Shadow of Time - Book 1: (Paranormal Romance) (7 page)

“If I
ever
get my hands on those bastards.” His voice trembled. “Are they gone?”

“Yeah
.”

“We’re almost there, sis,” she heard Ben shout
ing in the background. “Hold on just a little longer.”

Hannah put the gun down. The grip had turned all sweaty in her hand. “Gotta go. My battery is almost dead.”

“All right.”

“And Josh?
” She sighed. “Thanks for your help.”

She hung up
just before the battery died, sagging back in her seat. After five minutes, the headlights of Ben’s car appeared in her rearview mirror. Hannah unlocked the door and staggered outside. Ben parked next to the Datsun after which he and Josh got out. Ben got to her first, hugging her tightly.

“Hey,” he whispered in her hair. “
This is quite a night, huh?”

Now that she
was safe, Hannah started to shiver uncontrollably. She could feel Josh rubbing her back to calm her down. For a while, the three of them were just standing there. Ben was the first to pull away from their group hug to get the jerry can. “Let’s feed your car, okay?”

Ha
nnah turned around to face Josh. “Thanks for your pep-talk on the phone. I really don’t know what I would have done without my helpline.”

Josh
smiled. “I’m sure you would have been just as brave.” He noticed the way she rubbed her hands over each other, and silently took them in his. “You cold?”

“Yeah. Stress, I guess.”
Her hands warmed up against his palms. Hannah looked at Ben, catching the glance her brother shot at her hands safely tucked away in Josh’s. She sighed. “God, I’m
exhausted
.”

“You should sit down.” Josh pulled her
toward the Datsun’s passenger seat.

“But
– I have to drive.”

Josh shook his head. “No, I’m driving. You’re too
shaken.” He helped her into the seat, but didn’t let go of her hands straight away. “I’ll drive safely,” he added with a grin. “Trust me.”

“I trust you.” Hannah closed her eyes.

“Are you done filling her up?” Josh asked Ben.

“Yep, all clear. Y
ou driving Hannah’s car?”

Ben
shut his car door and started up the engine. Josh sat down next to her, turning the key in the ignition. She closed her eyes again when they drove off, feeling her entire body relax.

“Just rest,” he said
. “You’ll have to wake up for tacos when we get home, though.”

“Hmmm.” She
dozed off, thinking about the way she’d felt when he held her hands. Josh was six years her junior, but somehow, she felt inexplicably safe with him. She wasn’t sure she wanted to feel that way about him, though. The age difference wasn’t bugging her that much, but his mood swings were. Plus the fact that Emily had warned her about Josh pushing people away.

Hannah fell into a deep sleep. She didn’t notice the car pulling into the drive
way. She didn’t wake up as Josh lifted her and carried her inside, and Ben tucked her in.

That
was the night she dreamed about the burning village for the first time.

6.

Clouds of smoke billowed above the primitive hoghans of the small settlement. Hannah panted. She was on the run from a group of Mexican-looking soldiers. Even though she’d never seen soldiers dressed like them in her life, she instinctively knew they were from Mexico, and they didn’t mean well.

“Run!” she cried out to the people she met on her way through the village. In front of her, she saw burning
hoghans and Navajo people trying to put out the fire with buckets of water. Hannah knew she was looking for someone. Someone who meant a lot to her. She bumped into fleeing villagers and tripped over her own feet, scraping her knees when she fell down. Frantically, she tried to stay out of sight of the Mexicans on the village square by hiding underneath some thorny bushes.

And then, her eyes focused on a figure running ac
ross the square. He came closer and spotted her, but he averted his eyes so he wouldn’t alert the soldiers to her presence. Hannah stared up in utter confusion. That man who was trying to protect her was the man she’d been looking for. And it was
Josh
.

He looked older, about thirty years old, but it was definitely him. He was wearing
traditional clothes and carrying a bow, which he presently raised to draw the string and release an arrow at the approaching soldiers.

Behind him, a
hoghan collapsed under its own weight, spitting up flames and smoke toward the sky. Hannah coughed, her eyes beginning to tear.

And then, s
he jolted awake, startled by the sound of her phone. Someone must have charged it. Hannah opened her eyes and wildly flailed her left arm to grab it from the bedside table.

“Hey, Nick,” she answered in a
groggy voice after glancing at the display. “How’s life?”

“
Wonderful. You don’t sound very alive yourself, though.”

“You woke me up,” Hannah groaned. “Sorry. I
was supposed to text you yesterday, but I forgot.”

“What time
are we meeting up?”

