Kate’s hand flew to her mouth, and all the fire in her snuffed out. “No,” she breathed, but she recalled the feeling of being ripped in two. It never occurred to her that it actually happened.
“You left me here!” The Mother shrieked. “You and Corey abandoned me to a life as a battery! I had no one, nothing to anchor me to reality. I became the Mother.” Vehemence frothed out of her as she spat accusations at Kate.
“Then the Sphere Master came and knew me. He told me we had been friends. Carefully and gently, he brought me back. He described the great love I had shared with a man named Trip Carson, and it gave me a reason to be free.”
She turned her focus onto Trip. “I remembered you, Trip. I remembered our connection, our alliance, our kiss under the willow tree, and as we descended into the Scriptorium. You are my protector. I remember choosing you over Corey when we came back. I walked out of his arms into yours, remember? When we came to this world on your jump, I know how distraught you were when you couldn’t touch me in the cave and how you kept trying to get me away from the dragonet. You love me, Trip. I know you do.”
Trip took a step toward her. Kate? No wonder I feel so drawn to her, she’s my Kate. “It was you that night in the meadow.”
“Yes, my love. Finally I could express my love to you, give myself to you fully. I had waited for years to be reunited with you, to feel your arms around me. The greatest moment of my life happened in our wild flowers.” Tears streamed down her face, and her fingers quivered as she reached for him.
Trip ran to her, gathered her in his arms and kissed his Kate. Her body felt so good, so soft. He would save her, finally. He would take her home, and they would be together as they should have been all this time. Sheer joy bubbled inside of him.
He ran his hands down her beautiful body, the body that he knew, his Katie girl, the woman that had chosen him from the beginning. A sense of rightness broke open in him and he kissed her like he had never kissed her before, without guilt. No prior claim, she chose him.
No one would stand between them, now. He broke away and laughed for joy.
QUANTUM PERSPECTIVE SOURCE (QPS): TARA JOHNSON
Ding Dong the Dragon’s dead!
Tara wrenched the spear out of his brain and watched him shudder one last time. Now maybe Kate would be free of the psychic bond he had trapped her in. She leapt down from the massive beast and faced the gawking Kiarnusk.
She raised her spear at them and feigned an attack. They scattered like geese, big worthless brutes.
Tara topped the rise, wiping dragon ichor off of her spear and slid to a screeching halt. There stood Trip locked in a passionate kiss with the tattooed Kate. Betrayal sliced through her and anger kindled deep inside. She didn’t free Kate for him!
It took a moment for her to notice who else stood there. An unpainted version of Kate with her whip hanging limply at her side stared in horror at the couple in front of her.
“What the hell is going on?” Tara spat.
Kate snapped her head around, but Trip and the psychedelic Kate didn’t seem to hear her, they just continued groping.
Kate moved toward Tara and she met her in the middle. “She is me. We split apart. She stayed in the Mother’s chair and I broke away from her because of Corey. Dagan said I was broken. Now I understand what he meant.”
“Two Kates?” Tara let out a stream of foul language. Great! Not only did she have one Kate to compete with for Trip’s affections, but two. Not that she still cared for him in that way, of course.
Tara and Kate stared at the couple as they broke apart. Trip laughed and lifted her off the ground in an embrace. Her face peered over his shoulder and a devious and malicious smile met Tara’s and Kate’s surprised gapes. Trip turned with her in his arms.
She put her hand to her belt at her back, then lifted a dagger aimed at the back of Trip’s neck. She raised the knife, poised it in the air for a split second.
Kate and Tara reacted without thought. Kate snapped her whip and knocked the dagger out of her hand at the same time Tara launched the spear at her. The tip pierced through her rib cage and out the other side of her before it lodged in place. Her body rocked in spasms and she dropped her hands to clutch the spear at both of her sides.
Trip staggered back in shock. “No! No! Kate! Oh God!”
She fell forward into his arms and he collapsed to his knees with her, whimpering in her hair as she gasped for air through her punctured lungs. Her hands floundered helplessly at the spear as blood gushed from both sides. She raised a blood-tinged hand to Trip’s face.
