Temporal Shift (Entangled Select Otherworld) (10 page)

“Ahh,” Rico murmured. “You want to go back to Earth just before the exodus.”

“Actually about twenty years before. So they can prepare, build the ships—”

“And you think either me or Callum could take you there as we were both present at the time?”

“Yes,” Saffira said. “So you see, you have to help us.”

“No we don’t,” Tannis muttered. “Oh my God, that would mean two Ricos in one place. That’s reason enough not to attempt it.”

Saffira’s face tightened at the comment. “So you won’t help?”

Tannis shrugged. “The offer of the shuttle still stands, but otherwise…no.”

Saffira blinked a couple of times. She was thinking hard. He could almost see the emotions crossing her face. He waited for her to reach resignation—after all—what could she do? Instead, her expression settled into hard lines and a shiver of foreboding ran through him. She turned to Thorne. This time her nod wasn’t hidden. “Then I’m sorry.”

He didn’t have to wait long to see what she was sorry about. Without a word, Callum, Tannis, and Skylar crumpled to the floor.

No one moved. Devlin’s gaze shot from the people sprawled lifeless to Saffira. For a second, she looked tragic, then the expression faded, and she stared back at him.

“I do what I must.”

In some ways, he could understand her. She was driven, as he was. Unfortunately, he didn’t think Rico was going to be quite so understanding. The vampire crouched down on the floor beside Skylar, felt for the pulse in her throat, and glanced up at Saffira as the humanity bled from his face. He snarled, revealing his fangs. “Release her.”

“I can’t.”

Rico straightened and took a menacing step toward her. Instinctively, Devlin stepped between them.

“Get out of my way.”

“Touch her and the woman dies.” The voice came from behind them and Devlin whirled. Thorne’s gaze was focused on Skylar and she moved, her body arching off the ground. “Touch Saffira and I’ll break this one’s mind. Snap it like a twig before you can reach me.”

“Are you doing this?” Devlin asked, waving a hand at the bodies.

Thorne nodded once. “They won’t be harmed. Just do as we ask and they’ll be returned to you.”

Rico growled again. Devlin wasn’t sure whether he was processing the words, whether he even heard them.

“Rico!” he said sharply. For a moment he didn’t think he would get through, then the vampire’s gaze slid from Saffira to Devlin, and a shudder ran through him.

“Skylar’s all right.” Devlin kept his tone soothing. “She’ll be fine.”

A flicker of humanity returned to the vampire’s eyes and they narrowed. “
Dios
, don’t fucking try and sooth me. I don’t want to be fucking soothed.” He whirled around to face Thorne. “Wake her up.”

But it was Saffira who answered. “No.”

Devlin had to give her one thing—she had balls.

Rico’s gaze slid to the girl. “Are you sure about that? Are you sure you want me as your enemy?” His voice was almost a croon.

Saffira swallowed, but she straightened, her backbone stiffening. “I don’t want to be your enemy. I asked for your help in friendship.”

“And we declined.”

“This is more important than you or her—” Rico growled and she hesitated, but just for a second. “Or me. Do as we ask and they won’t be harmed and, once we come back, you’ll all be free to leave.”

Devlin glanced at Rico. He still hovered on the edge, and there wasn’t much chance of getting any sense out of him right now. His gut tightened in anticipation. His fighting these days tended to be from a distance, and his hands rarely got dirty. He missed the intense thrill of face-to-face confrontation. Not that he was going to allow this to come to a fight, because he was sure they would lose. Rico might be able to take Thorne, but his friends weren’t far away and no way could they take on all of them. Besides, he didn’t doubt for a moment that Thorne could kill Skylar and the others with a thought and, while he’d once considered the Universe would be a better place with Callum gone, he’d become quite fond of Tannis.

“And what if we don’t cooperate?” Devlin asked. “You kill them?”

“We won’t have to, but they may as well be dead.”

Didn’t sound good and Rico growled again. Perhaps he should warn them about not pissing off the vampire too much or he would snap. Personally, he didn’t want to be around if that happened.

They had two options: either try to escape on the
Blood Hunter
—Daisy was on board readying the ship for takeoff right now. Though that might be a little difficult while carrying three unconscious bodies. So escape probably wasn’t going to happen.

The other option was to cooperate. That pissed him off. He had things to do, and he’d warned her not to stand in his way. But, at the same time, he couldn’t help but be impressed. A little thing of a girl and she’d taken them on. Mind you, she couldn’t have done it without a ten-thousand-year-old immortal to back her up.

