* * *
A light breeze crept through Shona’s window to gently touch her face, its cool fingers stroking her cheek as had the mysterious man from the library.
She fought the sleep that held her against her will. Perhaps it was the man himself and not a breeze. If only she could wake up.
Or was she awake already? She couldn’t move, and try as she might, her eyes refused to open. Yet she could hear the sounds of the night surrounding her—night birds, crickets, a neighborhood dog's occasional bark. And the voices outside her room, fading in and out, becoming clear then suddenly distorted, as if her door was being opened and closed.
If only she could wake up, if only she could sleep; either would be preferable to this haunting limbo. How on earth did she get there? What caused it? She was fine after dinner, happy to get home and away from Philip. The constant discord she sensed between him and her parents made the entire evening unpleasant. She felt fine after she’d taken a shower, had some tea Julia insisted she try, and went to bed.
Where was the man? She needed him; why was he not here? He had all but said he would be waiting for her beneath the tree. She knew the pain would come in the middle of the night like it always did, and he was the only one able to take it away. Even her music did little to stop it now. Only him…
Please, God, if he’s out there, make him come! I do not know where he has gone. Please, do you know where he is? Is he hurt? Lost? I need him. I need him. I need him like I need… the boy.
Where had the boy gone? Why had she not seen him in her dreams as often since she’d met the man from the library? Who had killed those loved by the man? Oh, how he hurt. If she could just push the pain away from him, he would be so much better, so free to love her… just like the boy...
“Philip, what’s happening to her?” Julia backed up a step and trembled with an odd combination of fear and elation at what she saw.
Philip, his breathing erratic, bent over Shona who lay helpless and drugged upon her bed; a sacrificial lamb bound to a hideous altar, waiting to be sacrificed to a detestable god of evil. Himself.
He put a hand on either side of her shoulders and leaned to within inches of her face, intent on the changes taking place. “She is in what is called Flux. See how her features change, Julia? Is she not beautiful? She can sense what is inside me, her camouflage instinct relaxing as she dreams, no fear of discovery. It thinks I’m one of her kind. It doesn’t know yet how human I am.”
Julia took another step back. “All these years, you had me guarding this thing for you? Why didn’t you tell me? Don’t you trust me?”
He never took his eyes off Shona, her features now fully Muiraran. “Beautiful perfection, Julia. Could I have trusted you with such a treasure? If you knew you had been given gold instead of copper, could I have trusted you all this time? Would you be able to part with it now that I’ve come to claim what is mine?”
Julia continued to stare over Philip’s shoulder, shivering. “I would never betray you.”
He stood slowly, his lust building. “No? Why do I find that hard to believe, my dear?”
She swallowed back her fear. “What is she?”
“Power. More power than you could possibly imagine. Power controlled by who ever is able to win and claim her.” He turned to face Julia, his breathing heavy, lust evident in his features. “Barbaric concept, isn’t it? Claiming, winning, conquering?”
His arms shot out and grabbed Julia, roughly pulling her to him. He kissed her savagely, broke the kiss and shook her to emphasize his next words. “Mastering, Julia. Master her and you master the power she possesses. A blissful arrangement.” He gripped her harder, and brutally kissed her again. This time drawing blood.
Julia struggled briefly before she realized what it would do for him and stopped, letting him instead hurt her at will. When he lifted his face from hers and glanced back at the bed, her eyes turned into poison. “And what will you do if she refuses you? When she finds she despises you?”
He turned back to her abruptly, his fingers digging painfully into her arms. “Oh, sweet Julia, you’ve taken care of all that for me haven’t you? You just said you would never betray me. I trust you’ve been faithful in preparing my feast. Seen to it that she has been well taught, readied for me, trained in all I’ve asked.” He grabbed a fist full of Julia’s hair as his other arm wrapped itself around her waist and pinned her body to his. “Do you know how hungry I am, Julia? How long it’s been since I’ve eaten? Really eaten? I could devour you right here and now, just like yesterday and most likely would were I not in the Maiden’s company. But she is what I want at this point, what I truly hunger for. You, you’re nothing but a cheap imitation of the real thing.” He threw her to the floor.
