Frowning, I let the words sink in. “You were already here, in the twelve hundreds,” I started slowly. “Using the loops to time hop to another century.”
Gabriel snorted. “I see you’ve been somewhat more educated since we last met.”
An uncomfortable feeling twisted in my stomach. He was already on whatever path he’d decided to take. The odds of me stopping him here and now were slim.
“You intend to change your history, to paint your family a better life,” I prompted, hoping I could learn some of whatever it was he had set out to do. Olivia had said he was more than willing to share his plans with her in the past. If luck were on my side at all, he would do the same with me. “Like you did with General Mercer?”
“Like I tried to do,” he corrected me sharply. “Failure is not something I deal with lightly. My family was counting on me, and I destroyed their trust.”
The glare he gave me made it clear he believed the fault didn’t entirely lie with him.
Pushing the anger growing inside me away, I took a deep breath, knowing I needed to get all the information I could out of him. There may not be a chance to do so again in the future. If I could get him to cooperate now, we could avoid having a conflict over anything more than his treatment of my fiancée. “How will you rebuild what is broken?”
Pausing, Gabriel stared at the forest around us, his expression thoughtful. After a moment he shook himself, carefully picking his way toward shore. “What’s it matter to you? You’re just a soldier from the Revolution. Anything I do isn’t going to bother your life. In the long run, anyway.”
“I wish to stay with Olivia,” I asserted strongly, my clothes dripping as I followed him across the ice, skirting around the small hole he’d entered the water through before saving me. “And when I was in her time, she told me things were different. Your sister claimed you were responsible.”
“Then you probably already know,” he replied, laughing. Stopping in his tracks, he glanced at me, grinning. “I’m going to make myself into the greatest war hero this country has ever seen. My father wants a Mercer with a legacy to live up to? Fine. I’ll become that for him. There isn’t a single inch of the American Revolution I haven’t studied. It will be easy. As easy as hopping the different loops.”
Holding up the machine Charlotte had given me, his smile widened, a sinister gleam entering his eyes. “Now that I have this, it will be even easier. Thanks for that.”
“I don’t think so,” I replied sharply. “Charlotte gifted that to me. Without it, I will have no way to find my next loop.”
He shrugged, not caring one bit. “Shoulda studied the maps more. Maybe you’ll end up stuck here. Lost in time. I don’t know. Either way, it works out for me.”
Anger and fear ripped through me. Whatever the man’s intentions, he was clearly not bothered by the ethical dilemmas of his decision to change time. It was becoming harder by the second not to roar my displeasure and attack him as what he was—a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
The memory of my painting at the museum flashed into my head, its features not quite right. Charlotte’s voice, warning me of disappearing altogether, echoed in my mind, my heart rate increasing rapidly.
If Gabriel succeeded in any of his plans, there was a chance Olivia and I would be torn apart. I was already vanishing from time. What if she started to as well?
I had to do something quickly, something decisive and permanent. While the thought made me more dissatisfied, my soul knew it was true.
I would have to end Gabriel Scott Mercer if I wanted to preserve time and my relationship with Olivia as they should be.
My lips settled into a grim line, brow furrowing as I stared at him. The muscles of my legs began to tighten, fingers curling into fists, my rage and dismay over not just what he’d said but his stabbing of Olivia bursting to the surface.
Leaping forward, I shoved him, losing my hold on him as we both scrambled to the higher ground of the shore. Tripping in the darkness, I managed to grab onto his shoulder, jerking him around and punching him in the eye, my knuckles crunching against bone.
Howling, he jerked, fumbling with his bag for the knife he’d stowed away earlier. With a flourish, he revealed it, swiping toward my chest and missing by mere inches.
Growling, I dove for his ankles, tackling him. The impact caused him to drop the knife, resulting in a desperate wrestling match between the two of us as we each attempted to get it first.
