by Mia Downing
She closed her eyes. “Leah had given him some sort of medicine in his drink while I was looking for her journal. I found him in the guest room, and I couldn’t wake him. Then Leah knocked me out, and I came to in her cellar. She forced me to write that note after she’d roughed me up a bit. The plan was for Marek to find it after she’d broken the bond and I had died. Leah would then position herself to bond with him and go home. I offered to procure the necklace in exchange for my life, and she said she would consider it.”
That explained a huge part of the nightmare. “Okay, but obviously you escaped.”
She nodded. “I got free of my bindings, but before I could escape, a man —Leah’s gentleman friend— came to the cellar. I think he was as surprised to find me as I was him. He let me escape. I pocketed the letter and went home to the manor house to wait for Marek. Her friend said he’d help Marek, too, and that I should plan to get far, far away. He didn’t like what Leah had planned. He didn’t understand her fascination with us or her jealousy.
“So, I put my efforts into doing just that— getting far, far away. I went home and packed and hid the letter in the box under the window seat so Leah couldn’t use it against me. I had planned to burn it at a later date when we were safe.”
“But why didn’t you tell Marek the truth when he came back to the house after the party?” That part made no sense to me. “He’s sensible.”
She gave a snort of disbelief. “If he’d discovered what they had done to me, he would have gone back and killed someone. He wouldn’t have just left her to die alone in this time. He’s not as sweet and kind and cuddly as he’s led you to believe. His bond might be all sunny and yellow, but my man will move heaven and Earth to defend me. He also wouldn’t want her around to sabotage another team if they ventured that far back. That would mean taking care of all loose ends.”
I’d seen a glimpse of that man in Marek’s book and earlier when we’d gotten ready to leave. Maybe he had changed because of me.
I shook my head. “You let him believe he cheated on you.”
She shrugged, unconcerned. “If he felt guilty, I had a better chance of changing the plans and him going along with it. That way, I could ensure he lived. I made him jump ahead a few hours to get the necklace, then we jumped ahead again just a few days so we could get to the jump stone for the longer trip. Despite the risk of fracturing, I had hoped those tiny jumps would erase the drugs out of his system. I made sure to avoid the manor house after both jumps in case Leah had stationed a guard there. The plan should have worked. But because you’re here, I’m guessing that it didn’t.”
“No.” I contemplated one last thing Marek had said about his last conversation with this woman. “He’d told me the two of you had a fight after he made it home, before you left the manor house for the point.”
“Yes, and I said some hateful things. I had to make him believe he’d wronged me to get him to focus on that guilt. I would have told him everything when we landed at our layover. I would have begged for his forgiveness.” Her voice sounded hoarse, as if this bothered her. “If I were able to save us, he would have forgiven me.”
I sighed, my hate downgrading to dislike. I couldn’t hate her when she’d tried on some level to keep him alive. “All that doesn’t have to happen in this time.”
She cocked her head. “The timeline has changed. Whatever happens now, it’s probably worse.”
My throat tightened. There were two of us. Of course, it would be worse.
Movement parted a bush near the fence, and a crouched shadow silently darted across the lawn to meet us in the shadows. Marek. I would know his lean form anywhere.
But now we had the issue I had feared— two of us, one of him.
“What’s this?” He stopped short as he squinted at the two of us, his knife a dull glint in the shadows.
He assessed us both, and as he stepped closer to the other Skye, his side brushing hers, pain seared through my chest.
I’d always known he’d choose her.
Marek
I kept my focus on the bond as I ran across the front of the cemetery to the opposite side, taking swift, quiet steps. My heart pounded, but my hands were just as steady as usual, my blade unwavering. I hadn’t checked the two paths. I feared they were guarded, too, but I had to ensure Skye was safe.
I approached the gate that led to the meetinghouse and jumped over, landing lightly on the other side. As I came to the end of the short, wooded path, I crouched, listening. My breath quickened as I heard her heated voice in all its accented perfection. My jaw hardened. No, not perfection. She had flaws—huge ones. And she wasn’t my Skye.
