CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

I braced for the flames, for the gas, for whatever was about to consume us. Something shunted in the building and a soft shushing sound followed. The alarms and flashing lights stopped, too.

“We’re listening,” Austin said overhead.

I looked upward at the hidden camera. “I can jump through time. You saw me do it already.”

Kaden’s hand wove around my waist, strong and tight. His courage melded with mine, bolstering my strength.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you can save humanity?” Austin asked.

My heart rate rocked through my body, hoping they wouldn’t question the huge lie I was about to tell. “True, but I know who has the cure.”

Austin said, “Who?”

Mom in the other timeline had said Dad was working on a cure and Dr. Declan had freaked over my blood. Maybe I held the secret. I had to hope, otherwise humanity was truly lost and it didn’t matter if we all died today, or not. But I wouldn’t take Kaden with me. I wouldn’t risk his life again. “It’s in the other timeline, but I’ll only go get it if you let Kaden go free.”

His hand tightened on my hip. “No. I’m not leaving without you.”

“Trust me…” I breathed.

At the ruckus, a crowd of undead filed into the room from around the corner, all the hissing and moaning, I didn’t know if Austin could hear me anymore. My eyes fell on a girl, the EA girl at the counter who’d given me such a hard time before my meeting. She actually looked better as a zombie.

Suddenly, the DOD watches on the zombies’ wrists flashed red zeros and they stiffened. Then in unison, they crumbled to the floor as if they were dead. My mouth fell opened. They’d had the power to stop them all along? The bastards!

“I don’t believe you,” a voice said from the hall.

Kaden and I panned to the left. A bald Declan stood before us, older and even more wrinkled than the one I’d accidentally turned into a zombie. How could he still be alive? And how did he travel to my timeline?

I gasped and moved backward against Kaden’s body.

“Don’t get any ideas,” Declan said quickly and motioned to someone.

An officer walked around the corner with a gun trained on a boy roughly the age of eight. He trembled under the officer’s grasp.

“Mom? Dad?”

My chest heaved. He looked like the both of us—blue eyes, dark hair, my nose, Kaden’s lips. My eyes watered.

“Meet Sawyer,” Declan said. “Your son.”

I blinked in disbelief at first, then swallowed down my vitriol in the form of bile. The reason Anna wanted him dead made total sense now.

“You son of a bitch!” Kaden stiffened behind me and pushed me forward.

“Jump and he’s gone. Cooperate and we’ll work out a deal.” Declan’s lips rose in a sickening smile.

My heart pounded as I watched the terror in Sawyer’s eyes.

“How’d you get here?”

He laughed and then sighed, dragging out his response on purpose. “Anna, of course. Right, Sawyer?”

The boy nodded and whimpered in terror.

“Hurt him, and I’ll…” Kaden threatened.

“What, Kaden? You’re trapped in a cage and aren’t important to me.” He leaned in. “I’ll do what I want.”

“What do you want?” I interrupted.

“Now, that’s what I want to hear.” Declan sighed. “I want what’s mine.”

I blinked at him in confusion. “And what’s that?”

“Fine,” he drawled. “I guess I need to explain. Do you know what it’s like to invest an entire year of your life and groom your younger self for leadership? Imbibe all your knowledge and wisdom in order to create a perfect society? To create a place where everyone can know what the future holds? Where there’s peace and freedom and the criminals are made to suffer? No, because if you did, you wouldn’t have so cheaply destroyed everything.” His lips thinned. “I have the right mind to make you watch on while I feed your son and your lover to the undead as sweet revenge—”

Sawyer gasped and all I wanted to do was run to him, wrap him in my arms, and tell him I’d never let anything bad happen to him.

“But I need you to fix this first,” he seethed between his yellow teeth. “Where’s the cure, Abby?”

I lifted my chin. How dare he accuse me of ruining everything? His younger, smarter Vice President self was the one who’d made me jump. He didn’t retain much. “Like I said, it’s not here.”

Declan’s eyes bounced between us. “Fine, but I want to be sure you don’t get any creative ideas.”

Everything inside me wanted to scratch his freaking eyes out. He ticked his head forward and two more guards appeared. They each held a DOD watch, but they weren’t the kind you could take off—they were the permanent ones meant for criminals. They could kill us at will if we allowed them to infuse them on us.

Declan moved closer to Sawyer and ruffled his hair. “Sawyer and I have had wonderful talks about his family and his mama… and imagine my surprise when Kaden here mentions my good ole’ friend Jebediah.”

“Stay away from my son,” I growled.

“Or you’ll what? Kill me?” He laughed again, an evil biting sound. He grabbed onto Sawyers hair and yanked. Sawyer squealed and stifled a sob.

“Stop it!” My head began to pound and I willed myself not to jump.

“Don’t touch him,” Kaden demanded.

“I’ll do whatever I want.” Declan waved his hand and the guards moved forward.

The lock to the bars clicked and the door of our cell swung open. I pressed harder into Kaden’s chest, feeling his protective arms around me. We couldn’t let them put the watches on, but I couldn’t jump either, for Sawyers sake.

Kaden’s hand found mine and he squeezed tightly. His lips brushed my ear. “I trust you.”

The guards moved forward when a groan sounded from around the corner. They all turned and Declan’s shoulders slumped.

“Dammit,” he whispered. The officer holding Sawyer lifted his gun and aimed at what I assumed to be another zombie.

“Hold your fire!” Declan cried. “That’s me!”

My body tensed. This was it, the distraction we needed.

“Now,” Kaden said in my ear.

I relaxed and let go, feeling the familiar momentary weightlessness and rush. We reappeared on the other side with a pop. Landon and Elle stood wide-eyed and stared as Kaden kissed my temple before he released my hand and pushed me forward.

“Go get him, Abby. Now!”

I darted over to the spot I believed to be directly behind the officer and focused on relaxing. Jumping seemed so much smoother when I didn’t stress over it. Elle started to say something, but their world faded before I heard what she’d said.

With the same pop, I returned to utter chaos. The two guards who’d held the DOD’s were now trying to wrangle in zombie-Declan, and the officer with Sawyer kept moving his gun to anything that moved. Luckily, he didn’t see me reappear in the shadows behind him.

“She jumped!” Declan screamed. “Get the boy!”

His demands were too late. My hand had formed into Sawyers tiny grip and we were fading—slower this time for some reason.

“I’ve got you baby,” I whispered with a smile.

Relief covered his sweet face.

My eyes locked on Declan. I smiled and lifted my shoulder in a consolatory shrug. He wasn’t going to win today.

Anger burned on his wrinkled face. Then his ugly yellowed teeth mouthed, “I have Anna!”

Date: 2015-02-03; view: 774