Through Time-Pursuit (22 page)

~ Prologue ~

JAZMINE DECKER LEFT the Charleston Aquarium at her back with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face.

She walked briskly down the avenue and headed towards
The Landing,
only a short walk away. She made a victory sign, putting her fist up and pulling it down to exclaim right out loud, “Yes!”

In a few months, she would be a marine biologist at the aquarium.
Timing is everything
, she thought as she clicked along the pavement.

When a couple of guys in a convertible slowed down to look her over and wink, she was happy enough that she smiled back.

They called out words of devotion as she continued her heady pace. She was so excited she could spit. The assistant she would be replacing had been offered a prestigious job at the aquarium in Atlanta, and voila—
timing!

What was even better, she had the summer to continue her job as guide with the tour company for which she had been working part time. It wasn’t great pay, but tips were always good, and she got to travel. They were leaving in the morning and heading for Ireland, Dublin first stop and then to Killarney. Luck, finally, after years of none, had finally found her!

The Landing was a fun place to eat and listen to music. It was on the long pier overlooking the river, and as she approached the band was already in full swing. It was tourist season, and they played all afternoon and into the night.

Spotting her friend as soon as she walked in, she waved and, as she walked towards her, did a little wiggle to the music.

Tammy came rushing up to her and dragged her off to the ladies’ room, to say, “Did you see them? Hot—they are both so hot! You can have Tony, ’cuz Stevie boy is mine.”

Jazz dropped her purse on the counter and looked in the mirror. She felt like she was glowing. Was she glowing?

She gave her long white-gold hair a tweak with her fingers, and her happy blue eyes stared at Tammy’s reflection in the mirror. “I got it! I got the job.”

Tammy jumped up and down and hugged her close. “Fate, you got the job, and now you can have Tony. Damn, but that has to be fate—he is just your type.”

“Yup, got the job, and maybe it was my skills that impressed them, not fate.” She stuck her tongue out at her friend. “But your Tony … I don’t know if I want to start anything tonight. Tam, I’m leaving in the morning.”

“So, enjoy him tonight.” Tammy winked at her.

Laughter filled the air as three girls entered the large bathroom, their heads together, their bodies still swaying to the beat of the live band’s music.

“One-night stands,” Jazz answered with a sigh, “are not my thing.”

“They don’t have to be your thing—and you don’t have to bed the guy. Just go and dance with him.”

“Tammy, I just came in to see you before I left …” She didn’t meet Tammy’s gaze as she rooted about in her purse. “… give you a hug, and then head on home for a frozen dinner and TV. I need some sleep before heading out in the morning.”

Tammy looked at her. “Jazz, you look at a guy and run. That is what this is about. You were supposed to spend the evening with me … eat, drink … it has only changed because a guy has entered the picture.” Tammy yanked her hair and shook her head. “Jazz, you have to get out of this funk you are in. It has been a month since you broke up with Joe the Creep.”

“I know, but … I thought Joe the Creep was special. What kind of judgment do I have, if I thought he was special?”

“Forget him, or put him down as a learning experience and move on. You can’t move on till you start flirting with the opposite sex. Sometimes, that is what you go with, honey. Just forget all the rest—and have fun for
one night
.”

Jazz thought about this but couldn’t get herself wrapped around the idea. She was often sure she’d been born in the wrong century. Her problem was she never felt she fit in. She wanted that knight in shining armor to ride up and carry her off. She wanted Heathcliff from
Wuthering Heights
, who would pledge his love forever. She wanted … more, so much more than what was hulking around, bumping and grinding out on the dance floor.

“Tammy, here is the thing. I don’t want to flirt up Tony at the bar. I have had a long, full day, and I’m flying out in the morning. I only stopped by to say so long for now and see ya when I get back.” She nudged Tammy towards the bathroom door. “Go have a great time.”

Tammy took her shoulders and pointed her at the mirror. “Look at you. A natural blonde … a shade that most girls can’t even find in a bottle. Look at those eyes, so blue—so big with natural, dark, thick lashes that took me thirty minutes to put on myself tonight. Babe, you are so beautiful, and you can have whoever you want—”

“That’s just it—don’t want anyone because I am happy on my own. Enough, girl,” Jazz said and laughed as she hugged her friend. She disliked being defined by how she looked. Hated that so many people saw her outside and never looked deeper than that.

