Timebound(83)

“Sorry, pretty Katie.” Simon gave me a mean little smile as he stashed Katherine’s medallion in his pocket, then reached behind my neck to undo mine. “I’m actually going to need this CHRONOS key, too—and the half dozen or so your grandmother has stashed somewhere in that house.” I struggled, trying to pull my body and his along the ground far enough to reach the maple tree and the protective zone. I felt the medallion’s clasp give way and changed strategies, trying now to grab Simon’s own medallion, but my fingers slipped against the fabric of his shirt.

He pushed more of his weight onto his knee, pressing the breath from my body in a quick whoosh. “Or maybe I’ll just take you with me. Cyrus would never allow a traitor like Kiernan to have you, not after his recent interference, but you and me could have a real good time…” He slid his hand suggestively along my inner thigh. His mouth was just inches from mine, his breath against my face, and I felt panic beginning to set in. My vision began to blur. The light on the porch, directly in front of me, faded in and out several times as I struggled to get even the tiniest bit of air into my lungs.

Then there was a loud whack. Simon’s head snapped back and his body slumped to the left, a red line of blood swelling up on his right temple. I saw the blue light of my medallion, still in Simon’s hand, arcing upward against the twilit sky as he fell away, and Trey standing behind him with a raised tire iron. I braced myself for nothingness, thinking only how very happy I was that Trey’s face, and not Simon’s ugly leer, was the last thing I would see before I vanished, just like Katherine.





17





But nothing happened. Trey reached down and yanked my medallion out of Simon’s hand. “Are you okay?” he asked. He wedged the tire iron under his foot and leaned forward to put the medallion back around my neck. “Kate?”

I nodded, still unable to pull in a full breath, much less speak. Simon groaned as Trey scooped me into his arms and carried me to the porch. His jaw was tight as he turned back toward Simon and, from his expression, I’m pretty sure that the game plan was to grab the tire iron and finish the bastard off. If that was Trey’s intent, however, he never got the chance. Simon was still sprawled on the lawn, but his hand reached up for his medallion and before Trey had moved more than a few steps, he was gone.

Trey stared at the spot where Simon had been for several seconds and then turned back to me. He looked stunned. “Did he hurt you?”

I shook my head, tears stinging my eyes. Trey sat down beside me, pulling me close. I breathed in his scent as I tried to fight back the tears. “Katherine…”

“I know. I remembered my lit book was on the coffee table—I was just getting out of the car, when she…” He paused, shaking his head in disbelief. “That’s when I went back for the tire iron.”

I glanced toward the curb. The bumper of Trey’s car was just visible beyond the hedge. “I didn’t even hear you pull up.”

Trey shrugged. “Daphne’s racket provided good cover. Thankfully he didn’t hear me either.” He pressed his lips against my hair and we sat there for a moment, trying to process the past few minutes. “I just don’t understand why Katherine didn’t wait—I know she saw me drive up.”

The porch light dimmed again, then brightened briefly just before the bulb popped, causing both of us to jump to our feet. “Remind me to ask Connor where the lightbulbs are,” I said in a small voice.

Trey nodded. “Yeah. And now that you mention it, where exactly is Connor?”

I don’t know. I saw Katherine signal to him as she was coming out the door. Maybe we should go and check on him?”

I opened the door and immediately saw Daphne and Connor sitting at the top of the stairs. Connor’s head was in his hands and Daphne’s nose lay between her paws—a perfect study in dejection. They both looked up at the sound of the door, a confused expression spreading over Connor’s face. “Kate? I thought—oh, thank God! I thought both of you—I mean, I saw Katherine… go… and when I looked back through the library window you were gone, too.”

“If you saw Kate trying to fight that guy off, why didn’t you try to help her?” Trey asked. Connor had started down the stairs but paused at the anger in Trey’s voice. “Or Katherine? Where the hell were you?”

I put my hand on Trey’s arm, shaking my head softly. “It’s all right, Trey. Katherine told him to go up to the library. Right, Connor?”

Connor nodded, continuing down the stairs with Daphne beside him. “We could see through the peephole that you were outside the perimeter. She thought that trying to expand the safe zone with the third medallion was our best chance. But it didn’t work. I still haven’t figured out how to keep the damned thing from overloading the system.”