Golden Blood (26 page)

Gemma’s lips quivered as she took a breath.
Harrison rubbed his thumb over her skin.

“They were going to leave me there, weren’t
they?”

She shook her head then nodded, pulling in
another shaky breath. “I couldn’t let that happen. Just the idea of
you…” She sniffed. “You not being here doesn’t work for me. I can’t
make it work.”

Her ragged sigh turned into a sob and she
covered her face. Caught between elation and sorrow, Harrison
gently pulled her hands away and wiped at her tears. His throat was
too clogged to speak, so he gave her a smile and put as much
gratitude into it as he could.

She let out a hiccupy laugh and licked her
lips. Sniffing, she looked at the bedside cabinet and squeaked,
“Tissues.”

“I’ll get some.” Harrison jumped from his
spot and shot into the corridor.

He walked towards the nurses’ station with a
shaking head. She would have had to fight pretty hard to convince
them to go back in time. Her getting injured was only going to
compound the situation. He had to face facts. Gemma’s parents were
never going to let them be together.

He asked for tissues in monotone and slumped
back towards the room. A murmur of voices caught his attention. He
walked towards the partially closed door and leaned behind it,
recognizing Gemma’s parents.

“You know we can’t allow this. He’ll ruin
everything.” Penelope clipped.

“Look he already knows and obviously hasn’t
told anybody. His parents have no idea, yet they knew he was dating
Gemma. They must have been hiding this for a while.”

“Great, so they knew and we didn’t. How could
she lie to us this way? She’s always been so good.”

Harrison listened to a heavy sigh.

“She’s never been in love before, Pen.”
Another sigh. “I’m worried that if we try and force this, we might
lose her. You saw her reaction when we refused to go back.”

“That’s what scares me. If he can make her
behave this way, what’s she going to be like in the future? We need
to keep control of her. What if she pulls him through time
again?”

“I’ve never heard of it happening before. I
don’t know how she did it.”

“Well she obviously didn’t mean to.”
Penelope’s voice was droll.

“But she did, without even trying.”

“Do you think she’s more gifted than we
originally thought?”

“She’s definitely capable. That’s why we
can’t afford to lose her.”

Harrison chest tightened. Frowning, he leaned
closer to the gap in the door, not wanting to miss a word.

“But that’s what will happen if we try and
stop them from seeing each other. We have to keep her on side.
Allowing them to date will score points and build some trust.”

“I suppose your right.” Penelope clicked her
tongue. “But shouldn’t we at least try first. That’s what she’ll be
expecting.”

Alistair chuckled softly. “I think it will be
a futile argument, but if you want, we can try.”

Harrison peered through the wedge of light
and saw Alistair pull his wife into an embrace. His gut stirred as
he watched them. He wasn’t sure what underlying details he was
missing, but something about the conversation unnerved him.

Pasting on a bland expression, he entered
Gemma’s room and passed her the tissues. She wasn’t in the right
frame of mind to hear about his inklings. He wondered if she ever
would be.

Gemma wiped her nose clean and looked at
him.

“Are you okay?”

He forced a smile. Bland obviously couldn’t
hide the gnawing worry. “I’m fine.”

He touched her face then pulled away as the
door swung open. He wasn’t sure he could look at Mr. and Mrs. Hart
without giving away his mistrust, so he kept his gaze down.

Gemma bundled up her tissue and threw it
towards the trashcan. It missed. Alistair bent to rectify the
situation then dusted his hands off and faced the young couple.

“You know this relationship of yours can’t
happen, Gemma. There are rules.”

Gemma reached for Harrison’s hand and gave
her parents a defiant glare. “I’m not breaking up with him. You
can’t make me.”

Penelope gave a cynical laugh as she stepped
towards the bed “That’s just it, isn’t it? You’ve been going behind
our back for weeks, why stop now?”

Gemma’s face flamed with shame. She dropped
her gaze to their hands. Harrison squeezed her digits as the Harts’
exchanged a quiet look. Defeated, Penelope nodded once and looked
to the ceiling.

Alistair sniffed and stood tall. “We set up
these rules to protect you, Gemma.”