My Skye answered, her tone just as biting. The only thing I could make out was my name, and I smiled. What I wouldn’t pay to be there and hear that exchange. I loved her fire.
I crept closer as movement fluttered through the shadows on the opposite side of the meetinghouse lawn. My breath caught as the moonlight hit a male form sprinting, low to the ground with deadly speed and silence. I knew that form all too well from reflections in mirrors.
That is me.
My mouth went dry as I froze in place, the only movement my hand trembling as I held back a branch to see better. I’d known Skye was a fraction because of the age regression. But I had never considered that I was a fraction as well. She had regressed in age; I hadn’t. Usually, fractions change from their usual state. They didn’t remain whole with all their memories intact, their body unchanged.
I swallowed, unsure what to feel. I had no clue what this realization meant, but it answered why we could have shown up early. Time must not care if fractions were in the same space as their originals. That made things much easier for returning the necklace.
Relief washed over me. I could stay with my Skye. I didn’t have to worry about her disappearing or becoming someone else. I savored the joy for a moment as he stepped into the shadows toward the two women, the view blocked by a huge shrubbery at the corner of the meetinghouse.
I sprinted that short distance through the moonlight to the backside of the shrub, brushing between it and the building behind my Skye. From the slight roll of her shoulders and the sadness of her energy, she thought the worst. That I’d chosen her original.
“Sweetness,” I murmured as I stepped behind her.
Her head whipped around as she stared in the darkness at me, her teeth biting her lower lip. Confusion and relief danced on the bond between us. “Marek.”
I smiled, hoping she could see it in the dim light or that she’d feel my elation on the bond. “It looks like I’m a fraction, too.”
Skye
I stared at Marek with fascination that turned to giddy elation as his hand brushed mine. He was a fraction. Oh my God. I didn’t have to compete with that cool, perfect bitch for his love. She had her own man to ruin.
I pointed to the shocked, identical pair of us. “So then what are they?”
“Originals,” all three said at the same time.
I turned back to stare at the two originals. They exchanged a glance of disbelief. I realized then their clothes were a little different than ours though still dark to blend with the night. And her Marek had longer hair and maybe a little scruff, but it was hard to tell. If I had paid attention, I wouldn’t have mistaken him for my Marek.
“The timeline has changed,” my Marek said. “And given what happened the last time this jump happened, we need to get you two out of here while we take the necklace back.”
The other two exchanged another look.
“I’m not leaving without the necklace. That’s my—our—retirement,” original Skye whispered harshly. “Does she realize that? Do you?” Her cold gaze landed over my shoulder on Marek.
“She has no memories,” he said. “But I do. You know it’s cursed. Look at all that has happened.”
“More than you know,” I said, unable to overlook the perfect dig.
The cold bitch glared at me as her Marek raised a brow at her.
“What?”
I crossed my arms over my corseted chest as I fumed at her. “He’s going to find out what you just told me.”
Though I had no memories, I seemed to be the one with the most knowledge given what she had said and what we had learned. “Look. I’ll catch you all up. You didn’t cheat on her”—I pointed at her Marek, then glanced over my shoulder at mine—“and she never broke the bond.” I raised a hand as they all started whispering at once. “And before you all ask a ton of questions, decide where you’re jumping from, because the stone isn’t safe.”
“I agree. I just took down someone at the mausoleum,” my Marek said. “I didn’t get a chance to check either path.”
“There was another on the road,” original Marek said.
“Can you jump from here?” I asked. “He said you jumped from the point. What if you just go a year? Two? Then you could go to the stone for your long jump.”
The two originals glanced at each other again.
“You’re well enough,” she whispered, her hand touching his.
“You owe me a lot of explanations,” he warned, the anger in his voice palpable. “Give them the necklace.”
