Epoch (The Transcend Duet Book 2)

by Jewel E. Ann

  “Yes!” She lifts her wine glass like she’s ready to toast my terribly degrading speech on women. “I pick the guys who are too into their jobs. Too much a mama’s boy, not enough brains to talk about anything but the size of their dicks and not enough decency to bring a girl flowers or a sympathy card when her dog dies.”

  I cringe. “Sorry about your dog.”

  “Oh…” she waves her hand at me “…my dog didn’t die. I just said that to get out of a catastrophic date last week. But he didn’t know my dog really didn’t die. Where were the flowers and sympathy card?”

  I laugh. She’s definitely trouble.

  “Mathias, if my dog died tonight and you knew about it, you’d send flowers, right?”

  Yep. Every single shade of trouble. Why has trouble never looked or felt so good?

  “Absolutely.”

  Her lips twist. “You know what I need?”

  I grab my beer, tipping back the last two gulps before slamming it onto the bar harder than I intend to do. “I think I do.”

  And fuck me, déjà vu … I know what she’s going to say before she says it, because she’s said it before and I’ve heard it before.

  At the same time we say, “A real boyfriend.”

  “I think a part of you will be mine to love in every life.”

  The End

  Acknowledgments

  Once upon a time I told my mom, Leslie, that I wanted to write a book about reincarnation. This is where my epilogue of gratitude begins.

  Mom, your wide-eyed enthusiasm over my idea gave me the courage to follow my creative instinct. You’re always there to hold my hand and take this journey with me, researching and sharing information to help make my dreams a reality. You’ve done this forever.

  Tim, Logan, Carter, and Asher—my favorite guys in the world—because you hug me, hold me, love me, and sometimes feed me when inspiration demands all of my attention. Our life is the greatest happily-ever-after.

  I’m often asked about where I get ideas for stories. My go-to answer is “everywhere.” That’s only partly true. While my sister, Kambra, is busy being Super Mom, she texts me story ideas, songs, and where she imagines my work in progress going. She might not get a shower every day, but she does a superb job of feeding my creativity.

  Shauna—Queen of Names—stalked me after she read my first two books. I think. She’ll probably read this and correct me on that detail. Anyway … what started out as a reader sending occasional messages to an author, has turned into a lifelong friendship which includes a first meeting in Vegas, an epic couples road trip, a car ride through the Midwest with bags of potato chips, and the most random daily texts. Nearly every character in this duet was named by Shauna. In real life, Swayze is the name of her favorite waitress and a name that grew on us throughout the book.

  Jennifer Beach, aka World’s Best Assistant, puts up with me at my worst. She rescues me on a daily basis, holds me together, and solves my problems. And she sends vegan goodies to my house on special occasions.

  My newsletter subscribers get a standing ovation from me. Transcend started out as an exclusive newsletter story that I spoon fed to my subscribers, two chapters at a time, for over a year. Not everyone jumped on the slow-burn train, but I owe a huge thank you to those readers that navigated this journey with me. Some of whom had never read any of my other books—a fact that blows my mind! Your feedback helped shape this story. I listened to your wishes, fears, and even your threats. ;-)

  So much gratitude goes to my editing team. My beta readers sacrifice their reading enjoyment to catch early errors and find holes and discrepancies in my story. Leslie, Kambra, Shauna, Tim, Sherri, Sian, and Jennifer, you rock! My cantankerous editor, Maxann Dobson with The Polished Pen, has been with me from the beginning. And this could be the end for us if cantankerous doesn’t go over well.

  Eyes. I like lots of eyes on my manuscript. Thank you to my additional proofreaders, Monique Tarver, Allison Riley, Erika Nielsen, and Bethany Castaneda for raking through my words one last time.

  I love these book covers! Thank you, Elias, for having the perfect Nate hair to make the cover of Transcend so tastefully sexy. To Wong Sim for capturing the perfect image of Elias. And a huge thank you to Sarah Hansen with Okay Creations for designing the beautiful covers.