Tammy sighed. “Okie dokie, honey. Go on, do what ya gotta do, and email me when you get to Ireland.” She eyed her. “Maybe you’ll meet your knight in shining armor over there in the land of the fairies and elves.”

Jazmine Decker hugged her friend fiercely. “You are the best, you really are, and I am a terrible friend.” So saying, she rushed out of the bathroom and headed for the front doors. She looked back and around one last time. The band had taken a break, and an oldie blasted through the speakers, Bonnie Tyler’s “
Holding out for a Hero”. S
he smiled ruefully to herself. Yup, that was what she was doing, letting her life pass by, holding out for someone who in this day and age would never show up.

“You are not going to find one,” she said out loud as she stepped out into the night air.
They don’t exist anywhere but in romance novels
. Then her attention was caught by two exquisite males walking her way, evidently heading for the lounge. Both were tall, golden-haired, handsome, and dressed to show off their muscular bodies. They wore human Glamour to perfection, but she hurriedly and sharply turned away.

Habit
. She always turned away when a Fae came into view. She had been doing that since she was a toddler—she was a
Fios
and couldn’t afford to give herself away to them.

Being a Fios meant she could see Fae whether or not they disguised themselves in human Glamour, as the ones she passed just now were doing. She could see Seelie Fae and Unseelie Fae through their Glamour, even through their Féth Fiada of invisibility. She could not be compelled by their mesmerizing gaze, and she was immune to their sexual ability called Lianhan
that seduced human women and sent them into a rapture from which they could never emerge.

Her mother had taught her to never display that she saw them for what they were. The fear was ancient, but it was there, the belief that they would spirit her away to Faery and keep her imprisoned in their Realm so she could not give their secrets away—
yeah, right
, like anyone would believe her in this day and age.

She saw a cab, and luckily it was empty. She hailed it, it pulled up, and she jumped in, not aware she was holding her breath until she let it out inside the cab.

Damn, but the summer job she had taken would do her some good. She needed to get away; managing a tour group would keep her busy and earn her some much-needed money. Her job as a marine biologist was a dream job if you didn’t count the fact that the starting pay was beyond awful.

This would be great. She had been to Dublin with her parents a few years ago but never to Killarney.

She recalled Dublin and the time she had spent with her parents. She would treasure the memory forever. It had been their last vacation together before she lost them to a drunk driver. She had been with them, they were laughing, and her father had turned just a bit to tease her when it happened. A driver, passed out from intoxication, veered and hit them head on. She had been thrown clear of the wreckage and lived, but they had not.

Then Joe had entered her life, and she’d thought, wow! He turned out a ‘wow’ all right.

Tammy had tried to warn her off him, and Tammy had been right. Why couldn’t she see what her friend saw almost immediately?

Mooning over Joe when they first split had been stupid and a total waste of time. She was certainly over him; now she was very sure she would not allow herself to be swayed by a handsome face and a killer smile, ever again.

She knew now she had only been infatuated.

Her heart had always whispered that he was not the picture she had painted of him. He was and always would be a
player
. He had an eye for the ladies and did not even try to control himself.

She didn’t think it a total loss. When she’d met Joe she’d been so ready to spread her wings, and
he
had been all about that. For almost a year, it had been a thrilling ride.

He had never really loved her, and the truth she made herself face was that she hadn’t really loved him either.
He had been fun.

Okay, chapter closed, and now she was off to her mother’s homeland with a group of seniors!

Just what she needed to relax—simple, easy, and no complications. Then in a couple of months,
Charleston Aquarium,
here I come!

After the love of her life is taken from her at Waterloo, Jenny is sure that joy and love are lost to her forever. But life has more in store for Jenny,

After the Storm

~ Prologue ~

Did ye not hear it? No: ’twas but the wind,

Or the car rattling o’er the stony street;

On with the dance! Let Joy be unconfined,

No sleep till morn, when Youth and Pleasure meet.