“No. Katie girl, I love you, my Kate,” Trip crooned softly and she cupped his cheek in her gore smeared palm.
Kate and Tara advanced to them and glared down at the traitorous woman without pity. On the cusp of death, still she played games with Trip’s emotions. Tara wanted to stab her again.
The Mother pierced Kate with her hate-filled vitriol and gurgled out. “He is coming after you, Kate. The Sphere Master wants another dance.” She coughed and blood speckled her chin.
Her expression of hatred solidified and her eyes glazed as she died in Trip’s arms. He moaned in despair and the sound rent Tara’s heart in two. He eased the Mother down to the ground and tenderly kissed her lips. Gently, he reached a hand up to close her eyes, and then he softly whispered. “Steady there, Katie girl.”
Kate’s whip quivered as she lifted horror filled eyes to Tara’s. Then the sphere fell and took them home.
QUANTUM PERSPECTIVE SOURCE (QPS): TARA JOHNSON
Tara and Kate stood in the QHR in silence. Trip stared at his hands as though he were still holding the other Kate. Tara reached for Kate. Pain and dismay mirrored her own. They knelt down beside Trip, too weak to stand, and just sat there staring at the floor.
There were no words, all too horrible for speech. Kate watched her husband and herself die within a matter of minutes.
Trip lost Kate all over again.
Tara lost Trip all over again.
Despair settled like grave dust on their shoulders.
Breathing became difficult as they sat.
In stark silence.
Finally, Trip turned his head to Tara. She lifted her face up into his and stopped breathing. Seething malice assaulted her.
Violence tore out of his chest in a half growl, half moan. “Why, Tara? Why did you kill her? Were you so jealous that you couldn’t stand the thought of me having my own version of Kate?”
She flinched like he had struck her.
He jerked away from them and stormed out of the QHR, turning over tables and chairs in his path. The white coats just gawked at him, a lethal storm no one would approach.
Kate groaned and took Tara’s hands. “Tara, that was unfair. He didn’t mean it. He didn’t know she planned to kill him,” Kate whispered and kissed her fingers.
“He did mean it.” Tears tumbled down Tara’s cheeks and splattered on her jumpsuit, she could feel the warmth seep through her jacket to nestle against her chest. Tara fastened onto Kate’s eyes and for the first time, Tara loved her. She had been through so much and yet she took time to comfort her friend. Kate was everything Corey believed her to be. Tara could see her clearly, now.
Kate trembled under the burden of her pain. She mourned Corey. Another pang shot through Tara’s heart. “Corey,” she whispered shakily and they fell into each other’s arms and sobbed.
QUANTUM PERSPECTIVE SOURCE (QPS): KATE WILSON
“I need to see him. Take care of his uh, his body,” Kate rasped the last word and tried to stand up, but had no strength left. She buckled, but Tara lifted her up and wrapped a strong arm around her. Kate sent an expression of gratitude to Tara for her assistance.
“Take us to Corey’s body,” she commanded the medic.
The medic cocked her head at Kate, and then nodded. “Follow me.”
They stumbled through the terminal behind the white coat, barely able to see through tears. She turned into one of the hospital roo
ms and they saw Corey lying on the bed, his face as white as death. She saw nothing but his silent still face.
“Corey,” Kate whispered and her knees buckled. All she had left in the world, the only person left that she belonged to, was Corey. He had sacrificed his life for her, drove the spikes into his own brain so that she would be free. The only reason that she was not left on that dragon world to be twisted into the horrid creature that the Mother had become, lay on the bed in front of her. He’d anchored her, refused to let go of her. How am I going to let him go? I can’t. It’s impossible.
“He lost a lot of blood,” the medic said matter-of-factly.
Kate wrinkled her brow in disgust, tears splashing down her cheeks. How macabre! Is she going to give me the gory details of his death?
