Gemma leaned back against her seat, a soft smile creasing her lips. “What was her name?”
“Emilie Clayton. She married Lord Robert Clayton. Like everyone else I know, he fell in love with her music.”
Gemma’s eyes held a warm glow as she looked at him. All the sadness and tension from moments before had vanished.
“What?”
“That’s a really nice story, Harrison. Really nice.”
She closed her eyes. His gaze traveled over the plains of her skin and he saw the mark on her collarbone appear. The phenomenon made his insides quake, but he knew he couldn’t ask her about it. He watched the star-shaped mark burn a passionate red before fading again as her body relaxed.
In an attempt to dispel his disquiet, he reached for the icepack she was holding. He needed something else to focus on.
“Here, let me have a look at that.”
He took the pack from her before she could object, and the uneasy fire stirring in his gut accelerated as if someone had doused his insides with gasoline.
“What?”
Whipping off the bandages, he ran his finger over the hairline scar that now lay where her gash had been. Her skin was no longer purple and the only evidence of her recent wound was a little dried blood in her hair.
“How did…? Where did it go?”
Gemma’s shoulders stiffened. She brushed his hand away and covered her scar. “I’m a fast healer.”
“Fast? Gemma, I’m a fast healer, okay? You’re just… All you’re giving me is fast? You have a scar now! The kind of scar that takes days, sometimes weeks, to appear! What happened to the bruising?”
She closed her eyes and turned her head away. “What do you want me to say, Harrison?”
“The truth would be nice.”
“I can’t tell you that.”
His heart thudded in his chest as he watched her struggle, but he couldn’t let this go.
“Gemma…” He licked his lips.
“Please don’t, Harrison. I’m not allowed to say anything.”
“Why? Are you an alien or something?”
“This isn’t Roswell.” She huffed and looked out the window. “Just accept that there’s things you’ll never know about me.”
“I’ve been trying, but I want to know everything about you…and I want you to know everything about me! I feel like we could have something awesome if you were just willing to bend a few rules.”
Her eyes were fiery when she turned back to face him. “I am breaking the rules for you! Do you have any idea what my parents would do if they found out I was sitting in your car right now? What more do you want from me?”
“I want you to trust me with the truth!”
“You don’t know what you’re asking! I can’t, okay?”
Harrison’s anger spurted to life as he started the engine and reversed. “You know you’re not the only one putting yourself on the line here. Do you have any idea how much flak I’m getting just for talking to you?” The fact he didn’t really care was hardly relevant. He accelerated onto the road. “The least you could give me are a couple of reasons why you’re such a secretive freak.”
She winced. “I’m sorry I can’t give you what you want, but you either take me as I am or you don’t take me at all.”
“You know it would be a hell of a lot easier not to take you, but I can’t stop thinking about you or wanting to be with you! Ever since that day we touched… I… it’s like you’ve cursed me!”
Gemma flinched. His words were an invisible blow that left her looking bruised and aching. Harrison glanced at her, hating himself.
“I didn’t mean—”
“Stop the car.”
“No, I’ll take you back to school.”
“I don’t want you to.”
He knew he could probably spend the next ten minutes arguing with her. By then he’d be pulling into school anyway, but his foot pressed the brake and he pulled to the side of the road.
“Gemma, I’m sor—”
The door slammed shut behind her. She hitched her bag higher onto her shoulder and began a fast-paced that soon turned into a run. Closing his eyes, he banged his head against the steering wheel.
“Granger, you are such a JERK!”
Chapter Nine
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida - 2011 AD
Gemma took the long route home, hoping her tears would dry up by the time she pulled into the garage.
It didn’t work.
She took off her helmet and wiped her blotchy cheeks.
Shaking her head, she slammed her helmet down on the seat and sniffed.
“Put a curse on him? So I’m a witch.” Wrestling the bag off her shoulders, she unzipped her leather jacket and threw it over the handlebars. “Or better yet, an alien!”
“Who are you talking to?” Her mother stood at the door leading into the house.
Gemma whipped around, blushed red and focused on the tires of her mother’s BMW. “Just myself.”
“Have you been crying?”
Her head shaking turned into a nod.
“I sensed you weren’t being entirely honest on the phone. You should have let me come and get you.” Her mother clipped down the concrete stairs and wove around the cars to her. “By the look of your puffy eyes it must have been a painful afternoon.”
“You could say that.” Gemma kept her gaze on the tires, not willing to risk eye contact. Who cared about some little scratch? It wasn’t her head that was hurting!
“Let me have a look at it.” Penelope brushed back Gemma’s hair with a soft hand and ran a finger over the scar. “It’s healed nicely.”
“Yep.” Gemma nodded and forced a smile.
Her mother pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” She rubbed Gemma’s back then stepped away with a smile. “Come in and get washed up. You know how much your father hates tears.”
Gemma snorted. In spite of the fact he had left the army years ago, he would remain a hardheaded soldier. With a nod, Gemma followed orders and was sitting at the dining table five minutes later. The air was thick with tension, something Gemma had forgotten to take into account having been distracted by Harrison.
