on her stomach, touching her thumb and forefinger to her solar plexus. She felt Thornton brush against her right shoulder, and she nearly jerked away, before remembering that it was necessary. Her father touched her left shoulder. Taking another calming breath, she placed the fingers of her other hand against her abdomen, creating the shape of a heart against her center. Focusing on the comet, she initiated the teleport, causing her body to dematerialize and spin through the air.

  An instant later, she had traveled across 20 million miles of empty space. Taking everyone along with her caused extra strain on her mind, and she felt herself falling. When a hand circled her back to help her upright, she thought it might be Thornton, but she realized when her eyes snapped open that it was her father. She smiled at Raymond weakly.

  Thanks, papa.

  You’re welcome, Paxie. You’re getting really proficient with your teleportation! You brought us directly to the comet. You conserve your energy while the others check it out, so you’ll be strong enough to take us back.

  She wanted to tell him that she was strong enough to do this all day, and that she just naturally grew dizzy for a few seconds after such a huge teleport, but she did not bother. If her father cared to know the extent of her power and its technicalities, he would know. Instead, it was Vincent who spent all his time helping to develop her skills. She was surprised when her father tightened his grasp on her back, and began to fly after the comet.