The Time Keeper (The Guardians of Time Book 1) (18 page)

His face relaxed and he chuckled.  ‘Sometimes you’re just plain weird, Em.’

‘I thought that was pretty damn funny,’ she said with a grin.  ‘You just don’t understand the subtleties of my humour.  I’ve heard it’s an acquired taste.’

‘Uh huh.’  He smiled and ruffled her hair.

But he sobered abruptly when they stopped alongside Anton and Henri.  Henri was pale and shaking and Anton looked exhausted. 

‘Let me take him,’ Seb murmured.  He picked Henri up and cradled him in his arms like a child, holding him as carefully as possible. 

Even as strong and fit as Seb was, he was sweating profusely by the time they got Henri down into the catacombs and through the tunnels.  Jean and the others were waiting anxiously and surged forward to take Henri into their care.

Seb slumped down on a stool and stripped off his jacket. 

‘You okay?’ Emilia asked, her hand on his shoulder.

‘Yeah.  I could do with some water though.’ 

Emilia dashed to the back of the cavern and poured him a cup of water, which he glugged gratefully as soon as she passed it to him.

Jean moved in their direction and she looked up apprehensively.  ‘Is he okay?’

‘We’re going to have to set the bones, at least temporarily, until we can get someone with medical training down here.  But right now the women are tending to his wounds as best they can with our limited supplies.  It will take a while, but he’ll heal,’ Jean answered gravely.  ‘He’s alive, thanks to you two.  Your arrival here was a godsend.’

‘The Germans will be looking for him.  Do you want us to take him somewhere?’ Seb asked.

Jean shook his head.  ‘We have resistance safe houses dotted between here and the channel.  We’ve used them very successfully to transport shot down British pilots back to England.  We’ll get Henri to one of them far out of Paris where he’ll be safe.’

‘In that case, it’s time for Emilia and I to move on to our next task.  We have a rendezvous set for tomorrow night so we need to get out of the city before daylight.’

Jean clasped Seb’s hand between both of his.  ‘Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.’

He turned to Emilia and hugged her quickly.  ‘Be safe, my dear.  Maybe one day, when this war is over, we’ll all meet again as comrades and friends.’

Emilia smiled and then glanced over at Veronique and Francoise who were hovering over Henri.  ‘I’m not great at goodbyes.  Will you pass on my best wishes to the others?’

Jean followed her gaze and nodded.  ‘Of course.  None of us will forget you.’

‘Good luck,’ Seb murmured solemnly, referring to the approaching mission they had planned together to liberate Paris.  Reaching for Emilia’s hand, he walked out of the cavern into the darkness of the tunnels.

Once they were well out of sight, Emilia pulled her pendant out, wrapped her hand around it and willed them back to Ithaca, her first mission completed and her perspective of life forever changed.

Chapter 23

Present Day, Ithaca

It was the early hours of the morning and still dark when they materialised in Emilia’s kitchen.  Which sucked, because she was desperate for some sunshine.

She ran her hand through her tangled hair; it came away sooty.  ‘I’m going for a shower,’ she told Seb.  ‘I’ll cook breakfast once I’m done if you want to hang around.’

He hesitated.  ‘Em… about that kiss…’

‘Don’t stress about it, Seb.  It was just… oh, crap…’ she paled and reached out for the bench to steady herself.

Seb was beside her in a second.  ‘What?  Are you okay?’

She looked up at him, her eyes stricken.  ‘I’m not that girl,’ she whispered sickly.  ‘I never wanted to be that girl.’

‘What girl?  What are you talking about?’ Seb demanded in exasperation. 

‘I didn’t even spare Justin a thought.  I
cheated
on him, Seb… without even thinking about it!’

‘It was
my
fault, Em.  Not yours.’ 

Why did he always have to protect her?  Even when she didn’t deserve to be protected?  ‘I kissed you back.  I didn’t have to, but I did.’

With a heavy sigh, Seb propped himself against the table, his long legs stretching out and almost touching the toes of her scuffed boots.  ‘We’d just survived a life or death situation, we were both high on adrenalin and grateful to be alive.  I’m sure he will understand that.’

‘But I can’t tell him any of that stuff, can I?’ she pointed out, irrationally peeved that everything had to be so secret.

‘Do you really need to tell him anything?  It was just one kiss… with barely any tongue.’

Emilia coloured.  ‘I would want to know,’ she said quietly.  ‘I think he should have full disclosure.’

‘So very honest,’ he murmured, his mouth twisting slightly. 

‘Honesty is important in a relationship.’

He stood up abruptly and shoved his hands in the pockets of his filthy trousers.  ‘I’m sorry, Angel.  Sorry my actions put you in this situation.’

