Pure Blood (Time Spirit Trilogy, #3) (2 page)

“I’m going to see Gemma.”

His mother grabbed a dishcloth and began
furiously wiping the counter.

“I don’t want you wasting your weekends with
that girl.”

Harrison felt his blood begin to simmer.
“That girl? Mom, a few months ago you were treating her like a
daughter.”

“Well things change!”

“Not between me and Gem, they don’t.”

“Well they need to!” Helen threw the cloth
into the sink. “I have a bad feeling about her. I’m just trying to
protect you.”

“From what?!” Harrison couldn’t stop his
sharp tone. It was becoming harder and harder to keep his cool
during these conversations.

“From getting hurt again. From… no good can
come from your relationship with her.”

“Mom, I love her.”

“Damn it, Harrison, you have no idea! Can’t
you just trust my judgment?”

“Can’t you just trust mine?!”

The room went silent after the explosions,
the only sound being the frustrated breathing of two irate
contenders. Harrison watched his mother blink at her tears and felt
a small lump of guilt in his belly. He didn’t want to be the cause
of her pain, but he wasn’t giving up Gemma. He wished she would
just tell him why she’d had such a change of heart, but she
remained a locked box.

“Look,” Harrison sighed, “this argument is
pointless. I’m respecting your wishes by not bringing her here, but
you can’t stop me from seeing her.”

He wanted to whip around the counter and give
her a hug of assurance, but he couldn’t make his body do it.
Instead he stepped out the door and quietly closed it behind
him.

The trip to the beach was quick. He always
drove too fast when he knew he was about to see his girlfriend. Her
bike came into view as he rounded the corner. Pulling up beside it,
he scanned the sand and was disappointed. Her perfect body was not
waiting for him.

Slamming the door, he wandered down to the
sand and headed along the edge of the trees only to stumble across
a pile of clothing. He frowned. Picking up her shirt, he held it to
his nose and breathed in her scent before nestling down to
wait.

As he sat scanning the ocean his mind
wandered over the last month. He remembered returning from the
store expecting to see Gemma for Sunday lunch, only to find his
mother carrying on about how she didn’t want that Hart girl in her
home anymore. Harrison had tried to find the cause of the
irrational outburst, but he was still clueless.

The family had been in a bit of an uproar
ever since, with different members taking different sides depending
on the argument. Harrison hated being the cause of so much unrest,
but he had been fighting for Gemma since the day they met and he
wasn’t about to stop now. She was worth every second of
turmoil.

Thank goodness school has started again.

He shook his head, smiling at the idea that
he was actually grateful for the end of summer vacation, but it had
been a saving grace. The few hours they managed to snatch together
at school weren’t really enough which was why they were meeting on
the beach today. They had both decided, as they stood in the
parking lot saying an elongated goodbye, that weekends weren’t
allowed to suck anymore. Gemma was lying and saying she was off
with Courtney, but Harrison had gone for the truth. At least his
parents wouldn’t kill him if they knew where he was. Who knew what
Gemma’s parents might do?

The air around him grew still and Gemma
materialized. She slumped to the ground, out of breath and
pale.

“Gem!” He shot to his feet and knelt down
beside her curled up form.

“I’m fine,” she murmured. “Just tired. Just…
been… running.”

He brushed the hair back from her face and
saw her eyes flutter closed. He ran a hand over her naked shoulder
and she didn’t even flinch. Usually she was more than aware of her
nakedness when she returned, but travel was taking a much stronger
toll on her body and lately she had needed instant rest the moment
she came back. Unable to resist, Harrison let his eyes glide over
her sleek form before finding his self-control and covering her
with his jacket. Leaning against a nearby tree, he placed her head
in his lap and played with the ends of her hair.

He sat brewing in a stew of malcontent as he
watched this beautiful girl suffer at the hands of her parents. He
didn’t know why she didn’t just move in with Gabe. He was her real
father after all and the only adult in this world who seemed to be
on her side.