“Josh and Emily will be here around five. So if you
want to talk to them about your thesis...”

“Great! I’ll be there. What’s the name of your street?”

“It doesn’t have one. Once you get to St. Mary’s Port, just follow the signs saying ‘Log Cabin Park’ and you’ll end up here.”

“Okay, see you later then. Sorry I woke you up.”

“No problem. Bye.”

Hannah threw her phone back on the bedside table and s
tretched her arms and legs, staring at the ceiling. That dream. It had been so bizarre, and yet so life-like. She could still smell the burning wood and hear the villagers scream. She’d never dreamed in Spanish before. She’d been able to understand those soldiers, even though they’d had a strange accent. In a flash, she remembered the Josh from her dream. Older, with a more worn and muscular body and an alert attitude that made him look like a born warrior. And yet, his eyes had been the same when he looked at her. So intense and gentle.

Hannah shivered despite the heat.
Dreaming about Josh wasn’t that strange – after all, she’d been thinking about him a lot lately – but dreaming like this was. It had felt like a blast from the past.

“Hey,” Ben called out from th
e other side of the door. “You awake?”

“No, I was
on the phone in my sleep.”

Ben opened the door with a cheeky
grin. “Snarky as ever. So, how are you feeling, Sleeping Beauty?”

Hannah
yawned. “I slept well. Sorry for skipping dinner.” She conveniently forgot to mention her strange dream. She was
so
not about to fess up to Ben and say she’d dreamed about his best friend playing her protector in some pre-Civil War setting. He’d probably think she was losing it. If she ever had it, to start with. She groaned and got out of bed.

“How about some tacos for breakfast
, then?” Ben pointed at the plate on the kitchen table. “I saved two vegetarian ones for you.”

“Wonderful.” Hannah smiled at her brother and sat down at the table.

“Ivy said they’d be here at four,” Ben said. “What about Nick? What did he say when you called him in your sleep?”

“Oh, he’ll be here at five. Let’s go out and get groceries before they show up. We don’t have enough stuff to feed all of our guests.”

“Amber and Ivy promised to bring drinks for everybody. Josh is bringing some burgers, and I said we’d get ice cream and stuff to make salad. We’ll pick berries some other time.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Hannah sank
her teeth into one of the tacos and finished it in a heartbeat. She was really hungry.

After she scarfed down her breakfast,
they got into Ben’s old Chevy convertible with the top open. While Ben started the engine, Hannah hit the side of the car stereo, which made it sputter to life after a few seconds. It was set to a radio channel playing lazy country music.

“Good. You still know
how my radio works.” Ben chuckled. He was notorious for never throwing anything out until it crumbled to dust in his hands. His car stereo was so old it needed special treatment.

As Johnny Cash crooned
through the speakers, Hannah sank into the car seat, absently looking out at the reddish-brown desert and the deep-blue sky above. It was going to be a hot day. Already, shimmering heat was radiating off the asphalted road in front of them.

A cold shiver suddenly ran down her spine
as Hannah remembered last night’s events. She couldn’t believe she’d threatened people with a gun, even if it had been an unloaded one.

“Y
ou okay, sis?” Ben interrupted her thoughts. “You’re so quiet.”

“S
till thinking about last night. It bothers me that I scared those guys off by pulling a weapon.”

Ben gave her a bug
-eyed stare. “
What
? I didn’t even know you had a gun!”

“I
told them I wasn’t interested in their company, but one of them flat-out told me they’d force the doors open if I didn’t unlock the car myself.”

A
nger flared up in Ben’s eyes. “What a bunch of assholes.”

“Yeah, that’s when I suddenly remembered
the unloaded gun in my glove compartment. Mom gave it to me so I could defend myself if something ever happened to me. I guess I was supposed to buy bullets for it, but I never did.”

Ben shook his head, his mouth set in a firm line.
“You know what? I think we should go down to the police station. You have to file a report. Who knows, those creeps could be stalking and harassing other girls, too.”

Hannah fell silent for a moment, then nodde
d. “Let’s. I’d rather forget about the whole ordeal as soon as possible, but I don’t want those guys bothering other women.”

Once in Page, Ben parked the car on the square
in front of the police station. He followed Hannah inside. “Where can we report a case of harassment?” Ben asked the middle-aged police officer who greeted them when they entered the station.

“Please follow me.” The man walked them to one of the interrogation rooms and sat down at the desk himself, pulling the computer keyboard
toward him. “My name is Graham Curry. I’ll draw up the report for you.”

