Golden Blood (20 page)

“You need to tell your parents.”

She bit the inside of her cheek and
shuddered. “I know.” She nodded, ignoring the bile in her throat.
“I know, but can we just enjoy the weekend first and then we’ll
tell them on Sunday night.”

“Delaying things won’t change the truth,
Gem.”

“I know, but if they do decide to ground me
for all eternity at least I’ll still get to see you the next day at
school.”

He chuckled as he rose and extended his hand.
“Fair enough. Now come on Miss Gem, take me for a cruise on your
Ducati before I kiss you goodbye for the night.”

His smile was delicious. She grabbed his hand
and let him lead her to the bike. She didn’t have the courage to
tell him that come Sunday she would probably take the chicken’s way
out. The idea of fighting with him over it was hideous, but she
didn’t think she could get the words to come out of her mouth! He’d
never met her parents. He had no idea.

Swinging her leg over the seat she decided
that the hands of doom could just shut up. She still had the
evening and all of the next day to pretend that she was a normal
girl with a gorgeous boyfriend who was going to take her to the
mall tomorrow for a little shopping. She would forget that her
sister currently hated her. She would forget that, if Harrison put
his foot down, her parents would no doubt be committing murder on
Sunday night and she would forget, for once, that she had no
control over her life.

Chapter Nineteen

St. Augustine, Florida
- 2011AD

The mall seemed ridiculously busy. Gemma,
being unused to such crowds, had clung to Harrison’s hand
throughout the morning. He’d had fun teasing her. Watching her face
as she blushed over his comments about being strong enough to
annihilate half the crowd yet flinching if someone brushed her
shoulder.

“I tend to avoid crowds. It’s fine when I’m
with my parents, because I know we won’t be going anywhere, but
when they’re not around… I just never know when he’ll…”

Her justification had trailed off as she’d
reached towards the taboo subject of the day. Upon her request they
were trying to be as normal as possible. He wasn’t allowed to
mention anything about time travel or her family. It hadn’t been as
challenging as he’d thought it would be. They had spent the morning
chatting about his family while they hunted for a birthday present
for his mother.

“What about a book of poetry or something?”
Gemma suggested.

His initial idea to buy an antique broach had
flown out the window when the one he could afford had been sold two
days earlier. He had kicked himself for not spending the money when
he had spotted it the first time, but he had wanted to keep it a
surprise and didn’t think his mother would buy the line that Gemma
loved antique jewelry.

Harrison squeezed his girlfriend’s hand with
a smile. “That’s a great idea.” Turning on the spot, he led them
back towards the bookstore.

“I just thought, since she was a librarian,
she’d probably be into books, but didn’t you say she was into old
documents and stuff?”

Harrison nodded.

“Why don’t we check out the second hand book
store then. They might have some old edition of something really
cool.”

Gemma’s eyes sparkled with the idea, making
Harrison smile. He stopped on the spot, wrapped his arm around her
waist and drew her in for a kiss.

“Harrison.” She pushed at his chest. “People
are watching.”

“Let them.” He grinned. “I’m kissing the most
beautiful girl in the mall. I relish their jealousy.”

Her expression broke with laughter as she
lightly slapped his chest. “You are such a fool.”

“Happy to be.” He wrapped his arm back around
her waist as they began walking again. “Actually, I’m also a hungry
fool. Do you want to stop for food and then we’ll take off, pass
the bookstore on the way to the beach?”

“Good idea.”

“I could kill a plate of chili fries right
now.”

“Harrison.” She grimaced. “They are so bad
for you.”

“And that’s exactly why they taste so good.
Aw, come on, Gem, admit it. You totally want some!”

Her smile said it all. Squeezing her waist
with a chuckle, he propelled her towards the food court.

The fries were piping hot. Harrison jiggled
his mouthful with his tongue, trying not to scald himself. Gemma
giggled.

“You okay?” She pushed the large glass of
soda towards him.

He grabbed it up with a grateful nod and
doused his fiery mouth with the cool fizz.

“So, you’re not doing your assignment on
Coyote Granger anymore?” Gemma got back to their earlier
conversation.

“Well, I was thinking about it, but I like
Mary’s story better.”