She’d lost some of her certainty now and was chewing on her lower lip while she waited for one of them to speak. Let her stew for a while. He hardened his expression and shot her a cold look. She flinched but stood her ground.

Devlin crossed to Tannis and crouched beside her. Her pulse was steady. He moved on to Callum and found him the same. “They’re fine,” he said to Rico. He straightened and turned back to Saffira. “What happens now?”

“Now, we take the
Blood Hunter
and we go back to Earth.”

Chapter Nine

He hated her.

The emotion was clear in his eyes, and how could she blame him?

But what choice did she have? She hadn’t had a choice from the moment she was born.

In her whole life, she’d never questioned her destiny. Now, for the first time, she considered
not
doing this. What would happen? Would time find a way? Or would they all just cease to exist?

She couldn’t take the risk.

She clamped her teeth on her lower lip to stop the tremble. Life wasn’t fair. Why couldn’t she just leave on the
Blood Hunter
? Go and have fabulous adventures. Be with Devlin. Not that he wanted her. She’d probably have to tie him down now in order to make that particular vision come true.

She glanced up from her thoughts and found him staring at her, his lip curled in disdain. It was obvious he didn’t believe.

“If Thorne had the power to do this all along, why didn’t you just get him to zap them in the first place?” he asked. “Why all the pretending-to-be-nice stuff?”

“Because I am nice,” she snapped. Did he really think she had wanted to go down this road? They’d forced her into it. In fact, she blamed mainly Devlin—he’d been the most vocal to speak against helping her. “And I wanted—we wanted your cooperation.” She rubbed at her forehead. “We didn’t want it to come to this. But you wouldn’t help and…” She shrugged.

“So what now?” he asked again.

At that moment, three figures appeared in the doorway. “They will take your friends to where they’ll be safe,” Thorne said.

One of the men made to pick up Skylar, and Rico growled low in his throat. “Don’t touch her.”

The man looked to Thorne, who shrugged. “Take her yourself, then.”

The other two picked up Tannis and Callum and left the room. Rico gathered Skylar in his arms and followed them out, leaving Devlin. He watched them go, his hands shoved in his pockets. His face was still expressionless, his body tense. She tried to ignore him and turned her back so she could speak to Thorne quietly.

“Maybe we’d be better off taking Callum and leaving the vampire behind,” she said. She’d seen neither in the vision, though she was pretty sure it was Rico who’d spoken from behind her.

Thorne thought about it for all of two seconds. “No. Callum is dangerous.”

She cast him a look of amazement. “And the vampire isn’t?” She remembered that look in his eyes as he’d come toward her and she shivered.

“Yes, but Callum has power. Power he doesn’t know he has right now, or what he can do with it. I sense an almost immeasurable strength.”

“Stronger than you?”

He nodded. “He’s not even aware of it. But I’d rather he didn’t become aware halfway through our trip. No, I’d feel safer with him here.”

“Okay.” She swallowed. “The vampire it is then. I hope we don’t come to regret it.”

“I’m sure we will. But what choice do we have?”

She was glad someone else felt that way. “Other than Callum Meridian—none.”

Turning slightly, she examined Devlin out of the corner of her eye. How long did she have? She had no clue. She could try and work out the distance to the wormhole from the position of the stars she had seen. Maybe Daisy would help her find the exact coordinates using the
Blood Hunter’s
systems. Though they weren’t going to have star charts for this universe.

Then how long in the wormhole?

And what happened at the other end?

Would she be able to give the warning and return on the
Blood Hunter
? Back through the wormhole? She didn’t know.

Why couldn’t the visions be more precise?

She jumped as Thorne laid a hand on her arm. “Come on,” he said. “It’s time.”

“It is, isn’t it? All my life, I’ve been waiting for this. And now…” She shook her head. “What happens afterward?”

“I don’t know. But hopefully something.”

“Yes, something would be good.”

She followed Thorne along the corridor—Devlin trailing behind them—to a small room. Three couches had been crammed into the space. Tannis, Callum, and Skylar lay on them looking serene and peaceful. Totally unlike real life. Rico perched on the edge of Skylar’s bed and held her hand.

“Come,” Thorne said from the doorway. “We have to leave.”

Rico glanced up, his expression cold. He didn’t move.