To chase the glowing hours with flying feet—

But Hark! That heavy sound breaks in once more,

As if the clouds its echo would repeat;

And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before!

Arm! Arm! It is—it is—the CANNON’s opening

Roar!

—Lord Byron, 1816,

written to mark the Duchess of Richmond’s ball on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo

THE WIND, NO longer warm from the rays of the sun, bit at her face, causing her to blink. Long, chestnut-colored hair whipped around her slender neck and her lashes. She put one ungloved, delicate hand up and brushed the thick strands away from her face as she stopped her determined steps.

Desolate eyes stared at the tall oak—
their oak
. They had carved their initials there when they had a future, when they had hope.

“Johnny,” she whispered. “Oh, my Johnny.” Finality infiltrated her tone and resignation the slope of her shoulders. Anguish tempered by time swept through her body as she dropped to her knees, heedless of the damp grass.

A year had passed—one entire year since the Duchess of Richmond’s ball, since the last time she had kissed his lips, seen his face—one year since Waterloo.

A sick sensation swept over her when she tried to recall his face, that wondrous, boyishly handsome face as he stood before her that awful night.

They went, all of them, almost merrily to Waterloo. Even then—with those dreadful drums beating throughout Brussels—even then, they looked as though they were off to a parade.

Jenny remembered the sound of those drums, calling their men to arms. The officers attending the Duchess of Richmond’s ball had left hurriedly, some actually going off to battle in their ball attire, and Johnny, her Johnny had been among them.

Exploding cannons—the sound filled the atmosphere, as the
beau monde
breathlessly awaited the outcome. So many of her friends, so many of the English gentry were there in Brussels that spring.

Napoleon had escaped, gathered his army, and begun to march. The Duke of Wellington, their hero, went off to meet him. The English believed Wellington would win the encounter with the Frenchman and were there to witness it.

No one had anticipated the amount of blood it would take to fulfill their expectation. Thus it happened on June 18, 1815, that Wellington met Boney at Waterloo, and her John was lost forever.

Mac had been there. He had lived, and while she searched for Johnny, Mac found her. Lieutenant William McMillan had taken hold of her shoulders, and when she saw his distorted features she backed up from him screaming. She wasn’t sure anymore what she had screamed.

“Jen, Johnny’s last words to me were of you. He said he loves you and that you have to move on …”

Jenny thought she could no longer cry and was surprised at the tear that made its way down her cheek. She closed her eyes. She had come to their tree to say good-bye, but could she? She didn’t feel ready. “Haunt me, Johnny, come to me as a ghost,” she hugged herself and prayed. “Stay with me forever.”

Her father and aunt had hurried her home to Devon, and even for their sakes it had been so very difficult not to fall into a decline. For weeks all she wanted to do was go to sleep and not wake up.

Her father had coaxed her outside by telling her the horses she loved needed attention. And that had worked to get her out a bit. Slowly, albeit listlessly, she began to eat, talk, walk, but she felt as though all joy in life had been snatched away.

She got to her feet and touched the tree before turning towards home. She loved the quiet solitude of her beloved Devon landscape. It was like a tonic that soothed her. Johnny had never quite been at home in the country. He was too restless.

She crossed the open field with slow, long strides and felt the overgrown grass brush against the thin material of her stockings at her ankles and calves. The day had been touched with scudding clouds, and they hovered with the tease of rain.

It was still mid-afternoon, and yet, because of the overcast sky, it appeared later. Jenny’s gaze swept upwards, and she made the decision to take the shortcut across Farmer Cubbins’ field. She reached the roadside fence, picked up her skirts, climbed nimbly up, sat on the aged wood stocks, and then pushed herself forward onto the country dirt road.

She had been so engrossed with getting her skirts past the splintered rail and her feet over the ditch that lined the road that she hadn’t noticed the rider coming around the bend.

Her sudden descent onto the road caused the horse to rear and champ at his bit. This startled Jenny, and before she knew what had happened, she had released a screech, stepped forcefully backward, and landed herself in the very ditch she had tried to avoid.