Meadow's Keep (The Gatekeepers Series) (6 page)

She saw Sonya take a step forward and held up a hand. Sonya stopped.

“You must be honest with us.” She tried to use her own little push. “How old are you?”

“Seventeen,” she whimpered.

Jasmine saw Sonya roll her eyes.

The young girl looked from one to the other. “But I’ll be eighteen next month. Honest.”

Jenn spoke. “You can stay for now.” She turned to Jasmine. “I’ll call Bask."

Jenn
looked at Sonya.

Sonya cleared her throat
and forced a cough. Her voice, when she spoke, sounded hoarse. “I’ve got this terrible cold. I’m having the worst time hearing. A ringing in the ears. It’s a real nuisance. How old did you tell me you were?”

Lily
looked down. “Eighteen,” she mumbled.

“Yep, that’s what it says on the paperwork. I have to get back to the precinct. Young lady, if you would please sign th
ese papers, I can get out of here.”

Jenn
held out a pen. Lily looked as Jasmine, who took the pen and handed it to Lily, and nodded. The young woman scrawled a name, probably fake, across the paper.

Jasmine leaned back on her he
els as every adult in the room gave a silent sigh of relief.

By the time Jenn escorted
Lily to her initial meeting with Dr. Browne, the girl looked completely different—and much younger. Her brown hair fell in soft waves to her shoulders; her face was devoid of make-up, except for a light lipstick. She was wearing a new pair of jeans and that $800 shirt that Jasmine had lured her with. Jasmine didn’t have the heart to take it away.

Jasmine smiled as they walked past, encouraging her.
Lily smiled her broken-tooth smile as she passed.

Chapter Five

Jenn whipped the SUV in front of the general aviation building and pulled to a stop. She turned to Jasmine, pushed up her sunglasses and stared at her friend with a worried look etching her pretty forehead.

Jasmine smiled. “I’m fine. Honest.
” Truth was, her stomach was doing somersaults.

“I may not have any
‘special’ abilities,” Jenn air-quoted, “but you don’t look fine. I can still arrange for Bask—”

Jasmine held up her hand to stop Jenn. They both noticed the tremor. Jasmine
dropped her hand down into her lap. Her smile was one of resignation. “It wouldn’t matter,” she shook her head and said, “which plane I got on. I don’t like flying.”

Jenn turned around and slumped back in her seat. “Well, I’ll be damned,” she murmured. She turned back to Jasmine. “You? I don’t believe it. You are the most confident woman I know. Even
…,” she hesitated a second, softened her voice, “…even after all you went through…you were so strong…you never broke….” She shook her head.

Jasmine laughed. “Yeah, I can face death, pure evil—nothing. Put me on a plane and I quake with fear.”

“Speaking of planes,” Jenn nodded toward the building, “here comes your pilot now. Still not too late.”

Jasmine barely heard the last of
Jenn’s comment. She had swung her attention toward the tall man walking toward them. Sunlight glinted off his wavy black hair. Dark jeans hugged the muscles of his strong legs. He’d pushed the sleeves up on the black sweater he wore, revealing tightly muscled forearms. He strode toward them, smiling. As he neared, he lifted his sunglasses. Jasmine heard her own intake of breath as she stared into those green crystalline eyes.

“Holy…
,” Jenn whispered.

“You got it,” Jasmine
said back and reached for the door handle.

He was there in an instant, pulling open the door. “Pre-flight’s all done. We can leave any
time you’re ready.” He turned as Jenn walked around the vehicle. “Last time I saw you, you were dusting dirt off your….” He glanced at her hips.

“Yeah, I know
.” Laughter tumbled out. She looked at his outstretched hand, up to his eyes, and stuck out her hand. “I’m game if you are.”

“I like you.” He laughed and took her hand. Nothing happened.

“There.” Jenn smiled, as if she’d accomplished something. “Jenn Davis."

“Ery
k Vreeland,” he responded and returned her firm handshake.

He turned to Jasmine as she stepped
out of the car, his gaze lingering on her lithe form, before moving to her face. They stared at one another, caught in some sort of trance.

Jenn turned
, walked back to the rear of the SUV, and pulled up the lift gate. She saw the two of them awkwardly smile at one another and follow her. A tiny flicker of hope built in her chest.

Eryk
let out a whistle as he scanned the four suitcases lined up in the rear of the vehicle. “Good thing my plane can handle luggage for six,” he said. He reached in and took the two largest cases.

