The Time Keeper (The Guardians of Time Book 1) (10 page)

BOOK: The Time Keeper (The Guardians of Time Book 1)
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Chapter 11

 

Naivety had gotten her into this situation.  That was the only explanation Emilia could come up with.  She had idealistically credited all Regency men as the epitome of a perfect gentleman, respectable members of society with refined manners – especially the aristocracy.  So when Lord Randolph had suggested a breath of fresh air on the balcony, she had readily agreed, glad of the cool air on her flushed skin after the exertion of so much dancing.  His invitation to wander through the well-lit rose garden had seemed innocent enough, until he’d pulled her into the darkness of the maze and finally her survival instincts had kicked in.  This was one gentleman who brought dishonour to the name.  Seb would be livid if he found out, so she had to get back to the ballroom before he noticed her absence.

She darted back from Randolph’s groping hand.  ‘Lord Randolph
behave
!’ she cried urgently. 

For the moment she was still trying to maintain her Regency cover and not create a scene, but her patience was wearing thin and if she couldn’t talk him down, she’d have to take action.

‘My cousin tells me American women are much more liberated,’ he shared as he tried to back her into a corner of the hedge.  ‘I’m heartily tired of our prudish English girls.  You’re much more my style.’

Ducking around him, Emilia raced further into the maze.  She only hoped she’d be able to find her way out again.  Pausing briefly at a crossroads, she opted for the left branch.  ‘I assure you, My Lord, you’ve been misinformed.  I’m quite conservative, uptight even!’

‘I don’t believe you.’  He was right on her tail, so close she could feel his fingers brushing down her back as he tried to stop her.  She darted around yet another corner but could still hear his voice directly behind her.  ‘English girls look demurely down when having a conversation with a man, but you stare boldly into my eyes with no hint of shyness.’

Damn!  She’d forgotten that small detail in acting the part; she’d have to remember to take more care when in another time.  She decided to change tack.  ‘You wouldn’t want to marry me anyway, My Lord.  My family is quite poor and I come with no dowry.’

As she broke into the centre of the maze, she was delighted to find there was a lantern providing some much needed light. 

Randolph snorted.  ‘Who said anything about marriage?  I’m the son of a Duke; I’ll take what I want.  And I want
you
, Miss Delcourt.’

His arms clamped around her from behind and she felt his moist breath against her neck.  Gross! She shuddered in revulsion. Since reason wasn’t working, the Regency Miss was going out the window.  ‘I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed then, Lord Randolph, because
I
don’t want
you
.’

He was bigger than her, but she wasn’t afraid.  This time her mind was clear and she felt completely calm.  In fact, the only thing hampering her was the long skirt of her dress, but being aware of it meant she could compensate for it.  She grasped Randolph’s clammy right hand, which was groping at the bodice of her dress.  At the same time, she scraped her foot down his calf and stomped on his foot with as much force as she could muster.  Randolph cursed and his hand went lax.  Emilia didn’t waste time.  Spinning around in his loosened grip, she stepped back slightly and slammed her right knee into his privates.  He dropped to the ground with a satisfyingly loud howl.

Emilia dusted off her hands and glared down at the pathetically whimpering man on the ground.  ‘I suggest you be quiet unless you want half the party descending on us.’

There was a rustle from behind and she turned in time to see Seb burst from the maze, eyes flashing fire.  So much for making it back to the ballroom before he noticed her missing, she thought with a sigh.  He ground to an abrupt halt at the sight before him.

‘What happened?’ he demanded.

Emilia shrugged, but couldn’t quite hold back a smile at his puzzled face.  ‘Lord Randolph decided to overstep the bounds of Regency etiquette, so I helped him see the error of his ways,’ she explained with a glimmer of humour.

Seb turned slowly towards her, his expression incredulous.  ‘He’s twice your size!’

‘You’re even bigger and I could drop you if I really had to.’

He snorted disparagingly and started to turn back towards Randolph to inspect the damage.  She wasn’t a vindictive person, but Emilia decided it was time Seb realised she could look after herself.

She lifted her dress around her knees to give herself greater movement, twisted to the side and executed a perfect jumping roundhouse, which caught him right in the kidneys.  He staggered and in a quick move born of years of practice she brought her leg around his knees and swept his feet out from under him.  He crashed to the ground with a grunt and she followed him down, dropping a knee to his chest and an arm across his throat to keep him pinned to the ground.