  Thank you to Jennifer Watson, Sarah Ferguson, and the rest of the team with Social Butterfly PR for giving my books so much visibility.

  Paul Salvette with BB eBooks is a formatting unicorn. I’ve never seen magic happen so quickly.

  And finally to my growing village of friends comprised of readers, authors, and bloggers graciously willing to share my words and support me along my journey, I owe you an infinity of gratitude.

  If you liked The Transcend Duet, check out the Jack & Jill Series. Here’s a sneak peek of End of Day.

  Chapter One

  Day

  Four graves.

  Four caskets.

  Two bodies.

  A throng of family and friends mourned the loss of four innocent lives under dapple gray skies in a cemetery nestled at the bottom of a hillside just miles from the Golden Gate Bridge. A DEA agent and his wife were murdered a week earlier and their two adult children were reported dead in an apartment building the following day. Investigators reported the cause of death—self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Those same investigators collected a bag of cash at a drop location in exchange for their report which led to two empty caskets and headstones carved with the names Jessica Maeve Day and Jude Paxton Day.

  “How many people live to see their own funeral?” Knox, the lead Agent for G.A.I.L, mumbled from the driver’s seat of the SUV custom built to meet presidential motorcade standards.

  “I could snap your neck and not shed … One. Fucking. Tear,” Jessica Day answered.

  The cocky agent chuckled, as any asshole that treated life and death like a business would do. “I taught you everything you know. I’m not too worried.”

  “No, you taught me everything you know.”

  “Jess,” Jude warned, grabbing her fisted hand and holding it until she relaxed.

  “I’ve seen enough. Let’s go.” Jessica turned away from the window and closed her eyes as she released a slow sigh. Why couldn’t she have a normal life? A husband who worked too much but adored her, a daughter with long black hair and an ornery son that loved to pull it, and a dog that dug up the flowers planted along their white picket fence.

  How could fate be so cruel?

  “We’re gridlocked. We won’t be leaving early without busting up a few cars, which would make a scene. And the last thing we want to do is make a scene.”

  Every word Knox spoke brought Jessica closer to the edge. She needed to hit something. She needed to hit someone. The most painful hour of her life passed with every second and felt like an eternity. Jessica didn’t want to live to see her own funeral. She fought the urge to jump out of the vehicle and race to the casket—her casket—climb inside, and let them bury her alive. At that point, no death would be as excruciating as the alternative—living.

  “Look at me.” The uneasy tremble to her brother’s voice made her skin pebble, hair standing on end.

  Jessica’s heart hid in her throat, sending waves of throbbing pain through her body as tears stung her eyes. She knew why Jude wanted her to look at him. On the other side of the privacy-tinted window was her everything.

  How could fate be so cruel?

  “Jess, don’t do it … just don’t.”

  Jessica looked at her brother the way someone would before pulling a trigger pointed at their own temple—lifeless and regretful. “I have to … I have to see him one last time.”

  The heartbroken shell of a woman turned toward the window and there he was, surrounded by his family. Sunglasses hid his deep navy eyes that had pieced her back together as much as his most brilliantly spoken words. His signature tailored suit he wore was black that day. She cursed him for not being more original—a splash of flare in
honor of her funeral.

  Her gaze drifted to his shoes. Inside she felt a blink of reprieve from the pain, a smile that didn’t reach her lips. He was wearing those argyle socks; she couldn’t see them … she just knew. Jessica knew that man. Jessica loved that man. And in that very moment, she said goodbye to that man. In another blink, the pain returned.

  How could life. Be. So. Cruel?

  Jude squeezed her hand. “He could come with us.”

  “I know.” Her voice cracked under the weight of pain. He already thought she was dead. “I can’t take him from them. I want him … but they deserve him.”

  *

  The Days were transported to an undisclosed location that defined middle of nowhere, a million miles from civilization—no cell phones, no television, no computers … no alcohol. They were dropped off by plane, literally dropped from the plane with parachutes on their backs. Jessica and Jude were members of G.A.I.L. (Guardian Angels for Innocent Lives) and therefore they were experts in two areas: combat and survival.

