by Jane Cousins
Not stopping to think, Quinn raced forward, bringing her wrench down on one of the creature’s arms, just where the fur began below its elbow.
The creature shrieked and whipped out a leg, managing to kick Matias in the knee and send him falling to the deck. The creature bounded over Matias and came straight at Quinn, who ducked, slipping slightly on the wet deck. That unanticipated move helped. As the creature sailed past her to slam against the anchor housing. Twisting, down on all fours for a moment to recover, its sharp claws screeched across wood and metal.
Hell, the creature leapt straight at Quinn. Bam. Matias used the butt of the spear gun like a bat. Slamming the creature down hard onto the deck. He stepped in for another swing but ended up having to jump backwards out of the way as the creature swept out a claw, aiming for his ankles. Stumbling, Matias landed hard on his rear and elbows, head snapping back.
No, no. Quinn was on her feet by now. But so was the creature, with those muscular thighs, poised to spring forward. She yelled out a warning, too far away to do anything but throw the wrench as the creature leapt high into the air, targeting Matias.
Years of softball training paid off as the wrench struck the creature’s spine. Causing it to arch its back in mid air reflexively, claws splayed out, rather than aimed for Matias’s throat.
The creature’s forward momentum however meant it was still hurtling towards Matias, who had lost hold of the spear gun when he fell. With only a split second left, Matias leaned back, raising his legs. His feet connecting with the creature as he pushed up and thrust hard, sending it sailing right over his head and the railing only a few feet behind him.
Quinn rushed past Matias to the railing. She’d seen too many horror films not to double check. Tenacious deadly creatures always seemed to find a way to come back. But there was no sign of the thing. No bubbles. No body. And something else was bothering her about this scenario. It was… Quinn jumped as Matias appeared at the railing next to her. Likewise staring over the edge at nothing but dark, white-capped, choppy waves.
As a wave slapped loudly against the hull, Quinn suddenly realised what had struck her as so strange about the creature’s exit. Turning, she looked at a panting, blood streaked and weary Matias. “Are you alright?” She placed her hand over his where it rested on the rail.
“It got away.” Matias sounded hollow and a little lost.
Quinn squeezed his hand a little harder. “Did you notice that? When the creature fell over-”
A rogue large wave slammed against the hull hard, sending up a drenching spray. The salt water hit Quinn full in the face, and suddenly she was falling. Falling, but not very far before she hit the surface. Sputtering, Quinn kicked out frantically, she was home again. In her pool. Matias… her Matias was kneeling on the edge, concern warring with hope on his face.
Oh Goddess, how was she going to tell him? She’d failed. His parents were still dead. His sister still missing.
Chapter Sixteen
“I’ve told you a half dozen times already. There is nothing to forgive. Saint Medard, woman, you risked your life to try and help. That was all anyone could ask.”
Quinn pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders. She’d showered, washed her hair and braided it back for simplicity sake before pulling a dark blue, long-sleeve top and matching yoga pants on. Once more she was sitting on her bed whilst Matias paced her bedroom.
Despite his words, she felt chilled and heartsick. The only silver lining regarding the whole exercise was that she’d been able to doctor a hurt Matias from ten years ago.
Nell had been correct. With those ragged deep cuts, even with his superior healing powers, Matias would have surely bled out without her assistance.
So, did that mean she had been fated to be there that day on the boat?
And if so, were all her careful measures to avoid Matias over the past year nothing but futile procrastination? Fate determined to have its way.
Grrr, for a woman who defined herself by her rigid self-control and exacting schedule regarding her diet, sleep, social activities and stringent workouts, the whole concept of time travel was a mind bending exercise in frustration.
Quinn had always assumed the threat to her sanity, the trigger, would be one dark memory too many. That she would end up trapped, unaware that the world she was in wasn’t real, wasn’t her own. Whilst her body would just waste away.