Julia lay there, her previous look of poison replaced now by pure fear. Philip was clearly insane, consumed by a lust she couldn’t comprehend or even begin to describe. And Shona, she was much more valuable than she had imagined. Nearly everything fit now, all the missing pieces of her memory she’d searched for falling neatly into place. All but one.
She glared up at him, watching as he again bent over a helpless Shona, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. She remembered how once he had touched her that way, but then recalled how that same hand had recently left her bruised and bleeding. She touched her face. No trace of his brutal lust now evident. She still did not know how he never left a mark on her. Her eyes became as ice as she looked at him. “And what if you fail? What if another were to win and claim her before you do?”
Philip slowly turned. “So that was him. I thought as much. Tell me, how long has he been here? Did he get a chance to stake a preliminary claim? I don’t think so. And if your clever little mind is thinking of using him to best me, forget it. I’ve already eliminated that bit of competition.”
Julia’s face fell. “What do you mean?”
“What I mean is that Graves and Kent should be back anytime now to report on the unfortunate luck of a certain young man. Probably struck by some stray bullet, no doubt, or carelessly drowned in the river. These young bucks haven’t any sense at all you know. Always courting danger.”
She began to rise. “You had him killed?”
Philip chuckled lightly in feigned astonishment. “But of course, my dear. You’d have done the same thing if you were me. Seeing as you’ve killed almost as many people to get what you want as I have.”
Julia hugged herself and stared wide-eyed at Shona, the obvious finally making itself known.
“Yes, Julia, look at her, long and hard. Do you like what you see? All your hard work at the Anontist Center was not in vain. They really do exist. There really is such a thing. Tell me, my dear. Are you starting to remember who you really are? Is it all coming back to you now? Transferring and planting memories into a human's mind was one of Lissa's favorite parlor tricks. Such a handy talent to have."
Julia gasped, almost choking.
“Now that she's no longer here to keep up the ones she instilled in you they were bound to start fading. Which reminds me, I suppose I'll have to do something about the Morgan family as well. Hmmm …"
Julia blanched as full comprehension dawned.
"Yes Julia, the Morgan's are not your family, distant or otherwise. You're a fake, a tool put here to serve me."
Julia's voice was barely a whisper when she spoke. "I was a scientist at the Anontist Center … I'm … I'm from the future then … I remember …"
"Yes, that's it, Julia. Remember." Phillip chuckled then continued on, "Isn’t it so wonderfully ironic? All those people, specimens if you will, murdered, dissected, studied. They were all human. You never once captured a real one. And to think, all these years in my employ, you were playing with one on an almost daily basis, and never once suspected a thing.” He let that sink in and watched her face pale. “The Muirarans hid themselves so well that not even the best of your time period's hunters could find them. And this is why.” He turned back to Shona.
�
��How?” Julia’s voice had gone weak. She took a cautious step forward, no longer caring about Philip, and sat on the bed next to Shona, shaking her head. What a fool she’d been.
“Instinct, Julia. Pure, raw instinct. It camouflages them, makes them look like one of us.”
“Oh.” She turned quickly to him, her mind hungry for answers. “Where did they come from? How much do you know?”
He laughed at her. “Where did we come from might be a better question. As far as anyone knows they were always here with us, Julia. Always. They have probably occupied the planet for as long as we. But who’s to say? There have been all kinds of theories. Most conclude they are extraterrestrials who somehow got either stranded here or decided they would like to stay for awhile.”
“And if one of us mates with one of them?”
He laughed again. “I was wondering when you’d ask that. Unfortunately for you, it’s the females that hold the highest level of abilities and the male is master of that power. You always thought it to be the other way around, didn’t you? All those men, Julia. Tell me, how many times did you mate with them before they were killed? Were you trying to breed a Muiraran prodigy?”
“Muiraran? Is that what they’re called? Who discovered them? Who named them?”
