Pure Blood (Time Spirit Trilogy, #3) (20 page)

“Hey.” Her eyes filled with instant tears as
she descended the stairs and wrapped her arms around him.

He held her tight.

“I tried to reach you, but my phone… and then
I couldn’t remember your number.” Gemma leaned away from him. Her
tears evaporated as her relief turned to shock. “What happened to
you? Your face?”

Her fingers were gentle as she examined his
cut lip and swollen, black eye.

“What happened to
you
?” His pain was
forgotten as he fingered the scars peppering her cheeks. All that
remained were a few scabs from the deeper cuts, but Harrison
deduced how hideous her face must have been on the night it was
done.

“Thought you were in Memphis 'til Sunday.”
Gabe called from the caravan.

Harrison glanced up to see Gemma’s father
leaning in the doorway, a grin glistening in his eyes.

“I spoke to Ruby and had to get back.”

“You spoke to Ruby? What did she say?”
Gemma’s eyes were wide.

“Why don’t you two take a walk? There’s a
trail starting at the edge of the forest behind the camper.” He
flicked his head in the right direction. “Take as long as you
need.”

Interlacing his fingers with Gemma’s,
Harrison pulled her towards the trail and began to talk. Gemma
filled in all his blanks with a teary explanation. He held her
close and kissed her hair, repeating that everything would be
okay.

“You’re free now, sweetie.” He grasped her
shoulders and looked into her eyes with a smile. “It’s over.”

“But they’re still looking for me… and they
know where you live now. What if they find-”

“Stop. I’m not going to let them touch you or
my family. We’ll sort something out.” He placed his hands on her
cheeks, forcing her to look at him. “It’ll be okay, we’re together
now… everything will be fine.”

Her head eventually bobbed with assent.
Sniffing at her tears, she wiped them from her face and managed a
small smile. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, turning her
back towards the caravan.

“Come on, let’s-”

His body tensed with warning and his eyes
shot towards the trees.

“What is it?”

“Someone’s watching us,” he whispered.

Before either of them could react, the flora
beside them rustled. The panther pounced again, knocking Harrison
off his feet and wrapping two strong arms around Gemma.

“Simeon!” Harrison yelled an angry warning,
but it was pointless. Before he could even move he saw his
girlfriend evaporate to gold dust, trapped in Simeon’s embrace.

Chapter
Twenty-Nine

Los Angeles, California – 2001AD

Gemma winced as her body reconnected. Opening
her eyes she scanned her surroundings with confusion. She was
standing in a boy’s room. The blue wallpaper was peppered with
movie posters and the wooden shelves lined with action figures. She
glanced at the framed certificates and photos dotting the only
remaining spaces.

This must be Simeon’s room, but something
doesn’t fit.

Her eyes traveled over the single bed, which
lay in a rumpled mess. She stepped towards it and snatched up a
blanket, wrapping it around her body. She then turned with a
furious glare and pushed Simeon off balance.

“Don’t you
ever
do that to me
again!”

Simeon was too busy looking around the room
in stunned awe to notice her fury.

“It worked.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is my room… when I was ten!” He reached
for a miniature Oscar that was sparkling on his desk. “I got this
just after my tenth birthday. Look how new and shiny it is!”

His excitement turned her mouth dry.

“Simeon,” she swallowed, “you’re acting as
though this is the first time you’ve traveled.”

“They said I should go somewhere familiar,”
he winced and grabbed his belly, “and that I should take you with
me, just in case, you know.” His body bent in pain as his legs
buckled beneath him.

Instinct made Gemma move to his side and
catch him.

“Simeon?”

He rolled onto his back and slumped against
the foot of his bed, out of breath. “They said it would hurt, but…”
He winced and curled again, his face scrunching with pain. “This is
really bad.”

Sweat was beading on his forehead as he began
to lose focus.

“Simeon!” Gemma grabbed his face, forcing his
eyes to her. “What’s going on? What did my parents do to you?”

“I needed a job and they said it was the best
thing I could do, so I agreed,” he puffed. “They made it sound so
good and you were easy to like… so pretty.”

