Silver Storm: Timewalker Chronicles, Book 2 (21 page)

“Yes, I will. I’m covered. Don’t worry about me. Besides, it doesn’t matter. We’ve been waiting for you to show up for years now.”

Tim wanted to break something but focused on keeping his heartbeat steady and his hand wrapped around Sarah’s. Being with her was like being on a high-speed roller coaster with nowhere to get off and no emergency stop button.

She must have felt him tense beneath her because her gaze left her cousin’s profile and sought his with a silent apology. She reached up and wrapped her hand around his Mark, sending a warm hum of energy through him. Just like that she was forgiven for scaring the shit out of him yet again.

Her fingers caressed his head and neck. If he were a cat, he was pretty damn sure he would’ve started purring. God, this woman drove him crazy.

Katie grinned. “Both of you can just stay out of my head.”

“What do you mean, both of you?” These women were all crazy. Why did that thought make him want to smile?

Katie looked at him like he had noodles for brains. “Some of the men begin to take on the skills of their women, especially if they’re descendants, too, which you must be to have that Mark on your neck.”

Sarah sat up straight and nearly bumped her head against his chin. “How do you know this?”

“The book, Sarah. Grandmother Tilly’s book.” For the first time since they’d met her, Katie looked truly nervous. “Grandmother left you the book, and a bunch of other stuff. Didn’t she ever show it to you?”

“No.” Tears gathered in Sarah’s eyes, threatening to rip Tim’s heart into pieces. Anything but tears.

“Well, we’re going to Grandmother Tilly’s house. My mother still lives there, guarding it. We’ve been waiting for the Walker of our time to come. She told us you would.”

“How did she know?” Sarah looked out the window and wiped the tears from her eyes as Katie continued.

“Foresight runs in our line, Sarah. Foresight is one of our gifts.”

“Then why the hell don’t I have it?”

“I don’t know. Why can’t I build a storm like I felt you pull into town last night? I assume that was you?” When Sarah nodded, Katie continued. “I can do what you do on a much smaller scale, but I’ve got maybe a tenth of your power. You had me rounded up and trapped like a bug under a glass with no way out. Why is that?”

Sarah didn’t answer and Katie drove in silence for close to an hour before they pulled into the driveway of a quaint cottage-style home obviously built at least one hundred years ago.

Katie shut off the car engine and turned to look Sarah straight in the eye. “Why do you think you were always so good at wind-surfing? You were pushing the wind where you wanted it to go, even then. Then the Archiver got a hold of you and did something to enhance your D.N.A. Now you’re a superhero here to save the world.”

Sarah sat in stunned silence and the wind howled outside the vehicle in response to her tentative touch. “Oh, my God. It’s true. I never realized.”

“Mother and I have been waiting for you for years. Everything is ready. Come on.” Katie exited the vehicle, slamming the door closed behind her. She gave them no choice but to follow her to the front door. She didn’t knock, just let herself in and left the door open for them to follow her.

Tim held Sarah’s hand and entered first, scouting the area and the fiftyish woman waiting for them with her hands in a nervous twist.

Sarah gasped and pulled free of his grasp. “Molly? Is that really you?”

“Yes.” The women hugged and smiled, despite the fact that the smiles were filled with pain.

“How much time do you have?”

Tim studied the flickering light that laced the wispy curtains with slices of dawn’s first rays. “A little less than twenty-four hours.”

Molly nodded and tugged her toward a back room. Sarah gasped and stopped when the energy snapped between them and the pain hit her. Foolish woman. Their connection was stronger now, but she still couldn’t go more than a couple feet without repercussions.

“We’ll have to work fast.” Molly motioned for them to follow. Tim took Sarah’s hand and tugged her up against him so he could kiss her. A quick kiss, just to remind her that he was there.

Her smile lit up her eyes and he nearly stumbled when he saw the love shining there. She wasn’t trying to hide it, didn’t even blink, just stared up at him like he was a god.

Oh, hell yeah. She loved him. Something broken clicked into place inside him. Sure, he’d kill for her, protect her, make love to her every chance he got, but this was more. This was sell-your-eternal-soul-to-the-devil-to-save-her kind of love, something so beyond his scope of experience he couldn’t speak. So he kissed her again, longer, deeper, and tried to let her know he’d fight hell itself if he had to. There were no rules he wouldn’t break when it came to her. Not anymore.

Molly cleared her throat where she stood in the doorway of what appeared to be a very small bedroom. “Come on, kids, we don’t have much time left. We’ve got to get your flights booked and your IDs finished.”

Tim let Sarah pull away from the kiss, but a strange lethargy filled his limbs when she leaned into him and wrapped her arms around his waist. An hour ago he’d been worried the bastard Rear Admiral would kill her. Having her here, in his arms, staring up at him like a love-struck teenager was going to his head…and other places.

He had to work to keep his head in the game. Who the hell was Molly, exactly? Why did she have a British accent? And book flights? IDs? “What are you talking about? We aren’t going anywhere.”

“Oh, yes, you are. Grandmother Tilly left explicit instructions.”

Sarah pulled away and led him down the hallway with a gentle tug of her hand at his elbow. “Let me see the book.”

“Oh, it’s all here for you, Sarah.” Molly led Sarah to sit in front of a camera and took her photo, then tugged him into position for his turn.

“What are you doing?” Sarah’s puzzled expression spoke for both of them.

“Taking your passport photo, of course.” Molly placed an old shoebox on the quilt covering the small twin bed in the room and headed for the door where Katie waited with a set of car keys. “We’ve got errands to run, now that you’re here. The box contains Grandmother’s book, instructions for your travel after the attack on Chicago, and everything she knew or learned about the Timewalkers. Read the book. Get some sleep. We’ll be back in a few hours. We’ll talk then, okay, dear?”

