Pure Blood (Time Spirit Trilogy, #3) (19 page)

Lifting her foot, she looked at the seeping
bandage and winced. She was guessing that would be the last thing
to recover. Running her eyes over the linoleum table she leaned
forward to inspect the remains more closely. The brown star that
used to be emblazoned on her skin now lay face down on the table.
The roots that had run deep into her muscles were at least an inch
long and now drooped against each other.

That’s so gross.

Gabe had been racing the tingling climbing up
her body as she screamed at him to hurry. She’d fought off the
sense of departure with all her might and it wasn’t until she’d
felt her bones being torn apart that she let out an excruciating
scream and blacked out.

She’d woken moments later still in Gabe’s
presence and finally free. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to
walk again, but as she’d slept her body had begun to heal. By the
end of the day she was confident she’d look as normal as she always
did.

Thankfully Harrison won’t have to see me
this way.

She swapped the small hand mirror for Gabe’s
cell phone. Flipping it open, she tried once more to scour her
memory for his number. It remained blank.

“Stupid speed dial.” She slammed the phone
down.

“Hey, don’t take it out on my phone. It’s not
my fault you guys don’t memorize numbers anymore.”

“There’s no need to!”

“Yeah, well,” Gabe slid a drink towards her
with a grin, “maybe there is.” Taking the seat opposite her, he
took a long sip and sighed with satisfaction. “It’s a miracle you
remembered mine last night.”

“Yeah, well, like you said… luck was on our
side. The numbers just popped into my head.”

“Hey,” Gabe stilled her fidgeting fingers, “I
know you want to talk to him, but he’ll be back in a couple of days
and you can explain everything then. It’s probably better this way.
All he’d do is worry if he knew you’d been hurt and couldn’t get to
you. Believe me, it’s the most horrible feeling in the world.”

“Is that how you felt when Mom died?”

“Yeah.” Gabe frowned. “I was on the other
side of the country making a sale. I thought someone had punched
out my heart when I got that call from the authorities.”

“What happened, Dad? How did they… kill her?”
Gemma’s voice caught on the last words, her mind still struggling
with the fact that the parents she grew up with could do such a
thing.

“They came into the house and tried to steal
you from your crib. Your Mom arrived on the scene and fought them
off… there was evidence of bruising on her body. Forensics said she
must have put up a hell of a fight.”

Tears built on Gemma's lashes as she pictured
her sleek mother fighting in vain.

“They think she grabbed you from the crib and
went to make a run for it, but they shot her. By the time the
police arrived, she was nearly dead. The first on the scene said
she kept whispering, ‘My baby, find my baby.’” Gabe’s voice
caught.

Gemma grabbed his hands. Her own tears flowed
unchecked.

“They never caught them. Every time they
thought they had a lead, something would change.”

“Let me guess… time spirits at their
worst.”

Gabe nodded then shook his head.

“It only took them six months to stamp it as
unsolved. I decided to fall off the radar after that. Thought it
might be easier to search for you that way.”

“How did you live?”

“Your mother and I had been storing up quite
a nest egg and with the sale of the house… I don’t need much to
live on.”

“So you’ve just spent the whole time looking
for me? Must have been a lonely life.”

“It wasn’t my first choice, but you make
sacrifices for the sake of your children. When we got married we
decided we wanted to have a normal life and at the time, it was the
best decision we could have made… but that night…” He shook his
head. “I would have given everything to be able to travel
again.”

“Don’t, Dad… you made the right choice. I
would have loved a normal life. You did all you could. You even
gave Mom her dying wish… you found me and I’m so grateful for
that.”

His eyes glistened when he smiled at her.

Gemma wiped at her tears and drew in a shaky
breath, which she held onto.

"Do you hear that?"

She nodded at Gabe's question and looked down
at the drooping tentacles of her tattoo on the table. "Is that...?"
She leaned towards it. "It's buzzing."

Both unwilling to touch it, they studied the
slightly shaking tentacles.

"It's like its trying to draw in the energy
around it. Kinda like a magnet."