She reached out a hand towards him and then let it drop back to her side with a weary sigh.  Touching him all the time was what made it so natural to fall into his arms.  ‘Don’t beat yourself up about it.  I was planning on breaking up with him anyway.’

‘Not because we kissed, I hope.  I mean, I don’t like the guy but please don’t break up with him on my account,’ he said hastily, his eyes wide.

Emilia couldn’t help but laugh at his horror filled expression.  ‘Calm down, Sparky.  It’s got nothing to do with
you
!  Geez, you must think that was some kind of epic kiss!’  Which it kind of was, but she wasn’t going to let
him
know that.  ‘I went over to his place to break up with him before we left for Paris, but the circumstances weren’t right and I couldn’t bring myself to do it.’

‘You mean you wussed out,’ he said knowingly, his voice relieved.

‘Whatever,’ she muttered.  ‘Anyway, I think we’ve given one itty bitty kiss quite enough mileage.’

‘It was
not
itty bitty,’ Seb protested, absurdly outraged that she would place so little significance on what had been damn near explosive!  ‘It was hot, heavy…’

She crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrow.

‘…and never going to happen again,’ he trailed off lamely.  Damn.  How did she keep throwing him off guard?  If he wasn’t careful he’d spill all his secrets to her and the last thing they both needed was for her to know what was really going on in his befuddled brain.

‘As I was saying, I think we’ve talked about it enough.  I’ll figure out what I’m going to say to Justin while I’m in the shower.’  She started walking towards the hall.  ‘You can use the bathroom in the guest room.’

Seb scowled as she left the room.  For some reason he didn’t like the thought of her thinking about Justin while she was in the shower.  It seemed too intimate.  He shook his head hard and stomped after her, not wanting to examine why exactly that bothered him.

*

After a long, steaming hot shower, Emilia felt much better.  Spot bathing out of a bucket of cold water simply didn’t cut it and it was heavenly to finally feel clean again.  Dressed in soft, comfortable yoga pants and a bright yellow t-shirt, with her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail, she headed downstairs again to see about filling her hollow stomach.

She tossed bacon in a sizzling fry pan and then got a saucepan out to poach the eggs.  Seb wandered into the room and made straight for the coffee machine.  ‘Want one?’

‘Yes, please!’  She took in the jeans and crisp white t-shirt he was wearing.  ‘Where did the clean clothes come from?’

He waggled his fingers at her. 

‘Ahhh.  It’s quite handy that little talent of yours.’

Flashing her a grin, he placed a mug of aromatic coffee in front of her and went back to the machine to start another one. The smell of it nearly brought her to her knees after so many days without real coffee.

‘Jealous?’

She groaned.  ‘You have no idea!’  She pulled tomatoes and mushrooms out of the fridge and started slicing them.  ‘Hey, um, I wanted to talk to you about something?’

‘Yeah?’

‘I’ve figured out what I want to do with the next few years of my life, you know other than all this time travel stuff,’ she said over her shoulder.

‘Hey, that’s great!’ Seb encouraged, twisting around to look at her.  ‘So what’s the verdict?’

‘Well, I’ve actually really enjoyed all the research we’ve been doing and going back and experiencing what life was like in different eras.  So, um… I’ve decided to do a History major, which I can do here in Ithaca.  Maybe I’ll do teaching as well and become a high school history teacher.’  She turned sideways to the bench so she could see Seb properly.  ‘What do you think?’

‘I think you’ll make a wonderful teacher,’ he said softly.  ‘And I’m happy you’ve figured out what your next step is.’

Emilia shifted nervously.  This was the tricky part of the conversation.  ‘I don’t know if you’ve given any thought to what you might want to do when we’re not zapping through time, but it occurred to me maybe you should also consider going to university.’

He stiffened and turned back to the coffee machine.  ‘University isn’t for me.  I barely made it through high school.’

‘Because you were focussed on, uh…
extra-curricular activities
, not because you’re not smart.’

Seb snorted.  ‘That’s one way of putting it.’

‘Just hear me out for a second.  I’ve seen your drawings, Seb.  You’re really talented and you obviously love buildings.’  She paused, but he didn’t deny it, which was a tiny bit encouraging.  ‘You could study architecture, graphic design, fine arts… there are all sorts of possibilities.

‘I’m too old for university,’ he said stiffly. 

He still had his back to her but at least he wasn’t completely shutting her down.

‘That’s just an excuse.  You’re only three years older than I am, which is about how old the senior students are.  It’s not too late, Seb.  It’s
never
too late… if it’s what you want to do.’

‘Are you trying to change me, Em?’  He growled, spinning around to glare at her.  ‘Make me a better person?  Is it beneath you to hang around with someone with no real career prospects?’

