Shattered Souls, page 15
“That soldier.” I tried not to look, but his penetrating gaze refused to let me go.
Without releasing me, Laith turned his attention to the uniformed man across the platform. Tension rippled through his tall frame as he studied the stranger. “Do you know him?”
“How would I know him? I’ve never been to”—I lowered my voice to barely a whisper—“this time before.”
The soldier slowly dragged his eyes from me to study Laith. His curious smile fell away, and a deep frown cut across his handsome face as if he didn’t quite recognize Laith but hated him instantly.
“Do you think he knows your uniform is a fake?”
“It’s possible.”
“Maybe Maddox stole his girlfriend or kicked his dog or something.”
Laith chuckled darkly, and a furrow formed between his brows as he continued to study the man. “That wouldn’t surprise me in the least.”
As if he was just as confused as we were about the encounter, the soldier reached up to rub the back of his neck in a gesture that reminded me of...
I shuddered. “You don’t have another brother lurking out there somewhere, do you?”
“No.” Laith’s clipped response left no room for argument.
With long strides, the soldier quickly closed the distance between us. Up close, it was easy to see a faint resemblance between him and Laith. I knew it wasn’t possible—Laith had been born almost three hundred years before World War II had broken out—but impossibility aside, the two could’ve been related.
Private Kendrick, according to the name printed on his drab green duffle, stood ramrod straight in front of us. His gaze flicked back and forth as if he wasn’t sure which of us to address first. “Do I know you?”
“Not likely.” Laith turned on the charm, flashing a smooth smile. “We’re just passing through.”
The private redirected his attention to me, confusion twisting his features into a grimace. “I swear we’ve met before. I’m sorry, I can’t quite recall your name, but it’s on the tip of my tongue.”
Laith didn’t give me a chance to respond before drawing me tighter into his embrace. “We should get going.”
“Aren’t you...?” Kendrick glanced at the train beside us, and I could almost see the pieces clicking into place as he unscrambled the puzzle. “You’re not traveling.” It wasn’t a question.
“No.” Laith’s forced smile froze in place.
Anger flashed in Kendrick’s dark eyes as he palmed the back of his neck. “Who are you? What kind of game are you playing? Did someone tell you I’d be here today?”
I looked up at Laith with a silent question in my eyes, and he shook his head.
With an undercurrent of arrogance I hadn’t seen since we’d first met, he turned his attention back to the soldier. “Sorry. Can’t help you.”
Kendrick gave up waiting for answers that wouldn’t come and turned his dark glare on me. “Why do I feel like I know you?”
“I-I don’t know.” I leaned into Laith’s rigid form.
Kendrick groaned as if the sound of my voice unraveled something deep inside him. “What’s happening to me? I feel like a magnet being dragged toward a steel beam.” He raised a trembling hand, fingers outstretched as he reached for me.
Before I had time to react, Laith spun me so I was behind him, blocking the soldier from touching me. “Back off.”
“What are you?” He cocked his head sideways, studying me. “A demon straight out of hell? Some kind of sorceress, weaving a spell over me? Is that how you’re making my skin tingle?”
Laith flinched, backing me up a step. “That isn’t possible.”
Kendrick let out an empty laugh. “Maybe not, but she’s definitely the girl haunting my dreams. I’ve never even been to the coast, but every night, I dream about a girl with golden hair standing in front of a lighthouse. I didn’t think I’d ever find her... didn’t think she was real... but here you are.”
“We need to leave.” Steely determination rang out in Laith’s voice.
With a sad smile, Kendrick shook his head. “I don’t think I can let you do that. Not until I know what’s going on.”
Laith gripped my hand so tight his fingers went white. “No matter what happens, don’t let go,” he whispered, tucking me to his side and quickly leading me toward the exit. I recognized the defensive posture, the need to maintain skin-to-skin contact in case a quick escape became necessary. I had no doubt Laith would risk exposure to ensure my safety.
Keeping pace with us, Kendrick wordlessly shoved his way through the growing throng.
I glanced back, and my pulse raced out of control. “He’s still behind us,” I whispered.