“Marek—”
He placed a finger on her lips to silence her. Obviously, that was a habit for this man.
She rolled her eyes and dug through the leather bag that matched mine, handing me the velvet bag. I glanced back at my Marek, and he nodded. I quickly shoved it in my bag before they could complain.
“How could we both have it?” I asked, perplexed by all this.
“Ours is the controlling necklace in time,” her Marek explained. “As long as you get this back in the safe, it will remain the controlling one. When we’re done crossing paths, it should remain put for good.”
That somehow made sense.
“I’ll leave something in the vault at home for you,” my Marek said. “Something else from Burke’s stash. There has to be something else there that qualifies for retirement.”
Her gaze turned to meet my Marek’s over my shoulder, and her face softened, the bitchiness fading to leave her soft and human. “Thank you.”
The two originals exchanged another glance, and they spoke quickly in their language. My Marek uttered something quick, and the two glanced at him, then me. I frowned. What was that about?
The two edged along the side of the building to the front steps, sticking to the shadows. Her Marek held his watch into the moonlight to see better to set the dials while she scanned the area for any issues.
“Why the steps?”
“Because though the town has done renovations to the meetinghouse, the steps remain unchanged in your time. Like the jump stone, they need a spot that won’t change to be safe,” my Marek whispered. “Stay here. I’m going to the other side of them, okay? They’re vulnerable until they make the complete transformation to the space between. If someone comes, use your knife.”
I nodded, not liking that I was going to be her bodyguard. But then, her safety meant we would survive.
Marek crossed through a patch of moonlight, his knife glinting.
“May the light carry you forward,” her Marek said as he pushed the button on his watch.
After a few seconds, the bright light beamed outward, whirling to encompass the two of them. I blinked as I clutched the knife tighter, my breath shallow as they disappeared into the future.
Another rumble of thunder rippled through us, and I shuddered.
Marek sprinted to my side and leaned in close. “The timeline just changed again. We have to get out of here. If we go to the point, we’d just have to go back to the appropriate time. I don’t want to make more jumps than we need to as the timeline keeps changing. What do you think?”
I was touched he’d asked my opinion, given he had more experience at this. “What if we jump from here?”
“If we jump and someone comes, we’re also vulnerable until we leave. So there’s a good thirty seconds where we could die.”
I flinched and swallowed. Now I understood why I’d had to be the bitch’s bodyguard. “If he took care of someone on the road, going to the point will be safer. They probably won’t be guarding it since we’re several days after they left for this time. Right?”
He nodded and smiled as he quickly bent and kissed me. “I’m a fraction.” He said it out of the blue with a smile that curved against my mouth.
I grinned under his lips. “Yes, you are.” And he could be mine with no cold bitch waiting in the wings.
I got one more quick kiss from him, and he grabbed my hand. “Let’s go. There’s time for more of this when we’re somewhere safe.”
I nodded and glanced around uneasily.
He murmured in my ear, “Stay behind me. I’ll have to let go of your hand in the woods. We’re going to cut through here and head down to the path to the point. That should take us away from any danger.”
I squeezed his hand and hiked my skirts with the other as he led me around the meetinghouse. The full moon dipped below the trees, and the woods darkened more. I had no clue how he could see as he briskly led me along the edge of the lawn to the path. He took quiet steps, and I tried to mimic them.
As we reached the path and he let go of my hand, something felt off to me. I accessed that gift that allowed me to sense outside energy around me. I hadn’t used it in eons, not since the cemetery the first time I’d talked with Marek. It took a few steps to get my bearings, but I sensed nothing ahead. However, an odd energy shifted behind me, moving quickly.
Just as I opened my mouth to call to Marek, someone grabbed me from behind, their forearm closing around my neck. For the second time that night, a cold blade slid against my throat.
Fear erupted, clouding my vision as the feminine arm closed tighter on the side of my neck, cutting off my blood supply.
I couldn’t die. Not yet.
