Whisper of Memory (Whispering Woods Book 2) (16 page)

“What if I told you that I don’t want it to go away.” He came closer.

I edged away, scooting along the porch rail. My chest and throat were tightening. I thought of the IIA and the cleansing. I thought of Pete and what he’d said about our mother.

“We can be friends. It’s all good. I’m still your portal finder.” I wanted to say anything to stop the conversation. I longed for him to turn and leave so I could escape to my room.

“Friends.” He nodded. “I will see you soon, then…friend.”

“Sure. Be safe on that thing.” I eyed the motorcycle.

I heard him murmur something under his breath.

“What did you say?”

“For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.” He paused. “It’s a line from my lit class. William Shakespeare. I cannot get the one line out of my head. I have been studying for finals too much.” He laughed softly.

I watched him leave and take my heart with him. Regulus had once said he’d carry me in his heart always. Maybe it was true.

I
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ant to continue
the journey with Mia? Keep reading to preview the first chapter of
Watcher of Worlds
.

Senior year should bring fun, friends, and happiness. Not portals, treachery, and murder.

S
eventeen-year-old Mia Taylor
, gatekeeper to an interdimensional portal, wants nothing more than to heal from her romance gone wrong. Illegally falling for her co-worker Regulus had been a huge mistake. But when Regulus goes rogue to hunt down a murderer, Mia must forget her broken heart and use her unique abilities to save him. Traveling across dimensions, she enters a strange and hostile world where a rebel faction holds the key to their escape. Her gift of synesthesia is in high demand, and a secret organization of the otherworldly kind has her in their sights. But sabotage and murder may be the least of her worries. Her ex-boyfriend wants a relationship. Her dad wants her to act normal. Her friends want her to stop moping. Who knew faking happy would be the easiest part of senior year?

I
n a perfect world
, I’d have three things: a lifetime supply of Skittles, a part-time job that didn’t include extra-terrestrials, and an unbroken heart.

But I never expected perfect. I
did
wish for life closer to normal.

I crossed my arms and listened to my friend Arizona. He could charm me into anything and today he wanted me to accompany him to the woods. He’d come alone and that had been a good move. There were things I could handle and things I couldn’t. I
could
handle Arizona’s current modus operandi: train, capture, and train.

I
couldn’t
handle facing our team leader, Regulus. The guy had owned my heart once. Then, he’d returned it—fractured in a zillion pieces of bittersweet memories.

“I’ve made a decision,” I said. “I think you need to replace me. I don’t plan on leaving you guys without an option. If my brother and I were born with synesthesia, that’s two of us in Whispering Woods. Two from the same family. High percentage. There has to be more. Statistically, I’m positive that there are more people who have it. I’ll find someone else who can be your portal gatekeeper.”

He cocked his head to one side, presenting me with his sad-puppy face.

“Oh, come on.” I resisted the urge to add ‘pretty please.’ Begging was not my style.

Arizona had the audacity to give me his heart-melting grin. “Now Mia. You can’t be replaced. It’s rare to find a synesthete who can sense portals.” He reached over and placed an arm around my shoulder. “You’re special.” He crushed me in a side hug.

By special, he had to mean that I didn’t have a backbone and could be coerced into this life that had gone from passably comfortable, to life-as-an-extreme-sport.

“Stop with the hugging. I’ll go.” We stood on the front porch. Winter hadn’t made up its mind if it wanted to let fall hang around, or not. My hoodie would be a little warm for Arizona’s favorite class, Torture Mia 101. “I need to put on a T-shirt. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Inside, I grumbled as I went up the stairs to my room. I understood the whole “Slips can be dangerous” and “This is serious business” and “You are more than a dowsing rod for portals” mentality that Arizona kept throwing at me. But I just wanted it to stop. Teens were supposed to say no to drugs. Why couldn’t I just say no to him?

Wait a minute. I
had
said no.

The problem was that Arizona knew the main reason that I wanted—no needed—to quit. I couldn’t see my ex without my chest squeezing so hard it threatened to implode. He and Regulus worked for the Interdimensional Immigration Authorities—IIA for short. I always shortened the ridiculously self-important name. The IIA had been recruiting me for months.

I changed into a T-shirt, added sneakers, and pulled my long hair into a ponytail. It wouldn’t hurt to practice with Arizona one more time. Maybe I could come up with a plan to find a replacement for me. How hard could it be?

I was a little cheered by the thought and had a pep in my step. I walked outside to see him patiently waiting on the porch swing.

“‘Resistance is futile.’” Arizona read the slogan on my shirt with wide smile.

I looked down at my chest and frowned. There went my good mood. “Let’s get this over with.”

We walked to the area where the portal had taken up residence. The portals in Whispering Woods changed according to moon phases and I had the lucky job of locating where the next one would appear. The identification of a portal had gotten exponentially easier. It pulled at me. Breaking up with Regulus must have helped me to focus my senses on things other than him.

My skin always tingled within a hundred-foot radius of the portal. Not enough to make me break a sweat, but enough to make me feel uneasy. Fifty feet away, I’d taste fizzy cola, the vibrations of the portal seeping into my mouth. Ten feet away, I’d see the shimmer of the envelope around the portal. A beautiful wave of compressed air dressing the portal’s opening.