She could sense the spots blurring his vision
and felt the urgency rise within her.

“What did they give you?” Gemma shook
him.

“I can’t breathe.”

“Simeon, you have to tell me what’s going
on!”

“The injection… your blood…”

“My blood?” She felt it turning icy as she
listened.

“They wanted to wait until you turned 18 so
your traveling cell...”

“Traveling what? What about my
traveling?”

“They tried to get you back to take a sample,
but Alistair couldn’t do it. They had to use... the blood you left
in the garage. He said it was lucky he pounded you so good... I
didn’t like that he said that.”

“Why do they want it?”

"It's pure." A smile fluttered over his lips
before he grimaced and let out a faint groan.

"I don't understand."

“To mix with the vials… the gold dust.
They’re going to sell it… make a fortune. Everyone… wants a chance
to… go back and fix their mistakes… right?” He puffed out one last
smile before looking her straight in the eye. She watched his gaze
flicker with fear before his eyes drooped shut and his head lolled
to the side.

“Simeon!” She gave his cheek a gentle slap,
but he remained unresponsive. “I have to get you back.”

Wrapping her arms around him, she closed her
eyes and felt their dust blend into one another as they crossed the
line back home.

* * * *

St Augustine, Florida – 2011AD

Harrison was spitting tacks when Gemma and
Simeon popped into view, but she didn’t have time to worry about
it. Pulling her clothes on with haphazard urgency, she eyed
Simeon’s motionless form, a slow terror creeping up her spine. She
was so busy fearing the inevitable she nearly missed Harrison’s
intent until he was walking towards Simeon with a raised fist and
threats issuing from his mouth like poison arrows.

“No!” Gemma blocked him. “Look at him!”

As if coming out of a haze, Harrison’s eyes
cleared. He dropped his gaze and took in Simeon’s appearance, his
face blanching with shock.

“What happened?”

Gemma opened her mouth to explain, but
nothing could make it past the lump in her throat.

With paramedic efficiency, Harrison dropped
to his knees, ripping off his jacket as he went. He gifted Simeon a
little decency, then began a quick assessment. Grabbing his face,
he turned the lifeless form towards him and lowered his cheek,
checking for any signs of breath.

“I don’t think he’s breathing.”

Gemma stood stupidly beside her boyfriend as
he began going through the motions of CPR. Simeon’s body remained
limp throughout the process and after ten minutes of intensive
resuscitation, they both knew it was pointless to continue.
Harrison sat on his knees and felt for a pulse one last time. Gemma
dropped down beside him, not wanting to hear the verdict.

“What the hell happened to him, Gemma? Why is
he dead?”

Chapter
Thirty

St Augustine, Florida – 2011AD

Harrison’s head buzzed as he tried to absorb
Gemma’s blubbering explanation. He kept his hand rubbing slow
circles over her back as she described Simeon’s explanation.

“What do we do now?”

“First things first, let’s get him to
Gabe.”

Gemma wiped her tears and gave a quick nod.
She almost looked pleased to have something constructive to do.
Harrison didn’t quite share her avidity as he gazed at Simeon’s
tall frame, wondering how on earth they were going to lug the dead
weight all the way to Gabe’s caravan.

“We can do it.” As usual, Gemma had gone
ahead and read his mind.

Harrison cleared his throat with a nod,
reaching down and tucking his arm beneath Simeon’s shoulders.

“Let’s at least dress him first.”

It was an awkward and exhausting mission. By
the time they reached the caravan they were both out of breath and
aching.

Gabe rushed out when he registered their
yelling and helped them haul Simeon onto his bed. He didn’t take
his eyes off the boy as he listened to Gemma’s explanation.

“I have no idea what happened to him,” she
finished with a sigh, “but it’s got to be the first time he
traveled. That injection must have given him the ability.”

“But something’s wrong with it. I’ve never
heard of travel killing anybody before.”

“Maybe it’s because he’s not a time spirit,”
Harrison suggested.

“But you traveled.” Gemma pointed at him.

“He has the right blood flowing through his
veins.” Gabe pointed to the bed. “This kid was just a normal human,
not designed to travel.”