Dom sat straight backed in his chair, looking defensive. Ruby was slumped in her chair, studying her nails. Gemma caught her eye and silently asked what was wrong. Ruby rolled her eyes and shook her head.
Somehow they all knew Dom’s decision across the line would have consequences.
Licking her lips, Gemma glanced at her father. His steely expression softened when he caught her eye then went hard again.
“You didn’t check in,” he said.
“I—”
“You must always check in no matter what your state, otherwise we assume the worst.”
“I’m sorry, I just—”
“Your mother had to call twice before she got through.”
“My phone was buried in my bag. I didn’t hear—”
“I had Dom and Ruby combing the school for you.”
“Which was a total waste of time.” Ruby mumbled then looked at Gemma with a frown. “Where were you?”
Gemma’s heart began to pound like a jackhammer. She cleared the lump in her throat. “I hid out in the bathroom until the blood stopped, then went to the library.”
“We must have missed each other.” Ruby shrugged and eased Gemma’s fears with a smile. “You did the right thing. It would have sucked if someone saw you.”
“Yeah, totally.” Gemma cut off her nervous laughter and scanned the faces of her family. She was surprised they couldn’t feel the vibrations of her heartbeat. Thankfully everyone seemed to be caught up in the brewing storm.
She glanced at her father. His grim face was aimed at Dom. “What the hell went wrong today?”
Dom shuffled in his seat. “Like I said before, we didn’t have any other choice. Gemma’s the fastest. I knew she could get out with the girl. We wouldn’t have stood a chance if we hadn’t separated.”
/>
“You NEVER leave her!” Alistair slapped the table and jumped up. Burying his hands in his pockets, he paced away from the table. “I’ve put rules in place for a reason. We need to protect each other and we can’t do that alone. Do you have any idea what it would have done to your mother and me if we lost her?”
“Or any of you,” Penelope added swiftly.
“Dad, I was fine.” Gemma kept her voice soft. “You didn’t need to abort early. I could have made it.”
“I’m not willing to put you in that kind of danger. As it was, you were injured! What if you hadn’t made it? Your body doesn’t start healing until you return, Gemma. If I hadn’t aborted when I did, your head may still be bleeding now!”
“You three come before anyone else.” Penelope leaned forward. “As soon as a mission goes bad, we always abort. When Dom and Ruby arrived without you, Gemma, we had no other choice.”
“You guys need to trust us.” Dom clenched his fists. “You practically make us sweat blood during training. We know how to handle ourselves. If anything, Gemma is the most capable of us all. I know I took a risk today, but it was a calculated one.”
“You put Gemma’s life in danger,” Alistair snarled as he leaned towards his son.
“You were the one that sent us back at the wrong time, Dad. Are you going to take any responsibility for this?”
A ferocious roar shattered the air as Alistair came toward his son with a raised hand. Dom jumped up to block it, but there was no need. Gemma’s father froze, his eyes wide with mortification as he slowly lowered his hand.
Every face at the table stared in stunned silence; the only sound was the heavy breathing of her father. Gemma had never seen him lose control before. Dom stood his ground, disbelief scarring his expression. Gemma had a split second thought that maybe there was more to this error than her parents were willing to say.
Her father’s voice shook, “I’m sorry, Dominic. I…” He sighed. “You’re right. I am partly to blame and I’m very angry with myself. I can’t lose you guys.” He ran a shaky hand through his grey-speckled curls. “This can’t happen again, you understand me? When we cross that line you do as I say and nothing else.”
Dom kept his subdued gaze steady as he answered his father. “Yes, sir.”
Without another word, Alistair engulfed his son in a bear hug. The tension in the room ebbed as Penelope stood from her seat and joined her men. Ruby followed and finally Gemma stood to entwine herself in the family embrace.
She could hear Ruby sniffing and almost felt bad for not wanting to cry herself. But she couldn’t. This embrace was only a reminder of what she belonged to. The arms around her felt like manacles. She could see her life stretching out before her, one mission after the next, each one dictated by her father, each one a secret. There would never be room for her own decisions. There would never be room for love.
Her eyes welled with tears. She sniffed and felt the arms around her tighten.
Chapter Ten
St. Augustine, Florida - 2011 AD
It had been three days since the incident in the car. Harrison was going insane through lack of sleep and total frustration that Gemma was nowhere to be found. He’d spent most of Tuesday scanning the school for her. Apparently she had been there, but in none of her usual places. He found out on Wednesday morning that she’d actually gone to the nurse during History.
She was avoiding him and doing an expert job at it. By Thursday lunchtime he was ready to tear his hair out. Having refined his apology speech, he didn’t think he could go another day without delivering it.
Heading to the library for the third lunchtime in a row, he planned to wait by the door. Surely her old pattern would resume eventually. He spotted Courtney on his way and she gave him a sympathetic smile.
“Still can’t find her?”
“What’s she doing? Spending her lunches hiding in the girls’ locker room?”