She looked directly into his eyes, their noses almost touching.  ‘Now before you get all uppity, I know I couldn’t have pulled that off if you knew what I’m capable of.  I used your ignorance against you and I had the element of surprise.  I’m sorry about that, but it was probably the only way you’d ever believe I’m not a poor, helpless,
fragile
girl.  I can take care of myself.’

Speech made, she eased up on his throat and sat back on her heels.  He rubbed his side, not looking at her, letting the silence stretch while he thought through what had happened.

Then his eyes flashed up to meet hers with a rueful grin.  ‘Not Pilates, huh?’

She grinned back and jumped agilely to her feet.  ‘Nope.’

He held a hand out.  ‘Can you give me a pull up?  I’m feeling a little tender.’

‘Of course.’  She leaned down and wrapped her hand around his.  And suddenly she was on her back.  In one smooth motion, Seb rolled and pinned her down with his whole body.

After a startled moment, Emilia threw back her head and laughed loudly.  Never let your guard down – it was the first rule.  ‘Ego demanded it, huh?’

He nodded solemnly.  ‘Yep.’

‘Fair enough.’

He stared at her for a few moments and she wondered what was going through his head.  Before she could ask he rose smoothly to his feet, lifting her with him.  When she was standing steadily on the ground he ruffled her hair, which had of course fallen out of its pins and was cascading untidily down her back.  ‘You’ve got some moves, Angel.  But I’m still boss.’

She smoothed down her skirt.  ‘I know.  But at least now you can stop treating me like a china doll.’

‘I’m not making any promises.’  He looked disdainfully down at Randolph who was still curled up on the ground, his face a picture of misery.  ‘What are we going to do about him?’

‘It’s not likely he’ll tell anyone what went on here since it reflects
very
poorly on him.’

Randolph nodded vigorously.  ‘I won’t tell a soul; I swear upon my honour as a gentleman.’

Seb looked sceptical.  ‘You haven’t displayed much honour as far as I can see.’  He looked over at Emilia hopefully.  ‘Have you had enough fun yet?  Are you ready to go home?’

‘Yes to both.’ 

‘I’ll take care of him then.’

Randolph cried out in fright and threw his arms up to protect his face.  ‘Please don’t hurt me…
please
!’

‘Relax you snivelling idiot, I’m not going to hurt you.’  Seb paused and opened his mouth to speak again, then thought better of it.

Kneeling beside Randolph he placed his hand on the other man’s forehead.  Randolph’s eyes fluttered closed.  A few moments passed and then Seb rose to his feet.

Emilia shot him an enquiring look.

‘I’ve sent him to sleep.’

Emilia shuddered and stared at him, appalled.  ‘I had no idea you could get into people’s heads!  Promise me you won’t ever mess with
my
head, my memories or any of that kind of stuff.  I don’t care how bad they are, they’re mine.’

Seb held his hands up defensively.  ‘Hey, I promise, okay.  No need to get worked up about it.’

‘Most of what you can do is pretty cool, but that one… not so much.’  The thought of anyone, especially Seb, getting inside her head freaked her out.

‘It’s not as bad as you think.   I can’t compel someone to do a tonne of stuff they don’t want to.  The brain is a fragile thing, way beyond my expertise.  Putting someone to sleep is relatively simple, but I’d never try something I wasn’t confident of pulling off successfully… especially erasing memories!’ 

He seemed embarrassed, maybe even a bit ashamed, and Emilia instantly felt bad for making him feel that way.  Touching his arm, she smiled warmly at him and changed the topic.

‘Shall we get going?’

A relieved smile flickered across his face.  ‘I’m sorry the evening didn’t end well for you.’

‘It wasn’t so bad.  Besides, up until that point I was having the time of my life.  It was so much better than the prom and the way…’ her voice trailed off as she realised what she’d let slip.  Oops, once again her unruly tongue had gotten ahead of her brain. 

Unfortunately, Seb never missed a thing.

‘Say that again,’ he said, his voice deceptively quiet.

‘I think I’d rather not.’

‘You told me you’d missed your prom!  You were practically
crying
!  That’s the only reason I agreed to this particular destination,’ he growled, his eyes narrowed.

‘Um, yeah, about that… I didn’t expect you to fall for it,’ she explained helplessly and cringed when she realised she was only making things worse.

He spun away from her, his body vibrating with anger.  Finally tapping into some belated wisdom, Emilia said nothing and let him regain control of his rampant emotions.

He slowly turned back to her, his eyes still glittering dangerously.  ‘You’re one hell of an actress, Emilia.  But how can I work with you if I can’t trust you… if I can’t trust
myself
to be reading you accurately?’