“Okay,” Gemma leaned forward in her seat, a
fry perched between her fingers. He loved the way her eyes danced
with excitement as they talked history, particularly his history.
“So this Coyote guy robs the bank then takes off to the next town
and beds this woman as a victory dance, shall we say? Then what
happened?”

Harrison laughed then downed another mouthful
of soda before continuing the story. “Well, Mary finds out she’s
pregnant and knows that she either has to get rid of it or leave
her… job.”

“Thankfully she chose to leave.”

“That’s right, but where would she go? She
barely had a dime to her name, she was homeless and if she was
anything like my mother, puking her guts out with morning
sickness.”

“I love the way you describe things so
delicately, Harrison.”

The look on her face made him laugh. He
paused in his train of thought to consider how much fun he was
having. The idea of Sunday night bit at the corners of his brain,
but he gave it a solid boot. Nothing was going to ruin today.

“Anyway.” He cleared his throat to continue.
“She decided to go after the guy who knocked her up in the first
place. By the time she found him, she was as round as a beach ball
and apparently he just couldn’t turn her away. So he begrudgingly
let her stay, ‘but only until the kid’s born!’” Harrison put on a
gruff voice.

“But…” Gemma smiled.

“But he ended up falling in love with her.
She made an honest man out of him.”

“Did he give the money back?”

“Well…” Harrison tipped his head. “Not so
much, but he didn’t rob anymore banks after that.”

Gemma grinned before popping another fry into
her mouth. “How many did he rob altogether?”

“I’m not sure, probably a dozen or so. After
Mary came along they kind of went into hiding and the law
eventually forgot about him. He dropped the Coyote part and ended
up purchasing a ranch in Montana.”

“That’s such a cool story. It just goes to
show that good things can come out of bad situations.” Gemma’s eyes
grew distant and he knew she was considering the implications of
her family’s work. She shook her head. “So what about your Dad’s
history. Did you find anything on that?”

Harrison picked at the fries with a frown.
“No.”

“You didn’t ask your mom, did you?”

“I can’t!” He dropped the fry and leaned back
in his seat. “She won’t talk about him and I don’t want go there
again.” He took a swig of drink then perched his elbows on the edge
of the table. “When I was little she caught me going through the
files stashed under her bed. I was looking for my birth
certificate. I just wanted to know his name.” He shrugged. “I’ve
never seen her so mad. It took her a whole day to talk to me
again.

“I’ve tried raising it a few times, but she
just gets all depressed and then we move. I don’t want to risk that
right now.”

“What about your grandparents? Would they
know anything?”

“I’ve never met them. I think Mom fell out
with her mother over something because she never talks about her,
but she talks about her Dad. He passed away when she was fifteen,
but everything she’s told me is total magic.”

Gemma smiled, probably relieved that he was
too. He didn’t want to get so agitated over the whole father thing.
Bryan was an awesome substitute, but he wasn’t blood. He just
wanted to know where he came from.

“My parents never really talk about family
either. It’s always been the five of us and I’m too scared to ask.
I don’t think I actually want to know.”

Harrison’s laughter sounded sad. “I wish I
was like that.”

Gemma squeezed his hand with a sympathetic
smile. Clearing his throat, he straightened his shoulders and shook
off his blue mood. Today was supposed to be a good one.

“You done?” He balled up his napkin and
chucked it while she wasn’t looking.

She caught it before it hit her face, making
him balk. She was so fast sometimes. Her eyes twinkled as she threw
the napkin onto the tray.

“A small perk,” she muttered before clearing
up the rest of the table and walking towards the trash.

He came up behind her, gliding a smooth hand
over her back and keeping it there as they wove their way out of
the food area and into the crowd.

“So off to the bookstore then?” He began
steering her towards the parking lot when he felt her frame go
stiff.

She looked up at him with huge eyes before
desperately scanning her surroundings for a bathroom.

“I’m not gonna make it,” she whispered with
panic.

“It’s okay.” He grabbed her hand and began
pulling her towards the exit sign he spotted.

“People are going to see me!”

“No they won’t. Come on, Gem.”

Pulling her through the crowd, he quickly led
her to the emergency exit.

