Chapter Thirty
Something woke her.
Her head hurt and her mouth felt dry.
“Sadie, wake up.”
A stranger’s voice. Urgent. A hand shook her shoulder. She didn’t want to. She’d been dreaming of Ethan. She was safe in some far-off place and time.
The shake came again, and she pried her eyes open.
A man stood over her. Tall, with sandy hair and gray eyes. She’d never seen him before. She blinked a couple of times, trying to clear her mind.
What had happened?
That bastard Ethan had drugged her.
“You need to get up. Your guards are dead.”
“Who are you?”
“My name’s Si. That’s all you need to know. Right now, we have to move. I got the two men who took out the guards but there will be more, and they’ll be coming here for you.”
“Who?” God, she wished her head was working better.
“The Conclave, but they’re being controlled by the Federation. Or rather, someone using the Federation to do their dirty work here.”
“Who are the Federation? And why the fuck are they coming for me?”
“Obviously, someone wants you dead. I was sent to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
The strength was returning to her limbs. She could feel her body warming as she came around from whatever drug he had given her.
“Why?”
“Not part of my briefing.”
That was irritating, because she could have really done with some clue as to what was going on. She wished her mind would recover as fast as her body. Where was Max?
“My dog?”
“I don’t know, but we have to move.”
She dragged herself out of bed and crossed to the window. Down below, shadowy figures circled the building. A lot of men. As she watched, two ran across the lawn and disappeared inside the front door.
She tore her attention from the window as her rescuer pulled a pistol from inside his shirt and tossed it at her. Footsteps slammed on the stairs. She stepped to the side out of the line of the doorway and stood next to Si. She held herself ready as shots fired through the wood into the mattress where she’d been lying only a minute ago.
As the door opened, they both shot at the same time. The first man in the doorway crashed to the ground, and she took the shot at the one behind him.
Si crossed the room. Shoved the bodies out of the way and kicked the door shut. She stared at the holes in the mattress. They’d obviously been expecting her to be there. Who else knew?
Ethan.
She had to get to him.
She peered through the window. They were not going to run out of people to shoot anytime soon.
“We can’t take them all.”
“We won’t need to.”
What the hell did that mean? She was prevented from asking by the pounding of boots on the staircase. This time, they halted. Probably something about the bodies caused them to hesitate. Bodies would do that. Sadie dived for cover as the door crashed open. Shooting from the floor, she hit the first in the knee. He crashed to the floor, and she shot him in the head. Her new friend took out the second.
She had a small breathing space and she really had to ask. “Who are you?”
He reached up, tugged down the edge of his T-shirt. A design was tattooed into his left chest, over his heart. A gothic C. She’d seen something like it before.
“You’re Conclave?” Somehow, she hadn’t been expecting that. But then, she had no clue what she had been expecting. “Did Ethan send you?”
He nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips.
“He’s all right, then?”
“Not exactly. He’s being held in Scotland. He sent me back to save you.”
“Back?”
“Haven’t you worked it out yet? I’m from the future.”
No fucking way. She stared at him. Then something crashed through the window, and she grabbed it and hurled it back. It exploded on the lawn.
She peered out the window.
“Fuck, they’ve got a fucking grenade launcher.” They really did mean business. They were going to have to jump, but they would be taken out as soon as they showed their faces.
“What—?”
“Wait.”
Wait for what. To get annihilated?
Everything went quiet. She raised her head over the edge of the window. Bodies littered the lawn. A lone figure stood among them, heading toward the house.
Rose.
Others of the Tribe fell into position behind her. Jake, Dex, Ryder, Chase. She almost collapsed to the floor as the strength went from her muscles.
She hadn’t heard them come. Then she realized she was still wearing the reflector device. She ripped it from her head. “Jake.”
“Thank God.”
The relief in his voice reflected her own.
The man tapped her shoulder. “I’m going to leave.”
“No wait. You need to tell me.”
“I can’t tell you more. I can’t risk influencing what you do.”
“Just one thing. How? Why now?”
He considered the question for a moment. “You activated the transmitter of the TM.”
“The TM?”
He grinned. “Time machine. Look, one day you’ll know everything. For now, I have to leave. Tell your friends not to shoot me.”
“Jake, there’s someone coming out. Let him go.”
“Who?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
Turning her attention to Si, she dipped into his mind but hit a wall; he was shielded somehow. She wanted to ask him more, but he was already heading out. She waited as he appeared down below. The Tribe parted for him, and he disappeared into the shadows at the perimeter of the house.
She closed her eyes for a moment, coming back from the dark place where death seemed to be inevitable. Then she headed down the stairs. Max’s sleek body lay sprawled at the bottom. Rage poured through her and she ran down the last few steps and crouched beside him, reached out with a hand and touched his side. He was warm—thank God—and his heartbeat was steady, but he was out cold. She stroked her hand over his glossy fur, found where a bullet had grazed the side of his skull, but he’d live. She’d call him some help once she was away from here.
There were also two men dead by the front door. Probably guards Ethan had left to stop her following him. She exited the house and straight into Jake’s arms. He hugged her, and she buried her head in his shoulder and took some deep calming breaths.
Jake tightened his grip for a moment, then put her away from him.
“Thank you,” she said. “But why? How?”
“Ethan called, told us what he was doing. We left straight away.”
“But why?”
“Because you’re family, which makes him family.”
She bit her lip. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to go all mushy and emotional, and she’d never live it down.
“We have to get away from here,” Jake said. “Rose knocked them out, but with this many it won’t be for long.”
“We need to get to Scotland.”
“There’s a helicopter waiting.”
She thought for a moment. She didn’t want to put whoever had Ethan—Lauren, she presumed—on alert. “Can we buy ourselves a little time first?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Find their leader. Find out how he confirms the mission is done.”
“Good idea.”
He searched the prone bodies, coming to a halt beside one. He crouched down. Slapped the man’s face a couple of times and he groaned. Jake concentrated for a moment, then pulled the radio from the man’s belt, pressed a button. “This is 5567. Mission completed.” And he closed off the call. “Tie them up. Put them in the house.”
It was another half hour before they were ready to go, and she was itching with the need to move. Dawn was already lighting the sky.
“So who was your friend?” Jake asked as the helicopter rose into the sky.
“Conclave.”
“Ethan sent him?”
“In a manner of speaking. You’re never going to believe this.”
“He was from the future?”
“How the fuck did you know that?”
“I’ve got a clever wife.”