Blue Abyss: Timewalker Chronicles, Book 3 (The Timewalker Chronicles) (39 page)

Teagh wanted to press her for answers, but knew the act would be futile. Celestina was the most stubborn female he’d ever known. She was an enigma, but he could damn well find out why she was here. Whatever the reason, it couldn’t be good. “You worked very hard to find me when I didn’t want to be found. You exposed me, put me at risk, and dabbled with the past, as Marina’s message proved. I can’t help but wonder why.”

Her gaze darkened, the glacier-blue irises turned the color of a dark, stormy sea. Teagh’s shoulders tensed. “A Gate, Teagh. The humans have found one. They will open it soon, in Colorado.”

“A vision?” She was confirming the message Marina had received by her “star woman”.

“Yes.”

“Who have you told?”

“No one else, and now I cannot. If there truly is a conspirator on the council, as Marina’s message insists, I can’t trust anyone on the ship. I must inform Bran about the issue. He will have to hunt for the traitor. We’ve all been together on the ship for centuries. I trusted them all implicitly, and now I don’t dare go to any of them for help.”

Teagh digested that for a moment. A traitor on Tina’s ship. An Archiver or a Seer.

The rest of the crew had no access to the Seers visions. The idea of anyone on the Archiver council betraying the Lost King was absurd, but Celestina obviously believed the human Timewalker’s warning. This news was somehow linked to Droghan, the Gate, and the Triscani invaders. “I guess we save the world all by ourselves. The Archivers have grown complacent. We’ve been here too long. They won’t believe you. Not about this. Not after seven hundred years. What do you need me to do?”

“Find the Timewalker descendant, Katherine.” Celestina bit her lower lip, something Teagh had never, in hundreds of years, seen her do. A cloud of sadness enveloped both of them. The woman’s aura was damn strong.

“Tell me the rest.”

“You must take control of her power. Prevent her from opening the Gate. If you can’t stop her, you must kill her.”

“Gods be damned.” Leave it to a prophetess to curse a male who was already in a sour mood. Teagh rolled his shoulders and stared up at the sky, at the piercing blue, so clear. So simple. His life was more like the sand under his feet, ever shifting and unstable. Both barren and dangerous.

“I’m so very sorry.” She wrung her hands together and he knew worse news followed. She didn’t disappoint. “Katherine is family to Tim and Sarah. If you can’t find her on your own, they can lead you right to her. But you must not tell them your true reason for going to her. They know where she is. They can contact her and draw her out.”

“I’m a guardian, not an assassin. You know that. Don’t ask me to murder an innocent female. I won’t do it. Not even for you.” He’d killed females before, on the battle field, in combat during several of the humans’ wars on Itara before this accursed leap back in time. He’d nearly lost his head to a few of the more experienced half-blood women who were wicked with a blade. If they came at him, tried to slaughter him, they were fair game. But not like this. Never like this.

Celestina’s eyes filled with tears. She shook, voice and aura filled with resignation. “You aren’t murdering an innocent, Teagh. She is dangerous. You must guard this planet.
Guard the Gate
. And that means you need to find her and kill her before they use her power. She is one mortal female. One human with just enough Timewalker blood to get us all killed. She can’t control her power. She is surrounded by soldiers she trusts. Honorable men. Warriors willing to sacrifice all to protect her. Men she loves like brothers and will not betray. Men she’s willing to die for. A few days will not be long enough to convince her to betray them. A few days won’t be enough…”

Teagh winced at her unfinished sentence. She was right. A handful of days wasn’t enough time for the woman to learn to trust him. To believe him. To listen to him and keep her power from these men she loved so much. A few days? It might as well be centuries. There was very likely no length of time that would get the job done. Not for him. He was a black-hearted bastard when it came to his duty. That wasn’t going to change, either. Still, he didn’t kill innocents in cold blood. “Then throw a wrench in their plans. Mess with these men she loves. Find another way.”

“There is no other way. They’ve already found the Gate. It chose her. It
summoned
her. She will open the Gate, and the darkness will devour her men.” Celestina wiped the tears from her cheeks with trembling fingers. The waterworks and tremors both signs of weakness the diminutive warrior princess never would have revealed to his brother.

Teagh frowned. “Won’t that solve the problem? They can’t open the Gate for the Triscani if they’re all dead.”

Celestina shook her head, an agony of knowledge shining from her aura. “The Gate wants her for itself, Teagh. It’s too dangerous. If by some miracle she survives, if the Gate’s power doesn’t kill her, it will
obey
her.”

The words were a sinister fist around his heart. The Gates obeyed only one being on Earth. One.

Him.

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Thank you for spending time with me reading Blue Abyss. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider telling a friend or taking a moment to post a review at your favorite online retailer. A personal recommendation is, by far, the best ‘Thank You’ an author can hope to receive.

Hugs and Happy Reading! - Michele

Books by
Michele Callahan

The Timewalker Chronicles
:

RED NIGHT, Book 1

SILVER STORM, Book 2

BLUE ABYSS, Book 3

BLACK GATE, Book 4

CHIMERA BORN, Book 4.5

WHITE FIRE, Book 6

Coming Soon – Chimera’s Kiss (Book 7)

The Ozera Wars: (Erotic Space Opera)

ROGUE’S DESTINY (Book 1)

QUEEN’S DESTINY (Book 2)

WARRIOR’S DESTINY (Book 3)

The DESTINY Trilogy (Omnibus 1-3)

Coming Soon – Hunter’s Destiny (Book 4)

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