Laying on top of him, his belly scrapping across the ground, I grabbed his face, hardly noticing the blood from my freshly bleeding hand as it smeared across his jaw. “Stop!” I ground out. “Stop this asinine plan and see reason!”
“Get off me!” he shouted, bucking his body in an attempt to dislodge me.
Shoving his head into the snow, I scrambled over the top of him, grabbing the knife before he was able to wrap his fingers around it.
“I said stop!” I commanded, lowering the blade to his neck and using it to guide him to a standing position.
“I cannot let you follow this path,” I shared, breathless. “While it gives you everything you think you want, it could destroy my chance to be with the woman I love.”
Chest heaving, blood dripping from his nose, he spat. “Without me, you wouldn’t even know who she is.” He looked ready to pounce at any moment, observing my every move, searching for any opening I might give.
“And I will be forever grateful for that,” I countered, careful to keep the upper hand. “But your changing of the past has made me disappear. My portrait is changing. Olivia’s life is full of obstacles we may not be able to conquer. All of it is because of you.”
My fury at his injuring of Olivia was still white hot as well, her spilled blood calling out to me for revenge. What if he tried to harm her again? If she ever came about and decided to fix the past, they would run into each other. He’d wanted to kill us then, which meant there would be no stopping him if he attempted it.
Were there other options? I could sell him to the Natives. They would keep him as a slave . . . But if he ever escaped, he would return to his original path, unbothered by my attempts to stop him.
Frowning, I glanced toward his knapsack, feeling the sudden urge to look inside and see what he had. I may not have understood every medical tool I’d seen him use, but I knew I would recognize a life ender as soon as I saw it. If not, there should be something I could work with.
Guiding him to his bag, I kept a tight grip on the knife as I kicked the top of the container open. There were several items I didn’t recognize, but the one I’d hoped would be in there was.
“Grab the rope,” I ordered. “Take it by that tree.”
Gabriel hesitated, eyes narrowing as he watched me, as if trying to discern if I was serious or not. Then, slowly, he bent down and removed the item, shuffling to the tree and low hanging branch I’d instructed.
“Tie the noose.” Swallowing, I stared at him with hard eyes, giving off an aura of authority.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked dangerously. “If I ever get out of it—”
“You won’t,” I interrupted roughly. “I’ll make sure of it.”
Smiling angrily, he began looping the rope over and over, creating the noose I planned to hang him with. “You know, when I first heard someone was going to try and stop me from traveling, I expected my sister Charlotte to show up. When I realized it was someone else, I felt bad for her.” Glancing at me, he dared to smirk. “Naturally born travelers always have a harder time than trained ones. I didn’t expect her to live longer than a few months, to be honest.”
Finishing the knot, he shoved the rope at me, pressing his neck against the knife so hard that it drew blood. “You two have been pretty surprising,” he hissed. “Neither of you started out as idiots hired by my mother to put an end to me, but the both of you ended up there anyway.”
Shoving the noose to his chest, I frowned. “Put it around your neck and face away from me.”
Doing as I asked, he tightened the rope and handed me the other end, facing away as he put his hands behind his back, already guessing what my next request would be.
Working quickly, I cut a length off the end of the rope, wrapping it snugly around his wrists and checking to make sure he couldn’t get out of it. Then, I threw the loose end over the branch, pulling it tight enough that Gabriel could stand easily but struggled to take a full breath.
“When I get out of this,” he breathed quietly, “I’ll make sure you go missing. Every roadblock I can put in your path, I will. Remember that when your life goes up in flames.”
Anger ripped through me, and I threw the knife away, using my entire body weight to pull on the rope. Grunting, I almost sat on the ground, listening to the choking, gurgling sounds behind me. Occasionally, Gabriel’s legs would kick, landing on me, but I refused to give in. Finally, his body fell still, and there was no more sound.
Releasing my hold, I wiped at the sweat on my face as the body crumpled downward. The eyes were closed, but the rope had left an odd bulge of skin under his chin.
