by Connie Hall
His legs buckled beneath the onslaught. He fell to his knees and bowed his head. “Enough! I know I was wrong.”
“You’ve kept much from her. Tell her the truth. I hope your guilt will be punishment enough.” Meikoda’s form vanished in an explosive blast of light. Pure energy whipped past Hannah and blew her hair out from her shoulders in a final whoosh. Meikoda was clearly displeased—and she didn’t seem like the type you wanted to provoke.
Hannah watched Aden stand. His expression registered sadness and despondency, but not remorse. He held his jaw at a proud angle, his body language screaming defiance. It was obvious he was the type of man who justified his actions and stood by them. He probably had what he felt was a sound reason for his duplicity. And damn it, she deserved to hear it.
Something in her snapped and she yelled at him, “You had every intention of killing me. I’d like to know what I’m giving my life for.”
He walked toward her, but she held up a hand to ward him off. “Stay back. Just tell me the truth for once.”
“All right.” He stopped and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “I wanted to go back in time.”
“What was so important to you? Obviously, my life means nothing to you.”
“It’s complicated.”
“The truth usually is.”
He clenched his teeth and his fists tightened at his sides. She could see the tendons and knuckles bulging beneath his skin. His frown deepened and he seemed to be carefully gathering his words. “There’s no other way to say this. I wanted my vision and my wife back.”
She’d gotten struck first by eyesight and then his wife. Nothing like getting two weapons of mass destruction thrown at you at once. She stared into his striking golden eyes, which looked deceptively perfect, and decided to face the first one. “You’re blind?” She felt her hands seeking out something to touch, and she found the collar of her shirt again.
He nodded, lifting his jaw a notch, looking defiant and confident and proud that he’d hidden this colossal secret from her. “Lost my sight when Linda died.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Hannah jammed her fists onto her hips. “I told you everything about my life. I trusted you. I confided in you. But you couldn’t be honest with me, could you?”
“Didn’t think it mattered.”
“Well, then, I guess it didn’t.” She hesitated, chest heaving, heart breaking into tiny bits, staring at his handsome and unrepentant face. It surprised her how much his deceit hurt. And to think she’d felt secure and nurtured for the first time in her life with him.
When she could form words again, she said, “I get the whole eyesight thing—wanting it back, I mean. But I can’t forgive you for not being open with me. I shared everything about my life with you. I trusted you enough to confide in you.” She laced her words with resentment and hurt. She felt a belt tighten around her chest, squeezing her heart, then she pulled up the other account. “And I guess I should have known you still loved your wife, but I hoped…” She paused, unable to form the words.
“What?” The gold in his eyes gleamed bright yellow and he seemed to hang on the words she couldn’t say.
She watched a muscle twitching in his neck as she became flustered and said, “Nothing. I’m just glad I found out what type of person you really are.”
“You have to believe me, Hannah. I wouldn’t have gone through with it. I couldn’t. I left the kids with one of my sisters so we could be alone and I could tell you the truth about your powers.”
“I don’t believe you. And if I never see you again, it will be too soon.” Hannah ran for the door.
“Don’t go. It’s not safe.” He reached out to snag her arm.
“Safer than being with you.” She leaped aside at the last moment, avoiding his fingers, and ran outside. Her powers had somehow made her agile and quicker and she felt almost invincible, except for her heart. That was in shreds.
As soon as Hannah left the house and ran out into the yard, a burst of energy blindsided her. She turned, glimpsing a bloody crushed skull, bits of glass still embedded in it, anger etching a traumatized and savage face. The poltergeist was back. He grabbed her neck.
Chapter 10
The poltergeist’s fingers locked around her throat like a vise, her esophagus feeling as if it would burst if she made one wrong move.
“Hold still or you’ll die right here,” he said, his voice guttural and hollow like it came from some hellish place of his own making. He smelled of dying flesh and blood and anger at the world. “Now, we’re going back in time. Just you and me, sweetheart.” He kicked at the air and chanted a spell.
Suddenly a time portal opened up before them. Beyond this blister in reality, she saw only gaping, yawning darkness. The roar of wind came from the entrance, getting louder, reaching a jet-engine zenith. The edges looked like they were made of clear gelatin, churning, undulating and waving. The supercharged gravity within it tugged at her jeans and shirt, hair. Even her scalp felt like it was being drawn into the blackness.
