Timesurfers (20 page)

“Should we be expecting your
mother
to arrive as backup any time soon?” An evil
grin slid across Balthazar’s face.

Austin remained motionless, his eyes fixed on
the three boys fanning out around him. “I don’t need backup for you
three chumps.”

Cate stepped in front of Austin. “If you
three lay one grimy paw on him, I’ll tell Mum you’ve been street
fighting. She’ll have you in lockdown for a month.”

“Move, Cate!” Balthazar and Austin
chorused.

No one looked like they were backing down.
Balthazar’s shirt was stained dark from sweat and purple veins
stood out down his forearms. She put a hand on each of Balthazar’s
and Austin’s chests and braced as hard as she could to separate
them. Their strength far outweighed hers, so she needed another
plan. An idea twinkled in her brain and then shone with an
intensity that made it impossible to ignore. Mel and Gaspar stalked
forward, closing the circle around Austin. It was now or never.

She focused on Austin, repeating the same
words in her mind. His right eye twitched, and she may have even
heard him sigh. In an instant, he held her against him like a human
shield, his hand firmly under her chin.

“Come one step closer and I’ll break her
neck,” Austin growled.

The three boys froze.

“You wouldn’t. Not her,” Mel said.

Austin lifted Cate so her feet dangled above
the ground. There was barely enough air getting through for her to
actually breathe. His hand coiled around her shoulder, positioned
perfectly to break her neck. A smidge of panic flickered in her
chest.

“I definitely would, Mel. Move one gnarled
toenail closer and I’ll also break a few of your bones for fun.
Mortez is sure to let the fire ants gnaw on you all if you’re
responsible for Cate’s death.”

The boys
and
Cate
shivered at the mention of fire ants. Cate’s nightmares about them
were so vivid. As black spots exploded in front of her eyes, she
pleaded silently for Austin to loosen his grip a tad. He did and
murmured something in her ear about more fear.

“Back off, boys.
Please
,” she gurgled to the boys. The indecision
etched on all three boys’ faces was evidence they were
contemplating their next move.

“Make them back off,” Austin breathed into
her neck.

What did he think she was trying to do? She
flashed him a furious sideways glare, and he actually rolled his
eyes!

“Everyone
needs to
use their heads.” He squeezed her shoulder and throat as he said
“everyone” and “heads.”

She spluttered and gasped for air. Then it
registered what he was trying to tell her. She focused on each of
the three boys in turn. Their faces went blank, and their eyes
glazed over. They slowly dragged their feet, reluctant to move, but
unable to fight against her silent command for them to return to
the house.

She steadied herself against Austin as he put
her down. “I probably should have done that to start with,
hey?”

He smiled and wrapped his arms tight around
her waist. “It would have been less dramatic than your feeble
attempt to compel me to pretend to snap your neck. All good in the
end though.”

The air shimmered, and Rafe and Rose
appeared, rippling like a reflection in a pool of water before they
became solid figures. “Naitanui sent us to check on you. Your time
tube suddenly split in two.” Rose blinked a few times as she eyed
Cate and Austin, both practically half-naked. “What the hell?”

The anger in Rose’s voice forced Cate’s eyes
downward. She shuffled uncomfortably.

“Chill, Rose. All the important bits of
clothing are intact. My virtue is no more tainted than it was this
morning.” Austin held his green and black checked shirt for Cate to
slide her arms in. “I think we might cover you and your virtue up a
bit, though.”

She buttoned from the top, and Austin started
at the bottom. Her face burned as she became acutely aware that she
was standing in the street, half-naked, with Austin’s
mother
.

“This”—Rose motioned between Cate and
Austin—“is not okay. Not in any time or universe. You know better.
You disrespect your oath and all those who have died to uphold it
for some worthless
child
? You disappoint
me.”

Austin flinched as if Rose had slapped
him.

Cate thought again how right she had been
when she first saw Rose. They were never going to be friends. “I’m
not a child.” She rolled the long flannel sleeves up a few more
times.

With a series of flickers, Jonah burst into
view. “I’m checking on the multiple time tubes. Oh...Rose...” It
was an awkward second that felt like an hour. Jonah lost his focus,
visibly taken aback. His eyes held Rose’s as a barrage of emotion
and unspoken words passed between them.