“Could we take them with us on the
Blood Hunter
?” Devlin asked.

“No,” Thorne replied. “They stay here.”

“They’ll be fine, really they will,” Saffira added. “They’ll wake when Thorne is gone and they’ll be okay. My people will look after them.”

“And if we don’t come back?” Devlin said. “If we get sucked into this wormhole of yours and never get back? What then?”

“Then they will live out their lives here. But no one will harm them.”

“Tannis is going to be so pissed.” But he nodded and stepped into the room. “We have to go,” he said to Rico.

When there was no response, he touched Rico lightly on the arm. “I hate it as much as you do, but the only way we’ll get them back is to do as they say.”

For a minute, she thought Rico would ignore the words, but a tremor ran through him. He turned slowly and stared up into her face. “If I don’t get her back, you die. I promise you that, and I don’t give a fuck if I destroy the whole of mankind by killing you.”

Fair enough.

She nodded. “You’ll get her back.”

He rose slowly to his feet, towering over her. Saffira had to force herself to hold her ground. “We get you to Earth, and we’re all free to go.” Rico’s words were more of a statement than a question, but she nodded.

“I promise.”

“For what that’s worth. You lied to us all.”

Suddenly she was angry. “Yes, I lied. And I bet neither of you have ever lied to anybody, have you? And at least my cause is good.”

“Saving mankind?” Rico replied. “I think when you’ve lived a little longer, you might change your mind about that one.”

It was time to go. Saffira turned to Devlin. “You and the girl Daisy are free to stay here. You don’t have to come.”

“Yes, they do,” Rico said. “We need Devlin in case there’s a problem with the ship, and without the mind control, I need Daisy to copilot.”

“I could do that,” Thorne said.

“I need someone I can trust.”

“Anyway,” Thorne said, “we can reinstate the mind control.”

“Won’t these Old Ones of yours take control when we leave here?” Devlin asked. Then he swore. “Shit. That wasn’t any fucking Old Ones, was it? It was you.”

Saffira started in shock and turned to stare at Thorne. “That was you? You took over the ship?”

Devlin turned on her. “As if you didn’t know.”

“But…” She trailed off. She hadn’t known and she was impressed. But she didn’t think Devlin was ready to believe anything she said right now, so she clamped her lips shut. Wow. Thorne had taken over the ship.

“Jesus,” Devlin continued, “has anything the two of you said been the truth since we met you?” He looked into Saffira’s face with accusation in his eyes.

“Some of it,” she replied. “So are you coming?”

“I still need him,” Rico said.

“And I want to make sure the ship gets back in one piece,” Devlin added. “I plan to get the fuck out of here as soon as possible.”

She couldn’t help it, a warm wave of relief washed over her, making her lightheaded. Devlin might hate her right now, but at least she had some time with him before… Before what? She had no clue. But something told her she wasn’t coming back from this. Why had she never seen the aftermath? Why in all the visions had she never caught a glimpse of the return journey?

She closed her eyes and relived a flashback to that last vision. Standing alone as the
Blood Hunter
flew away without her. Taking a deep breath, she pushed the worry aside. “Then let’s go.”

“First, give us your weapons,” Throne said.

For a second, she thought they would argue, but Devlin shrugged and unbuckled the holster at his waist. He closed the two steps separating them and held it out to her. She took it gingerly and held it dangling from her fingers. Rico did the same, handing his to Thorne, who strapped it around his own waist. Saffira had avoided looking at the vampire, now she did so and wished she hadn’t. His face was a mask through which his eyes glittered, almost black with sparks of crimson.

She shook off the feeling of foreboding—the vampire was coming, they needed him—and strapped Devlin’s weapons belt around her own waist. Even on the tightest setting, it dangled on her hip.

“Do you know how to use that thing?” Devlin asked.

“No, but I’m guessing you point it and press the button.”

“Good enough,” Thorne said.

“It won’t keep you safe,” Devlin murmured, and a shiver ran through her at the soft threat in his voice.

Thorne glanced between the two of them and shrugged. “Time to leave.”

They were all silent on the way to the ship. Saffira walked beside Thorne, her hand on the laser pistol, mainly to stop it from slapping about her thigh. She regretted that things had to be done this way, but as they came in sight of the huge spaceship her pulse sped up until the blood thundered in her veins. All her life, she’d dreamed of the stars. Not only visions, but daydreams as well, for as long as she could remember. To fly among the stars, to visit new places.