  Weekly food rations were deposited from the same plane, like aid and sustenance to soldiers. But their war was not a physical war; the enemy targeted their emotions. There were no hidden cameras, but those six months living by themselves in a tiny cabin as they moved through the stages of grief felt like a cruel psych experiment. They mourned the loss of their parents and the loss of themselves.

  Cheating death more than once, Jessica had seen so much in her short life. Not once did she contemplate the worth of her own life. Not once did she think a single suicidal thought—until she said a silent goodbye to Luke at the cemetery. Jude spent months pulling her from the ledge, offering his shoulder, and sometimes beating some sense into her. How could the person she mourned the most be the only one still living?

  Unfortunately, there was no room for error in their new lives. Severing emotional ties would keep them alive. Time. It would not heal them, but with each passing day it hardened their emotions, leaving them feeling numb.

  Jude marked off each day on their calendar until the one with the star finally arrived. It read: fin de journée—End of Day. A knock at the door had them bodychecking each other, desperate to see a different face after six long months.

  “Greetings!” Knox smiled as he stepped inside.

  Jessica never imagined feeling excited to see Knox. In all respects she hated him. However, by then she would have welcomed the devil himself into their cabin. She loved her brother, but six months alone with him, living in such primitive conditions, tested her already-questionable sanity.

  “So I see you haven’t killed each other.”

  Jessica and Jude shared knowing smirks. On several occasions they sparred one blow shy of knocking the other one unconscious.

  “Did you do your homework?”

  “Homework?” Jessica looked at Jude. “You mean there was more than just not killing each other?”

  Knox groaned. “God! Can’t you two just do what you’re told for once? We insisted on grief counseling and you refused it. We suggested Jude have all visible tattoos removed, and he refused that. Now you know damn well we asked you to give yourselves a past and plan out your future—think of new professions or new skills you want to acquire—and you’ve not done that either? I’m tempted to put a bullet in each of your heads myself and call it a day!”

  “We picked out names.” Jude grinned, eyes wide. He couldn’t feign an ounce of sincerity in his expression.

  “Well, thank fuck for that.” Knox took a seat at the kitchen table and pulled a computer out of his bag. “I’m going to go over a shitload of information with you. Our main goal is to keep you safe so if you listen and follow the rules, there shouldn’t ever be a problem. Our second objective is to make sure the discovery and identification of G.A.I.L is never revealed or compromised.”

  Jessica and Jude nodded.

  “So let’s get started.”

  Four hours later they completed their exit training and packed their minimal belongings for the transport to their final destination.

  “Got everything?” Knox asked as he finished typing a few things into his computer.

  They looked around the small cabin one last time.

  “We’re ready,” Jude affirmed.

  “Alright, one last thing so they can have your new IDs ready by the time we get there. What’s it going to be? What new names have you chosen?”

  The Days looked at each other and grinned.

  Order End of Day today!

  Also by Jewel E. Ann

  Jack & Jill Series

  End of Day

  Middle of Knight

  Dawn of Forever

  Holding You Series

  Holding You

  Releasing Me

  Standalone Novels

  Idle Bloom

  Only Trick

  Undeniably You

  One

  Scarlet Stone

  When Life Happened

  Look the Part

  Transcend

  jeweleann.com

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  About the Author

  Jewel is a free-spirited romance junkie with a quirky sense of humor.

  With 10 years of flossing lectures under her belt, she took early retirement from her dental hygiene career to stay home with her three awesome boys and manage the family business.

  After her best friend of nearly 30 years suggested a few books from the Contemporary Romance genre, Jewel was hooked. Devouring two and three books a week but still craving more, she decided to practice sustainable reading, AKA writing.

  When she’s not donning her cape and saving the planet one tree at a time, she enjoys yoga with friends, good food with family, rock climbing with her kids, watching How I Met Your Mother reruns, and of course…heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, panty-scorching novels.