The Keepers Book Two of the Holding Kate Series (41 page)

Kate’s whip quivered as she lifted horror filled eyes to Tara’s. Then the sphere fell and took them home.

QUANTUM PERSPECTIVE SOURCE (QPS): TARA JOHNSON

Tara and Kate stood in the QHR in silence. Trip stared at his hands as though he were still holding the other Kate. Tara reached for Kate. Pain and dismay mirrored her own. They knelt down beside Trip, too weak to stand, and just sat there staring at the floor.

There were no words, all too horrible for speech. Kate watched her husband and herself die within a matter of minutes.

Trip lost Kate all over again.

Tara lost Trip all over again.

Despair settled like grave dust on their shoulders.

Breathing became difficult as they sat.

In stark silence.

Finally, Trip turned his head to Tara. She lifted her face up into his and stopped breathing. Seething malice assaulted her.

Violence tore out of his chest in a half growl, half moan. “Why, Tara? Why did you kill her? Were you so jealous that you couldn’t stand the thought of me having my own version of Kate?”

She flinched like he had struck her.

He jerked away from them and stormed out of the QHR, turning over tables and chairs in his path. The white coats just gawked at him, a lethal storm no one would approach.

Kate groaned and took Tara’s hands. “Tara, that was unfair. He didn’t mean it. He didn’t know she planned to kill him,” Kate whispered and kissed her fingers.

“He did mean it.” Tears tumbled down Tara’s cheeks and splattered on her jumpsuit, she could feel the warmth seep through her jacket to nestle against her chest. Tara fastened onto Kate’s eyes and for the first time, Tara loved her. She had been through so much and yet she took time to comfort her friend. Kate was everything Corey believed her to be. Tara could see her clearly, now.

Kate trembled under the burden of her pain. She mourned Corey. Another pang shot through Tara’s heart. “Corey,” she whispered shakily and they fell into each other’s arms and sobbed.

QUANTUM PERSPECTIVE SOURCE (QPS): KATE WILSON

“I need to see him. Take care of his uh, his body,” Kate rasped the last word and tried to stand up, but had no strength left. She buckled, but Tara lifted her up and wrapped a strong arm around her. Kate sent an expression of gratitude to Tara for her assistance.

“Take us to Corey’s body,” she commanded the medic.

The medic cocked her head at Kate, and then nodded. “Follow me.”

They stumbled through the terminal behind the white coat, barely able to see through tears. She turned into one of the hospital rooms and they saw Corey lying on the bed, his face as white as death. She saw nothing but his silent still face.

“Corey,” Kate whispered and her knees buckled. All she had left in the world, the only person left that she belonged to, was Corey. He had sacrificed his life for her, drove the spikes into his own brain so that she would be free. The only reason that she was not left on that dragon world to be twisted into the horrid creature that the Mother had become, lay on the bed in front of her. He’d anchored her, refused to let go of her.
How am I going to let him go? I can’t.
It’s impossible
.

“He lost a lot of blood,” the medic said matter-of-factly.

Kate wrinkled her brow in disgust, tears splashing down her cheeks.
How macabre!
Is she going to give me the gory details of his death?

She sent Tara a quick “help me” look and turned her focus to Corey. Tara diverted the medic’s attention as Kate approached Corey’s body and tenderly reached out to smooth the sheet across his chest. Her hand fluttered against him and she lost it. She bowed over his body, and her tears rained to stain the sheet. Losing her grandparents, mom and little brother left her bereft, but paled compared to the pain and agony of having your other half ripped away from you.

She huffed an insane laugh. Other half! She had seen that even. The other Kate died in front of her and even that did not compare to this. She surrendered to the grief and fell across his body, sobbing.

“Shhh.”

She wished they would just leave her alone with her husband’s body.
Give me some privacy for the love of Pete!

“Kate, my love.”

Hallucinations! Great!
This renewed the sobs.

Hands directed her toward Corey’s face. She looked into his eyes.

“Corey?”

He smiled.

Her mouth opened in surprise. “You’re alive?” she whispered. “You are alive!”