He tore his eyes away from Rose to survey the
group. “What are you wearing?” He pointed at Rafe, who had on a
white T-shirt with “Choose Life” in bold black letters on the
front, tiny fluorescent lime shorts, and a matching lime headband.
“That clashes with your hair.”

“I was at a WHAM concert.”

“Nothing’s going to go with his mullet.” Cate
gave a nervous laugh, but stopped abruptly when Jonah’s eyes met
hers. She toyed with the corner of Austin’s flannel shirt. The
disappointment in Jonah’s face gnawed at her heart.

Rose pointed a finger at Cate. “This is all
your fault.” Her voice was scary quiet. Jonah moved at the same
moment as Rose. Austin shielded Cate. His outstretched hands warned
both Jonah and Rose to stop, but Jonah moved past him to Rose and
whispered something only she heard. Rose gave Cate a glare laced
with venom and shoved Jonah’s chest with both hands.

“I’m not here to fight,” Jonah said.

“Well, I am.” Rose motioned to Jonah with one
hand. “Come on, Lover...let’s see if you’ve got anything I didn’t
teach you.” She whirled and landed a vicious kick, dragging the
heel of her boot across the corner of Jonah’s eye. His skin tore,
and blood trickled down his cheek.

“Are you okay?” Cate darted forward,
instinctively wanting to help Jonah. Austin’s arms circled tight
around her chest, holding her back.

Jonah eyes remained fixed on Rose.

“He’s had worse.” Austin relaxed his arms
ever so slightly. He remained completely unfazed as Jonah grabbed
Rose’s leg and, wrenching hard, sent her
spiralling
through the air. Catlike, Rose
landed on her feet.

“Should you help Rose?” Cate asked. The
stillness and tenseness had returned to Austin’s face. She
recognised
it as his
warrior mask.

“I’ve learned never to get between those two.
Best to let them have at it.” His voice was as emotionless as his
face.

Cate glanced at Rafe, who shook his head.
“Not in a million years would I get in the middle of that.”

Rose and Jonah sashayed, their bodies gliding
one way, then the other. Calm predators, hunting for a
vulnerability to exploit. They kicked, punched, and whirled as they
completed a perfectly choreographed and potentially lethal dance.
They were wicked fast, with killer moves. They broke apart,
bloodied and breathing hard. Jonah rubbed at the blood dripping
into his eyes.

“We’re taking her, Jonah.” Rose had control
of her breathing now.

“And I’ll come and get her. You know I can,”
Jonah stated.

At that second, Cate was finished being
treated like a possession. “Right! Everyone look at me.” She met
everyone’s eyes with her best badass glare.

A wry smile flittered across Jonah’s face,
which she found strangely encouraging. Austin didn’t resist as she
shook his hands from her shoulders. “I’m not going with any of you.
I compelled Balthazar, Mel, and Gaspar to stop fighting and go into
the house. I also compelled Austin to threaten to break my neck.”
Cate tossed her head and stood taller.

“Correction, you
tried
to compel me,” Austin said.

“I wanted you to threaten to snap my neck,
and you did. End of discussion. Rafe, go back to your WHAM concert,
or I’ll make you cartwheel nonstop until you throw up. You know I
can.”

“Look who’s finally grown a pair,” Rafe said
and disappeared.

Her eyes lingered on Austin’s bare torso.
She’d had no chance to appreciate his near nakedness. He looked
better than she could ever have imagined. Her fingers itched to
touch his insane abs.

Rose made a disgusted noise in the back of
her throat, and with a frightening glare, vanished.

That was far easier than she expected.

“I’m sure she’s off to a Taylor Swift
concert,” Austin joked.

Jonah’s voice was tight. “I’ll give you two a
few private minutes.” With a terse nod, he strode over and leaned
against the house, bending his leg and resting a foot against the
white weatherboard wall. This was Jonah at his most menacing. A
quiet, lethal weapon coiled and ready to spring.

“Glower all you like, Jonah. I’m not leaving
Cate with you.”