“Nooooo!” Aden’s voice sounded behind Hannah, then he charged the poltergeist.
The poltergeist lost his grip on Hannah’s throat as the portal sucked Aden and the poltergeist inside.
Hannah gasped for breath, finally able to breathe, pain throbbing in her throat. As soon as the poltergeist had stopped touching her, she no longer felt the pull of the portal. But Aden. She could still hear his “Noooooo” blending with the cyclic wind. He’d saved her life. He could have used her in that same portal to recapture all he’d lost. But he hadn’t. Couldn’t. Had he been telling her the truth? Oh, God. She couldn’t let him die, or worse, be caught in time forever.
Hannah gathered her courage, closed her eyes and dove into the portal. It was like going downhill on a roller-coaster ride, but thousands of times stronger. Her stomach flipped over by the seconds. Darkness surrounded her. Her ears rang. All she could feel was a horrible falling sensation tearing at her body. How could she find him?
She realized it would be useless to try to cry out his name, even if her throat wasn’t hurt. The wind would drown it out and he was probably way ahead of her in the tunnel. It struck her that if others could use her powers, why couldn’t she use them to help someone of her own choosing? So she’d lose her own life. At least, she’d save Aden. His children wouldn’t be left parentless. She concentrated on him, on finding him.
Suddenly her body turned into white and yellow flames and she was rocketing through the darkness like a shooting star. She saw Aden falling, behind the poltergeist. They had separated.
Hannah reached out and snatched up Aden’s hand. He was light as a feather to her, his body limp. His eyes were open and she could have sworn that he looked at her and was really seeing her. She spun around and headed backward.
“Come back,” the poltergeist screamed, the wind all but drowning out his bellow.
Would his spirit be stuck in the portal for all eternity? Served him right.
Her thoughts shifted back to saving Aden. She could see the opening to the portal, the colors of nightfall beyond it, the night sky gleaming like eyes, beacons showing her the way.
They both, charged with her power, flew through the opening, then the portal crashed shut in a thunderous boom.
The moment Hannah hit present reality, she felt the light go out of her body and instantly Aden’s weight. She could no longer hold him up and his fingers slipped from hers.
“Hannah, no!” he cried.
That was the last image in Hannah’s awareness before she felt the life force drain from her, and what was left of her spent body tumbled to the ground.
Chapter 11
Creak. Creak. Creak. The oak hardwood played a soulful symphony as Aden paced beside the bed, counting every one of Hannah’s breaths. Three thousand, or was that four thousand? He still couldn’t believe she’d saved him. After all that he’d done. Why had she sacrificed her life like that?
Meikoda had said she’d never
known a time jumper to use her own powers to help someone else. It was unprecedented. The old priestess had tried to heal Hannah, but since Hannah had spent all her powers, the molecular structure of her body had changed and she repelled any form of white magic at all, so Meikoda’s healing powers were useless.
Please God, let her live! Aden stopped by the bed, sat on it and found her hand. It was cool and small in his and he felt her pulse on her wrist, keeping perfect time. He stroked her silken hair back from her face and traced her lips with a finger.
He recalled the image he’d seen of her for an instant in the portal, something he’d carry with him to his grave. She was beautiful, her skin covered in magical white fire, every feature enhanced and burned into his brain. He’d never seen anything so magnificent in his life, yet once he’d exited the portal he’d lost his momentary sight. It was back to business as usual.
Was this his punishment for lying to her? Would she die? Would the last image he’d ever see again be of a martyred Hannah saving him, giving her life so he could live? The irony wasn’t lost on him, nor was the guilt he’d carry for the rest of his days.
She’d been in a coma for a week. Why didn’t she come out of it? He had asked Betsy to keep the kids. Mayhala kept asking for Hannah on the phone and that tore his heart out. “Ecktrick,” she kept crying. He wanted Hannah back, too, and he’d prayed that the Maiden Bear’s white magic would spare her life. Not for his sake, because he deserved nothing, but for Hannah’s sake, because she was so young and deserved to live.
He heard a soft moan. He could hardly believe his ears. “Hannah?” He reached for her.
Another moan.
He felt her eyes, the soft flutter of her eyelashes against his palm. “Hannah…” With trembling hands, he gently traced the smooth planes of her face, felt the muscles stirring.
She coughed and gurgled.
“Wait.” He grabbed a glass of water from the nightstand and helped her drink.