“Hey, fashion’s my passion
,” Jasmine defended and grabbed the other two.

“And your job,” Jenn added, closed the
rear gate, and took one of the two suitcases Jasmine held.

“I
have to make some change-outs from the store while I’m there,” Jasmine added.

“She has this great boutique in
Ruthorford,” Jenn said to Eryk. “She supplies the clothes for our clientele when they first come to Safe Harbor. Gives them a sense of change—and well-being.”

They followed him through the building
and out the back. A small jet sat near the hangar. He walked over, set one suitcase down, grabbed a lever, twisted and backed away to let the stairs ease down.

Jasmine swallowed and looked at the small jet.
Magic
was scrolled across the tail of the plane in vibrant green, nestled amid the black that slanted in a slash across the back half of the plane. It was a beautiful plane, as planes went.

Eryk
shifted his sight, letting the auras of the two women whirl around them. Jenn’s was vibrant and danced about her, just as he suspected it would. Jasmine’s, on the other hand, was snug next to her, like armor, like he’d seen it at the fairgrounds. It was also a little more opaque, shadowy, than her friends. He’d seen that before, too—on a war veteran. Except the veteran’s wasn’t shielding him, trying to keep others out, as Jasmine’s did. He made a mental note to keep tabs on her aura.

He blinked, return
ed everything to normal, walked toward the tail of the plane, and opened a space for the luggage. “Set those down. I’ll take care of them. Go on, have a look inside.”

Jenn moved up the steps into the small cabin, turned and waited for Jasmine. When she didn’t follow, Jenn stuck her head back out. “You coming?”

“I’ll get there,” Jasmine hissed. She glanced over at Eryk, hoping he hadn’t heard.

“Honey...
,” Jenn started and stopped at the wave of Jasmine’s hand. She watched as the tall beauty took one step at a time, hunched over and entered the cabin.

“Not much room,” she whispered as Jenn plopped down in one of four
comfortable seats.

“Nice,”
Jenn cooed and messed with a fold-away table.

Jasmine
moved as Eryk crouched inside. “Small, but very efficient.”

Jenn stood. “You’ll call me when you land?”

Jasmine nodded, trying to smile.

“She’ll be fine,” Eryk reassured Jenn, seeing the frown. “I’ll take good care of her.
I promise.”

Jenn bounced down the small stairway and turned back.
“Happy flying,” she called and waved. She turned and, without a backward glance, headed back to the building.

Eryk reached over, grabbed a strap and pulled the stairs up. With on
e swift motion, he locked the airstairs in place. “We have facilities in the back.” He nodded toward the rear.

Jasmine didn’t turn
but chided, “Well, if you gotta go, go now, ‘cause
I’m
not flying this baby while you go potty.”

He laughed and stepped over and down, settling into his seat in the cockpit. He pointed to the seat next to him. “Come on.”

“I’m not a pilot!” Her voice was shrill. She swallowed.

H
is voice became soft, modulated. “I know. But, I think you’ll like it from up here.” He patted the co-pilot’s seat. “Don’t worry, I solo all the time.”

God, she hadn’t asked just how many hours of airtime he had. What if he was new? She felt her hands start to tremble
.

He held out his hand for her,
but she pulled hers back in close to her body. He moved his arm back and waited until she had gotten into the seat, not an easy feat. At one point, she’d grabbed his shoulder as she stepped over the console. He could see tiny beads of sweat on her upper lip. Her pupils were dilated.

“Fly much?” he asked off-handedly.

She shook her head as he reached over her and fastened her harness, careful to make minimal contact with her body. She was scooching back into the seat away from him. He pretended not to notice, finished, and reached for a headset, handing it to her. “We can talk better with these,” he said as she took it.

She adjusted the headset, all the while watching him
move switches and talk into his. He turned a knob and the engine on her side started to whine. Then, he turned the knob next to it and the second engine came to life. The whine built to a high-pitched scream. She was grateful for the earphones. Faintly, she heard a feminine voice recite some sort of data. The plane started to move. Jasmine gripped the edge of her seat.

Eryk notice
d the tightness in her body but was too busy to do anything about it—yet. He taxied to the end of the runway and revved the engines. The Phenom 100 moved down the runway. In no time, the sleek jet was up and gaining altitude. He smiled. He loved his plane. He banked slightly to the left and kept climbing. A quick glance showed him Jasmine’s face had gone ashen and her knuckles were white where she gripped the seat. Her chest rose and fell quickly.

