The Change (Unbounded)
Page 37
I put the Sig in my pocket and held my hands up to show I wasn’t armed. “Put it down, Mari. We have to get out of here.”
“You—how—why . . .”
“I promise I’ll explain everything, but later, okay? Trust me.”
“You killed him! You were going to shoot me!” Her face was flushed and her eyes wide, her hands shaking with fear. Fear of me, the person who’d gone to work at a boring accounting firm for months in order to protect her from people a lot worse than the Hunters. The person who’d brought her food when she was too depressed to eat. The one who’d urged her to start taking charge of her life.
The truth of it was that she had more than enough reason to be wary of me. I’d run myself if I were in her place—in fact, I had run, and my family had paid for that mistake with a life. Luckily, Mari had no family to endanger, except fourth cousins she didn’t know and Stella, who was technically her fifth great-aunt but whom she hadn’t seen since she was a little girl.
Mari looked ready to bolt, and I still didn’t know what else might be lurking out there in the dark. “He was going to rape you,” I reminded her. “Besides, he’s not dead.”
“How did you know I was here?”
“I followed you.” The street lamps in the park chose that moment to go on, making me feel exposed. How long before the Hunters’ backup arrived?
“You followed me?” Her voice rose to a pitch that hurt my ears. “Who are you, Erin? Who are you really? Because normal people don’t follow their friends. Normal people don’t know how to fight like that.” Her eyes went to the sprawled Hunters.
“I told you I’ll explain later. We have to get out of here. These guys usually travel in a pack.”
Besides, wherever there were Hunters, the Emporium was never far behind. Hunters might hate all Unbounded, but Emporium agents had been infiltrating their organization for decades, using them as a weapon against us. That the Hunters had found Mari or knew to watch for her Change smacked of the Emporium more than the Hunters, who were too short-lived to think over generations. But no matter how they’d found her, if I didn’t get Mari out of this situation safely, Stella might never talk to me again. Renegade Unbounded guard their family lines as carefully as any treasure—even from most fellow Renegades—and she’d been waiting more than a hundred years for someone in her family line to Change.
I sent out my mind, trying to determine if anyone else was out there in the darkness, or at least within my sensing range. We needed to avoid running into anyone else. Mari was already spooked as it was without watching me fight again.
Someone was coming—and fast. Had to be Unbounded. No mortal could move that rapidly. No time to run.
I reached for my gun.
Mari gasped as a shadow appeared from behind her, yanking the rifle from her hand. Her eyes went to the man, as if she didn’t know whether she should scream and run—or fall into his arms and weep with relief.
Which was almost exactly the way I felt.
He was a tower of strong muscle, carrying himself with undeniable grace, as did all those gifted with combat. No movement wasted, no attack he couldn’t anticipate. His black hair fell to the right, grazing a mole on his cheek. His square jaw, in need of a shave, was set in determination, and his eyes glittered with anger. He carried a gun in his right hand, and the sword emerging from a back sheath announced that he’d come prepared to find Emporium Unbounded. Wet-looking patches spotted his black jeans and jacket. Definitely blood.
Ritter was back. After two months with no word, he was back.
“Gaven and I took care of their friends.” He spoke in a clipped voice, one he might have used in his former life as a policeman a quarter of a century ago. I wondered if he was thinking of his family—and the woman he hadn’t been able to save.
“Who are you?” Desperation laced Mari’s voice.
Ignoring her, Ritter crossed the space between us. I felt burning inside him when he was still feet away. I’d always been able to catch glimpses of him like this, even from the first before I knew about my ability or how to use it. Desire swept through me, and I couldn’t tell if it was his or mine—or if it mattered. I had a brief vision of going into his arms, of our mouths clinging together, our bodies melding. Everything in my body screamed that he was mine.
Yet he’d broken his promise, and in a world where almost everyone I knew lied to survive, I valued truth more than just about anything. At least that’s what I told myself.
He reached for me, but I held myself stiff.
“Erin,” he began.
“Later.” I pulled my arm from his grip, jerking my chin at the Hunters. “They’ll be able to identify me, and we still don’t know how they found Mari. Are you sure you got the rest of them?” The emotions swirling around him cut off when I pulled away, as though they’d never existed. I knew differently.
“I’m sure.” His eyes glittered so darkly that the only color for them was black. He was nothing but empty space to my sensing now, and it wasn’t likely he’d relax enough to let anything more slip. We all learned how to block or suffer the consequences. The Emporium had at least two sensing Unbounded, one more powerful than I dreamed of becoming. She’d almost controlled me once, and I knew she’d eventually come for me again. I might be young in Unbounded terms, but I was valuable—or so everyone told me. I hoped when the time came that I’d be ready for her.
For a brief moment I thought with envy of my former life as a law-school dropout working a dead-end job as an insurance claims agent. Nothing more exciting than talking to distressed people and pushing buttons on a keyboard.
No one trying to carve me or my family into pieces.
Except I didn’t really want to go back. If it meant saving the lives that had been lost, I’d agree in a heartbeat, but that could never happen.
Being Unbounded changes everything.
End of Sample. Click here to purchase a copy of The Cure for your Kindle. Or continue to the next page to learn more about the author and her books.
TEYLA BRANTON GREW UP AVIDLY reading science fiction and fantasy and watching Star Trek reruns with her large family. They lived on a little farm where she loved to visit the cow and collect (and juggle) the eggs, usually making it back to the house with most of them intact. On that same farm she once owned thirty-three gerbils and eighteen cats, not a good mix, as it turns out. Teyla always had her nose in a book and daydreamed about someday creating her own worlds.
Teyla is now married, mostly grown up, and has seven kids, including a one-year-old, so life at her house can be very interesting (and loud), but writing keeps her sane. She thrives on the energy and daily amusement offered by her children, the semi-ordered chaos giving her a constant source of writing material. Grabbing any snatch of free time from her hectic life, Teyla writes novels, often with a child on her lap. She warns her children that if they don’t behave, they just might find themselves in her next book! She’s been known to wear pajamas all day when working on a deadline, and is often distracted enough to burn dinner. (Okay, pretty much 90% of the time.) A sign on her office door reads: DANGER. WRITER AT WORK. ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK.
She loves writing fiction and traveling, and she hopes to write and travel a lot more. She also loves shooting guns, martial arts, and belly dancing. She has worked in the publishing business for over twenty years. Teyla also writes romance and suspense under the name Rachel Branton. For more information or to sign up to hear about new releases, please visit TeylaBranton.com.
BOOKS BY TEYLA BRANTON
Follow links to see books in the Kindle store.
Unbounded Series
The Change
The Cure
The Escape (fall 2013)
Under the Name Rachel Branton
Tell Me No Lies
CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
The Cure (Unbounded) - Sample Chapter
About the Author
Bo
oks by Teyla Branton
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28