She sent Tara a quick “help me” look and turned her focus to Corey. Tara diverted the medic’s attention as Kate approached Corey’s body and tenderly reached out to smooth the sheet across his chest. Her hand fluttered against him and she lost it. She bowed over his body, and her tears rained to stain the sheet. Losing her grandparents, mom and little brother left her bereft, but paled compared to the pain and agony of having your other half ripped away from you.
She huffed an insane laugh. Other half! She had seen that even. The other Kate died in front of her and even that did not compare to this. She surrendered to the grief and fell across his body, sobbing.
“Shhh.”
She wished they would just leave her alone with her husband’s body. Give me some privacy for the love of Pete!
“Kate, my love.”
Hallucinations! Great! This renewed the sobs.
Hands directed her toward Corey’s face. She looked into his eyes.
“Corey?”
He smiled.
Her mouth opened in surprise. “You’re alive?” she whispered. “You are alive!”
“I have loved you—”
She didn’t give him time to finish his sentence. She jumped onto the bed, locked her lips onto his, and kissed her husband with every atom of strength that remained in her weakened body.
“Who gave [the Almighty] authority over the earth? And who has laid on Him the whole world? If He should determine to do so, if He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.” ~ Job 34:13-15
QUANTUM PERSPECTIVE SOURCE (QPS): COREY CHASTAIN
We were detoxed, twice, cleared medically, and sent home to First Cabin. Mel ran down the steps and jumped into Donnie’s arms before he straightened out of the cart. We entered the safe haven of our home, a bit emaciated, but with merry hearts.
It felt so good to be back at home in the company of family and wrapped around my wife. Mel served us lasagna and salad with sweet tea as we gathered around to hear the stories. It seemed each team member had a part of the story that added up to the whole.
“Two Kates!” Eunavae exclaimed. She looked at me. “Corey, you knew all along, didn’t you?”
“Not really. Part of me knew, I think. I certainly couldn’t imagine that my Kate could be so brutal.”
Kate searched my eyes and I knew she had many questions for me. I dreaded what I would have to confess to her.
“Who is this Sphere Master?” Mel poured tea into Trip’s glass over his shoulder.
“Someone she worked with,” Donnie answered.
“I still don’t understand why they targeted Corey.” Dirk rubbed his full belly.
“They blamed him for splitting Kate,” Tara said.
“Kate just wanted to come home,” Trip mumbled into his glass.
“No, Trip. You are wrong,” Kate answered softly. “She tried to kill you. We saw her raise a dagger behind your back. She wanted you dead. Tara saved your life.”
His face crumpled into deep sadness and he resumed staring at the planks in the floor.
“She wasn’t well,” Kate continued. “She came to me in the dark and told me about how she used you and Corey when she came here. She only wanted to hurt you. Get you to turn on each other.”
“Kate.” I didn’t want her to rub salt in Trip’s wound. He hurt enough.
“No, Corey. He needs to hear the truth.” She pushed back from the table, walked to Trip and knelt down beside his chair, taking his hands in hers. “She wasn’t your version of me, Trip. She wasn’t the part of me that would have chosen you. Even then, on our first jump, I had chosen Corey. The Sphere Master manipulated her into thinking that I had chosen you.”
Trip took it well, I think he had already come to that conclusion deep inside. He searched Kate’s eyes and nodded.
“That doesn’t make sense. Why would he do that?” Donnie rubbed his chin as we all left the table and moved to settle into the living room. “If the Sphere Master wanted the other Kate to take your place, why would he feed her false information? It would have been too risky. She might have said something or done something to give herself away. Why would he risk that?”
“He wouldn’t.” Corey stretched out on the sofa.
“So either he didn’t plan for her to take Kate’s place or—”
“He thought the information true,” Dirk interjected.
“Why would he think that?” Corey asked.
“I thought it,” Dirk said. “On the tornado jump, I thought Kate had chosen Trip.”
Kate looked down at her hands and then slid onto the sofa beside me. “I did too.” She tucked herself under my arm and pressed into me. “For a small terror-filled moment when I thought we were going to die, I did choose Trip. I felt safe with him.”
