Kiss Across Tomorrow (Kiss Across Time Book 8) Read online

  Taylor drew in a breath. It came easy. She let it out.

  Naomi finished her coffee, the smile lingering at the corner of her mouth. “I think you and I should meet here, every week, just so I can make sure you’re okay.”

  “Oh, that isn’t necessary,” Taylor said quickly.

  “Then let’s meet just to talk. We have something in common and maybe we have more than that. You can be my first official friend on the island.”

  Taylor struggled to decide if she should refuse. Human friends were dangerous. They got to know her and would notice the odd things about her. That she didn’t eat in front of them, or drink. That she was never tired and never changed from year to year.

  Only it felt so good to talk to someone. Even this limited conversation had relieved the chronic tension in her chest.

  Taylor nodded. “Two, next week?” she asked.

  “That would be wonderful,” Naomi said. She got to her feet. “I’m having another cappuccino…they’re so good! Stay there. I want to pick your brains about the best grocery store here and the best bank.”

  Taylor stayed put. She relaxed against the cushioned back of the bench. Talking about grocery stores was harmless enough. It gave her something to do.

  Outside, the snow was falling. It would be a white Christmas, after all.

  This year, the solstice get-together was supposed to be on Martha’s Vineyard. When Taylor phoned Sydney and asked her to consider hosting the event instead, Sydney had agreed to it immediately, with no questions.

  Accordingly, they jumped to Grenada on the morning of the twenty-first, everyone carrying bags and packs over their shoulders, stuffed with gifts and food.

  Grenada was six hours ahead of Martha’s Vineyard, and in the same time zone as Brittany, so they arrived just after lunch. Neven, Remi and London were already there, and the baby was napping.

  There was a lot of noise and excitement for the first few hours, which masked the underlying currents. Taylor preferred to think she was imagining the odd pockets of tension in the room, as gifts were unwrapped.

  She caught everyone staring at her once or twice. They would look away again, to joke or laugh, or talk, or reach for another gift, leaving her wondering if she was being paranoid.

  Rafe was in the kitchen, cooking as usual. He had a deft touch for a vampire who couldn’t remember eating. He said he cooked by smell. Taylor had only figured out he wasn’t joking after she had been turned and learned how sensitive her sense of smell had become.

  There were five food-eating humans in the house, excluding London’s baby boy, Jason, although everyone sat at the dinner table with them while they ate. It was one of the few formal meals of the year. Even the vampires had plates and cutlery laid in front of them and put their napkins on their laps.

  Taylor’s tight hold on her emotions slipped when Alex moved around the table, adding a small inch of champagne to every glass, human, vampire and child. Her throat tightened as Neven raised his glass and spoke the toast which had become a standard. “To loved ones, long-lived and ephemeral, and to time, which brings us together.”

  Marit drew in a shaky breath.

  Taylor’s hand shook as she brought the glass to her lips, to pretend to drink.

  Neven looked stricken, his handsome face working, as he realized what he had said.

  Veris reached over and plucked the sloshing glass from Taylor’s hand. He put his and hers on the table in front him, not looking at anyone. “Go ahead and drink,” he said softly. “We’ll pass, this year.”

  Sydney cleared her throat. “Let’s just wish each other a better year, next year,” she suggested.

  Everyone agreed with hurried murmurs and raised their glasses again. Taylor couldn’t move. Veris didn’t move.

  Liberty and the twins escaped the table shortly after, their attention spans depleted. The adults, including Marit, stayed to talk. Because no one dared ask questions about the year gone by, the conversation turned to what united them—time.

  “Mapping the alternative worlds is just one tool we can develop,” Sydney said. “We need to harness time. We have these abilities we are afraid to use—”

  “With reason,” Veris growled.

  “If we learn how to jump properly, if we develop protocols, then we shouldn’t have to be afraid of time traveling,” Sydney told him. She hesitated. “Have you ever stopped to wonder about the Council, Veris?”

  “Oh, God, here we go,” Rafe said, with a sigh.

  Sydney glared at him.