“I don’t need-”

“Let me finish.” His sharp command silenced
the room. “Your mother and I want you to be happy, but this
relationship of yours needs boundaries.”

Gemma squeezed his hand. He could sense her
dark mood take flight. She looked up at her parents with bright
eyes that were dimmed slightly by her mother’s sharp voice.

“Meaning no more traveling for Harrison.”

He forced his lips to remain straight. That
wouldn’t be a problem. He wasn’t overly keen on experiencing that
again!

“You can spend the day together at school
obviously and are allowed one date per weekend.”

“One date? Mom-”

“You will tell us exactly where you are going
and what you are doing. Your curfew is eleven o’clock, without
exception.”

“Mom, can we negotiate-”

“There’s no sleeping together.”

Gemma’s face turned instantly red. Harrison
felt Alistair’s eyes hot on him. He glanced up at the man and was
so singed by the brief encounter that he had to look away.

“And lastly, this has to end when you leave
for college.”

Harrison’s stomach coiled.

“Forget it. You can’t dictate that.” Gemma
said.

“You either accept those rules or we start
looking at boarding schools.” Alistair’s voice was laced with a
stern warning.

“Stoneridge Academy in Maine has been highly
recommended to us.” Penelope smoothed her right eyebrow with her
pinky finger.

Gemma pressed her lips together and shot her
mother a dark look.

“Take what you can, darling and smile, you’ve
won this round.” Penelope squeezed her daughter’s forearm then
stepped back to let Alistair kiss Gemma’s cheek.

A half-hearted smile flickered across her
face as she murmured farewell to her parents. The room lay in
silence after their departure and Harrison didn’t want to fill it.
He could see Gemma’s mind hard at work as her fingers ran up and
down his arm, stopping to fidget with his watchstrap at varying
intervals.

“Maybe by the time we graduate they’ll see
why I love you so much and be willing to bend the rules a little
further.” Her hopeful voice made him smile.

“I’ll do my best to persuade them.”

She looked exhausted as she forced a smile
over her lips. Her tired eyes turned towards him.

“I guess I should be grateful they’re not
keeping me under lock and key. I was so expecting them to say I
could never see you again.”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, I think
they knew you were going to put up a pretty vicious fight if they
tried.” He stilled her fidgeting hand with his own. “You should
rest, Gem.”

He caressed her forehead and she closed her
eyes with a sigh. Frown lines soon appeared on her brow.

“What is it, babe?”

“I hate feeling this way. Like I have no
control.” She drew in a shaky breath. “I mean, I’ve won this
battle, but ultimately I’m going to be paired with someone else and
how can I stop them? I can’t escape this life. Dad controls
everything.”

Harrison sensed the stress creeping up her
body.

“I love helping people, Harrison, I do! But I
want my own life. I want to be with you and for that to be okay. I
want my say to count for something.”

“Hey.” He touched her face needing to end the
worry before it started taking a physical toll. “Look at me.”

She reluctantly turned towards him.

“We just had our say and they’re letting us
enjoy the rest of high school. You probably thought they were going
to kill me when they found out about us. Who knows what they’ll say
in another year or so. Don’t focus on the lack of control. Focus on
the hope of this summer and a great senior year.”

Her body relaxed as he finished his little
speech, but her eyes remained unsettled.

“I just don’t ever want to lose you.”

“Then don’t.”

Rising from his chair, he leaned over the bed
rail and kissed her. Her lips were warm beneath his, the flames
simmering through his senses.

Pulling back, he looked at her face and
watched her lips pull into the smile he had fallen for.

“Tu es ma stella del mattino. Tu es ma
gioiello.”

Her tired eyes lit with wonder.

“What does that mean?”

“I’ll tell you some time.” He kissed her
nose. “For now, you need to get some sleep.”

The fact she put up no
fight, gave away her sheer exhaustion. Tipping his head, he studied
her fondly before tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and
lightly kissing her once more.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Ponte Vedra Beach,
Florida - 2011AD

The early morning sand felt cool between her
toes. Gemma buried her feet beneath the grains feeling a slow
contentment build within her. Summer was coming. The searing heat,
the hours in the ocean, the freedom of no school, the chance to
spend that unallocated time with her boyfriend… she couldn’t
wait!