She touched my arm and dipped her head to check my expression, afraid that her words would cause me pain. I pecked her lips in reassurance.
“But nobody knew that except the people in that closet,” Trip said. “Me, you, Dirk and…”
“Gregory!” Everyone in the room said at the same time.
“Gregory?” Kate looked around shocked. “What about him?”
“He is Gregorvitch Mattovdzky,” I informed her.
“What? The Polish scientist from the Inner Circle?” Kate asked incredulously.
We filled her in on our tornado jump and the jump to Poland. Then I told her about how Dirk and I put two and two together.
“Gregory is the Sphere Master?” Kate whispered. “Oh!”
“What?”
“Greg’s last words to me were ‘thanks for the dance’. Then the other Kate’s last words were ‘the Sphere Master is coming for you, he wants another dance.’”
“He’s coming for you?” My chest seized in panic.
Kate nodded, her face heavy with dread.
“That’s enough proof for me.” Dirk jumped up and grabbed the cell phone. We all waited to see what he said.
“Chaps, we need one of the Inner Circle arrested.” He paused. “Yeah, we have proof that he is engaged in espionage. Yeah—Dr. Gregorvitch Mattovdzky.”
I heard the muffle of the cowboy Chaplain’s reply.
“What? When did that happen?” Another pause, then Dirk swore as he hung up the phone.
“He finished his year of service and left yesterday.”
“He’s loose. Out there with—”
“Unlimited resources, a Nobel Prize, and all the information he needs to continue Quantum Jumps on his own,” I choked out.
“We can’t touch him.” Donnie gritted his teeth.
“Even if we could find him,” I added. I turned to Kate, expecting her to hyperventilate. She shrugged.
“Oh well, if he comes after me, fine. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.” She looked at Tara. “Right?”
Tara grinned, reached across the ottoman and bumped her fist. “Right.”
WE SENT THE Keepers on a two-week vacation of their choice. Mel and Donnie chose Italy and left the next day. I had a fully furnished and staffed villa there, so a quick call to the company jet and they were off. Trip, Tara, and Eunavae chose to go deep sea diving in Galapagos. Dirk wanted to su
rf in Hawaii, and he took Kim Stevens with him.
Kate and I stayed home and spent most of our vacation in bliss so full of worship.
She determined to wipe away the memory of the false Kate. I loved her for it.
One night, we were in the hot tub wrapped around one another, under the stars. Kate kissed my neck and jaw and tenderly traced circles on my shoulders. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feel of her skin pressed against mine as I stroked the small of her back.
“Kate.” I nibbled at her ear.
“Mmmmhmmm.” She squeezed me tighter with her legs and arms.
“I need to tell you something.” I ran my hands up her sides and she trembled at my touch.
“No, Corey, the Mother already told me about that. You don’t have to feel guilty about making love to her.”
“I made love to you, not her.”
“I know, my sweet Corey.” She pressed even closer to me.
“Kate,” I whispered. “Don’t give her another thought. I haven’t. You are all I ever want. All I need.” I held her gaze long enough for her to believe me. I sealed her faith with a kiss.
I surrendered to the power of our love, again, and thought I would never get enough of the curve of her hip, the beauty of her breast, the warmth of her skin. I adored every part of her and relished the worship of her hands and lips on me.
We found ourselves wrapped in towels in a chaise by the pool when our heat had simmered. I ran my hand across her arm and she stroked my thigh as our breathing returned to normal.
“Gah, Kate! Are you ever going to let me finish a sentence? I have to tell you something, important, but you keep seducing me with your feminine wiles.”
She giggled, kissed me again, then pushed back. “Okay. Lemme have it.”
I steeled myself. “I am not here at the village because I am in trouble with the law.”
“Oh.” She seemed surprised by the direction our conversation headed and she pushed up on her elbow to look at me. “I knew that from the first day I met you. You couldn’t have done anything wrong.”
The Keepers Book Two of the Holding Kate Series Page 24