“Go where?” Carter snapped. “Where are we supposed to go?”
“Back to your time,” replied the stranger. “To the time of your human form. Your celestial side will follow.”
Carter stared at the other creature. Celestial side? What was that supposed to mean?
Before he could ask, he heard a voice, a different voice, entering the conversation.
“Carter?”
It was Ellie calling him. She didn’t sound panicked or scared, but she did sound nervous. Carter didn’t get a chance to call back, reassuring her that he was okay or informing her of his location before the winged shifter repeated,
“It is time for you to depart.” It held out its hand. Inside his pale palm was a Stone. A tiny Stone, a miniature of the ones Sean and Nosizwe warred over, complete with ancient runes carved across its face. “Use your blood. Sparingly this time,” the creature said. “Go home. Take your wife with you.”
He wasn’t sure he believed any of this hocus pocus, but Carter accepted the Stone anyway.
“Whatever gets me out of here,” he muttered.
He blinked, and the other shifter was gone.
“What—”
He twisted around, looking this way and that, but it had vanished faster than the snap of his fingers. An uneasy sensation crawled up his spine as he recalled Ellie’s claim of angels, but he shook it off, even as he jogged towards the sound of her voice.
It was just another shifter, he told himself. We all have different abilities.
Couldn’t say he’d seen one with that particular gift yet, but there was a first time for everything.
Chapter Eight
I hadn’t planned on waking up alone in that dark, chilly little house. I’d been scared to death when something jerked me from sleep—the fact that I was alone? No romantic afterglow, which would have been nice. No waking up to my husband next to me. No smiles, cuddles, and kisses. Nope. Instead, I’d sat up, patting the makeshift pallet next to me, whispering Carter’s name. No answer. A few seconds of searching the gloom, and I realized he was gone.
“Oh no, he didn’t,” I groaned, swiping my hair out of my face and putting on my glasses as I climbed to my feet.
He probably would’ve wanted me to stay put, but I was afraid for whatever misadventures he might run into out there alone. Which was a little stupid. Between the two of us, he was definitely better equipped to handle any physical altercations than I was, given his shapeshifter heritage. It wasn’t this that I was afraid of, though. It was all this talk about him that sounded eerily close to prophecies. This world was crazy, and I didn’t want him facing its mysteries alone.
I went outside after dressing, looked both ways, and didn’t see him. I had no idea which way he’d gone. It seemed best just to call him. I didn’t want to shout, for the same reason people don’t visit a graveyard at night and start shouting. It just felt wrong. Like you might wake the dead, even if you didn’t believe in waking the dead. I didn’t have a whole lot of options, however. After calling him once or twice, waiting a few seconds in-between, walking a few steps one direction then another, I was getting prepared to shout louder when I heard, “I’m coming, Ellie.”
I saw shadows moving down the street, the flickering of the oil lamp as he rounded a corner. My chest constricted with relief. He was okay. He hadn’t left me. Not that I really thought he would have, except to go off exploring, but it was nice to know I wasn’t alone again. I hurried toward him, not stopping until I could put my arms around him, hug him tightly.
“Where did you go?” I murmured. Until that moment, until I felt the security of his body against mine, I hadn’t realized how nervous I was.
“Why, Ellie, I didn’t know you cared,” he teased. He was making a joke of it, like he made a joke out of everything, but the way he hugged me back told me he wasn’t immune to separation anxiety, either.
“Shut up.” I straightened and slapped his shoulder. “That’s not funny. Where were you?”
“I couldn’t sleep. Thought I’d have a look around, try to find a way out here. And it worked.”
“It did?”
“Yeah, it did. I ran into some shifter. Some shifter I hadn’t seen before. He had wings and he, uh, he gave me something.”
I drew back. “Oh. It must’ve been the angel, the same one I met earlier.”
“It wasn’t an angel.”
I heard the impatience in Carter’s voice. He hated accepting the fact that there might be even more otherworldly beings and powers in existence than what he, himself dealt with on a daily basis. He probably also hated accepting the fact that I’d been right.