Breathing heavily, I leaned over the corpse, hands on my knees. “That’s for stabbing Olivia,” I whispered.
As the adrenaline from my fight and execution wore off, the cold returned to my limbs, exhaustion washing over me as I stumbled to the shore, picking up Charlotte’s machine and the remainders of Gabriel’s bag.
“One more week,” I muttered to myself.
One more week until I knew if I’d stopped Gabriel.
One more week before I could verify I existed in time.
One more week until I was with Olivia.
“How do I look?”
Emilia turned, trying to get a better view of how the rear of her dress appeared in the long mirror. The bare back seemed a bit much, especially for a somewhat cold day in March, but the dark blue color and flared skirt matched her skin tone nicely. She was obviously trying to impress Dan, but her nerves were making her second guess every decision she made.
“Gorgeous, as always.” Smiling, I sipped my tea from my spot on the couch, legs curled beneath me as I snuggled into the cushions in the corner. “Be sure Dan doesn’t take your coat off before you’re inside, though. Won’t have done any good for you guys to be going out these past few weeks if you freeze to death before you’re officially back together.”
Chuckling, she ran her fingers through her curled hair and reapplied her lip gloss before letting out a sigh and staring at her reflection once more. “I can’t believe this is actually happening,” she muttered.
Grinning, I patted the couch beside me, glancing at the clock in the kitchen. Dan wouldn’t be here for another ten minutes or so.
“Of course it’s happening,” I chided her gently. “You and Dan are supposed to be a pair. The stars have practically aligned to get you with each other.”
Taking another sip of my tea, I considered just how true that statement was. Their schedules had somehow worked out perfectly, everywhere they went was more than welcoming, and I was practically watching them fall in love all over again every time I saw them.
Gabriel had told me once that the timeline could tell when something was wrong and would work to fix it. Was this what that was? My best friends were meant to be, so time was helping to push them along?
“Nothing is official,” Em reminded me, sitting gracefully. “We’re . . . checking things out.”
“Is that what we’re calling it now?” I snickered as she playfully slapped my arm, leaning away.
A knock at the door prevented us from saying anything further, Emilia excitedly getting up and throwing open the entrance to reveal Dan.
Dressed in his best suit, he stared at Em in shock for a beat before a smile broke across his face. Then, remembering himself, he presented her with a bouquet of pink and red roses scattered with baby’s breath.
“You look wonderful.” His voice was filled with awe, appreciation in his gaze as she took the flowers and smelled them.
“Thank you,” she replied warmly. Handing the arrangement off to me, she motioned to his waiting car. “Shall we?”
“Yeah, of course!” Dan waved at me, grinning, and then let her go through the door, shutting it behind them.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I sniffed the roses as well, smiling as I went to put them in water on the island. Everything was working out so perfectly. Sometimes I wondered if August leaving was precisely what I needed to get my life back on track.
Guilt pricked at me as I banished the thought. It was obvious life was worse without him. I knew I didn’t require a man to get by, but I did love him. While his departure still stung and I intended to give him a talking to that would rival the greatest smackdowns of all time, I missed him. Everything was coming together, and he was skipping all of it.
I hoped whatever he was doing was worth it.
Once the gift was safely displayed where anyone could see it when they came to the house, I took my tea and started upstairs, humming to myself.
It wasn’t just Emilia and Dan that had me in such a good mood. I’d been meeting with my parents once a week for the past two months as well, working to repair whatever bond we’d severed. It wasn’t all the way better yet, but I felt excellent about where we were headed.
Whereas Emilia’s splendid fortune seemed predestined by the gods, making up with my parents was turning out to be a different ballgame entirely. Everything I did messed something else up, like we were destined to not have the connection I always wanted. I’d finally gotten them to forgive me for the money—a subject I remained kinda fuzzy on, but willing to take care of if it meant we could be a real family—but the problem now appeared to be my constant running off.