That’s what she had planned for. That’s what she’d been fighting against all these years. That’s why she tried to be so careful who she touched. Whose memories she let slip past her shields. She wanted to help, despite her personal fears, and had thought that using her powers for the good of her patients under strict controls would at least extend her usefulness to the family.
But what if the real danger to her psyche was the convoluted twisted logic of time travel? The what ifs? The maybes?
“Quinn? Quinn!”
She snapped out of her introspection as Matias knelt down on the carpet in front of her. A look of concern etched across his gorgeous features. Oh, she’d been off wool gathering. “So-”
“If you say you are sorry one more time, I swear I will be forced to resort to dire measures.”
“Dire measures?” He had her attention now.
“I was thinking of something culinary. Maybe whipping up some brownies or how about an apple and caramel pie?”
“Your empty threats don’t scare me. You’ve already pushed the limits regarding the contents of my pantry.”
“You think so, do you? Are you aware that grocery stores deliver now?”
Quinn let the blanket fall away, finally the chill that had been clinging to her since her return had dissipated. “I promise, I’m fine… as long as you promise to keep the calorie laden treats out of my house.”
“Then we have reached a détente.” The edges of Matias’s lips quirked upwards. “It’s still late… or early, depending upon your definition. Do you think you can sleep?”
“And if I do, what do you have planned? The pool could probably use some of your cleaning skills, given the amount of swimming I’ve been doing in it over the last few hours. I’m pretty sure one of my sneakers is still in the deep end somewhere.”
“I-”
Quinn’s mobile, sitting on the bedside table rang, cutting off Matias’s reply. With a small groan, Quinn rolled sideways and snatched it up. “Nell? What’s up?... Really?... When?... How is-?... She did?... Yes, yes of course. We’ll be right there.” Quinn hit the disconnect button staring down at Matias, his rich toffee eyes brimming with curiosity. “That was Nell. Jodie woke up ten minutes ago. She’s asking to see you.”
“Me?” Matias frowned. “Why would she ask to see me?”
Quinn stood up. “Why don’t we go ask her that very question?”
* * *
Jodie Holden was confused, embarrassed, and more than a little disorientated.
Waking to find she was in a hospital bed had been bad enough. Worse still to find her boss and cousin, Elijah, Head of the Enforcers, sitting next to the bed, holding her hand, and refusing to let it go.
Then to complicate matters, to discover Nico Yanez, gorgeous bar owner and the man her best friend, Riordan, had a huge crush on, holding her other hand, and things began to border on the weird.
Then double down on the wacky stakes because for some reason she was fully dressed, shit kicking boots and all. And just to push the surreal boundary back another few feet, not only was her favourite knife in its sheathe at her waist, but there was a sword strapped to her chest.
Was she dreaming?
No, she watched as Nell stepped forward to personally shine a light into her pupils and check her pulse. Behind Nell she caught a glimpse of her smiling, but weary looking parents and her brother Alec. And over by the door stood Taite, Elijah’s second.
“Hey there.” Nell radiated competence and empathy. “Welcome back. Can you tell me your name?”
“Jo… Jodie Holden.” Her voice was cr
oaky, her throat bone dry. It hurt to swallow. Out of the shadows a distant relation who worked as a nurse at the Haven Bay Hospital bustled forward with a glass of water and a straw. The liquid was heavenly, even if she wasn’t allowed to drink very much.
“Do you know why you are here?” Nell enquired.
Jodie frowned, looking around at her audience. “No.” She tried to reclaim both hands but neither of the men seated on either side of the bed appeared to want to let go. The weirdness factor continued to creep skywards.
“What do… perhaps we could have a little privacy? Alec, why don’t you take your folks and grab some coffee? And I don’t suppose I could convince either one of you to leave?” Nell looked slightly exasperated as she glanced between Nico and Elijah. Reading their stubborn expressions, Nell just shook her head. “Fine. Taite, out, and close the door would you?”
“What’s going on?” Jodie frowned, a little perturbed to find so may curious gazes locked so intently upon her still.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Nell checked on the glucose and saline solution drip feed.