“I have loved you—”

She didn’t give him time to finish his sentence. She jumped onto the bed, locked her lips onto his, and kissed her husband with every atom of strength that remained in her weakened body.

“Who gave [the Almighty] authority over the earth? And who has laid on Him the whole world? If He should determine to do so, if He should gather to Himself His spirit and His breath, all flesh would perish together, and man would return to dust.” ~
Job 34:13-15

QUANTUM PERSPECTIVE SOURCE (QPS): COREY CHASTAIN

We were detoxed, twice, cleared medically, and sent home to First Cabin. Mel ran down the steps and jumped into Donnie’s arms before he straightened out of the cart. We entered the safe haven of our home, a bit emaciated, but with merry hearts.

It felt so good to be back at home in the company of family and wrapped around my wife. Mel served us lasagna and salad with sweet tea as we gathered around to hear the stories. It seemed each team member had a part of the story that added up to the whole.

“Two Kates!” Eunavae exclaimed. She looked at me. “Corey, you knew all along, didn’t you?”

“Not really. Part of me knew, I think. I certainly couldn’t imagine that my Kate could be so brutal.”

Kate searched my eyes and I knew she had many questions for me. I dreaded what I would have to confess to her.

“Who is this Sphere Master?” Mel poured tea into Trip’s glass over his shoulder.

“Someone she worked with,” Donnie answered.

“I still don’t understand why they targeted Corey.” Dirk rubbed his full belly.

“They blamed him for splitting Kate,” Tara said.

“Kate just wanted to come home,” Trip mumbled into his glass.

“No, Trip. You are wrong,” Kate answered softly. “She tried to kill you. We saw her raise a dagger behind your back. She wanted you dead. Tara saved your life.”

His face crumpled into deep sadness and he resumed staring at the planks in the floor.

“She wasn’t well,” Kate continued. “She came to me in the dark and told me about how she used you and Corey when she came here. She only wanted to hurt you. Get you to turn on each other.”

“Kate.” I didn’t want her to rub salt in Trip’s wound. He hurt enough.

“No, Corey. He needs to hear the truth.” She pushed back from the table, walked to Trip and knelt down beside his chair, taking his hands in hers. “She wasn’t your version of me, Trip. She wasn’t the part of me that would have chosen you. Even then, on our first jump, I had chosen Corey. The Sphere Master manipulated her into thinking that I had chosen you.”

Trip took it well, I think he had already come to that conclusion deep inside. He searched Kate’s eyes and nodded.

“That doesn’t make sense. Why would he do that?” Donnie rubbed his chin as we all left the table and moved to settle into the living room. “If the Sphere Master wanted the other Kate to take your place, why would he feed her false information? It would have been too risky. She might have said something or done something to give herself away. Why would he risk that?”

“He wouldn’t.” Corey stretched out on the sofa.

“So either he didn’t plan for her to take Kate’s place or—”

“He thought the information true,” Dirk interjected.

“Why would he think that?” Corey asked.

“I thought it,” Dirk said. “On the tornado jump, I thought Kate had chosen Trip.”

Kate looked down at her hands and then slid onto the sofa beside me. “I did too.” She tucked herself under my arm and pressed into me. “For a small terror-filled moment when I thought we were going to die, I did choose Trip. I felt safe with him.”

She touched my arm and dipped her head to check my expression, afraid that her words would cause me pain. I pecked her lips in reassurance.

“But nobody knew that except the people in that closet,” Trip said. “Me, you, Dirk and…”

“Gregory!” Everyone in the room said at the same time.

“Gregory?” Kate looked around shocked. “What about him?”

“He is Gregorvitch Mattovdzky,” I informed her.

“What? The Polish scientist from the Inner Circle?” Kate asked incredulously.

We filled her in on our tornado jump and the jump to Poland. Then I told her about how Dirk and I put two and two together.

“Gregory is the Sphere Master?” Kate whispered. “Oh!”

“What?”

“Greg’s last words to me were ‘thanks for the dance’. Then the other Kate’s last words were ‘the Sphere Master is coming for you, he wants another dance.’”