Emilia hung her head in shame.  He was right and she’d possibly blown their working relationship and fledgling friendship just to get her own way.  ‘I’m really sorry, Seb.’  She looked up to meet his gaze, her eyes glistening with tearful remorse.  ‘I’ll never lie to you again, I promise,’ she whispered achingly.

The anger drained out of him.  ‘Don’t cry,’ he muttered with a grimace.  ‘Please don’t cry.’  He pulled her roughly into his arms and cradled her head against his big chest.  He started talking quickly, trying to distract her from her tears.  ‘I over-reacted.  I’ve been on edge all night and then panicking when you disappeared.  You just bore the brunt of all that pent-up emotion.  I know it was just a harmless fib and you didn’t mean anything by it.  But please don’t do that to me again!’

‘I won’t, I promise.’  She briefly tightened her arms around his back, sniffed a couple of times and then stepped back out of his arms to give him a wobbly smile.

His hand lifted and he gently wiped away the couple of tears that had escaped from under her eyes.

He held out his hand to her.  Her fingers slid across his broad, slightly rough, palm and wrapped around his hand.  ‘Let’s go.’

 

 

 

Chapter 12

 

Present Day, Ithaca

 

At first, Emilia had assumed when travelling back to their present time they would return to exactly the same moment as when they’d left.  It
was
possible to do that, but according to Seb it was best to allow the same number of hours to have elapsed as the time spent in the earlier time period.  Which made sense when she thought about.  If she kept returning to exactly the time she’d left she would end up aging more rapidly in her own time, since her body was still putting in the extra days and hours in an alternate time.  So it was after midnight when they materialised back in Ithaca.  Not that she was tired; she was still jazzed from the adrenalin of Randolph’s pursuit.

Overall she felt the trip to Regency England had been a success.  Seb might not have enjoyed it much, but at least now they might be on more of an equal footing.  She was looking forward to where the next trip might take them.  So it was disappointing to discover they wouldn’t be leaving any time soon on a new adventure. 

‘What happens now then?’ she asked as soon as they’d finished briefing David on the events of the past few hours.  She was curled up in an armchair, her jeans-clad legs tucked under her.  Before they’d even completely materialised, Seb had changed them both back into their normal clothes.  She knew he was keen to get back into his comfortable, familiar jeans and t-shirt, but she wouldn’t have minded spending a couple more hours in her gorgeous dress.

Seb was leaning casually against the mantelpiece, his arms crossed loosely over his broad chest.  A very comfortable chest, Emilia thought and then hastily shoved the thought aside.  ‘We wait.’

‘For how long?’

‘That’s up to The Society.’  David was seated behind his desk, paperwork spread before him.  He looked weary and Emilia wished he hadn’t waited up for them.  ‘Usually it’s a week or two.  But once they’ve decided where and when you’re going, they’ll message you both.’

‘And in the meantime?’

David smiled fondly.  ‘You get to enjoy your holiday.’

Seb pushed away from the mantelpiece.  ‘I’m heading off.  Playing the gentleman is exhausting and I fully intend to sleep for the next twelve hours.’

Emilia started to get up to walk him to the door but he waved her back.  ‘I can see myself out.  Talk to you later, Angel.  Night, David.’  He disappeared out the door with a vague wave over his shoulder.

As soon as they heard the external door close, David turned to his daughter.  ‘So how did the two of you get along?’

‘There were a few bumps in the road, but we actually did okay.  We had a chance to talk a bit, which was good.  Of course, it wasn’t great when he found out I’d lied about not going to prom!’

‘Oh dear,’ David replied, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.  ‘I bet he didn’t take that very well.’

‘Not particularly, but he got over it pretty quickly so I shouldn’t complain.’  She stretched and tried unsuccessfully to suppress a yawn, tiredness suddenly descending.  ‘Time for bed, I think.’

David came around his desk and, as Emilia rose to her feet, enfolded her in a big hug.  ‘I’m proud of you, honey, and I think you and Seb are going to make a great team.’

‘Thanks, Dad.’  Her eyes were damp as she climbed the stairs to the second storey.  It had taken a long time for her and her father to become close, but this time travel thing seemed to be doing the trick and not just for her relationship with her father.  Her relationship with Seb was improving in leaps and bounds.