“It’s nearly time.”

Pushing the solid bar of the door, he heaved
it open and dragged her through, hoping no security had seen him.
The corridor he led her into was stark white and thankfully empty.
He placed his finger over her lips as they both listened to make
sure no one was coming.

“This should be safe.” He looked into her
eyes. “Take care of yourself.” He placed his lips lightly on hers
then felt his body shatter into a thousand pieces.

Chapter Twenty

Warwick, England -
1393AD

It felt like pins and needles were massacring
his entire body. Harrison’s head pounded as he came to terms with
the pain. Squeezing his eyes shut, he rolled onto his side and
hoped it would all be over soon.

What the hell just happened to me?

Harrison felt like his body was being
stitched back together one atom at a time. As the intense tingling
ebbed, voices broke through the ringing in his ears.

“What is going on?”

“Who is that?

“How the hell did he get here?”

“I don’t believe it.”

Gemma’s erratic breathing beside him had his
eyes squinting open.

“Are you okay?” Her shaking hand smoothed the
hair back off his face and he managed a smile.

“Gemma!”

Her concerned gaze was suddenly hauled out of
view.

“Who is this?”

It was a shrill female voice. He looked past
Gemma’s smooth legs and up at the sharp face and burning eyes of
Mrs. Hart. He quickly averted his gaze.

“This is m-my friend, Harrison.”

“Your friend?” Her voice was thin. “You told
me it was a girl.”

“I don’t get it, how did he even get
here?”

Harrison recognized Dom’s voice then another
followed that he had not heard before.

“They must have been touching when she
transitioned.” A swift expletive followed. “Go find him some
clothes, Dominic.”

Suddenly aware of his naked vulnerability,
Harrison rolled onto his side to cover himself.

“Touching?” The question came from Gemma’s
mother. “You were touching? Gemma, what exactly were you doing with
this friend?”

He glanced up to see Gemma’s face burn red as
it popped through the coarse woolen tunic. “Mother! Not that!”

“Well, what then? Were you holding
hands?”

“No,” she mumbled as she tied a leather belt
around her waist.

He tried not to notice how good her legs
looked in those tights.

“He was just giving me a goodbye kiss.” He
could sense her forced casualness as she began to braid her long
hair.

“A goodbye kiss, as in he knew you were about
to turn into dust?”

Gemma’s nimble fingers froze. Harrison felt
her panic. This was not going down at all how they had planned.
Sure, tell the parents her boyfriend was a normal human. Tell the
parents he knew everything about her? Not so much!

“Gemma, what have you DONE?”

Gemma flinched.

“Okay, Penelope.” A calm voice forestalled
any further outbursts. “We’ll discuss this when we get home.”

Harrison watched the feet approach then noted
the hand being extended his way. His bones were grounded together
as he was hauled to his feet. Mr. Hart’s eyes were filled with
loathing. Dropping his gaze, Harrison focused on the dirt beneath
his feet. Gemma’s father was not the kind of man you enjoyed
meeting when taking a girl out on her first date let alone landing
her in a bunch of trouble by inconveniently following her through
time.

Okay, this is just too weird.

“Gemma! Avert your eyes!”

Mrs. Hart’s shrill voice grabbed his
attention. Glancing up, he watched his red-faced girlfriend mutter
an apology and look to the sky.

A blush warmed his cheeks as he realized her
perusal. He guessed it was payback. He certainly hadn’t minded the
glimpse of body he’d seen a few months ago.

A pair of hoes and a wide necked tunic was
thrown in his face. With trembling hands he pulled the garments on.
They smelt of old sweat and hard labor. The situation he had been
trying to avoid swallowing suddenly tasted very real.

I just traveled through time. Holy crap! I’m
in the…

He studied his surroundings as he sat to slip
on the pointed, soft leather shoes Dominic just handed him. They
were sitting at the edge of a forest. A dirt road led east towards
a formidable looking castle. They were huddled on the outskirts of
a small village with thatched roof houses. Wispy smoke billowed
from holes in the rooves. Harrison could hear the mooing of cows,
the clucking of chickens and the thud of hooves quickly
approaching.