Coma (Paranormal Romance) (29 page)

“Yeah,” I replied, “This bump hurts more,” I
chuckled, touching the painful spot on my head.

“Aww, I’m so sorry, my love,” he pulled me
into his embrace, kissing the bump. “There was no time. I had to
pull you out like that, or he would have cut you open.” He clenched
his teeth at the last words. My gut responded equally
disturbed.

“I’m okay. It doesn’t matter,” I smiled,
pressing my palm against his cheek. “How’d you know he’d do
that?”

“I didn’t,” Zack frowned. “It was the way he
looked at me in our room. There was something in that look that
said he was trouble.”

“Ethan checked the future,” Sophie said, “But
it didn’t show anything out of the ordinary.”

“How’s that possible? I saw that look, too,”
I scowled. “He clearly had bad intentions.”

“Yeah, but when time travelers are involved,
future shows natural progress of things until we do something that
changes it,” Zack leaned against the wall, tucking his hand in back
pockets.

“Hate to be the party pooper, but we have to
go,” Ethan said, then disappeared, only to reappear a few seconds
later.

“Where did you go?” I asked him, puzzled.

“To check if we missed the last flight out of
here,” Ethan answered, meddling with his bracelet.

“Have we?”

“No, but we have to hurry,” Ethan said,
grabbing Sophie’s hand, typing into her bracelet.

“No time to walk, either,” Zack added, and
typed into mine.

~*~

“
All is fair in love and war”

–– Sun Tzu, The Art of War

We boarded the plane to Christchurch, New
Zealand, at the last moment. It was a small cargo plane in which we
had to sit on metal benches surrounded by our luggage and
cryoboxes. There was no passenger area with padded seats; it
resembled a rustic ferry boat with wings. When we were asked what
our cryoboxes were, Sophie and I explained that those were the main
pieces of our scientific equipment, and should be handled with
care. The guys responsible for loading them joked how it could have
been warheads for all they knew. Well, we were in a war, and our
heads would be in there, so they weren’t that far off
linguistically.

The plane took off, bringing a painful
realization into my head. My Antarctica plan was ruined.
Desperation gripped my chest. I was out of options. Here I was with
the love of my life, my soul mate, the man I couldn’t live without,
and to keep him I had to cause the immense pain to the other two
people I loved. Life didn’t seem fair. My gaze drifted off to Zack.
He was immersed deep into his thoughts, occasionally sighing, and
shaking his head. I couldn’t stand seeing him like that. Guilt was
written all over him. With eight hours of flight ahead of us,
someone had to break the ice, so I decided to be the one.

“Zack,” I said, wincing him. As if he had
been shut down, his eyes came slowly back to life, carrying nothing
but sadness.

“Yeah,” he breathed, his gaze slowly reaching
my eyes.

“What are we gonna do now?”

“What were you thinking?!” Ethan yelled,
glaring at Zack. “How could you trust him?”

“Who said I trusted him?” Zack replied,
frowning.

“You put us all in danger. For what?” Ethan’s
nostrils pulsated from anger. Sophie put her hand on his back,
whispering something, but he dismissed whatever she had said with a
scowl.

“For Lyra,” Zack spat out, returning the
glare. “I never meant for any of us to be in danger. The least of
all Lyra.” He looked at me softly, but pain and guilt found its way
to the surface. He blinked, and then returned a harsh stare at
Ethan. “I checked all the angles, and still wasn’t sure I could
trust him. I tracked him down, saw that he was defrosted, but there
were no indications as to why, or that it had anything to do with
us.”

“What were you doing with him in the first
place?” Sophie interjected. “He’s an Elder!”

“His wife left him because he couldn’t handle
her decision to go along with changing history, and dying in the
process. He came to me for help,” Zack trailed off into his
thoughts, leaning against his knees.

“And?!” Ethan yelled, dragging Zack back into
conversation.

“And the deal was to get his wife to switch
sides. To come to TGA, and tell us how to stop that change. I
didn’t achieve that, but I managed to persuade her to at least
forgive him. They did get back together, and he owed me for that,”
Zack said, and lowered his head on my shoulder. I offered my
support by stroking his hair.

“What was that rambling when we tied him up?”
Ethan leaned forward to look at Zack.

“He holds me responsible for losing his wife.
For not getting her to switch sides. When he heard we were
unbreakables, he saw a chance to get even,” Zack’s deep green eyes
looked up at me from my shoulder. I smoothed my palm down his
cheek.