He shook his head. They had talked about it
at length. There was no point living with Gabe. Alistair was still
strong enough to pull her anywhere and if he wanted to he could
whisk her to God knows where and keep her there. Until they could
figure out what bonded Gemma to the Harts they were stuck in this
predicament. He knew Gemma still kept a small ember of hope burning
that Alistair and Penelope would one day come to their senses and
be the parents they were supposed to be. Harrison didn’t have the
heart to tell her it was a pipe dream.

It took twenty minutes for her to recover.
Not quite as long as normal, but still too long for his liking. She
sat up with a bright smile then gasped, grabbing his jacket to
cover herself.

He grinned.

“Stop it.” She tried to keep her voice stern,
but Harrison could sense a smile brewing.

He turned his head away as she finished
getting dressed then turned back just in time to see her buttoning
her shorts. She crouched down to his level and handed back his
jacket.

“Thank you.” Her kiss was soft and
delicious.

Running a hand over her cheek, he tucked a
stray strand of hair behind her ear and smiled. “Want to go for a
walk?”

“Yeah.” She jumped up and stretched out her
hand.

Threading his fingers through hers, he
steered her north and they began a slow amble up the beach.

“So, where’d you go this time?”

Gemma groaned and glanced at him
sideways.

“What?” Harrison smiled at her expression.
“Not a good trip?”

“Not unless you call being chased by the
Italian police through over populated streets good.”

“Why were they chasing you?”

Gemma’s face dropped. “They made me steal
another artifact.”

Harrison felt his blood drop a couple of
degrees. It was icy stream water running through his veins. He felt
it curling up his arms and heading straight for his heart.

“A necklace?”

She nodded. “Shaped like an arrow head.”

They both walked in silence for a moment,
feeling the weight of it.

“It must belong to Gaius.”

Gemma nodded again. They had spent hours
talking about the carved box hidden in Alistair’s office, wondering
if Gabe’s theory that it contained seven vials of gold dust could
be true. The contents scared Gabe a little, which put Harrison on
high alert. Stolen gold dust from each member of the
electus
… mix it together and who knows what they would find?
Gemma had discovered the key to unlocking Pandora’s box was a
puzzle involving seven necklaces that her family had been
collecting all year.

“So does that mean they have all the pieces?
They can unlock the box?”

“I don’t think so. There’s still that middle
piece… the Decimus piece.”

“Do you think it’ll take him long to find
it?”

“I don’t know.” Gemma’s voice was small. “And
I don’t know what will happen when they do.”

Without realizing it, they had both stopped
walking. They now stood in the sand, frozen by a brewing fear they
had yet to face.

“It’s going to be okay, Gem. We’re going to
be okay.”

Loosening her vice like grip on his hand, he
pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her shoulder, murmuring
the words again as much for himself as for her.

Chapter
Three

Anastasia State Park, Florida – 2011AD

Gemma buried her head in his shirt, trying to
believe him. She knew Harrison would keep her safe… well, as much
as he could. She just hoped it was enough. A small part of her
still prayed that her parents were actually doing all this for
good. But a larger part of her was facing the cruel reality that
the people she had grown up trusting were using her for all she was
worth and would continue to do so until there was nothing left.

The thought sent a shiver up her spine.
Harrison squeezed her to combat it then pulled away to check she
was okay.

“I’m fine. There’s nothing we can do right
now anyway. Let’s just enjoy the morning and pretend that nothing
else exists except you and me.” She kissed him lightly then took
his hand and resumed walking.

“So, how was your mom this morning?”

If Gemma could have kicked herself she would
have. After just making a speech about pretending they were the
only two people who existed!

Seriously, you are such an idiot
sometimes!

Harrison frowned. “Same as usual. She didn’t
want me to come.”

“I so don’t get it.” In spite of her telling
off she continued with the topic. “I thought she liked me and then…
it’s so weird. How did she figure out I was a time spirit? How does
she even know about them?”

“Maybe she fell in love with one once and got
burned?”

