Authors: Melissa Pearl
Tags: #Love, #History, #Paranormal, #adventure action
“Oh, she just
wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to hurt you again.”
Harrison rolled
his eyes. Gemma stopped his complaints with a soft hand on his
chest.
“Hey, she loves
you. Let her be concerned… at least she cares about your
happiness.”
Harrison’s
complaints were drowned in her quiet comment and he pulled her into
a sympathetic embrace. She wrapped her mind around the fire, hoping
to dream about it through the night.
Reluctantly she
pulled out of his arms and suggested she better go. Soft lips were
soon meeting hers in an exquisite kiss. Her insides bubbled and she
felt that giddy sensation. She couldn’t wipe the smile from her
face once he’d pulled away. They stood there staring at each other
like a couple of goof balls again, completely oblivious to life
around them.
“
Sleep
well my
spatia angelus
.
I’ll see you in the morning.”
“G’night.”
She stole one
more kiss before mounting her bike and securing her helmet. As she
gunned the engine she missed the appearance of Sam from behind
Harrison’s body and his inquisitive question.
St Augustine, Florida
– 2011 AD
Gemma sat in
the caravan feeling comfortable as she wrapped her fingers around a
glass of ice tea. Taking a sip, she swallowed down the sweetness
with a smile as she watched Gabe slide into the booth opposite her.
It was certainly a change up from the first time they had sat in
this position.
“So things are
sorted then?”
Gemma grinned.
“I’m heading there for lunch today.”
“What did your
parents say?”
“They don’t
know. They think I’m going to Courtney’s house. She’s covering for
me, which is really nice of her.”
“As much as I
hate you lying, I think it’s best you guys keep this under wraps
for as long as possible.”
“Yeah, I know.”
Gemma despised the feeling nestling in her stomach. Deceiving her
parents felt so wrong, but they had been deceiving her for years
and somehow that felt even worse.
Part of her
wanted to get as far from them as possible, but then her ingrained
loyalty kicked in and that flicker of hope that maybe this was just
a big misunderstanding… and the box in the safe was merely a family
heirloom… and the necklaces meant nothing, sparked to life for a
moment. She wanted Gabe to be a liar, yet she had never trusted
another adult more.
“So, Lucia,
huh?” The question jumped out of the blue and into her head. She
felt her eyes glimmer. “I was beginning to wonder why you never
called me Gemma.”
“I had to that
first time on the beach to get your attention, but after that I
just couldn’t make myself do it. It’s so wrong for you. You’re my
little Lucy, nothing could ever change that.” He shrugged his
shoulders.
Gemma felt her
throat grow dry. Gabe thought of her as his own.
“Did you pick
the name?”
Gabe shook his
head with a crooked smile.
“Your mother
loved it. She wouldn’t even let me suggest anything else.” He
chuckled. “She always thought Lucia sounded like an amazing woman
and she knew if she had a daughter that that girl would be amazing
too.”
Gemma dropped
her eyes to the table, feeling her cheeks rise with warmth and
hoping that she wasn’t letting Lena down.
“She was
right.”
Gabe’s soft
words were like perfume. She inhaled the sweet aroma and let it
fill her head. Glancing up from the table she looked him in the eye
and mouthed “thank you,” too overcome with emotion to form any
sound.
His eyes
matched hers in warmth as he reached for her hand and gave it a
gentle squeeze. They sat like that until Gemma had to go.
“Make sure you
bring Harrison with you next time. I’ve missed that kid.”
“Will do.” She
jumped from the door and headed to her bike, filled with a sense
that maybe just maybe the bad things were over… but if they
weren’t, with Harrison and Gabe by her side, she could totally
handle it.
* * * *
The
Granger/Chatsworth home was back to normal. She pulled up to the
curb with a smile.
Tucking her
helmet beneath her arm, she approached the door with a bounce in
her step. The last few days had been euphoric… working at the
garage, having fun with Rosie, elongated lunch hours with Harrison
and she even managed to wrangle that movie date with Courtney and
Darren. Her parents had noted a change in her behavior and had put
it down to her acceptance of life without Harrison. She tried not
to let their smug smiles grate too much.
Rapping on the
door, she waited with a broad grin. The ice-cold reception she
received when the door opened was not what she had been
expecting.
“Hey… Helen,”
her happy voice petered out to nothing.
“What do you
want, Gemma?”
“
I… I
thought...” Gemma glanced at her watch. “Didn’t you invite me for
lunch today?”
“There’s been a
change of plans.”
“Is everything
okay? Where’s, um, where’s Harrison?” Gemma swallowed the nervous
lump in her throat. Helen’s eyes were like two burning balls of
fury despite her cold façade.
“I asked him to
go and get something for me at the store. Gemma, I think it would
be best if you went home.”
“Why?” She felt
the dread building in her system. “What’s going on?”
The flame in
Helen’s eyes sparked.
“I know what
you are and I want you to stay away from my son.”
Gemma felt a
solid lump of ice forming in her stomach. “W-what I am?”