  Rafe shook his head. “Veris thinks time travel is the most dangerous thing out there. I think the Council would eat time travel for lunch.” He spoke with a tone which implied he had said this more than once before.

  Sydney sat forward, her enthusiasm for the topic making her face glow. “That’s just it,” she said, pointing at Rafe. “You told us, Rafe, the Council has known about time travel for a long time. And in all that time, the Council members have stayed hidden. No one knew who they were. Not even you.”

  “That’s the way it works. You can’t be extorted or threatened if no one knows who you are,” Rafe pointed out.

  “Only, we did find out who some of the members were,” Sydney said. “They came out of the woodwork the moment we started doing interesting things with time.”

  “Interesting?” Veris echoed.

  “Yes, interesting.” Sydney pressed her finger to the tablecloth. “With Neven’s help, we scoured this quadrant. I don’t think you realize, Veris, how devastating Usenko would have been if he’d been allowed to continue his ways. You won’t look at the map and you can’t sample the timescape so you can’t know. Most of this quadrant is empty, now. There’s only us and the alternative worlds we spawn with our decisions. We did that, Veris. We pruned bad limbs.”

  “And Aran nearly died in the process,” Veris shot back. He shook his head. “You’re fucking with power you don’t understand, Sydney.”

  Taylor jumped. Raw anger distorted Veris’ voice.

  Sydney sat back. Taylor could almost feel her caution rising. “We never will understand it if we don’t study it.”

  Alex’s eyes narrowed, as he studied Veris. Softly, slowly, he moved his chair back from the table.

  “That is the problem right there!” Veris slapped the table with the flat of his hand, and Taylor jumped. So did others around the table, including London. Remi rested his hand on her shoulder, soothing her. He didn’t take his eyes off Veris.

  Taylor looked from Remi to Alex, to Sydney with her hands below the table, and Neven, who watched Veris carefully. Her heart thudded. They were threatened and the vampire instinct to defend themselves was rising.

  Veris didn’t see it. The superior judgment of character which had always been his had deserted him.

  He pointed his finger at Sydney and Taylor saw it shook. “You want to milk time for the politics. If we use it for anything at all, then we should at least understand the physics.”

  Sydney’s heart was beating, too. Taylor could see the pulse throbbing in her neck. Yet she didn’t back down. “If this is the only world left in this quadrant, then it must be guided and allowed to thrive. We must pick and choose between the annihilation which lies to either side of us.”

  Veris shot to his feet. “We should all leave time alone!” he roared.

  Alex was the first to react. He flowed to his feet, his gaze pinned upon Veris. Remi, too. Taylor leapt to hers as the caution swirling around the table grew to tight wariness. If they had been wearing swords, their hands would be in their hilts, ready to draw.

  Yet Veris seemed to be blind to all of it. He glared at Sydney. “Time does no one favors. It destroys. It…” His chest hitched. He curled his hand into a fist. “It takes,” he added hoarsely.

  Taylor put her hand on his shoulder. “Veris,” she whispered. “Breathe. You’re stressing your symbiot.”

  “Symbiot?” Alex said sharply.

  Veris leaned his fist on the table. His breath whistl
ed in and out. “I can’t…” he choked out. He raised his other hand in front of him. It shook violently.

  Alex shoved his chair back with a kick of his leg. “Let me get around the table,” he said, his tone urgent. “Rafe, the Sommeil. Ten CCs.”

  “Shit,” Rafe said. He rose to his feet and ran for the stairs down to the basement hospital.

  Taylor gripped Veris’ hand. “Look at me,” she told him, keeping her voice gentle, her tone coaxing, just as Sebastian had done. “I know what is happening to you. Look at me.”

  She tried to turn him. He was a small mountain, as solid and as frozen as one.

  The table was pulled out of the way. Alex stepped to Veris’ other side. “Help me sit him down,” he told Taylor.

  She pushed herself under Veris’ arm and wrapped her arm around his back and nodded at Alex, who had done the same. The chairs they had been sitting on were removed. Together, they lowered Veris to the floor, so his back was propped against the wall.