“That’s plain stupid,” Sophie voiced her two
cents. “You didn’t change history. His wife did,” she snorted.

“I know,” Zack sighed, “Regardless, that’s
what he said.”

“I’m getting Zoe in on this,” Ethan
sputtered, and devoted his attention to his bracelet.

“Who’s Zoe?” Sophie asked, darting confused
glances at all of us.

“Our boss,” Zack resigned, tracing invisible
lines down my sleeve. The reason that made it impossible for Zack
to leave his time and be with me just got a name. I wondered if
getting Zoe meant we were gonna have our asses handed to us on a
plate.

“I sent her my memories,” Ethan said to Zack.
“She demands you send her yours this instant.”

As if he couldn’t care less, Zack pressed a
couple of things on his bracelet, then placed his head back on my
shoulder. “Done,” he said, halfheartedly.

A moment later, Ethan said, “Zoe checked with
her informants,” and then read the rest of her message, “Michael
was discharged. He had a breakdown after his wife’s death. Tried to
kill his superiors.”

“That explains his defrosted status,” Zack
straightened up in his seat. “But that means he cannot follow us
into this realm.” His eyes rounded as if he had an epiphany.

“Meaning?” I asked.

“He’s morally corrupted! There’s no way he
can time travel ever again,” Ethan chuckled.

“You understand that now you have no choice,
right?” Zack turned toward me, his words hitting my painful spot. I
gulped knowing exactly what he meant.

“Yes. Now I have to die for my parents,” I
said, feeling every word as if it weighed a ton, but strangely, I
felt ready––come what may.

“I’m so sorry,” Zack bowed his head,
repentantly. “I never meant for this to happen.”

“Don’t be! You tried everything you could. It
would have come to this, eventually,” I had to let him know that.
Had to ease the guilt he had imposed on himself. It really wasn’t
his fault. None of us were to blame for Michael's actions. He gave
me a chance to come to terms with my faith, and for that I was
thankful.

“As soon as we get to Christchurch, we’ll
find a spot for your cryoboxes, and you’ll have to get inside.
That’s the only way to keep you safe,” Zack said, his eyes closely
focused on mine. Knowing what it meant for me, when I reached for
his hands, he shook his head, saying, “I have only bad feelings at
the moment. I can’t ease your pain.”

I cracked a smile, “This time, it’s not me
who needs it.” For the first time since we had left McMurdo, I saw
his eyes sparkle. Lyra that left her parents at the airport wasn’t
this Lyra sitting here, offering her help. This person was
stronger, and the reason was Zack. He gave me strength and courage
I never knew I had. We connected our hands, and I allowed all my
love and gratitude to flood his body.

~*~

“Money on the table,” Sophie said after a
while, going through her pockets. The three of us looked at her as
if she were mad. “We’ll have to rent a van in Christchurch,” she
widened her eyes. “God, you’re all dumber than I thought,” she
snorted, shaking her head.

We chuckled, and emptied our pockets. Who
would have thought Sophie would be the sane one in a situation like
that.

“Ha!” Zack chuckled, “Zoe sent us coordinates
for cryoboxes,” he extended his arm to Ethan.

“Awesome,” Ethan smiled. “This will be enough
money to rent a van, and to have the
last supper
,” he winked
at me.

“Jerk,” Sophie kicked him, “That was uncalled
for,” she scowled.

“It's okay Soph,” I chuckled. “When you think
about it, it's kind of funny.”

“See? She digs my sense of humor,” Ethan
flashed a cocky smile. His bracelet sounded, making him frown.

“What is it?” Zack's face became worried.

“Zoe.” Ethan picked up his glance. “She's
sending in a Death Squad.”

The sound of that chilled my blood to
Antarctica levels. “Death Squad?” I asked, swallowing hard.

“She met with the chief of Elders. They saw
Michael go after Lyra's parents in the future,” Ethan looked at me,
clenching his teeth.

“Oh my God,” I shrieked, feeling all blood
leaving my face. “But...but...that means he’s already made that
decision. He must have started that chain of events. You said
before that time travelers have to change things to show up in the
future timeline,” my voice broke, my body shivering.

Zack entwined his fingers with mine. “It
won't come to that,” he said, fixing his gaze on mine. “That's what
Death Squad is for. They will kill Michael before he does
anything.”