Devlin was in front of her, walking beside Rico, and she admired the ripple of his muscles. He had long legs, a tight ass and broad shoulders. She sighed; the stars weren’t the only thing she had dreamed of.

So much had happened. She’d forgotten that he had almost made love to her. Had in fact had his hands down her pants and made her come. It didn’t seem fair. She owed him. Even if he didn’t want her.

Back then, he would have taken her if the ship hadn’t nearly crashed. Or rather if Thorne hadn’t nearly crashed the ship. And he’d kept it a secret from her. She cast him a quick sideways glance.

“You’re a terrible actress, and we needed them to believe it wasn’t us,” he said.

Sometimes she suspected that he could read her mind but, in fact, he just knew her too well. “I’m not a terrible actress.”

“Yes, you are. I can always tell what you’re thinking.”

“Maybe I let you.”

He smiled, but they’d arrived at the
Blood Hunter
and she didn’t have a chance to say anything else. They followed Rico and Devlin up the ramp, into the docking bay, across the floor, and into the transporter bubble. No one said a word as they were lifted to the bridge. A tangible tension emanated from the vampire. He wasn’t happy. Obviously, he loved Skylar, so she couldn’t really blame him. She tried to imagine how she would feel if someone threatened Devlin. She’d rip them to pieces.

Or at least she’d want to.

As they came out onto the bridge, Daisy jumped up out of the pilot’s seat. “What’s happening? Where are the others?”

“They’re not coming,” Rico replied.

The blood drained from Daisy’s face leaving her a sickly pale green. “Why? Are they okay?”

Devlin hurried across to her. “They’re fine, Daisy. Really, they’re fine. They’re just staying here while we do a little job for these people.”

Daisy’s gaze flickered to her and Thorne, hesitating as she took in their weapons and no doubt her friends’ lack of them. “You promise they’re okay?”

“I promise.”

Daisy swallowed and looked around, her gaze settling on Saffira and her eyes darkening. She stalked toward her, coming to a halt only a foot away. “You did this? You’ve taken them?” Her voice seethed with barely suppressed hatred. “If anything happens to them, I’ll kill you. Whatever it takes.”

“Get in line,” Devlin murmured from across the room.

Saffira found she was shaking. Daisy had only shown her friendship, and now she hated her. And who could blame her? They’d just lost two members of the crew, and now Saffira had taken three more.

“Nothing will happen to them,” she said, but knew her words lacked conviction.

“Are we ready for takeoff?” Thorne asked.

“Yes.”

“Could we go then?” Saffira asked.

Daisy looked to where Rico was pacing the bridge. “Am I flying?”

Whirling around, he snarled before pulling himself under control. “No, I’ll fly in case of trouble.” He threw himself into the pilot’s seat. Daisy took the copilot’s chair beside him. Saffira glanced around for somewhere to sit that was out of the way, where she could watch but not be watched.

“You might want to sit down and strap yourselves in,” Devlin said, taking a seat at the edge of the room. Saffira sat, leaving a gap between them, and Thorne took the seat on the other side of her. As he fastened the harness, she copied his movement, pulling the straps tight across her chest. Excitement rose like bubbles inside her. How many generations of her people had lived and died on this planet? Now she was leaving. And if everything went according to plan, she would be visiting Earth—the place where mankind had originated. Where everything began.

She looked up to find Devlin watching her, a curious expression on his face.

“Are you all right?” Thorne asked.

She tore her gaze away from Devlin. “Just excited. I can’t believe we’re actually doing this at last.”

At that moment, the engines fired up. The ship was so smooth that she hardly felt the change, just a slight vibration that shivered through her and settled.

The screens all around the bridge flickered to life and she could see the walls and tunnels of the Keep. Medina stood framed in an open archway, her hand resting on her belly. Medina was the closest she had to a mother. Would she ever see her again?

Then they were rising and her worries were washed away on a tidal wave of excitement. She was almost bouncing in her seat.

“You look like a kid going on a first outing,” Devlin murmured.

“Well, I’m not a kid, but this is my first outing. We’re going into space. Can you believe it?”

It was a stupid thing to say really. From what she could make out, he’d spent most of his life on spaceships.

“Yeah, I can believe it,” he said. “What I’m finding hard to believe is that we’re going to dive headfirst into a wormhole that, according to you, will take us God knows where, never mind God knows when.”