Philip didn’t even try to stifle his amusement. “Ah, suspicion confirmed. I always knew some of your research was not exactly… empirical.” He chuckled again. “No one discovered them. They allowed us to find them. The rest is history.” He took a threatening step toward her. “The history you’d hoped to create.”
“I still don’t understand. How did you bring me here? How did…”
“Enough!” He roughly pulled her off the bed. “Maggie and Evan should be fully sedated by now. They drank the tea I gave you?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I wouldn’t want either of them to have heard this little conversation. Nor do I want them to see the Maiden in Flux, a state she’ll be in nearly every time she sleeps. That is, until she becomes properly joined to me. And you’re going to help convince her of how badly she needs me, aren’t you?” He gripped her arm in warning.
She swallowed. “Of course.”
“Excellent. There still may be a slight problem to take care of and I don’t want anything to happen between now and my…” He gave her a sadistic smile, his brow raised in mock happiness, “… wedding.” He put his mouth next to her ear. “You’ll take care of all the arrangements for me, won’t you Julia? I want you to continue to convince her that I am the only one who cares, who will protect her, who will truly love her.”
Julia’s jaw became tight, her teeth clenched. “Can’t court her yourself, Philip? Must I do all the work for you?”
He wrenched her arm behind her back and pulled, causing her to whimper in pain. “Don’t mock me, you little witch!” He breathed into her other ear. “She must willingly want to join with me. Her heart free of doubt. I’ll have all of her, do you hear me?” He twisted her arm painfully.
Julia had to force her answer through fresh tears and gritted teeth. “Yes.”
“Good.” He released her arm and she almost collapsed in relief. “Now, I want you to go home and get some rest. The Whittards will be no problem tonight, nor will the Maiden. I’ll return to my hotel and await Graves. I’m sure whatever he has to report will be most entertaining. I want you back here tomorrow. Guard her well, Julia. Anything happens to her, and I promise you won’t like what will happen to you. And we both know I don’t make idle promises, don’t we?”
All she could do was nod.
“Excellent. Now go.”
Julia looked at him, her face expressionless. “You said there might be a problem. Anything I should know?”
“Good girl, I’d almost forgotten. Perhaps not so much a problem, merely an annoyance. An old friend of mine might try to postpone my wedding and I really don’t want to bother with him. Unfortunately, I’m the only one suited for the job. I dare not entrust him to Graves. He’s far too clever, and Graves is too good a man to lose right now.”
“I don’t understand.”
“As I said, he’s an old friend of mine.”
“How will I know him?”
“Well you can’t miss him. Just keep your eyes open for a tall, obnoxious, loud, black pain in the…” Philip winced. “I’d almost forgotten how much I hated him. You haven’t by any chance seen…”
Julia raised an inquisitive brow, pleased with his obvious discomfort. “No.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. "Most encouraging.”
She glanced once more to Shona. “I’ll be back in the morning, then.”
“Excellent. After Graves checks in, I’ll send him here to keep an eye on things, just in case.” He took her arm and ushered her out the door.
They left the house at the same time. Philip, for one, was feeling quite confident that all was now going as planned. Julia, meanwhile, had been given the answers to questions she’d searched for, even killed for, for years in her own time. She’d also been handed the undeniable truth on a matter she’d wondered about for a very long time.
Philip Brennan was not only a time traveler, but also quite insane. And Julia, through it all, was still hopelessly in love with him.
* * *
“Kawahnee, they have gone. Please, let me go to her! They have harmed her!”
Kwaku slipped from the tree’s higher branches to join his wife in the lower. He gracefully swung to where she sat. “You cannot sense her heart?”
“No! Please, I must go to her.”
Kwaku cupped Zara’s face in a large hand, concern in his eyes. “You are overly upset, pretty one. De Maiden has been drugged, no-ding more. Brennan, he would not harm her.” His eyes narrowed and he growled low. “He will wait until after he has her for dat.”
He slipped to the bottom of the tree, Zara close behind, and scanned the area quickly before motioning his wife to follow him to the Whittard’s house across the street. He went to some side stairs, slipped inside the house and went directly to the Maiden.