From what I gathered, August was the most recent in a long line of boys I’d dated and given everything up for. It sounded nothing like me and made no sense whatsoever, but everyone in this timeline seemed to believe it. The advantageous news was, with him gone, I’d been able to work on that perception with them too.
However, they were unsure if I was honest when I said I’d changed. I had the sneaking suspicion they didn’t believe I’d lost my memory, and I felt as if they were always holding back, rather than being the open-armed parents I remembered.
Overall, it was exhausting. One problem was practically fixing itself. The other only grew once I managed to hack off one piece and put it where it belonged.
Walking into my room, I stared at the bed, Emilia’s discarded dress options spread across it. The site cheered me further, despite having to clean it up before I could settle in for the night. I flicked on the radio, classical music flitting through the air, and went to work cleaning everything to my specifications.
Halfway through putting my dirty clothes in the laundry, there was a knock at the door, surprising me out of the comfortable routine I’d established for my evenings. Peering through the back door, I stared at the front entrance, not sure if I should answer it or not. Emilia had a key and the only other person who would be showing up at this hour . . .
Rubbing my hands on my pants, I crossed the space and cracked open the entrance, glancing into the darkness in apprehension.
“Olivia.”
I heard August’s tired voice before my eyes adjusted enough to recognize him, his form clad in modern clothes and bundled in a heavy jacket. He carried a suitcase with him, like he’d been gone on some long, around the world trip and was finally returning home, the prodigal fiancé.
In the two months since he’d gone, I’d imagined how this moment might go. We’d argued it out in my head, I’d even slapped him once or twice in some of them, and I knew what I wanted to say. He deserved to hear a piece of my mind, to know what anger and pain he’d caused me. I wanted him to feel the sting of betrayal I’d felt when he openly went against what I wanted to do, not bothering to share his plans with me. Just thinking of it all now made my face flush, my heart racing uncontrollably as I stood in the doorway staring at him.
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br /> And then it all went out the window.
In one fluid movement, I flew from my spot and threw my arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly as tears welled up in my eyes.
I was still angry, yes. Furious, in fact. But, the one thing I’d never stopped to consider in my enactments of our reunion, was how I would feel to finally see him safe and alive. There had been no thought of what knowing he was here with me would do to me. Until now, I’d been so angry I hadn’t realized how worried I was about him.
He hesitated, as if surprised by my reaction, and then his arms locked around me, his face snuggling into my shoulder as he held me, relief rolling off his body as we stood there on the porch.
Forcing myself to let him go for a fraction of a second, I placed my hands on either side of his face, pressing my lips against his as salty tears slipped down my cheeks. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the sweet or relieved kiss I’d intended to give, instead turning rough and frightened as our breath mingled. My mouth crushed his, bruising tender flesh, fingers gripping into him, squeezing in desperation as I held him to me.
August reacted in much the same way, tossing his bag inside, arms locking around me as he pushed us through the door and nudged it shut with his foot. Then, spinning around, he thrust my back up alongside it, hands moving to my hips, his grip so tight I thought he might have marked me.
Funnily enough, I didn’t care just then.
Our bodies rammed together, breath coming in gasps as we greeted one another, my mind shut down as his touch danced over my skin. Teeth grazed over my neck, goosebumps erupting across my flesh as he breathed into my ear.
Twisting my hands into his hair, I exhaled softly, closing my eyes as I became lost in the moment. Despite the million reasons I should be furious with him right now, it felt like I was finally at peace. Something about having him home made my soul feel complete, like a part of me that had been missing was back. Still, the anger inside me was boiling right beneath the surface, manifesting in a moment of lust over yelling.
There was no telling what he’d done in the past, what things were going to be changed now because of his hasty actions. This moment was something I could control, however, and I fully intended to use it to my advantage.
Abandoning Anarchy (The Lost in Time Duet #2) Page 12