“Okay, it wasn’t an angel,” I soothed, in a tone of voice that said clearly I was humoring him. “What did the angel—I mean, the shifter—give you?”
I could see his frown despite the gloom, but he let the faux argument pass as he opened his palm. Inside was a replica of the magical Stones of Fire.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“I don’t know exactly.” He shoved it into the pocket of his slacks, the same ones he’d been wearing last night at the country club. That event felt like a lifetime ago. “The shifter told me it could take us home. That I’m supposed to use my blood—sparingly, this time—and the Stone to get us there. He also said it was time to get you out of here. You’re a mere human and you’re not supposed to be here at all, but since you came with me and you’ve been keeping me alive you were accepted.
“I don’t know what all this means,” he admitted, looking frustrated, “but I agree with him on one thing. It’s definitely time to go home.”
“I’m not going to argue with that,” I said softly.
Carter looped an arm around my shoulder and started us back toward the little house where we’d been staying, where we’d made love. My entire body flushed with a tidal wave of memories and sensations, heightened by him walking next to me. Every place our bodies brushed tingled in response. A wild, crazy notion of going inside, shutting the door, and pulling him back down on me filled me, but I shoved it away.
What has gotten into you? I asked myself, a little shocked that I could be that turned on given the circumstances, but also half pleased. I’d waited a long time to have sex, and it had definitely been worth it. I was ready to try it again, but it might have to wait. Carter didn’t seem like he had sex on his mind. For once.
Maybe when we get home…
However, who knew what waited there? When we’d left, Nosizwe and Mrs. Costas had revealed they were in cahoots to gain control of the mythical Stones of Fire in an attempt to break their rival, Mr. Costas, Carter’s boss, once and for all. They’d been outside the Chesterfield Country Club. Detective Ewing had been there. What had happened to her? What happened to them? Had time stood still while we were gone, or did it move at the same rate? Did Mr. Costas know yet about his wife’s betrayal? What would he do when he found out?
I’d witnessed the terrible violence Sean Costas was capable of. I shuddered to think of the obvious love he had for his wife turning to fury when he discovered her duplicity. It wouldn’t be pretty. I didn’t have a whole lot of soft feelings for the woman, but even I disliked the notion of his wrath used against the delicate woman in the wheelchair.
In the end, there was simply no way of reckoning what kind of mess we’d be walking into when we got home, but we had to go. Carter had been apprehensive of this world when we arrived, but for all his reservations, this place—wherever it was—appeared strangely empty and devoid of threats. Of course, anything could still be out there, lurking, hidden, but nothing had remotely threatened us yet. Back home was a lot more dangerous, a lot more daunting in some ways, but we needed to leave. Our lives were there. My family was there, and I was going to have to face them with the news that I’d decided to stay married to Carter. My mom would likely be okay with it, as she’d seemed to see through his cynical exterior right away. My dad…not so much.
Carter must have caught my wince as we
stepped back into the little house we’d borrowed. He placed the lamp on the table, its flame flickering and hopping, revealing my expression.
“You okay?” His tone was instantly serious as he leaned around me to shut the door.
“I’m fine. I guess I just realized I’m going to have to have tell my family, my dad, about this. About us.” I waved my hand to encompass the room.
Carter’s eyebrows rose. “You’re going to tell your dad we had sex? Please don’t do that.”
I couldn’t help it. A laugh burst out. “I think he’s going to figure it out when I tell him I’ve decided to stay married to you.”
“Yeah, but that’s different. Please don’t tell him upfront we’re sleeping together. No father wants to hear that.”
I rolled my eyes. “Men are so weird. Don’t worry, babe. I wasn’t about to go into any personal details with my father. I promise you I know better than that.”
“Thank goodness.”
“Why?” I couldn’t resist goading him a little. “Are you scared of him?”
“Much as I hate to admit it,” Carter said, rubbing his head, grimacing, “I’ve seen lots of shifters who could do some pretty creepy stuff, and none of them scare me the way your dad does. I’ll never forget telling him I was married to his daughter when I had no idea who he was.”