Emilia’s throat tightened at the vulnerability in his eyes he was trying so hard to hide.  She imagined him as a teenager, looking out on the world and thinking he wasn’t good enough.  In that moment, she wanted to gather him into her arms and tell him he mattered, but she knew he wouldn’t appreciate her seeing that side of him.

‘Don’t you dare!’  She marched over to him and jabbed him in the chest.  ‘You know I don’t think that; you’re just trying to deflect the issue… well, it’s not going to work.  It was just a suggestion.  I honestly don’t care whether you choose to do something with your talent or sit around twiddling your thumbs all day.’  She planted her hands on her hips for good measure.  ‘It’s your life; do whatever you want.  But I’m your friend and I care about you, which means I’m going to secretly hope you follow your passion and pursue something you love.  That’s all.’

She stalked back to the stove and flipped the bacon.

‘
Secretly
hope?’  She could hear the amusement in his voice, which was a good sign.

‘Well okay, I’m probably going to bring it up from time to time,’ she muttered.  ‘We both know I’m not good at minding my own business.’

‘You do that quite well you know,’ he commented. 

‘What?’

‘Pretend to pick a fight with me so I’ll stop being such an idiot.’

She swiveled around, her expression filled with guilty surprise.

‘Yes, I know
you
nearly as well as you know me,’ he murmured blandly.

‘Are you mad?’

He shook his head.  ‘No.  It’s quite entertaining watching you try to manipulate me.’

‘Oh.’  She shoved her hair away from her face and met his all too knowing gaze.  ‘My point is still valid.’

‘I know,’ he conceded.  ‘I’ll think about it.’

David shuffled into the room, his eyes bleary and his hair sticking up at all angles.  ‘I woke to the smell of bacon.  Is there enough for me?’

‘Of course.’  Emilia pulled her gaze away from Seb and tossed in another few strips. 

‘How did the trip go?’ he asked with a big yawn.

Seb passed him his own untouched coffee and began making another one for himself.

‘Mission accomplished.  We had a few…’ she answered vaguely, her voice trailing off.  She had just noticed her father had pulled on jeans and a t-shirt and was in bare feet.  ‘Why are you in
jeans
?’

‘Because it’s Sunday and I don’t have to go into the University today.’

‘No!  Oh, no… no, no, no, no, no!’ she wailed.  Dropping the spatula she was holding, she raced for her room, taking the stairs two at a time.  She dove across her bed and grabbed her phone off her bedside table, turning it on and waiting impatiently for the screen to warm up.

‘Come on, come on,’ she muttered urgently.  She sat on the edge of the bed, her legs bouncing up and down slightly in anxious anticipation. 

As soon as the screen came to life the phone pinged and messages started pouring in, all of them along the lines of
Where are you?
  With a shaking hand, she ignored the voicemail messages from Justin, Jess and Maddie and went straight to the one from Stacey.  It wasn’t very long.

‘You better be lying in a hospital somewhere because I can’t believe you missed my birthday.  You promised you’d be here, Em.’

Emilia jumped to her feet, her one thought to get her butt around to Stacey’s and beg her forgiveness.  She glanced at her clock – it was six thirty in the morning on a Sunday, the night after a big party.  There was no way she could turn up on Stacey’s doorstep before ten and even that was probably pushing it.

Slumping back down on the bed, she drew her legs to her chest and dropped her forehead down on her knees.  She was the worst friend in the world and she had no idea how she was going to make this up to Stace… Stace, who had always been there for her, always on her side.

The bed sank beside her and she nearly tumbled sideways into Seb’s lap.

‘What’s the matter?’ he asked, his voice vibrating with concern.

‘Damn!  The bacon!’  She started to get up, but Seb applied gentle pressure to her shoulder forcing her to stay put.

‘David is taking care of breakfast.  Tell me what’s going on.’

‘It was Stacey’s eighteenth birthday yesterday.  There was a big party and I promised her I would be back from Paris in time, but I lost track of the days we were there and I only just realised it’s already Sunday.  I
promised
, Seb,’ she said shakily.

He swore, softly and succinctly.

‘Exactly,’ she agreed sadly.  ‘I’m not sure she’s going to forgive me for this.  It was really important to her.’

‘I’m sorry, Angel.’  Wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her head to his shoulder, giving her what little comfort he could.

‘I didn’t realise it was going to cost so much to do what we do,’ she said after a while.

‘I know.  When you first find out about it, it all sounds so exciting.’  He grimaced.  ‘I wish I could tell you it gets easier, but it doesn’t.’

‘Well, what good are you then?’ she said through a teary laugh.

‘I
can
tell you your Dad is cooking a mean breakfast down there that will help us forget just how bad the food was in Paris.  We’ll try and stretch it out for a few hours and then you can go and fix things with Stacey.’

He stood up and, grabbing her hand, pulled her to her feet.

‘Thanks,’ she mumbled.

‘What for?’