He felt her push his hands away and gulp the water down. She pushed the glass back at him, then her head plopped back onto the pillow. She let out a little gasp when she noticed him. “You’re alive,” she said, her voice unreadable.
“Hannah—”
She interrupted him. “I see you’ve grown a beard,” she said, her tone curt.
He rubbed the long black stubble on his chin. He’d forgotten to shave while she’d been sick. He shifted back to what he wanted to say. “Please, listen to me for a minute.”
“I don’t think I have a choice, since I’m a captive audience right now,” she said in a raspy and weak voice, yet it was filled with stinging acuteness. She swept a hand toward the bed and herself in it.
He set the glass down, then rested his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands. He felt them shaking uncontrollably. Her cold manner and the uncertainty of their future was slowly killing him. He sucked in a deep breath and said, “I’ve thought about this moment for a week. What I’d say. How I’d say it. I owe you so much—”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“I do, damn it. I never meant to hurt you. You have to believe me.” He captured one of her hands in his and prayed she wouldn’t pull away from him. When she didn’t, he held on to his hope as he said, “I love you, Hannah. I never thought I could care for anyone but Linda, but I love you body and soul.” The more Aden said the three words, the freer he felt. It was as if his heart had been trapped beneath a dark net and now it was free and taking wing. Without a doubt or with no more reservations, he knew he had let Linda go. Hannah could seal up that empty space in his heart—if she’d have him.
She was so quiet all he could hear was her unsteady breathing. After a moment that seemed to last an eternity, she asked, “So you don’t want her back?”
“No. I realized it when I couldn’t go through with trading you for my old life. I want only you.” He’d heard the quaver in her tone and became more hopeful. He waded forward, unable to force his usual staid calm into his voice. “You make me whole,” he said, his gut twisting with uncertainty. He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed the backs of her fingers. “With you, I see everything. I beg your forgiveness. If you let me, I’ll spend my life making it up to you.”
Aden rubbed her fingers between his hands and blinked back tears. And in that instant he realized he’d masked all the pain in his life by the chores of existing: burying Linda, fathering his children, learning how to live without his eyesight and killing demons—purely a selfish act on his part, but it helped him survive. Hannah was the balm he wanted and needed now.
He felt her fingers come to life in his hands. She squeezed one of his hands back. Something thawed in her voice as she said, “That’s a fine declaration you just made.”
“I mean what I said.”
“Well, then, I forgive you.”
Aden would forever cherish those three words. He felt like the luckiest man alive to have been given a second chance at happiness. He felt he could do anything with Hannah by his side. Maybe he’d even start up his practice again.
“Now hold me and promise you’ll never let me go,” she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion.
“Just try and get away, little time jumper.” He enfolded Hannah in his arms, tenderly, gently, like she was the most precious thing in his life. She clung to him and he felt a possessiveness that frightened him as he showed her with his lips and body how much he needed her.
If you liked this story by Connie Hall, don’t forget to read about Hannah’s cousins in The Guardian, The Beholder and The Nightwalker, coming in 2011 in print and eBook formats from Silhouette Nocturne.
Plus, don’t miss the other spooky and sensual NOCTURNE BITES, available at www.ebooks.eharlequin.com and wherever eBooks are sold. Titles include:
The Prophecy by Nina Croft
Lured by Lori Devoti
Moon Marked by Linda Thomas-Sundstrom
His Magic Touch by Cynthia Cooke
The Bewitching Hour by Vivi Anna
The Vampire’s Desire by Alexis Morgan
Moon Shadow by Jenna Kernan
The Secret Vampire Society by Lisa Childs
Taken by the South Wind by Anna Hackett
Wind Kissed, Fire Bound by Anna Hackett
After the Kiss by Michele Hauf
Darkness of the Wolf by Bonnie Vanak
Wild, Tethered, Bound by Stephanie Draven
Time Raiders: The Seduction by Cindy Dees
Savage Dragon by Anna Hackett
Looking for more paranormal romance? The sizzling and spine-chilling books of Silhouette Nocturne are available at www.eHarlequin.com or your local bookstore.
Interested in writing for Nocturne Bites? Send your submission to [email protected]
ISBN: 978-1-4268-4877-3
Time Jumper
Copyright © 2010 by Connie Koslow
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspi
red by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks of the publisher. Trademarks indicated with ® are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Canadian Trade Marks Office and in other countries.
www.eHarlequin.com