“I…” Jodie frowned. The last thing she remembered? She’d been at training… and, a shadow fell over the bed as the nurse leant over her to adjust the pillows, knocking the sword lying across her chest in the process. With strength she didn’t know she had, Jodie ripped her hand away from Nico and grabbed for the sword. The weapon was vitally important… “Matias? Where’s Matias?” She looked around the room, almost expecting to see him step out of the shadows.
“Did Matias do something to hurt you, Jodie?” Elijah’s tone was all growl.
“What? No!” She gripped the sword tighter still. Danger. There was a threat. “They’re coming.” She looked up at Nell. No, that wasn’t right. They’d been running away. And there had been blood, pain and a warning. Everything was jumbled. “He has to stay away!” She blurted out the words, but they weren’t her own.
“Matias?” Nico leaned forward intently.
“Yes. She said… she said it was all her fault.” Jodie frowned, trying to make sense of the chaotic recollection that was whirling through her head.
“Who said it, Jodie? Who told you that?” Nico looked haunted and yet hopeful at the same time.
“Copper. Copper told me to keep Matias away, to keep him safe.”
“Why? Did she say why?”
Oh shit, she remembered, she remembered everything. “Because if they get their hands on Matias, the world will end.”
* * *
“Can you walk us through what happened one more time?”
Jodie glanced over at Elijah, her expression a mix of frustration and weariness.
“I have a better solution.” Quinn stepped forward. “Why don’t I read Jodie and project the memory to everyone? That way we can all witness first hand what happened.”
Jodie nodded, swallowing awkwardly, her throat still felt too dry and painful to run through the story a second time. And no doubt she was forgetting things and getting stuff jumbled. “Sounds good to me.”
“How do we go about it?” Nico looked wary.
“It’s just a question of skin contact transference. It’s not painful or anything. I touch Jodie and then we daisy chain, not a big deal, just a little awkward.” She turned to look at Matias, intending to tell him to grab Nico’s hand, but he misinterpreted her look.
“I don’t care about the consequences of us touching, I’m seeing this.” He grabbed her wrist lightly.
Quinn released a small breath of thanks when nothing untoward occurred. “Okay, everyone grab on to someone else. Remember, this is Jodie’s memory. Nothing can be changed or altered. We are merely remote viewers along for the ride.” Quinn didn’t hesitate, she just reached over and laid her palm flat over Jodie’s forearm.
Snap.
A wave hit Jodie in the back. What the hell? She looked around quickly. She was standing waist deep in the ocean. But it wasn’t the Haven Bay Beach, this water was a darker blue and the beach a few feet away had black sand. One second she was listening to Elijah hand out assignments and suddenly she was here. Where ever here was.
Her drenched fatigue trousers weighed her down as she slogged through the shallow water to the beach. Her hand ready on her knife hilt just in case, as her ruined boots sank deeply into the soft sand. Where the hell was she? The air was hot, oppressive and humid. There was a dense green jungle crowding up against the sandy beach. A bird cawed loud and sharp in the distance.
Off to her right was a wide stretch of choppy knee deep water. The mouth of a river. On the other side was another stretch of beach, behind it dense greenery and… whoa. Above the tree line, off in the distance… that wasn’t possible… no, it looked like a granite pyramid, one with the top cut off.
Seriously, was she dreaming?
Nico felt disorientated having Jodie’s thoughts in his head. She might not recognise the stone structure but he did, it was a Mayan temple, not a pyramid. Weirder still was the feeling of being imprisoned in the body of a slim young woman. Dependent on her to look around. Experiencing her feelings so vividly, as if they were his own.
Jodie winced, pinching only hurt. Damn, this was real.
Moving further up the beach, she looked around for any clues or signs as to where she was. Absently yanking off her long-sleeve top, tying the item around her waist. Who knew how long she would be here and if the top might prove useful at some later date.
Right. Come on, think. She was somewhere hot. The surrounding looming vegetation, that pyramid structure, she could only guess at South America somewhere. But how? Or should that be why?