In different circumstances, it would have been inspirational, vast, or mysterious, like looking into the Grand Canyon with binoculars but with a more powerful lens.

I might even miss this. I sighed and hoped Arizona hadn’t heard it. Portal detection was like scoring extra life points in my favorite video game—easy if you knew the key.

“You ready?” he asked.

“Oh yeah. Favorite part of every Saturday.” My droll tone dripped with sarcasm.

“It can’t be that bad to spend a few hours with me.”

I looked up in surprise. “No. You know I was kidding.”

His eyebrows raised a half inch.

“I’m happy to be outside and this is fine.” It had been more than fine during the pre-breakup months when both Regulus and Arizona had trained with me on the weekends.

“Fine,” he mocked, then found his persuasive smile again. “I want you to train near the portal. Your sensory signals should never interfere with apprehending an intruder.”

“Gotcha.”

“Take this bow. We need to expand from a knife. A knife only works when your target is near. Today, it’s stump shooting.”

I took it from his hands. “Like this?”

He nudged one of my feet. “Shoulder width apart. Stand sideways and straddle this invisible line.” He scrubbed one heel across the ground. “Put your hands here and here. Most of your weight is on your back foot.”

“What’s Regulus doing today?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I wanted to take them back. It was none of my business how he spent his time. It was also a stupid thing to say since I’d refused to train with him.

I held the bow with my left hand and pulled the string. The arrow flew in a wild arc into the brush.

“I didn’t tell you to release it.” Arizona grimaced. “He has a paper due. Working on it with this girl from Western Civ class. Allison, I think.”

My heart raced and my vision closed in at the edges.

He glanced at my face. “I’ll find the arrow. It’s OK.”

He’d only said a paper. Not a date. A person could have a friend or a study partner and it didn’t have to mean anything. And it wasn’t supposed to matter if it
was
more than working on a class project. So why did it still hurt?

Whoosh.

Something massive moved in my peripheral vision. I gasped as a beast stormed through the portal at my right. The animal surged toward me. Shock froze me like a car stranded across railroad tracks. Arizona yelled at me to back up.

The panicked sounds of the horse rang through my ears. I crouched on the ground and covered my head.

“Move back,” yelled Arizona.

I wanted to listen and do as he said, but I was frozen. And then an impact smacked me to the ground—the air knocked from my lungs, an elbow jammed in my side, a scream sounded in my ear. I pushed to my knees and crawled at a pace like swimming through pudding.

The woman at my side lay limp with her head lolling to one side. I moved closer and touched her arm. Her horse whinnied and kicked his hooves in the air.

Arizona moved in. “I’ve got her.” He placed his stunner against her wrist and inserted a microchip into the flesh.

“Is she OK?” My lips quivered and nausea crept forward. “She’s bleeding.” I moved her hair from her face. On examination, I could tell that she was close to my age—only a teen. I stared at her model-perfect features marred by the blood.

“She’s breathing,” he said.

“Arizona. She’s hurt.”

“It’s a little blood. She’ll be OK.”

“You can’t—”

Arizona picked her up. The horse had settled and moved closer to his owner. “This won’t take long, but you should go back home.” He hefted the girl’s body across the animal and jumped on the horse’s back.

“What if she’s a runaway or something?” The girl moaned as if she’d heard me.

“She doesn’t have authorization to be here. She’s a Slip. It doesn’t matter why.”

“But—”

The girl began to wiggle, trying to slip from the horse’s back. Arizona fought to keep his balance.

“Where is Regulus when I need him? Hooking up with some girl,” he muttered.

I sucked in a breath.

He frowned. “I didn’t mean anything by that.”

I knew he expected me to say—
Oh, it’s OK. No big deal.

But my lips couldn’t form words because something in the denial section of my brain clicked. Total clarity in that one phrase—‘hooking up with some girl.’

Before, Regulus had always followed the rules of engagement. Cardinal rule said there could be no dating in an agent’s assigned area. And then we’d
happened
. We hadn’t planned to fall for each other. It was like getting wet in a thunderstorm. Unavoidable. Intense. A force of nature.

The IIA had inflicted their punishment and performed a memory cleanse.

Was Regulus breaking the rules for someone else? Bile rose in my throat and I closed my eyes. Arizona thought I could go back to being friends with Regulus. He thought I could talk about Regulus dating other girls. He had no idea.

“Go home, Mia. Don’t stay out here alone,” he yelled over his shoulder.

I blinked back tears as he disappeared. Realization blasted me. He didn’t know I was in love with Regulus. That my feelings hadn’t changed. And what would the IIA plan for me if they knew? If people regularly had moments of clarity like this, they’d solve world hunger and find a cure for cancer. Or quit persecuting innocent girls like the unauthorized dimension traveler in Arizona’s grip.

Quit making bad life choices.

I knew what I needed to do. If I were smart, I’d walk away from the friend zone and never look back.

D
id you enjoy this preview
? Continue the journey in
Watcher of Worlds (Whispering Worlds #3)

S
pecial thank
you to my editor, Thalia S. Child. This would not have been possible without great editing, guidance, and dedication.

Brinda Berry lives in the southern US with her family and two spunky cairn terriers. She's terribly fond of chocolate, coffee, and books that take her away from reality.  She doesn't mind being called a geek or "crazy dog lady." When she's not working the day job or writing a novel, she's guilty of surfing the internet for no good reason.

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