I laughed again. Despite the gravity of the situation, it felt good to find some humor.
“I think he hates you. And that’s not going to change for a while. Don’t worry, though. After a while he’ll forgive you and you’ll become his favorite son-in-law.”
“Favorite son-in-law? You’re his only daughter. Make that his only son-in-law.”
“Exactly. You two will have to learn to get along.”
Carter shook his head. “That’s comforting. At least I’ve got your mom on my side. Remind me to tell you about her looking me up in the hospital garden after we get home. You ready to try and get out of here?”
Somehow, I wasn’t surprised Mom had sought Carter out, trying to mend fences between he and I.
“Are you?”
The moment of humor had passed. The gravity of what we might actually be returning to struck.
“I don’t know.” In that instant, Carter looked more vulnerable than I’d ever seen him. It was easy to forget there was a real person with his own set of fears and anxieties beneath his tough exterior, but I was seeing it now. “I thought I could handle anything until you came along and messed everything up.”
“Hey!”
“Now look at me,” he continued smoothly, as if I hadn’t interrupted. “I’ve got a wife and I’ve got a magical sword from a cave that I’m supposed to do what with? Repair the breach? I’ve got to decide what to do about the mess back home. My core staff could have been compromised, could’ve been working for Ciara all along. It’s up to me to figure it all out. I’m in deep sh—”
He caught my frown.
“Crap. Deep crap.”
“Thank you.”
He sighed in annoyance, but a little smile broke free as he caught me around the hips and tugged me closer.
“If being married to you means I have to clean up my language, you better have some type of payoff in mind.”
“Payoff?” I wrinkled my nose. “What, exactly, do you have in mind?”
“Exactly?” He leaned down, nuzzling my ear, the side of my neck. “I can think of several things. You want to hear about them? In exact, explicit detail?”
“I’m afraid we don’t have time for that,” I said, trying to play it off as a joke, like my pulse wasn’t racing and my heart hammering inside my chest. Like I couldn’t feel the burning on my skin from all ten of his fingertips. “We do have to get back. Fun times need to wait for now.”
“Damn it,” he swore. I glared. “Sorry,” he shrugged. “Just trying to find the fun in all this…” He sighed. “All this insanity.”
“Hey.” I stepped closer, reached up and took his face in my hands, looked him dead in the eye. “I know the past several months have been hard—really hard—for both of us. There’s no way I would’ve chosen for all this to happen. No way I would have planned to go through everything we’ve been through. But you know what? It led me to you. It brought us together. And I can’t help thinking that may have been the higher purpose all along.”
“A higher purpose from a Higher Being?” he smirked, removing my hands but only to press a kiss to both palms.
“Exactly,” I whispered, my mouth suddenly gone dry. “Don’t tell me you can’t see it.”
“Ah, Ellie.” Carter drew me into his chest, and I laid my head on his shoulder, content to let the moment linger a touch longer before we headed back into the unknown. “If anything gets us through this, it’ll probably be your stubborn faith.”
I smiled against the rough weave of his borrowed shirt. “I’m going to remind you of that one day when everything is finished and I’m trying to get you to come to church with me.”
“I’m not setting foot in a church ever again.”
“We’ll see about that.”
I wasn’t going to fight about it. Now. That was another argument for another time.
It took a lot of willpower, but I made myself push away from the man I finally realized I’d crazily grown to love.
“I don’t think we can delay any longer. We better figure out how to use that Stone.”
Chapter Nine
In the end, using the Stone really wasn’t that hard. The shifter/angel/whatever-it-was had implied it worked the same way as the original Stones. It wasn’t difficult to find a small rudimentary blade inside the cottage, which he liked the idea of using better than the mysterious sword. Not knowing what the previous owners might have used it for, Carter held it to the sputtering flame of the oil lamp for a moment to kill any germs before transforming back into his alter, the Talos. This time, he had Ellie use the blade to slice the newly healed skin. She did so delicately, carefully, with the precision and nerves of a surgeon.