“Actually, you are,” Cate said
matter-of-factly. “It’s not up for discussion. Now, clearly
Timesurfers are big fans of aggressive negotiations. I don’t want
to fight you. I don’t want you to fight Jonah, and I
certainly
don’t want to fight you and Jonah. I will
though, if that’s what it takes to get my way. Regardless of the
fact I know you’ll both kick my butt. I’m sure neither Naitanui nor
Mortez want a nearly dead me to deal with. You wouldn’t be here if
you could have just killed me. I know this because Rose would
obviously love to kill me and hasn’t. Go, Austin. Report back to
Naitanui or whatever you do when you aren’t here pushing my
buttons.”

“This is a new side of you. Very take
charge.” Austin reached for her hand. “I hope you had a fun
birthday morning.”

“I had a
fabulous
birthday morning.” A nervous laugh escaped her lips. Austin
scrambled her brains when he was this close.

“I loved every minute. See you, Beautiful.”
He disappeared.

She gave a happy little half skip and then
forced herself to walk calmly over to Jonah lounging on the
step.

“Did you spill something on your clothes?”
His eyes dropped to Austin’s shirt.

“Oh! No.” She shoved her hands in the back
pocket of her jeans with an uncomfortable laugh. “I tore mine off
because I thought I was going to spontaneously combust when I got
my wings on the way back from the balloon ride.”

“Congrats.” He leaned back on his elbows and
smiled.

He was so comfortable and easy to be with.
All the crap in her life melted away. She scooted onto the step
next to him. “What does getting my wings actually mean?”

“It permits you to surf pain free without
immortality. It’s also a sign the residual magic in you is strong
and one or more of your powers is unique. Your migraines will be
gone. They’re the precursor to getting your wings.”

“So the boys are all Timesurfers with Mortez
from the future?”

“They aren’t from the future. They’re all
from 2014. Why do you say they’re with Mortez?”

“Because you knew Balthazar the other night
and they also threatened to take Austin to her. You Timesurfers are
big fat liars!”

“There’s a difference between lying and non
disclosure.” Sticky blood glistened on his cheek and matted in his
hair.

“You just keep thinking that if it makes you
feel better.” She touched her hand to the corner of his eye,
fascinated as the blood and gaping cut disappeared.

“Thanks.” He threaded his fingers through
hers. His hand, warm and rough against hers, made all the stress in
her body evaporate. She focused on a noisy bee, busily moving from
rose to rose. Their intoxicating perfume wafted her way.

“I wondered when you’d show a bit of your
badass.”

“I like to use my badass sparingly. It has
more impact that way.” She gave him a cheesy grin.

“And there’s the smart ass as well.”

“Are you allowed to surf to any concert or
event you like? Can you just time travel for fun?”

“We go on many different types of missions.
Most are to manipulate time lines, some are information gathering,
some are history immersion expeditions and some are just because we
can.”

The sunlight glinted on the copper highlights
in his hair as he leaned his head back and gave her a crooked
smile. For a second, she was
mesmerised
by how beautiful he was. “Do we hold
hands a lot in the future?”

Jonah gave her a quizzical look. “Do you
like
holding my hand?”

“Yes...well...what I meant was...” She didn’t
know what she meant.

His grey eyes sparkled at her discomfort.
“How was the balloon ride?”

“Awesome.”

“They are wonderful. Did Austin tell you Rose
made him wear a harness until he was eight?”

Cate nodded and chuckled.

“How’s the birthday going otherwise?”

“No presents yet. Mum went to sort out a
drama at work during the night and Xavier was in bed when I left at
five this morning.”

“Right.” Jonah smiled a tight smile. “I
better get going. I can sense a mother returning from a mile away,
and yours will be here any minute.” He reached into his pocket and
pulled out a glittering strand of emerald stones, which he dangled
at her. “Happy Birthday from me.”

“I can’t accept that...” Her fingers reached
to touch the bracelet of their own accord. A five-year-old girl
jumped up and down inside Cate and clapped her hands and yelled.
Take it, take it! It’s so beautiful
.
“No...I really can’t.”

“Take the bracelet. It’s sparkly and
beautiful, like you.”

“You’re so smooth. You know just how to make
a girl smile. It must be because you’re so old.” She gave an evil
chuckle.

“I know
plenty
of
ways to make a girl smile, no
jewellery
or props required.”