“They used him as a guinea pig.” Gemma shook
her head, disgusted. “He said he needed a job.”

“So, what are we going to do?” Harrison
shoved his hands in his pockets. “It’s not like we can call the
authorities on this one. Who knows what they’d find if they did an
autopsy?”

“My guess is a whole heap of organs that
didn’t reconnect properly.”

Gemma closed her eyes and swallowed.

“We could just dispose of the body and tell
everyone he went home early.” Gabe’s suggestion was quietly spoken
and in spite of his shock Harrison agreed with him. Gemma on the
other hand…

“What? Are you insane? What about his family?
Someone will eventually come looking for him.”

“Are you sure he had one? I’m guessing
Alistair and Penelope would have done their research.”

“Yeah.” Harrison nodded. “I mean do we even
know if his real name was Simeon.”

Gemma’s face drained of color. Her fingers
rose to play with her lower lip, a sure sign she was chasing a
memory. “That’s it. That’s what felt wrong.”

“What did?”

“His room. The certificates, the photos… he
had the wrong name. Ryan…” she squeezed her eyes shut. “Ryan
Carter. That was his real name.”

“Okay you two, time to head to a computer.
Let’s find out all we can about this guy.” Reaching across the
table, he handed Gemma a phone. “Call me as soon as you have the
goods. We’ll make our decisions from there.”

For some reason, it felt like they were
racing the clock. Screaming back to Harrison’s place, they bounded
through the house and had the Internet engine searching before
they’d spoken a word to each other.

“There’s quite a few Ryan Carter’s here,
Gem.”

“The Oscar.” Gemma clicked her fingers.

“He won an Oscar?” Harrison was dubious.

“No, it was a small one… but the engraving…
look just try adding actor to the search.”

A few keystrokes later and they found their
way to IMDB, a huge Internet database listing every actor and
actress in almost every film ever made.

“That’s him. Ryan Dwight Carter.” Harrison
felt his stomach twist as he gazed at Simeon’s… Ryan’s confident
smile.

“Scan down.” Gemma leaned over his shoulder
to get a closer look at his résumé. “So he’s been an extra on a
couple of soaps and one movie. No major roles by the looks of
things.”

“And he hasn’t had any work for at least two
years.” Harrison pointed to the dates.

“Go up to his biography.”

They both scanned the few paragraphs of
information. From what it said, Ryan was twenty years old. He had
never been to college and dropped out of school when he was
sixteen. His parents had died in a car accident earlier that
year.

“I wonder if he had any siblings.”

Harrison opened up a new page and spent a few
minutes searching. Having a middle name helped in the process and
they soon learned that Ryan was an only child. When his parents
died, that was it as far as family was concerned.

“Man. Out of work, no family, he must have
been practically living on the street.”

“That’s possibly why your parents went for
him.”

“And probably why he jumped at the chance.”
Gemma’s face creased with a frown, her eyelids fluttering to ward
off the tears. “How could they do this to someone?”

“I’m sure they had no idea it would actually
kill him.”

“Yeah, well they need to.” The fire in
Gemma’s eyes hissed and seared.

Harrison placed a cooling hand on her knee
and rubbed her thigh. “Come on, let’s call Gabe.”

Gemma found the number on the cell phone, but
used Harrison’s home line to dial it. Propping the phone into its
cradle they listened on speaker to Gabe’s greeting.

“Hey Gabe,” Harrison responded while keeping
his eyes on the screen. “We found him… and sad to say, I don’t
think anyone’s going to miss him.”

“Well, I guess that makes things a little
easier for us.”

“How are we supposed to get rid of the
body?”

“I feel sick.” Gemma covered her mouth and
dropped her head between her knees. Harrison rubbed her back as he
and Gabe discussed who was going to do what with efficient
detachment.

“I’ll take a boat out tonight.”

“Do you want any help?” Harrison mentally
crossed his fingers.

“No. I’ll be okay.”

Harrison released his breath.

“We better get our story straight too. Are we
going with him heading back to LA early because of family reasons?
People at school are going to want to know.”