Sean was right. She would make a good doctor. She had a heart full of compassion, coupled with an undergirding strength that kept her going when times were tough. Sean had told him about offering to pay for her medical training, should she choose that route. Silently, watching her steady hands, Carter told himself he’d support whatever decision she made along those lines, provided they survived this adventure. She certainly had the right to do what she wanted with the rest of her life, stuck with him or not.
Once the skin was sliced, a few drops of blood welled up. Ellie placed the shard next to the blood, twisting his ankle a little, allowing the blood to drip onto the rough surface. Then she handed the Stone back to him, grasping his other hand tightly in her palm. For a few seconds they waited. Nothing happened. Carter felt a lance of worry that it wasn’t enough. Would he have to open the vein, like he’d done previously? How was he supposed to survive? He’d made it this time because of magical intervention. That probably wasn’t available back in the grounds of the Chesterfield Country Club, or wherever they would return.
Luckily, after a few seconds, there was a slight whooshing, crackling sound. A ring appeared in the air in front of them—bright, undulating, oscillating.
“There it is,” Ellie whispered.
They watched as it quickly grew brighter, hotter, larger. It wasn’t anywhere near as big as the first portal through which they’d arrived at this strange place, but it was big enough a human adult could enter, and that’s all they needed. It hung in the air in front of them, the heat strengthening, until the size quit changing and solidified.
“I think it’s time,” Ellie said.
Carter nodded, although he felt a shade weak. The Talos wasn’t actually supposed to lose blood. His human side had lost plenty over the years, but not the Talos. He considered shifting back to his human counterpart, but feared the magic of his alter was necessary to get them both through the portal and safely to their time, their world.
Ellie reached f
or his other bronze hand. He thought she meant to hold onto it. Instead, she placed something in his fingers. He glanced down. The sword. When he touched it, it sprang to life, bursting into flames that would have scorched his human skin but didn’t bother the bronze. Almost with a will of its own it stretched toward the fiery portal, like the sword was guiding his arm rather than his arm guiding the sword. As soon as the tip touched the blueish-orange flames, it blazed into brighter life. Sparks of the same color raced up and down the blade, revealing words etched on the blade that had previously been hidden.
“What is that? What’s it doing?” Ellie breathed.
The Talos shook its head. He didn’t know. They’d have to find somebody among Sean’s many contacts to decipher the strange writing, which required getting home first.
Clutching the sword hilt tightly, the Talos reached for Ellie. His arm went around her waist as he pulled her against his bronze body, securing his grip. She wasn’t going anywhere during this journey back into the unknown. Nothing was going to take her from him. Not now. Not after all this. Not after the insanity they’d already survived.
He didn’t ask verbally if she was ready, but his expression must have. She looked up at him, trusting, and said, “I’m ready.”
There wasn’t anything else to do. They went. He extended first the sword, then his arm, into the blazing portal, testing, making sure it didn’t burn his limb off. The heat was intense, but the flames didn’t latch onto him. Mind made up, the Talos surged forward, Ellie in step with him, allowing his body weight to crash into and through the portal, carrying his wife with him.
He didn’t remember anything about the journey through time and space and alternate dimensions the last time he’d gone. This time, Carter, the Talos, felt immense pressure, so intense it felt like his bronze body was on the verge of exploding. For a fleeting second, he wondered about Ellie. If this was so physically hard on him, could her human body withstand it? She’d withstood it before. He clung to that hope as they crashed into darkness, then light, then darkness again. A sea of it. Immense and boundless, endless, broken up by a million pinpricks of color. Cold air swooshed over his bronze flesh, and then they were careening towards light again, a brightness like the sun on a Texas summer day. He glanced down to check on Ellie. Her face was screwed up as if in concentration, or pain. Her eyes were squeezed shut. He felt another stab of worry, but could do nothing about it. They fell into the searing heat, which was apparently the opposite end of the portal, through it, and back into darkness.
Repairer of the Breach (Stones of Fire Book 4) Page 6