“Don’t look. Just keep moving.” Laith picked up his pace, practically carrying me the rest of the way to the concourse. With all the commotion, we’d managed to attract a lot of unwanted attention, and our audience was growing. “We need to get somewhere less crowded.”
“You can’t take her, not until someone tells me who she is and why she’s here.” Kendrick’s fingers caught the hem of Laith’s coat, unable to get a solid grip. “I know she belongs to me. I don’t know how I know, but I do.”
“She’s nothing to you,” Laith snapped, gritting his teeth until I worried his jaw would snap under the pressure.
“The hell she isn’t. She’s everything. It’s as if my soul knew her before we’d ever met!” Kendrick shouted, and his words turned my blood to ice.
A woman screamed, and I whipped around to face the sound. The crowd around us parted like the Red Sea, and I saw a glint of steel at the end of Kendrick’s outstretched arm.
“Oh my God.” The words fell silently from my lips.
“I don’t want to hurt you, brother.” Sweat beaded up on the soldier’s forehead. His hand trembled as he pointed the gun at Laith’s head. “But I can’t let you take her away from me.”
Brother? With my heart lodged in my throat, I whipped my head toward Laith. “Did he just call you—?”
Laith tightened his grip on me, bringing his lips to my ear. “It’s something guys say. It doesn’t mean anything.” I wasn’t sure if the lie was meant to convince me or himself. “Hold on, baby, almost time.”
Static licked my skin, raising the hair on my arms as a group of soldiers grabbed Kendrick from behind. They tackled him to the floor, drawing the attention away from us. While they wrestled the weapon from his hand, Laith dragged us into the vortex.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“What the hell was that back there?” A bone-cracking shiver ran through me, making my voice come out shaky and shrill.
Dampness wicked up the bottom of my dress, leaving me numb from the waist down. I needed to get off my knees, off the cold, hard ground, but my legs wouldn’t stop shaking long enough to stand. The jump had been rough, and the landing abrupt, but that wasn’t what had me so rattled. Who the hell is Kendrick, and why am I lying to myself as if I don’t already know?
We’d made it back to Maine, that much, I was sure of. Based on the angry growl of the surf battering the nearby shore and the salty mist hanging in the air like a wet sponge, we couldn’t be far from the lighthouse. But if it was there, the light was out. Darkness pressed down like a velvet blanket, all but suffocating me. Leave it to the time tunnel to deposit us in the black of night.
Laith’s shadow paced back and forth in the distance like a nervous cat. He hadn’t spoken a word since Chicago. Other than orbiting me like a satellite and keeping me in his peripheral vision, he’d barely acknowledged my presence. The arrogant boy I’d reluctantly fallen in love with so many months ago had finally made an appearance.
Well, two can play at that game. Another tremor rocked me to the core, and I forced myself to crawl to my feet before I froze to death. Freaked out and chilled to the bone, I stumbled over loose rocks, wandering aimlessly as I searched the dark horizon for signs of life.
“Are you trying to fall over the edge?” The sound of his voice startled me just before Laith grabbed my arm.
I shook him off, too agitated for niceties. “Who was that guy? And don’t tell me you don’t know, because we both know that’s a lie.”
Even in the dark, I saw the vein in Laith’s forehead throbbing along with my erratic pulse.
“For a minute, I could’ve sworn he was—” Irrational fear of conjuring Maddox from the ether kept me from speaking his name.
“My brother?”
“Yes.” I tamped down my rising panic, shrinking into the folds of my damp coat. “But that isn’t possible, is it?”
Laith cocked an eyebrow, and the dark look he shot me shredded my last thread of hope. “You’re here, aren’t you?”
“What are you saying?” I stilled, holding my breath while fear slithered like snakes in the pit of my stomach.
“I stranded Maddox in time.” Laith shrugged, as if talking about the weather. “Eventually, his soul would’ve traveled forward. Based on our encounter with Private Kendrick, I’d say the fresh start didn’t do a lot of good.”