“
How long
have you been speaking Latin, Gemma?” Helen took a step towards her
and Gemma instinctively moved one step away. “My
spatia
angelus
? Sam told me
what Harrison called you… and I know exactly what it refers
to.”
“How do y… how
do you know?”
“I just know!”
Helen snapped. “I just know you mean danger for my son and I won’t
have you messing with his life!” Her head shook with disgust. “I
knew there was something different about you, but I ignored the
feeling because Harrison cares so much about you… and I wanted him
to be happy!” She pointed her finger at Gemma’s nose. “How could
you be so irresponsible to let yourself get involved with him in
the first place? If you love him as much as you say you do, you’ll
stay away from him!”
“I…”
“Go home,
Gemma. You’re not welcome here anymore.”
And with that
she turned and closed the door in Gemma’s face. Gemma stood staring
at the wood, tears building in her eyes and that feeling of stone
weighing down her stomach.
It had been a
slim hope to wish that the bad things Gabe had warned her of were
over once she got Harrison back. By the looks of things, her fight
had only just begun and this time she had more than one
adversary.
#####
Once again this project was made possible by the
continued support of friends and family.
I'd like to especially thank my writing group,
Inklings -
Kim Koning
,
T. G. Ayer
&
Leigh K. Hunt
.
You girls are all fantastic authors and world-class cheerleaders. I
love having you around to bounce ideas off and chat with.
Also, a big thank you to my beta readers. The girls
at BBI gave me so much feedback. Your honest opinions are highly
valued.
Once again,
Amanda
- thank
you for another stunning cover. You are such a talented woman.
And to the constants in my life - Pete, Brenda, Mom
and Dad. I love you guys :)
Melissa Pearl lives in Auckland, New Zealand with her
husband and two sons. She trained as an elementary school teacher.
She has always had a passion for writing and finally completed her
first manuscript in 2003. She has been writing ever since and the
more she learns, the more she loves it. Keep an eye out for future
projects.
You can contact Melissa Pearl online:
Blogs:
http://melissapearl.blogspot.com
http://yalicious.blogspot.com/
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Melissa-Pearl/230335437021600
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MelissaPearlG
Smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/melissapearl
Golden Blood (Book 1
of Time Spirit Trilogy)
Pure Blood (Book 3
of Time Spirit Trilogy)
Ponte Vedra Beach,
Florida - 2011 AD
The house was quiet when she arrived. It was
more than tempting to head straight to her room and pretend she
lived alone, but she wanted to be in her parents' good books for
the rest of the week, so decided to seek them out.
The kitchen, dining room and lounge all sat
silent. Rather than hollering through the house like she used to,
she began a systematic search. It wasn’t until she reached her
father’s office that she picked up on the murmur of
conversation.
Resting her ear against the wood, she ignored
the discourtesies of eavesdropping and listened in.
“I’m telling you it’s changed. When I looked
at my notes this morning I had a plan fully mapped out. We could
have gone tomorrow, but now my pages are blank.”
“Which means someone’s gone back and changed
something.”
“It also means all the research I’ve been
doing for the last few months has been a waste of time!”
Gemma flinched at the anger in her father’s
voice.
“We’re running out of time.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
“How could it have changed, Alistair? History
doesn’t do that unless we say so.”
“We’re not the only ones out there who can
travel, Pen.”
“Do you think it was one of the
patronus
?”
“Could be, although I thought they were
pretty scarce these days.”
“Maybe one has resurfaced.”
Alistair sighed. Gemma could picture him
behind the wood, rubbing his temple as if the weight of the world
was resting on his shoulders.
“We’re going to need to do some
investigating… and I’m going to need to start my search again.”
She heard pages being balled up and thrown
across the room.
“Well, if anyone’s going to find it, it’s
you.”
Gemma imagined her mother standing behind her
father’s chair and kneading his shoulders.
“How are we going with the...?”
“Fine.”
“Suitable?”
“Pretty perfect, I think. I guess we’ll find
out soon.”
“I better get on with it then. I’d like to
make the trip beforehand.”
Gemma’s brow creased. What were they talking
about? What was soon? And what did they need to find before
then?
A huge part of her wanted to creep away from
the door and process everything she had just heard, but the wiser
part rapped on the wood and burst into the room with a breezy
smile.
“Hey Mom. Hi Dad. I’m home.”
“Oh hello, sweetie. How was school?”
She kept her expression bored and shrugged.
“Same as always.”
“Well, I suppose you better get on with your
homework then.”
“Yep,” Gemma nodded with a smile, managing to
hide the shock at being dismissed without the usual interrogation.
Maybe they were saving it up for later. “I’ll see you at
dinner.”
Shutting the door quietly, she ran to her
room and locked herself inside. The conversation she had just
swallowed tasted bitter and she couldn’t quite figure out why until
a revelation hit her. The shocking arrow of reason pierced her
middle and she crumpled to the floor like a rag doll.
Someone changed history today and her father
had noticed. Someone had wiped his research pages blank and it was
most likely that that someone was her.