“Quite possibly.” Courtney twirled a curl around her finger. “Maybe you could try…”
The girl’s brown eyes sparkled as she pointed behind him. Harrison whipped around and glimpsed Gemma as she spun on her heel and ran in the opposite direction.
“Gotta go.”
“Good luck.”
Harrison sprinted down the hall and around the corner. Gemma had already disappeared, but he wasn’t ready to give up. Ducking around people, he headed in what he thought was the right direction. The next hallway was empty. He dropped his head with a sigh then heard the click of a door.
He looked towards the janitor’s closet and frowned. Surely she wouldn’t go to those lengths.
A grin jumped over Harrison’s face.
“Oh yes she would,” he whispered.
Opening the door, he stepped into the dimly lit space in time to see Gemma take a deep breath and disintegrate in flurry of gold dust.
“Gemma!”
Pushing the cleaning cart out of his way, he knelt beside the pile of clothing left in her place. With shaking hands, he collected them up. His heart thundered in his ears as he re-captured the image of gold dust particles spiraling into the air.
Rapid breaths punched out of his lungs as he tried to wrap his brain around the impossible.
Would she come back?
Was that the last time he’d ever see her?
The loss was intense, but not enough to override the mix of horror and wonderment churning inside him.
He wasn’t sure how long he crouched in muted silence before the room suddenly grew still. He jumped from his spot and held his breath. A moment later Gemma stood before him. A grimace of pain crossed her face before she opened her eyes.
“Oh!” She quickly pulled the cleaning cart in front of her.
“Gemma.” Harrison licked his lips. “Gemma, what…what just happened? You disappeared. You vanished! And now you’re here. You’re…you’re here and you’re… you’re naked!”
“Give me my clothes!” She reached through the mop and broom handles and yanked them from his grasp. “Would you turn around, please?”
Shaking his head, he spun on his heel and stared, wide-eyed, at the shelf of cleaning agents. He listened to the rustle of clothes being yanked on. His breathing was still irregular. He ran a hand through his hair and quelled the urge to pace. There wasn’t exactly room.
“Okay, you can turn around.”
She pushed the cart to the side and ran a hand down her hair. It was draped over her shoulder. He’d never seen it down before and he took a moment to admire it before shaking his head and getting back to reality.
Reality? What a joke!
“Harrison.” She reached for his arm.
He flinched. “Don’t…”
She dropped her hand. The resignation in her eyes was heart breaking.
He took in a few deep breaths and scanned the room, unable to make eye contact. “I take it you’ve done…this,” he pointed his finger at her and around the room, “before.”
“Once or twice,” she almost chuckled.
“Is this what you do every time you take off to the bathroom?”
“Not every time.” Her voice was small.
“Where did you…? What happened to your body? I mean, how...?”
Gemma bit the inside of her cheek.
“Let me guess, you can’t tell me.” He pinched his temples between his thumb and forefinger. Maybe if he squeezed his brain out, he might be able to re-scramble it in order to comprehend this bizarre discovery. “I don’t know what to do with this.” He turned and reached for the door.
“No, wait!” Gemma grabbed his arm. “Harrison, listen to me. You can’t tell anybody about this.”
“Gem,” he scoffed, “who would ever believe me?”
“Please.”
The panic in her eyes surprised him. Sudden understanding followed. “This secret’s a dangerous one, isn’t it?”
She nodded.
“Life and death dangerous?”
“So I’ve been told.” She look
ed scared.
It knocked the breath out of him. Against his will, he was falling for a girl who played on death’s doorstep. This wasn’t real!
“I’ll guard this secret with my life. I promise.” He felt the words were a little cheesy, but his voice was solemn. He knew he would do anything to protect her, no matter how weird she was. “I just have one condition.”
She bit the inside of her cheek.
“I want to know what I’m protecting.”
Her mouth dropped open.
“After school today, you tell me everything.”
Her eyes worked through a plethora of emotions as she formed her next sentence. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he spotted a flutter of relief.
“Anastasia State Park. Meet me on the beach at four.” Her voice was quiet but steady.
“I’ll be there.” He gave her a curt nod then turned on his heel. Stepping into the hallway, he tried to stop his head from spinning as he contemplated what awaited him at four o’clock on the beach.
Chapter Eleven
Anastasia State Park, Florida - 2011 AD
By some miracle, the beach was empty. Gemma buried her toes into the white sand as she sat waiting for her imminent doom. The water wavered out a peaceful lullaby, but it did nothing to soothe her tattered nerves. She had to admit that being able to finally spill her truth was going to be a relief, but how would he take it?
History had been torture. She figured she may as well go today, but wished she’d faked another stomachache. She’d been blaming period pain all week and the nurse hadn’t even questioned her, just handed her a heat pack and sent her to lie down.
Harrison hadn’t looked at her once during class. When Mr. Lomax dismissed them he’d bolted for the door. She’d raced to the beach, not wanting to keep him waiting, but he hadn’t been there. In some ways it was good. It gave her time to think about what she was going to say. She started to wonder if he’d turn up at all, but was too afraid to turn around and look.
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