He reached over and touched her shoulder. She flinched
, her eyes huge. He sent a mental push to calm her and saw her battle it. He added his voice through the headset. “Relax, it’s a beautiful day. Enjoy the flight.” Her shoulder softened under his hand and she smiled a tremulous smile before she turned to look out the window.

In that instant, his vision changed, shifted, and he was seeing unlike he’d ever seen before, which was saying something
, since his eyes allowed him to see all sorts of nuances he knew other people didn’t see. However, this was different—and he sure as hell couldn’t fly a plane this way—not yet, anyway. He realized his hand still rested on Jasmine’s shoulder. He yanked it away and blinked. His vision returned to normal.
What the hell?
She seemed to be in a daze, staring out the side window toward the receding earth.

“Jasmine,” he spoke softly into the headset, not wanting to startle her.

She turned her head slightly, but, her eyes remained focused out the window, as though she couldn’t pull them away from whatever it was she was watching.

“Jasmine
,” he said again, louder.

She blinked several times, looked at him
, and blushed.

“What was that?”
he asked.

Jasmine looked him in the eyes. “
I’m not sure. I’m okay now.” She offered a small smile.

“We’ll be cruising
at about 31,000 feet. It’ll be like walking on the clouds,” he said, his voice soft, suggestive.

She knew what he was doing. She let him. Her anxieties
about flying seemed to have existed forever, as far back as she could remember, anyway. Until this time, she’d always sucked it up and done what she had to do, refusing any help. The Abbott House plane was large enough that she could sit back in the cabin, listening to loud music, popping gum, and get through it. She hadn’t even mentioned it to Dr. Browne. It seemed of little consequence, since she didn’t see why she should fly when there were perfectly good roads on which to travel. This small jet was something else. It felt like there was no plane.

For a few moments earlier,
in fact, when she’d looked out the window, it had been like she hadn’t been in the plane at all. Out of nowhere, she was flying—without the plane, above the trees. She could see the ground, vegetation, buildings. Hell, she saw a mouse scurrying to get away from a grass snake. And, she could see so far. It was amazing. Plus, she wasn’t afraid. Then he’d called her name, pulling her back. She didn’t want to let go. He’d called again, with a command she couldn’t ignore. In an instance, she was back in the plane and all her senses got tangled. Her anxiety level shot up.

Jasmine reach
ed up and wiped the moisture from her upper lip.
What’s happening to me?

“Tell me about your hometown
,” he interrupted her thoughts.

“
Ruthorford?” Jasmine let her mind conjure up a picture of her hometown. “It’s a small, southern town in the mountains of northern Georgia. Well, the low mountains. It’s just a little way from Atlanta. We don’t have the hustle and bustle of Atlanta. Yet, we aren’t far from it.”

“
However,” she said, turning toward him, “Ruthorford is set off by itself. It’s almost surrounded by water. You cross a bridge to get in and a bridge to get out. Most of the inhabitants can trace their families back to the original settlement, either Native American or Scot.”

She glanced back out the window, but kept talking. “
We have the main town, which is encircled by farms. It’s very pretty. The town is very Victorian, its buildings old and quaint. A median runs down Main Street—its fountain is almost always shooting water.”

“Is there someplace I can stay?
A motel?” He looked over at her and flashed her a smile. “Unless you want me to stay with you,” he added, only half teasing.

“
Abbott Bed and Breakfast sits near the end of town. That’s where you’ll be staying,” she retorted, then let her voice soften. “My cousin, Teresa, owns it. Wait until you see it. She—the inn, not my cousin—is a true painted lady, with wide porches and gables.”

She
became more animated as she talked, her eyes twinkling. “The lawn behind the bed and breakfast slopes down to the water with trees all around to cool the tables. The weeping willow is my favorite spot. You can dine under its branches. It’s like hiding behind a veil where you can watch the other people. I used to do my homework under that tree.”

“Tell me about your shop,” he
asked, wanting her to continue. He liked hearing the sound of her voice.

“Fashion Flair
? I have two girls running it for me. Bonnie and Claire—the twins. I jokingly called them Bonnie and Clyde growing up and it stuck.” She laughed, a full, throaty laugh.