  He shuddered continuously. “Can’t breathe…” he whispered.

  Rafe shoved a loaded syringe into Alex’s hand.

  Taylor grabbed Alex’s wrist. “If his symbiot has been suppressed, you’ll inject a human with it.”

  Alex’s eyes widened. He looked at the syringe, then back at Taylor. “Human…” He tossed the syringe on to the table and it clattered on one of the unused dinner plates. “Rafe, the benzodiazepine.”

  Rafe reached into the medical tray he’d put on the table and grabbed a small bottle and filled another syringe. “Fifteen CCs for man mountain,” he murmured as he handed over the syringe.

  Taylor picked up Veris’ hand. “Look at me,” she whispered.

  Veris’ gaze shifted to her face, as Alex shoved his silk jacket sleeve up his arm and unbuttoned the cuff and pushed the shirt up to expose the veins inside his elbow.

  “I know you can hear me,” Taylor told Veris. “Hearing doesn’t fade. You have to let everything go. The more you fight this, the more you suppress the symbiot. I’ll explain about that later. For now, trust me. You have to relax, to let go of everything and take a breath. The tiniest breath will do. Just one breath, then the next will be easier. Only, you have to let go.”

  Alex sat back, the syringe empty. “It will hit him in ninety seconds, if he truly is human right now.”

  Veris’ eyes glittered as he watched her. The tears gathered and fell. Taylor suppressed her moan. The pain he must be feeling! She wiped his cheeks. “Alex, can everyone leave?” she said softly. “You know Veris. It kills him to have anyone see him this way.”

  Alex nodded and glanced up at Rafe, who stood by to help. Alex jerked his head.

  Taylor heard the shuffle of feet. The whisper of movement. Rafe moved out of the corner of her vision.

  There was just Alex. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Shall I stay?”

  Taylor considered it. She shook her head. “I’m not even sure he wants me to see this. I’ll call you, if I need help. Okay?”

  Alex squeezed her shoulder, then got to his feet and left.

  Taylor settled on her rear, facing the wall and Veris, her feet against the wall beside him. She picked up his hand again. It was human warm. “You’re just going to have to put up with me seeing you have a panic attack, Veris. Because I’m staying here until you take a breath. Your human system needs the oxygen by now. You’re straining it by not breathing. Just…let it all go. Relax into it.”

  Still nothing. Another tear slid down his cheek. His gaze didn’t move from her face.

  Taylor gave him a small smile. “Stubborn man,” she whispered. She cupped his cheek. Felt the warmth. “Do you remember that hot spring in the Canadian Rockies? You wanted to stay in it all day. You said it was the first time you’d felt hot in centuries. It was so relaxing. Like a big warm bath with the best view in the universe.”

  Veris’ chest shifted.

  “We should walk the beach, now the tourists have gone,” Taylor added. “Pick up seashells and build a sandcastle. The water will be warm, too, once you get over the shock of it.”

  Veris drew in a soft, short breath.

  Then another.

  Taylor watched him, her heart running wild, waiting for him to come back to her.

  His hand flexed in hers. His fingers curled over to hold her hand properly.

  Taylor clasped his hand in both of hers. “Another breath,” she encouraged him. “Deep and slow.”

  He took the breath. Taylor watched his chest rise and fall, relief spearing her.

  Veris took another breath and let it out with a gusty exhalation. He closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the wall.

  His hand squeezed hers. “Thank you,” he said, his voice just above a whisper.

  “Can you get up, yet?”

  “I…” He swallowed. “I don’t know for sure, but I think I’m…stoned.”

  Taylor pressed her lips together to hold in her smile. “We should get you into a more comfortable chair and let you space out for a while. Can you help me get you up?”

  Veris flexed, his hand almost crushing hers. He fell back. “Fuck…weak as a kitten.”

  Taylor wiped the last tear from his cheek. “Do you mind if Alex helps me? I’m strong, but not that strong.”

  Veris’ gaze met hers. “Call him.”

  She drew in the breath to call. His hand tugged hers and she let her breath out.

  Veris’ fingers stroked her hand. “For the record. I don’t mind you seeing anything. Even this. Just you, though.”