Gemma picked up the coffee stained teaspoon
next to Gabe and waved it near the tattoo. "It's not attracting
metal."

"Hmmm." Gabe rubbed his chin then squinted
his eyes in thought before jumping up from the table. He returned a
moment later with a clean hunting knife resting in his hand.
"Feeling brave?" He held it towards her.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Test a theory."

She reached for the knife, understanding
Gabe's intent. Gently knicking her finger, she held it towards the
tattoo and gasped as the drops shot towards the tentacles and were
absorbed. The tentacles stood taller and buzzed a little
louder.

"He's trying to pull you back again. When
this doesn't work, he'll probably figure out you've removed
it."

"How does it all work? I don't get it."

"Must be some sort of remote system." Gabe
slid into the booth again and leaned towards the fake birthmark.
The buzz was slowly diminishing. Alistair was giving up the fight.
"I wonder if when he starts to visualize and get ready to travel,
it sends out some kind of signal that activates this." He pointed
at the tentacles that were once again drooping. "When it was inside
you, it must have drawn on your energy and that's what he used. It
was your energy that probably provided the strength everyone else
needed to travel. That's why you were always so drained
afterwards."

Gemma rubbed a shaky hand over the frownlines
on her forehead.

"It's only a theory." Gabe shrugged.

"I wish I could ask him. I want to understand
this. Get my head around what they were doing to me."

"Don't you go near him again, you hear
me?"

Gemma nodded.

"I don't want him laying another finger on
you."

Nibbling her lip, she blinked at unshed
tears. “You know, I never wanted to believe that they could be so
cruel and I’ve been fighting with myself ever since I met you. I
knew deep down that you were right about them, but I didn’t want to
see it. I’m sorry. I’m sorry if I ever made this hard for you.”

“Hey, stop that.” Gabe gave her a stern look.
“You’ve done nothing wrong in all of this. You’re a pure one with a
pure heart. Your mother would be so proud of you." His eyes
sparkled. “I know I am.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

Gemma sat back in her seat, retrieving her
drink on the way. Sipping quietly she kept eyeing her birthmark
tattoo, her mind racing with an unbidden thought.

I know I can make you prouder still, but I
don’t know if I have the courage.

Chapter
Twenty-Eight

Memphis, Tennessee – 2011AD

“I can’t believe you’re in love with Lena’s
daughter.” Helen sat beside Harrison on the bed, staring at the
door in front of her. “I always hoped life would make our paths
cross again. I never saw this coming though.” She shook her head
with a grin. “There was always something so familiar about Gemma
and I could never put my finger on it.”

Harrison watched her expression closely.

“So, you don’t mind that I’m in love with
your enemy’s daughter?”

Helen looked a little miffed. “She was never
my enemy, Harrison. I never wanted the friendship to end, but it
just couldn’t survive under the circumstances. When I first
returned, I wanted to find her, but I had to think of you first. I
was worried if I came into contact with anyone from my past that it
would somehow get back to my mother and she would use my offspring
for her own purposes. I couldn’t allow that to happen.”

Harrison reached for her hand and gave it a
squeeze. It was such a relief to have her know everything. He had
studied her carefully as he divulged all he knew. Her face had
wandered from interest, to shock, to a nod of understanding,
through to alarm, then settled on appalled as Harrison walked her
through his time with Gemma. It had taken him close to two hours,
having to answer her questions along the way, and he now felt
depleted. He rubbed his forehead with a sigh, the tension in his
muscles making it hard to move.

“I’ve been trying so hard to protect her,
help her out of this hell and then the one time she needs me the
most… I’m not there,” his voice cracked.

His mother’s hand came to rest on his
shoulder.

“My guess is that’s she gone to Gabe.”

“But what if she didn’t make it. What if
they’ve…?”

“You’d know if she were dead. Trust me on
this, when you lose a soul mate you feel it.”

Helen winced and looked to the floor.

“I have to do something. I can’t just sit
here wondering where she is. I've gotta go to her. Now.”

Harrison raised his eyes.

“I agree.”