She lay as if lifeless on the bed, her breathing slow, her Muiraran skin pale—a direct result of the drug Brennan had used. He picked up one of her hands to hold in his, but like Zara, he could feel nothing. She had indeed been heavily sedated, and possibly harmed.
Zara was at his side, her face frantic. They have hurt her! She took her other hand. You know the law, Kawahnee. It is death to harm a Shamaelon! Brennan must pay!
Kwaku let go of the Maiden’s hand, taking his wife’s in its place. Your time is close, pretty one. Your mo-dar’s instinct is growing. She is not harmed to de point of lawlessness. If so, your own instinct would have hunted and tried to kill Brennan. Yet did we not bode see him and de woman leave?
I am sorry. I do not know what is wrong with me. Is my time so close? Am I already forgetting myself? She looked to him, concern in her ebony eyes. Have I hurt you, husband? Last night, did I…?
He chuckled quietly. “Only a scratch or two, no more dan usual. You were very hungry.” He all but purred the words in a low whisper so as not to be heard.
His voice startled her and she took a moment to let her inner heart search the house. Nothing. The guardians must have been drugged as well. She sighed and spoke in a normal voice. “There is danger here; can we not stop it?”
Kwaku raised a brow.
“The others have been drugged. They cannot hear us.”
“I agree, pretty one, but de danger is not mine to contend wid. De Boyeee has first rights to it, not I.”
“With all that is at stake? How can you wait for him to sense and act on anything when he is not joined? He has no instinct or heart to guide him yet.”
“He has more dan you dink, Beloved. He protects her, reaches out to her with his heart. He hungers for her almost as much as she for him. Of dis, I am certain."
“Can we not send for Dallan? Could we not let him be with her?”
“He protects her now by protecting him
self, drawing de danger from her, dealing with it de way a warrior should.”
“Are you sure he is safe, Kawahnee? Where is he? Do you wish me to search for him?”
“No, pretty one, he does not need our help, and I will fetch him when we are finished here if you like. In de mean time, do not worry. De Boyeee has been well taught and will deal wid de evil ones according to warrior codes.”
Zara threw him an incredulous look. “Which warrior’s codes?’
Kwaku stuck out his bottom lip and shrugged. “Whichever ones he feels are fitting. Do not worry, he will exact justice for what has been done wid dignity and tact. He knows dis is not Genis Lee. He knows dere are dangers and laws here dat could mean more trouble.” He leaned into her face. “He knows how to act wid-out drawing attention to himself.”
“Kawahnee,” her voice scolded. “Are you sure?’
Kwaku sat up perfectly straight. “Of course! After all, was I not his teacher?”
She sighed and turned her attention back to the Maiden. “Exactly.” She opened her mouth and began to sing.
Angels all about me
Some of light, some of dark,
A battle fought which must be won.
Am I to be cursed, my heart forever denied?
Her precious love, never known?
Time tells all things,
The fates of hearts entwined.
David Gingrich
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Living stars, Dallan, this isn’t the moors. You can’t just leave bodies hanging around like this.”
Dallan tightened the ropes he was working with, giving one a healthy tug to ensure it would hold before turning to Lany. “’Twill be quite the story then to take back to yer wee bairns, will it no?”
Lany wasn’t sure whether to grimace or laugh. The Scot’s burr was thicker than ever, a sure sign he was enjoying himself immensely. “But naked? Do they have to be naked?”
Dallan checked another set of ropes, pulling, tugging and causing a strangled wail from one of the gagged prisoners. He stood, arms folded across his chest, to survey his handiwork. “Yer the one picked the location, and I thank ye. ‘Twas a fine idea.” He stepped forward to look over the chain-link fence separating them from the deep pit beyond. “I never would ha’ found this place on my own, and ye did a bonny job of handling the pistol. I’d verra much like to keep it. I’ve never seen one so fine, so different. I’d like to see how it works. Mayhaps the heathen would volunteer and…”
Time Masters Book One; The Call (An Urban Fantasy, Time Travel Romance) Page 32