 

*

 

Seb opened the door of his apartment with a heavy sigh.  He hated the hollowness of it, the way his footsteps echoed in the emptiness.  In a way it was a good reflection of his life – empty, hollow and lonely.  Emilia’s house, despite its size, felt cosy and welcoming, full of laughter.  It even smelt warm and comfortable, probably from all the baking Emilia did.  His place always smelt sterile and cold, the scent of cleaning products overwhelming any hint of human habitation.

He thought about going out for a drink, but the Friday night crowds were rowdy and intrusive and he wanted to be alone.  Not with his thoughts, but just away from the emotional turmoil of being with people.  Tonight he’d been bombarded with so many new people and so much conversation he needed some cave time. 

Wandering into the kitchen to see if he had anything in the fridge to eat, he noticed his sketchpad lying on the white marble kitchen bench.  A smile spread across his face.  Before he forgot all the exquisite details, he was going to draw Seeworth Manor.  Sketching was the one thing that brought him peace.  If he’d discovered how much he enjoyed it back in high school, he might not have ended up in such trouble with the law. Instead, the down time on the Army base had been where he’d first picked up a pencil and started to draw.  He’d dabbled with landscapes and portraits of his army buddies, but it was buildings that had really captured his imagination.

His hand swept across the page, filling the blank canvas with the stately lines of Seeworth Manor… and the tension of the evening dissipated with every soothing stroke of the pencil.

 

*

 

Perched casually on a large boulder beside the river, Emilia was enjoying the cooling effect of the fine mist from the Taughannock Falls.  It was a scorcher of a day and while the Gorge Trail leading to the waterfall was an easy walk, it had still been a hot one.

A short drive out of town, Taughannock Falls State Park, home of some truly spectacular scenery, was one of Emilia’s favourite spots.  She came here often to run the more challenging Rim Trail, which offered incredible birds eye views of the gorge; but since most of her friends weren’t exactly fitness enthusiasts, today they had opted for the easy stroll to the bottom of the waterfall. 

Summer in Ithaca and its surrounding areas buzzed with activity and they’d come out to the Park to watch one of the free Saturday night concerts put on by the Music and Arts festival.  At least that’s what they’d be doing in a few hours. In an effort to avoid the crowds and have some time together as a group just mucking around, they’d decided to set out early.  Although it wasn’t voiced much, everyone was hyper aware this was the last summer they’d all be together before they scattered all around the country.

Emilia nudged Stacey, who was spread out on the boulder beside her, her eyes closed as she faced into the spray of the waterfall.

‘You okay?’

Stacey’s shoulders tightened.  ‘Yeah.  It just sucks, you know.’  She sighed and turned cloudy eyes towards Emilia.  ‘I went into his room this morning and it still looks the same as it did the day he died.  Mum won’t change it but I think it’s worse leaving it all in place.  It’s like every time I go past it I expect to see him lying on his bed reading some huge literary tome.  But he’s never there.’

Shuffling closer, Emilia wrapped her arm around Stacey’s shoulders.  ‘I’m sorry, Stace.’  And how lame did that sound?  How could anything she said possibly make up for the loss of a loved one?  Even though she was always there for her best friend, sometimes Emilia felt hopelessly, frustratingly inadequate.

The opposite of his sister’s vivaciousness, Emilia had always thought Stacey’s older brother Dex was destined to be a literary great or master of philosophy or something scholarly significant.  Except then his life had been tragically cut short two years ago. He’d gone to see his girlfriend and on the way there an impatient truck driver had driven through a red light and slammed straight into the driver’s side of Dex’s car.  Dex had died instantly.

Stacey drew her knees to her chin and wrapped her arms around them.  She didn’t say anything for a few minutes but then seemed to gather herself together.  ‘Thanks for organizing today.  It’s better to be busy than sitting at home wallowing.’

‘It’s okay to miss him, Stace.  I miss him and he wasn’t even my brother,’ she said softly.

Stacey glanced over at her and Emilia was relieved to see the sparkle returning to her eyes.  ‘He used to have a massive crush on you, you know.’

‘He did not!’

‘I’m not kidding.’  Stacey grinned, her grief and sadness resolutely pushed away.  ‘Why do you think he was always hanging around us when you were over?’

‘Well, I…’ Emilia didn’t know what to say.

‘Who had a crush on you?’ Jess asked, as she hauled herself up onto the top of the boulder, Maddie just behind her.  ‘Man, I always miss out on the good gossip.’

‘What gossip?’ Maddie plopped down beside Stacey, stretching her legs out and leaning back on her hands to make the most of the cooling mist. 