“But how did Gran know?” Sarah’s confused face and tapping foot betrayed her nerves.

“
Her
great grandmother, Anne, was the first of our line to show up in this time. She arrived in 1864 and stopped two assassination attempts on President Lincoln.” With that bombshell, the two women left. The front door slammed seconds later.

“What the hell is going on here, Sarah?”

“I don’t know.” Sarah stared at the mystery box, then back at him. Sun shown down on it through the window, lighting the container with an unearthly glow. She hesitated, hands shaking, as she sat on the bed and pulled the box onto her lap.

Sarah sat in heart-rending silence.

“Open it.” Tim walked over and locked the bedroom door, then sat next to Sarah on the bed. She held the box, unopened, shaking fingers tracing her name written in elegant script on the lid of the box in black marker. “It’s her handwriting.”

“You okay?”

“I don't know. How could my grandmother do this to me? She knew. She knew and never told me.”

“Open the box. Let’s find out exactly what she did and didn’t know.”

A journal lay in tissue paper, plain black leather. Sarah opened it and he peered over her shoulder to see Sarah’s name and the Mark of the Shen drawn in thick black ink. Sarah turned the page and read aloud.

“
Dearest Sarah,

“I am sorry I couldn’t tell you more. I knew you would be Taken from me. I had the vision when you were five years old. Before you get angry, please ask yourself what good would knowing have done you? You would have worried, and cursed your fate instead of living and growing into a healthy and happy human being. I chose not to tell you and I hope you can forgive me. I knew, and I died a little inside each day counting the minutes until you would disappear from my life. I did not want that pain for you.

“I must tell you now that I know you will ride the storms, child. And what an amazing gift that is. I have shared dreams with you riding the wind more than once and each time I wake filled with joy. I have also seen the hard-looking soldier destined to be yours. He has a good heart, a bit broken and scarred, but I’m sure your sunshine will heal his soul.

“I do not know what your particular mission will entail, so I’m afraid I can’t help you with that. I do not know when or where you will have to complete the task the Archiver will assign to you. I know you were always fearless and strong. You are not the type to give up or succumb to defeat, so I have a deep and abiding faith that you will be successful. The only thing I know for sure is that you will find your way home, to this book. I have foreseen you sitting with your soldier reading this book with sunlight in your hair and a heavy heart. I’m sorry, lovebug, but you must leave this city as soon as you are able. There is a Timewalker in need and you must be in place to help her.

“My grandmother shared her life with me, and I’ve placed her story in these pages. She, too, had the gift of sight. Her story is for another time and is contained in the back of this book for you to read once you are safely on the beach in Bermuda. Her story is interesting, but does not affect the burdens placed on your shoulders. She is simply a fellow sister and traveler through time.

“This I know, you will read this book and the following spring a dark-haired Timewalker will wash up on the beach in Bermuda. She will need a sea-worthy boat, money, and your assistance. I do not know her mission or her name, but her Mark is on her left shoulder should you desire proof. If you are not able to help her, she will fail in her mission.

“I also know that you will need to run, that you will be hunted for your power. So, my child, kill two birds with one stone. Change your name and flee with your soldier to a new home. Do not tell the Archiver what you plan to do. There is a war going on, child, and I’ve seen some very strange things. Timewalkers and their mates are the only ones you should trust.

“I’m sorry I can’t tell you more.

“Be safe, lovebug. I love you. I’m proud of you. And somewhere in time, I’m holding you in my arms, always.

“Love, Granny T”

Tears flowed freely down Sarah’s face and Tim wrapped her in his arms, absorbing her sobs as she dropped the book to the bed and curled against him.

Hunted for your power.

Yes, the Rear Admiral would never stop looking for her. Right now she was an enigma to him, a strange woman with a bit of power. After the storm, the final battle, she’d be godlike in the Weasel’s eyes. A weapon unlike any other. She’d never be safe in the States again. Every camera and software bot out there would be looking for her. Sarah’s identity may not have been discovered yet, which could buy them some time, but the Rear Admiral knew Tim well enough. His home, his money, his identity could all be used like a blood trail to find Sarah.

“Shit.” He took the cell phone out of his pocket, pulled the battery out, and shoved the mess back in his pocket.

“What are you doing?”

“Disabling the GPS.”

“What’s GPS?”

“Global Positioning System. It triangulates your position anywhere on Earth using satellites. They could track us within a few feet of our position anywhere on the planet.”

Sarah shook her head. “I don’t belong in this world. In this time. I’m like a three-year-old, and the things I don’t know are going to get you killed.”

“No, Sarah. No.” He tipped her chin up to look in his eyes. “I know for both of us and I’m not leaving your side.” She leaned in and rested her forehead against his, staring into his eyes and straight through to his soul. He hid nothing. “You do your thing tomorrow, you blast that ship out of the sky, and I’ll take care of the rest.”

She took a slow, deep breath. “Okay.”

“Trust me, Sarah. I’ll take care of you.”

She stopped breathing and he kissed her lightly, coaxing her to relax and draw air back into her body. Letting her go to fend for herself in the world wasn’t an option. He could tell her a million reasons why, and they’d all be legitimate, but the truth was he simply refused to let her go. Love meant nothing to him, it was a word he’d used when talking to his mother, when she kissed him after a skinned knee or when he took a head-dive off his bicycle at eleven and broke his wrist. Love was a weak word and didn’t begin to encompass what he felt for Sarah, watching her cry, watching as she squared her shoulders time and again to face a terrifying destiny no human should have to face, watching her love him despite his anger at the world, give herself to him despite his ugly-ass head and even uglier scars.

Love didn’t come close to this obsessive need he had developed to know that she was happy, taken care of, and safe.