It wasn’t a bad suggestion. Gemma had toyed
with it over the last few weeks herself and it did make sense… but
who? Apart from Gabe she had not met any others of her kind and she
often wondered if her family were the last. She was aware the earth
was highly populated and the chances of meeting, and recognizing,
another member of a very secretive race was unlikely. But over the
years she figured she would have met more than one. Legend talked
about them being drawn to one another. Why had none ever been drawn
to her family?

“I know she’s only trying to protect me, but
how am I supposed to understand her bizarre behavior if she won’t
tell me anything? The house is so tense at the moment, even Bryan’s
going crazy.”

“I miss Bryan.” Gemma pouted for a second
then shook her head. “I just wish there was something I could do to
fix this. I wish I was normal.”

Harrison stopped her in the sand and turned
her towards him, placing a hand on either side of her face.

“You are perfect just the way you are. I like
that you’re not normal.” He kissed her nose.

“I’m not perfect, Harrison.”

“You’re perfect for me.” He grinned.

She felt her insides bubble.

“Tu es ma stella del mattino.” He kissed her
nose. “Tu es ma gioiello.” Then touched his lips softly against
hers.

She brought her hand down with a hard thump
on his chest.

“Ow!”

Gemma didn’t regret it for a second. She had
been asking him for months and it had turned from a sweet gesture
to an irritation of dynamic proportions.

“You have
got
to stop doing that!”

“Doing what?”

She demolished his feigned innocence with a
narrow glare.

“If you don’t tell me what that means I’m
going to beat it out of you.”

His body rumbled with laughter. “You wouldn’t
do that to me.”

“Believe me, right now, I want to!” She
raised her fist.

He saw straight through her empty threat, but
it did quell his laughter. Grabbing her clenched hand, he pulled
her towards him and wrapped his arms securely around her waist.

“It means,” he cleared his throat, “you are
my morning star.” He kissed her nose. “You are my jewel.” He
touched his lips softly against hers.

She felt her eyes glisten as the words sunk
in. It was the sweetest thing she’d ever heard… and she’d totally
heard it before! Her mouth opened with surprise.

“What?”

“I’ve heard that before.”

“When? I’ve never said it in English.”

“No, I mean, I’ve heard someone say it
before. They were talking about…” She tapped her head and paced
away from him. “It was in the past. I was with Dom? No, I was on my
own, but someone was there, he… that’s it!”

She clicked her fingers and looked at
Harrison expectantly. He shrugged his shoulders and she rushed to
explain.

“It was Nathaniel Clayton!” She beamed.
“Remember that trip I did to save that writer and then we ended up
rescuing those kids and he helped me out?”

Harrison’s head bobbed, his eyes starting to
light with memory.

“Anyway, he was talking about that woman that
had left him. He called her his morning star, his jewel and I
remember thinking it was so incredibly beautiful.” She turned to
look at her boyfriend and felt her insides turn to marshmallow.
“And now you’re saying it to me.” Reaching forward, she placed her
lips on his then pulled back as another thought hit her.

“Did you just make it up or have you heard it
somewhere before? Like a poem or something?”

Harrison shook his head with an embarrassed
smile. “Actually my mom used to say it to me when I was little,
before I went to sleep each night. Apparently she and my father
used to say it to each other. When I fell in love with you, I
really got what they meant.”

She could see he was expecting her to blush
sweetly at his sappy last comment, but she couldn’t make herself do
it. She wanted to, but her brain was buzzing too intensely to give
him anything but a wide-eyed stare. Like a Rubik’s Cube she had
been working on for weeks, she saw the truths she had encountered
turn into place. All the colors now matched and she was studying a
reality she could barely wrap her brain around.

“Gem?”

“Your… father.”

“What about him?”

“Oh my gosh, that’s why he looked like you!”
She stepped back from her boyfriend and studied his face, merging
the image of Nathaniel Clayton overtop and seeing such striking
similarities she let out a gasp.

“Harrison, I think I met your dad… your
real
dad!”