‘I was just telling Em how Dex was crazy about her before he finally got a girlfriend.  But Em being Em, she was completely clueless.’

Jess snickered.  ‘Yeah, she’s never learned to pick up the signs.’

‘Uh hello, I’m sitting right here!’ Emilia exclaimed indignantly.  ‘Just because I didn’t notice my best friend’s brother liked me doesn’t mean anything – that’s only one case.’

‘Yeah, but you haven’t picked up on Seb’s signals either,’ Stacey pointed out gleefully.

‘Stace!’ Emilia hastily checked the location of Justin and Kevin, who were skimming pebbles a bit further down the river.  Justin was in a great mood and seemed to have forgiven her for opting out of the New York trip, so the last thing she needed was Stacey’s ridiculous notions getting him worked up over nothing.


Who
is Seb?’  Maddie leaned forward eagerly. 

‘The most scrumptious guy who just happened to come to our rescue the night of the party,’ Stacey shared with a grin.  ‘And why, you might ask, did he come to our rescue?  Because he has a thing for our dear friend.’

‘That’s so not true,’ Emilia hissed.  She looked over at Jess and Maddie.  ‘I’m working for my dad over the summer and so is Seb.  We’ve known each other for ages.’

‘Do you get to go on a dig with him?’  Jess asked.  She had toyed with a career in archeology for a while, until she’d done an about face and decided she wanted to be a pilot instead.  ‘That would be so cool.’

‘I would love to go on a dig with my
dad
, but so far it’s been mostly research.’

Stacey flashed her a cheeky grin.  ‘At least you get to work with the true embodiment of hotness,’ she whispered conspiratorially.

‘Shhh, you know what Justin’s like.’  Emilia glanced around again and was grateful to see Justin was still well out of earshot.

‘Well Emilia’s already taken,’ Jess pointed out.  ‘So maybe she could throw a bone to a single sister!’

‘Yeah, maybe she could,’ Stacey said silkily.  ‘How do you feel about that, Em?  Can you see Seb with Jess?’

If it weren’t such a difficult day for Stace, Emilia would have happily told her to back off but, as much as this conversation was making her squirm, at least it had taken Stacey’s mind off Dex’s death.  So she affected what she hoped was a nonchalant shrug.

‘I’ll ask him to come along the next time we all hang out,’ she said coolly.  But inside she was anything but cool.  For some reason the thought of Seb dating one of her friends made her distinctly uncomfortable – a thought she didn’t want to examine too closely.

 

*

 

Later, when they were all settled on blankets, eating their picnic while listening to the indie rock band performing on stage, Emilia studied Jess.  Her friend had shoulder-length hair, which was a gorgeous copper colour (the exact red in fact that Emilia had hoped Seb would temporarily change her hair to) and set off her cornflower blue eyes and pale skin to perfection.  Not much of an athlete, Jess had soft curves in all the right places.  On top of that, she was funny and really easy to hang around with.  Frankly, Emilia couldn’t understand why Jess
didn’t
have a boyfriend.  It certainly wasn’t for lack of interest from the boys they’d gone to school with.

‘What are you thinking about?’ Justin whispered in her ear.  Emilia was enclosed in Justin’s arms, her back resting against his chest.  Today had been one of those nice days when they’d got along so easily.  She sighed contentedly.

‘Hmmm.  Oh I was just wondering why Jess is single.  I mean, she’s got so much going for her; she’d be a great catch.’

Justin chuckled.  ‘Are you scheming again, Em?  Remember the last time you tried to interfere in someone’s love life?’  He looked pointedly at Maddie, who was leaning over to the blanket beside theirs, her long black curls brushing the arm of the sandy haired young man she was carrying on an animated conversation with.

Emilia grimaced, her failed matchmaking attempt vividly coming to mind.  ‘Yeah, okay.  So maybe matchmaking isn’t my forte.’ 

Truer words could not have been spoken.  She’d tried to set Maddie up for the prom with a guy she knew from the gym.  Fortunately they’d gone on a get-to-know-you date first, where
unfortunately
Tim had completely blown it.  He’d shown up in his sweaty gym gear with stains down the front of his t-shirt and proceeded to point out all the “flaws” in Maddie’s physique and how she could fix them.  He’d even gone so far as to take Maddie’s slice of Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake away from her, eating it himself to save her the excess calories.  Maddie had been livid.  She had gone stag to the prom and Emilia had been banned from all future set ups.

BOOK: The Time Keeper (The Guardians of Time Book 1)
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