  Warmth touched her. She lifted her voice and called for Alex.

  Chapter Nine

  Alex insisted Veris rest on a spare bed. He and Taylor walked Veris to a guest room and helped him lie down. Alex gave him a combination of his sedative and restorative. To relax him, he said. Then he bent over Veris. “Sorry, I lied. I used enough to knock you out.”

  “Figured,” Veris said, his voice distant.

  “Eight hours, maybe less. It’ll let you recover.” Alex patted his shoulder. “Sleep well.”

  Veris’ eyes closed.

  Taylor drew in a shaky breath.

  Alex raised a brow. “You’re living on the edge, too,” he said gently.

  “One of us has to stay awake,” she said. “The twins…Marit.”

  Alex shook his head. “They’ll understand if they have to stay here a few days.”

  “No, Alex. The only thing under my control right now is me. Take that away and I’ll…I don’t know, but it won’t be pretty.”

  Alex nodded and closed his medical bag with a decisive snap. “Then come and explain about symbiots.”

  Taylor told him everything she knew, which was precious little. She promised to find out more from Sebastian if she ever saw him again. By the time she finished, the humans in the household had gone to bed and only the vampires lingered to listen to Taylor’s description.

  They were the best ones to understand the concept of symbiots, though. Alex nodded as she finished. “We’ve all been in stressful situations. That grabbing at the chest, everything locking up. I thought it was the vampiric equivalent of an adrenaline rush, although if it is the symbiot shutting down, it makes great sense. It feels as if everything is shutting down.”

  “The closest thing to a panic attack,” Neven murmured.

  “In a way, it is a panic attack,” Alex said. “When the human physiology comes on-line, all our emotions would be live and raw and physical and we’re not used to them at full human strength any more. The adrenaline rush alone would be overwhelming.” He glanced around the room. “Veris worked his way out of it. Ornery bastard. I don’t believe we’d do as well under such stress.”

  Taylor wanted to hug Alex for his championship.

  Sydney stirred. “Taylor, can we talk about Brody for a moment? It’s important.”

  Taylor sighed and nodded. She felt drained of any capacity for reacting.

  Sydney settled on the edge of the sofa and put her elbows on her
knees. “I find it suggestive that the moment we get friendly with people from another world, one of theirs and one of ours disappears, crippling us emotionally.”

  Rafe shook his head. “Paranoia, thy name is Sydney.”

  Neven held up his hand. “I’m from another world. I’m still here.”

  “You nearly died just getting here and it’s not as if they can kick you back there,” Sydney said.

  “You think the Council has something to do with Brody?” Taylor asked.

  Sydney pursed her lips. “I don’t know, although I’m forming a theory. It bothers me that neither Brody nor Nial can be found anywhere on the timescape. It speaks of a power beyond any of us here. Not even Marit knows how to hide on the timescape. It is time itself. To do whatever they’ve done to hide Brody…we’re not talking about another Tira.”

  Taylor shivered and made herself say it. “They don’t want to be found, Sydney. Brody…he left of his own volition.” The words were chalky in her mouth.

  Alex patted her shoulder.

  “Whenever we’ve done anything odd with time, the Council rocks up,” Sydney said. “Or it stays away to watch us implode. They let Tira take pot shots at us for years. It’s as if they have been suppressing us, discouraging us from time travel.”

  Rafe shook his head. “The official policy is one of hands-off. The Council believes anyone who discovers how to time travel tends to kill themselves back in time because they’re too ignorant to get out of their own way. Taylor and Veris and Brody were the first to survive.”

  “Which must surely have made the Council sit up,” Sydney added.

  “It did,” Remi said. “You said they let Tira off her leash and sat back and did nothing while she tried to carve everyone into small pieces.”

  “Don’t forget the house fire, too,” Taylor said, for it was a piece of her own personal history and a time loop—she had been there twice. “In Neven’s world, they threw Brody and Veris back into the fire.”

  Neven stared at his hands. His world had gone, part of the purging of the quadrant, before it self-destructed.