Damn, if she wanted answers, perhaps her best bet would be to make her way to the only landmark in sight, the pyramid. Where there was a building, there might be people. She squinted, looking across the river mouth, not sure, but there might be a vague path leading towards it.
It wasn’t exactly like she was spoilt for choice when it came to options. The damn jungle only a few feet away crowding up against the sand was a dense impenetrable green wall. She’d need something a lot larger than her favourite knife to cut a pathway through that mess.
Hmmm, so weird foreboding pyramid structure, with possible pathway, it was.
She’d barely taken a step towards the mouth of the river when a distant guttural howl split the air. Something about that sound froze her in place, all the hairs on her arms standing on end.
Quinn bit her lip, she badly wanted to tell Jodie to run. She recognised that howl, she knew what was coming. But these events had already happened. She was nothing but a passenger, a witness, to the events of Jodie’s memories.
Jodie stood frozen in place. Peering across the choppy shallows of the river mouth at the beach and the jungle beyond, the direction from which that howl… scream, had originated from. After running fingers through her short dark hair, she shook her head, her imagination was obviously getting the better of her. Big deal, of course there were animals roaming around in this sort of environment. But if she gave them a wide berth, no doubt they would do her the same courtesy.
She had barely taken three steps forward when another howl split the air. Higher pitched, further away, off to the left, nearer she thought to where the pyramid was located. Hmm, suddenly the idea of slogging across the exposed stretch of water leading to the opposite beach held very little appeal.
Jodie blinked. A human… no, not human, well not fully human creature emerged from the distant tree line. Its head was that of an animal. The body was human. Dark skin, semi-naked, a woman, but the legs were slightly wrong. The thigh muscles thick, the body crouching a little lower to the ground than a full human would stand. It moved fast across the black sand on the far beach. With a weird loping grace that didn’t quite suit its two legged gait. And its arms, the same tawny fur covered with dark spots on its head covered the thing from elbow down to its… claws. Claws? Bloody hell. What was that thing?
What ever it was, it certainly wasn’t happy to see
her. Not from the snarl it emitted that echoed across the forty feet separating them as it locked weirdly luminous yellow eyes upon Jodie.
Elijah watched the memory unfold impassively, he didn’t believe in a candy assed approach to training apprentice Enforcers. They were constantly thrown into the thick of things to remind them to expect the unexpected. He knew Jodie could deal with one crazy, half-animal chick. She’d been an apprentice Enforcer for over three years now. So he didn’t tense, he knew it was a memory. He was a patient of Quinn’s himself, he knew how the recall viewing worked. But still, just watching the events unfold, unable to help or change things. It bordered on the frustrating.
The next moment a half dozen other howls split the air. Hmm, one on one would have been fine. But now that Jodie realised that crazy-eyed, rabid, animal girl had friends. Shit. Time to run. Question was, where? Glancing back over her shoulder she was surprised to see the animal woman already half way across the mouth of the river. Damn, those things moved fast.
Jodie drew her knife. Tensing her body. Ready. Staying away from the claws was going to be her first order of business. Hmm, the sun glinted off the sharp teeth in that snarling mouth. And now she knew her second priority.
The creature chose that moment to spring forward, explaining those powerful leg muscles. Shit, she would have been better facing off against it in a limited space like the jungle. Too late now, as she dropped, sweeping out with her weapon, scoring the creature across the upper chest. As her boots thudded into its belly, sending it flipping through the air to crash land on the black sand.
It scrambled for a moment, trying to regain its two legged footing. Jodie sprang up to face it. It should have seemed fantastical but that was the moment one of the trees behind the creature came to life. No, Jodie blinked. Not a tree. A person, a woman, camouflaged to look like a tree. She was plastered with mud and green leaves. Stepping forward, silent and deadly, she raised a thin wooden spear and thrust it down hard through the creature’s back. The woman… creature, bowed in pain, snarled and then fell heavily to the sand, unmoving. The spear pinning it in place.