“When both sides determine that certain time
traveler is a threat, and that his actions will cause havoc, then a
branch of time travelers that have a license to kill are sent in to
put him out of his misery,” Ethan added.

“Who gives them the license?” Sophie giggled.
Unlike me, she was amused by the new info, but she also had a good
point.

“Exactly!” I narrowed my eyes, “Why are they
allowed to kill, and Michael isn't?”

“It's the universe's way of making balance.
They kill on contract, not out of their own moral corruption,”
Ethan replied, pulling up a leg over his knee.

“So, it's moral to kill if someone asks you
to, but not if you want it yourself?” I snorted, nervously. That
was ridiculous!

“No,” Zack chuckled, “I doesn't work that
way. Both leaders meet, asses the danger level, issue a warrant on
his head, and the Death Squad goes after him. If their decision was
correct, that he indeed is a threat, he will be killed. If not, the
Death Squad won't be able to take him out, and no harm done.”

“Death Squad is merely a tool,” Ethan jumped
in. “Only our leaders know their identity. They’re not active time
travelers, they’re dormant, called in for these purposes only.”

“Wait,” I darted my gaze toward Zack, “If he
will be out of the picture that means I can go back to
Antarctica.”

Sadness in Zack's eyes answered the question
before he replied, “Unfortunately, that's not an option. Zoe wants
to see you as soon as we get you frosted.”

“But, why?” All my ships sank. Again.

“It's complicated,” Zack clasped the back of
his neck. “You're no longer a regular human. Now you belong to a
nation of time travelers, and like us, you answer to Zoe. Or Harold
if you were an Elder.”

“And you couldn't have told us that before?”
Sophie glared at Ethan.

“There's too much information. We told you
the bigger part, this should have come later on,” Ethan replied,
scratching his temple.

“If it weren't for the Michael incident, Zoe
wouldn't insist on this, but since it happened,” Zack drew a sharp
breath, “It changed everything,” he blew out a long breath. “She
believes we're all too emotionally involved to make rational
decisions.”

“She might have a point,” I sputtered,
surprising everyone. “Well, we
are
too emotionally
involved,” I clarified my point of view. “She might have a fresh
perspective on this. It won't hurt to hear her out.”

“I don’t like the sound of it,” Sophie
frowned. Ethan looked at her from under his brows. “I left my
parents thinking I’d be free to make my own decisions. Now I hear
we have a queen I have to answer to.”

“She’s not our queen,” Ethan burst out
laughing. “Zoe is like a friend that was put in charge because
she’s the most experienced and wise. We follow her lead out of
respect. She’s never made a bad decision. Or unjust one.”

“A collective has to have a central point of
command,” Zack added to the lot. “Someone objective to put the foot
down, and make hard decisions for the better of majority. That’s
Zoe in our case.”

“Soph,” I put my hand on her shoulder. “Let’s
see what she has to say before we pass any judgment.”

Sophie nodded, but her pout remained until we
landed.

~*~

“
Know thy self, know thy enemy.
 A thousand battles, a thousand victories.”
––Sun
Tzu, The Art of War

Getting inside a cryobox caused goose bumps
all over my body. I wasn't claustrophobic, but it felt like I was
getting into a coffin to be buried alive, and that image certainly
didn't make me cheerful. Zack held my hand, reassuring me that they
wouldn't press deep freeze until both of us were out of our bodies.
Sophie and I exchanged looks, her eyes goggled like mine, colored
with fear and doubt. I gulped and took a deep breath.

“Soph,” I called her from inside my cryo.
“Let's get this show on the road, shall we?”

I saw her faint smile, and then she
disappeared inside her cryo. I nodded at Zack. He placed a kiss on
my forehead, saying, “Try to relax. It's no different than your
bed.”

Right. Easy for him to say.
I started
counting from thirty backwards, taking a slow, deep breath with
each number, and exhaling long in between. Cold metal surrounding
me cooled my body, causing several short shivers. Luckily, since I
mastered switching realms, my body and I had reached an agreement
that it would go into deep relaxation once I finished counting. It
must have become an automatic thing, because by the time I reached
zero, cold metal wasn't bothering me. I couldn't feel my body
anymore, meaning I could freely get up. Zack extended his hand to
help me out of the cryo, and I took it gladly. Turning around, I
could see my body peacefully stretched out inside the cryo. All it
needed was some flowers and a minister. The funeral could
begin.