My fragile grasp on denial fell away, and I exhaled as his meaning sank in. Maddox died out there. He’s gone. Dead. “Oh my God, we killed him.”
“You didn’t do anything. I stranded him.”
“If I hadn’t taken his stone...” I slapped my hand over my mouth.
Laith’s expression softened, and he wrapped his arms around me. “Baby, we knew this would happen. The witch told you it was the only way.”
“I know, but...” A single tear dropped from my lashes, and I swiped it with the back of my hand. I’d already cried enough for Maddox.
“Do you...?” Laith stilled, his heart racing against mine. “Never mind.”
“Do I what?” I searched his eyes for a clue to unlock his guarded feelings. “Laith?”
He let out a weary breath. “Still love him. Is that why you’re so upset?”
“God, no.” I flinched. There had been a time when I thought I’d loved Maddox, and like it or not, the soul bond wouldn’t let me forget it, but Laith had it all wrong. “No, Laith. I didn’t love him. I love you.” I melted into his chest, and he pressed his lips to the top of my head. “But he was your brother. Don’t you feel... I don’t know, something, anything, knowing he’s really and truly gone this time?”
He pulled away with a low groan, and his hands shot up to his hair, raking through it almost violently. “What do you want me to say? That I feel guilt? Grief? Because I don’t. Not after everything he’s done to hurt us. Hurt you. Right or wrong, I’d do it all again without a second thought.”
If anyone else had spoken so flippantly about their brother’s death, I would’ve called them heartless, but I’d seen with my own eyes what Maddox had been capable of. What he’d done. And I knew that under the bitterness and rage, Laith was a good person.
He turned his back on me, and I inched forward, approaching him like I would a wounded bird. Sliding my arms around his waist, I rested my cheek on his shoulder. “Hey.”
“Don’t expect me to waste a single minute mourning my brother. I’d be downright delighted he was gone if his death had actually served its intended purpose.”
“What do you—” I jerked back as the full weight of his confession hit me. “Jane was wrong. Death didn’t break the curse. It came forward with his soul.”
Laith nodded sharply. “So it would seem.”
“What do we do now?” A violent tremor jolted me, and my knees nearly gave out. Everything I’d work toward since coming back, every plan I’d put in place, shattered like a glass bubble.
“I don’t know.” Laith stared into the blackness. “Even if we went back and killed Kendrick, his soul would just move forward again.”
My mouth fell open, and I gaped up at him. “We can’t kill him. He’s not responsible for the things Maddox has done. He’s just as much a victim in this as we are. Maybe more so, since he has no idea what’s happening to him or why he’s drawn to me.”
“I know that. I wasn’t suggesting we kill him.” Laith avoided my eyes as he captured my flailing hand and squeezed. “But eventually he will die. His soul will go forward, and we’ll be right back where we started.”
“Cursed.” The word dripped from my lips like poison as everything Laith didn’t say sank in. We would eventually die, too, and when our souls went forward, we would continue to fight the same battle into eternity. A wave of dizziness swept over me as if the ground had opened up beneath my feet. “So it’s hopeless. There’s no escaping our fate.”
He gently took my chin in his fingers and tilted my head up until our eyes met. “We’ll figure something out.”
“Will we?” Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t have it in me to blink them back.
Laith brought his lips to mine in a salty kiss. “If I have to, I’ll go back and see the witch.”
“Jane?”
“You said she sent your soul back.”
My skin tingled as phantom flames threatened to consume me. “It wasn’t a pleasant trip, but yeah.”
“What if we could go to the precise moment Maddox’s soul was set free, and I don’t know... reconnect it with mine?” He scratched behind his ear. “That sounded a lot less crazy in my head.”
Stitching the two halves of their shared soul together did sound crazy but... “No crazier than running into the new and definitely not improved Maddox in 1943, right?”
“Speaking of which.” Laith glanced over his shoulder. “We need to do what we came here to do and get out before we run into Kendrick again. Who knows where he was in 1942.”
“Is that where we are?” I whipped around, searching the darkness. No wonder the lighthouse is dark.
“Did you forget about your friend?”