Chapter twenty-three
Skye
Black spots sprang up in my vision, and it had nothing to do with the darkness. The woman held me tighter against her corseted chest, the hard strips of bone stabbing into my back. Her forearm dug into the side of my neck, and my panic turned into self-preservation.
I’d been blood choked before. She wasn’t doing as good a job as the guys at that one party I’d gone to. The guys had taken turns cutting off blood flow in the neck while someone timed how long it took to lose consciousness. I’d lasted twenty-five seconds. It had been a stupid, teen thing to do with no adult supervision…and the experience might just save my life.
I collapsed against her, feigning unconsciousness. She gave an “oof” as she hefted my dead weight, adjusting her arms under mine to drag me a few steps back to the lawn of the meetinghouse. When she dropped me, I made sure to flop however gravity took me, ignoring the stone that bit into my side. Crouching, she settled beside me, her hand and the knife returning to my throat.
And then, something foreign probed the bond between Marek and me, finding the thread of energy at the top of the seam and plucking at it. Trepidation surged. This had to be Leah, time traveler and bond breaker.
“Oh, you’re not quite unconscious, are you?” she murmured, her slightly accented voice higher pitched but musical. Soothing.
Her fingers pressed into the side of my neck, and the spots grew again.
Could she feel that panicked energy on the bond? I looked, and sure enough, I screamed terror with dark-blue flecks. As I had with Marek when I feared he’d discover the teal on the bond, I swept the dark blue aside, hiding everything that resembled a feeling until the bond was just my normal dark blue and unresponsive. It must have worked, because her fingers lightened their hold, and full consciousness returned.
Marek’s side of the bond burned with confusion, and I could feel him spinning in the dark, looking for me. Marek. What was I going to do about him?
“You can come out,” Leah called softly. “And don’t do anything stupid. I have a blade to her neck.”
I peeked through my lashes as Marek stepped out of the t
otal darkness of the woods to the lawn.
“Drop your knife over there.” She must have pointed, but I couldn’t see that.
Steel hit rock and dirt with a ting.
“Hands behind your head, and on your knees.”
Marek’s gaze flitted from my face and her hands, weighing the options available for a plan.
“The only plan is that I break the bond,” Leah said softly. She mentally plucked at the threads, slowly unraveling the weave of energy.
I quelled the fear, sweeping it away as quickly as I could, forcing my breathing to remain even. Somehow, I even calmed my heart rate.
He swallowed loudly, fabric rustling, his knees thudding as he hit the ground in compliance. “Why?”
“I want to go home.”
His breath hissed between his teeth as he connected all the dots—that she was the time traveler and I’d need to die before she could do that. Unlike me, he’d been schooled on all the pitfalls. “You don’t have to kill her. She’s a fraction. She can’t be stronger than you.”
“No?” She probed the bond. “She’s strong, Marek, with a unique bond. She’s learned other things that her original hasn’t.”
He struggled with composure, his game face slipping as his gaze darted to his knife on the lawn next to me.
Leah’s blade turned so the edge bit into my throat. “Don’t. This can be painless for her. She doesn’t have to regain consciousness. It can be peaceful, and then you can take me and the necklace home.”
“I don’t understand any of this,” he whispered. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want to be here. After Lofton died, I had nothing but money. There’s nothing worse than a healer stuck in these archaic times with no good drugs like I’ve pilfered from other ages. No antibiotics. These people use opiates and cocaine to treat everything.” She snorted in disgust. “I used the last of my rohypnol on you, and it hadn’t been enough.”
Marek cocked his head. “What’s that?”
Her blade turned so it dug less into my skin but not enough for me to react without dying. “A date rape drug I picked up when laying over in the 1990s. I slipped it into your sherry mixed with a little Ecstasy, so you’d feel good. Of course, you had to object to me kissing you, but it was enough to get you to lay blame on yourself for cheating on your perfect, perfect Skye.”