Peeking to her left, she bit her cheek then
asked, “So we’re good then?”

“Yeah.” Ruby rocked to her side and nudged
their shoulders together. “I guess I won’t kick your ass.”

Gemma laughed.

The walk at dawn had been Ruby’s idea. The
beach was practically empty and the still air was soothing. Gemma
had been out of hospital just over a week and had been restlessly
waiting for Ruby to make the first move. When she’d shaken her
awake, Gemma had been too surprised to kick her out of her
room.

Ruby’s apology had been simple and sweet,
Gemma’s forgiveness swift.

“You want to know the whole truth, Gem?”

“Always.” She kept her eyes on the ocean, not
sure if she actually did.

“It wasn’t just the fact you shared our
secret that made me mad. I was… jealous.”

“Jealous? Of me?” Gemma’s head spun to look
at her sister. “Why?”

“Because you’ve got this boyfriend who treats
you like a princess. It’s so obvious you love each other.”

Gemma blushed as she reached for a handful of
sand.

“And then you told him what you are and he
stayed. He doesn’t think you’re a freak. You get to be one hundred
percent yourself around someone who isn’t family… and I want that.”
Ruby’s eyes were moist as she glanced at Gemma. “You’re not the
only one who gets tired of lying.”

“Acting,” Gemma corrected with a smile.

Ruby sniffed out a chuckle.

Gemma shuffled closer in the sand and wrapped
an arm around her sister.

“Please don’t give me the 'your time will
come' speech. I don’t think I could stomach it right now.”

Gemma pinched her lips together, gulping back
her words.

“I’m glad you’re happy.”

“Thanks, Ruby.”

Drawing in a shaky sigh, she pulled her
shoulders straight and wiggled out of Gemma’s embrace.

“We should head back. I want to drive down to
Orlando today and get some serious shopping done.”

“Still looking for the perfect prom dress,
huh?”

“Of course,” Ruby’s smile was dazzling.
“Thanks to you breaking the rules and kicking up a big stink, I
don’t have to hide the fact I’m going to prom. Of course I won’t
advertise that I’m going with the most gorgeous guy in school.”

Gemma giggled.

“But since I am going with the most gorgeous
guy in school, I don’t want him to look better than me.”

“Someone look better than you? I don’t think
that’s possible, Rube.”

Her sister giggled sweetly. “Wanna come?”

“No,” Gemma shook her head. “You and Mom go
ahead. I’m just gonna…”

“Make out with your boyfriend?” Ruby rolled
her eyes while Gemma blushed up a storm.

“I was actually going to say, that I might
stay and go for a run before the day heats up.”

“Oh.” Ruby looked disappointed as she stood
and brushed the sand from her shorts. “Well, have fun.”

“You too.”

Gemma watched her sister glide over the sand
as if it were flat glass. Rising from her spot, she headed to the
water’s edge, stretching her arms high and preparing her muscles
for a work out.

“How far do you usually run?”

The voice behind her was rich like melted
chocolate. She spun on her heel and found herself facing a tall
man, his hands casually tucked into his fraying jeans. His black,
wavy hair was lined with fine strips of grey and his face looked
tanned and weathered. His eyes were so clear and serene she felt an
easy peace trying to find a good perch within her. It was the
magnetic pull he seemed to have on her that was keeping the peace
at bay. He seemed familiar.

“Four to five miles,” she tried to keep her
voice casual as she pulled a tie from her wrist and began shoving
her hair back into a ponytail.

“That’s pretty good. Sand is great resistance
training. You need that in your line of work.”

The wary caution inside her jumped to full
alert as she felt the particles in her blood start to run cold.

“Who are you?”

“That’s not important right now, Gemma.”

Her blood turned to ice.

“How do you know my name?”

“I know a lot about you,
putus
unus
.”

Gemma felt a scoff pass through her lips
before she could stop it. “I’m not a pure one.”

Her body jolted with the realization that she
had just given away the fact she knew exactly what he was talking
about.