“Of course not.” Squinting into the night, I caught a brief flicker of light, like the end of a lit cigarette. “Is that the base?”
He nodded.
“So what’s the plan? We can’t just waltz into a naval base and break her out.” Visions of Indiana Jones taking out a battalion of evil Nazis came to mind.
Laith shrugged. “Got a better idea?”
“You can’t be serious.” Just as I was about to list all the reasons why his plan was doomed to failure, a whiff of cigarette smoke reached me. “Do you smell that?” Before Laith had fully turned, the business end of a rifle caught my eye. I followed the long barrel all the way to the uniformed man carrying it. Shit.
I grabbed Laith’s hand, pulling him into a crouch with me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Guards.” I froze at the crunch of approaching footsteps.
“Who’s there?” The deep voice came closer, closing in on us, and the soft click of a weapon being armed sent chills down my spine.
Laith took my face in both hands, locking his eyes on mine. “When I say go, you take off. Don’t stop running until you reach the rocks.”
“What about you?” Icy tendrils of fear snaked over my skin at the thought of us being separated, even for a minute.
“I’ll be right behind you.” He kissed me hard, burning the impression of his lips into mine, before whispering, “Go.”
Adrenaline shot through my veins as I tore across the clearing, stumbling over loose rocks and gnarled weeds. Shadows pressed down on me from all sides, swallowing everything but the sound of my racing pulse and my own breathing echoing in my ears. It took every ounce of self-control not to turn around and check for Laith. What if he gets caught? What if the guards shoot him and send his soul into the future without me? Panic threatened to paralyze me as I fled, leaving the naval base—and all hope of a rescue—far behind me, but visions of the dragon from my nightmares chasing me drove me to run faster.
My legs were Jell-O by the time I slid behind the large outcropping. Air whistled in and out of my lungs, clouding in front of me as I waited. For what? For shots to ring out? For armed men to come drag me away? My heart hammered out a jagged rhythm as I counted the seconds. I had no concept of time in the dark. Where’s Laith? Why isn’t he right behind me? A wave of panic locked my muscles and made my head spin. I’d almost convinced myself he would jump to save himself if it came to that. The way you left Sam, a little voice reminded me, and I smothered a hysterical laugh. Laith would’ve sooner taken a bullet than leave me here, and that thought scared me more than the alternative.
After what felt like an eternity, Laith vaulted over the side, landing at my feet with a thud. Swallowing a scream, I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his waist. Breathing heavily, he laid his head against the massive rock. “I think we lost them.”
“Where were you?” My voice shook as the last of my bravery crumbled.
He took my hand and slid his slick fingers between mine. “I took them on a little goose chase so they wouldn’t find you.”
Gritting my teeth, I slapped his arm as hard as I could. “You could’ve been killed!”
“I wasn’t.” He squeezed my hand. “I’m fine.”
Exhausted, I leaned into him, resting my cheek on his shoulder. “How are we supposed to rescue Sam when we can barely save ourselves?”
The silence stretched between us. Finally, Laith released a heavy breath. “I don’t know.”
The adrenaline rush—and the ultimate crash—left me wobbly, and I let my head droop against his chest. I didn’t know how long we’d been hiding behind the rock outcropping, but the bone-deep cold had seeped into my extremities until I could barely feel my fingers or toes. Desperate for warmth, I slipped a hand under his jacket.
The instant my frozen fingers touched his skin, Laith cursed under his breath. “You’re freezing.”
“S-Sam.” Her name came out in a hiss.
“We’ll find her.” He pulled me to my feet, rubbing my hands between his. “After we warm you up.”
“I’m f-fine.”
“No, you’re not. Come on. We can’t stay here.” He scanned the area before leading me back toward the hidden lighthouse.
Just as we hit the clearing, the moon peeked out from behind a cloud, sending a sliver of light over the bluff and highlighting a flash of gold streaking across the distance. Even without the ponytail and the pink tracksuit, I recognized Sam, her pale blond hair flying behind her as she bolted through the night. The familiar sight brought a smile to my lips, and without thinking, I took off running after her.