His mouth dropped open. “Seriously? I was
expecting a much bigger fight than this.”

“I can’t say I’m happy about it,” Helen
sighed, “but I know she needs you and you can’t do any good for her
here in Memphis.”

Harrison rushed for the door. Helen grabbed
his sleeve.

“Just promise me you’ll be safe. If the Harts
got rid of you once, they won’t hesitate to do it again.”

Her words stilled him. He swallowed down a
foreboding gulp and frowned. Reaching for his phone, Helen drew it
from his fingers and punched in a number.

“Yes, US Airways please.”

* * * *

The only flight he could get had him landing
in Jacksonville at three in the morning. He found the first cab he
could and was pulling up to his house an hour and a half later. The
air was still and crisp as he jumped onto the pavement and headed
around back in search of the spare key.

His body protested against the exhaustion
tugging at his brain. He didn’t have time to be tired. His quest
would not allow him the luxury. Bolting through the back door he
headed up the stairs. He didn’t care that it was four-thirty in the
morning; he was driving to Gabe’s.

Switching on his light, he plundered his desk
draw, pulling out his key and ignoring the debris he left in his
wake. His trip down the stairs was quick and would have been
seamless if it hadn’t been for the explosion of pain that tore
through his face as his body was flung back against the
railing.

Finding his center, Harrison jerked around to
face his attacker. Suddenly his body was hauled down the stairs and
slammed against the wall.

“Where is she?” The deep voice was so full of
menace Harrison nearly didn’t recognize it. Balling his hand, he
shot his fist into his assailant’s stomach, releasing the forearm
that had been blocking his airway.

“Get the hell out of my house, Simeon!”

Harrison managed to block the next blow and
deliver one of his own. He couldn’t deny the satisfaction he felt,
watching the guy stumble away from him. Righting his body, Simeon
came at him again, this time catching his jaw and sending him
sprawling. Before he could catch his breath the guy had jumped on
him like a panther and wrestled him to the ground.

“Where is she?”

“Even if I knew I wouldn’t tell you.”
Harrison spat, wriggling his arm free and punching Simeon in the
back.

“You liar!” Simeon raised his right arm,
coming in for another punch. Grabbing the opportunity, Harrison
stalled his hand and used his other to punch him in the chest.
Pushing his body free, he swung back onto his feet and crouched,
ready for another attack.

“You’re the only one she would have run to,
Granger.” Simeon’s eyes sparked as he readied himself for battle.
“Tell me where she is and I won’t have to kill you.”

Harrison dodged the chilling comment by
forcing his brain to register that Gemma was not with Simeon and he
had no idea about Gabe, so the chances of his girl being safe were
escalating.

“Stay away from her and
I
won’t have
to kill
you
.” He wasn’t sure if getting cocky was the right
choice, but he went with it anyway.

His reward was a guttural snarl from his
opponent as he pounced towards him. Dodging the first fist, he got
clipped by the second and then everything became a blur. He wasn’t
sure what furniture was destroyed along the way, but by the time
they reached the kitchen both of them were bruised and
bloodied.

Simeon reached for a knife and Harrison
reached for the phone. Dialing 911, he held the receiver to his
ear, keeping his gaze locked on Simeon.

“911, what is your emergency?”

“There’s someone in my house.”

The knife landed an inch from his ear and
hummed with vibration from the forceful throw. Simeon’s eyes were
charcoal and his warning all too clear. Without another word, he
opened the kitchen door and departed.

“Sir, what is your address?” the phone
operator repeated.

“Sorry, false alarm. A stray cat got into the
house and knocked over a lamp downstairs.”

With mumbled apologies Harrison hung up the
phone and leaned his shaking body against the counter. Wiping the
blood from his nose with his sleeve, he forced his battered limbs
back upstairs. The least he could do was clean up. Gemma didn’t
need to see him like this.

* * * *

The sun was just rising as he pulled his
Corvette to a stop beside Gemma’s Ducati. His heart was near flying
by the time he reached the door and took off completely when he
watched it squeak open to reveal Gemma.