by Nina Croft
“Why?”
“No clue. But Si said one day we’d understand everything. I’m not holding my breath.”
“I bet Christa has a few theories.”
“Of course. My favorite is that Kane’s mission exists after all, and someone tried to stop it right at the start when the original people were sent back in time. They sabotaged the machine so it crashed ten thousand years too early.”
He rubbed a hand through his hair. “It’s enough to make your head explode.”
“Tell me about it. And the best thing is the bad guys could come back anytime. Hell, they could turn up yesterday and then what happens? Yup—poof—my head just exploded.”
They’d gone over this stuff so many times. She was talking to take his mind off the upcoming meeting. But he loved her for it. Because he was terrified.
“On the positive side,” she said, “we heard from Quinn. He’s still in the States, but he thinks—with the information you gave him—that he’s found Martin Rayleigh. Which means we might locate what’s left of the original Tribe.”
“That’s good. And how’s Josie?” he asked.
“Still hasn’t remembered anything. But she seems happy.”
The rest of the Tribe had returned to Uganda. Only Sadie had stayed to be with him. To help him in his search. In the end, it had taken them only days. Too soon.
They came to a halt outside a pale blue gate. Beside them, Max whined and scratched at the wood. He’d recovered fully from his ordeal but didn’t like to let Sadie out of his sight. Ethan knew the feeling.
Sadie squeezed his hand. “It will be all right,” she said.
He swallowed. He didn’t want to do this.
What if she rejected him? Again. “Maybe we should write a letter. Or an email or…”
“Don’t be a wimp.”
Still he hesitated. So much had been achieved in a few days.
In the end, he hadn’t destroyed the Conclave. Sadie had said it needed to go on. Somewhere in the future, there was a man who would come back and rescue her. Maybe the future wasn’t set, but they could help it along.
So he was taking over. After Lauren’s death, no one had attempted to question his claim. But there would be changes. Accountability. Fergus was helping.
Ethan had warned Jake of the men on their way to Uganda. Kane had been prepared for them. They’d both died in the confrontation, so there was no way of knowing where they had come from.
But they all believed it was nowhere in this time.
Just live for the day. It was all any of them could do. He pushed open the gate which led into a pretty garden, walked up the drive to a matching blue door. He took a deep breath and knocked. There was no response.
“She’s not here,” he said. “We’ll come back another day.”
Sadie shook her head. She pushed on the door and it swung open. Without hesitating, she entered the dim hallway, heading to the back of the house. He followed, reluctantly. Then they walked through a big country kitchen and out the back door into another garden. At the bottom was a gate that led onto the beach.
His mother had always loved the sea.
“Go,” Sadie said.
He stood at the gate and looked out over the beach. A woman and a girl strolled along the edge of the water, a black Labrador trotting beside them. The girl hesitated, swung around, and met his gaze. She was tall and slim, still lanky, with long dark hair and golden eyes. His sister.
“Her name is Bethany,” Sadie said. “It’s her twelfth birthday today.”
He waited, unmoving, until they came up level with him, then he pushed the gate open and stepped out onto the sand.
The woman saw him first and she went still. Her eyes widened.
“She’s happy,” Sadie murmured. “She loves you so much. And she’s scared. Go tell her everything is going to be fine.”
And for the first time in his life, he believed that perhaps it would be.
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Acknowledgments
To everyone at Entangled Publishing, especially my fabulous editor, Brenda Chin, for working through my story, telling me when it made no sense (honestly, this time-travel stuff is complicated!), and helping me change that.
To all the great women at Passionate Critters for reading my stories and letting me know what they really think.
And also, a huge thank-you to my long-suffering husband, Rob, who has to put up with me regularly zoning out of the real world and playing around in worlds of my own making.
About the Author
Growing up, Nina Croft spent her time dreaming of faraway sunnier places and ponies. When she discovered both, and much more, could be found between the covers of a book, her life changed forever.
Later, she headed south, picked up a husband on the way, and together they discovered a love of travel and a dislike of 9-5 work. Eventually they stumbled upon the small almond farm in Spain they now call home.
Nina spends her days reading, writing, and riding under the blue Spanish skies—sunshine and ponies. Proof that dreams can come true if you want them enough.
If you’d like to learn about new releases, sign up for Nina’s newsletter here.
www.ninacroft.com
Discover the Beyond Human series…
Unthinkable
Also by Nina Croft
the Dark Desires series
Break Out
Deadly Pursuit
Death Defying
Temporal Shift
Blood and Metal
Flying Through Fire
The Order series
Bittersweet Blood
Bittersweet Magic
Bittersweet Darkness
Cutting Loose series
Falling for the Bad Girl
Blackmailing the Bad Girl
the Things to Do Before You Die series
His Fantasy Girl
Her Fantasy Husband
His Fantasy Bride
the Babysitting a Billionaire series
Losing Control
Out of Control
Taking Control
the Melville Sisters series
Operation Saving Daniel
Betting on Julia
Blackmailed by the Italian Billionaire
The Descartes Legacy
The Spaniard’s Kiss
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