Hannah started tell
ing her story. She slowly drank the coffee another police officer brought for her and described the guys who’d threatened and harassed her in detail.

“
Is it okay if I go to the supermarket?” Ben whispered, while officer Curry was busy typing the report. “I’ll see you outside when you’re done, okay?”

Hannah nodded,
quickly finishing her description for the police officer. She mentioned Josh in her story as well, since he’d heard the guys’ voices over the phone. He was the closest thing she had to a witness. When she got out of the police station and made her way to the Chevy, she briefly wondered if Josh had a cell phone or a landline at home. Officer Curry had asked her for contact details, but she only knew Josh’s last name was Benally and that he lived in Naabi’aani.

“Does Josh have a
cell?” she inquired, when Ben returned with the groceries and they both sat down in the car.

Be
n shook his head. “No. Why? You want to call him?”

“N
ah,” Hannah said, too hastily.

Ben looked at her sideways
, shooting her a cheeky grin. “Of course you do.”

She blushed. “Stop teasing me. I was just wondering because that cop wanted to have Josh’s number. I mentioned him in the report.”

“No. Josh doesn’t have a phone. He doesn’t see the point. Naabi’aani doesn’t have coverage half of the time anyway, so I can see why. His uncle and aunt have a landline, so if they need to speak to him, they can call him there.”

“I don’t think they’ll need to.” Hannah
absently picked at the hem of her dress. She’d actually love to talk to Josh for a while, but she’d see him tonight, and she would wait for that moment to find out whether he’d be his friendly self – or his distant self.

That afternoon, Hannah lounged around on the beach by herself as Ben stayed in the cabin and devoted himself to cramming for some resits after his vacation. Unfortunately, she’d forgotten to apply sunscreen to the backs of her knees, so by the time she got up from her towel to go home, she couldn’t even stand up straight because her skin stretched too much, causing a stinging pain. Just her luck.

When Hannah finally arrived at the cabin and limped up the porch steps in agony, Ben raised his eyebrows. “What the
heck happened to you? Someone stole your wheelchair on the beach?”

Hannah glowered at him. “
Not
funny. My knee-pits are sunburned. I can barely walk.” She smiled at the two neighbor girls sitting next to Ben on the bench. “Hi there.”

“You should put some herbs on them
,” Amber suggested. “Mixed with yogurt.”

Ivy laughed. “Listen to the witch. A potion for every ailment.”

Amber poked her. “Keep mocking me and I’ll turn you into a toad.”

Ben got up.
“Okay girls, let’s go down to the lake and catch some fish.”

“Not me,” Hannah
protested. “I’m a cripple, and by the way, Nick will be here at five. I’ll stay here and be the welcome committee.”

“Sure. Go pamper yourself. There’s some after-sun lotion in the bathroom.”

After Ben’s car had driven off the sandy track toward Lake Powell, Hannah got up, took a shower and applied some lotion on her burning legs. Just as she stumbled into the kitchen, she heard a car engine outside. Sounded like Nick was already here. Hannah got her guitar from the living room and went outside to greet her new friend.

Instead, she
found herself face to face with Josh, who just stepped out of his car parked next to the log cabin.

“Oh. Hi.” She swallowed, watching
him lift two heavy bags from the back seat. “You’re – early.”

“
Hey, don’t sound so surprised.” Josh walked up the steps. “I know punctuality is not my strong suit, being Indian and all, but really. There’s no need to rub it in.” He grinned at her, disappearing into the kitchen to put the hamburgers in the fridge.

Hannah let out
the breath she’d been holding. This was awkward with a capital A. It hadn’t occurred to her that Josh could get here first. Now she’d be alone with him until Nick and Emily got here, and she felt nervous at the prospect. Which was stupid. This was the perfect opportunity to discuss that almost-kiss where she’d accidentally, well,
rejected
him.

Or m
aybe she should just shut up about it. Josh was just a regular, seventeen-year-old guy learning the ropes and flirting with her before moving on to an actual potential girlfriend his own age.

“So, how are you
feeling?” he asked.

She turned around and unwitti
ngly smiled when he gently put his hand on her shoulder. “Better. Ben made me go to the police and file a report, by the way.”

“I can
imagine.”

“
Oh, I mentioned your name in the report. You’re the only one who heard those guys talk.”

“Sure. If I can help or testify against them, let me kn
ow. I hope they’ll get arrested.”

“
Me too. They only took off because I held them at gunpoint.”

Josh
frowned. “You have a weapon?”

Hannah nodded gingerly.
“Unloaded, though.”

“So that’s why they sudde
nly decided to leave you alone,” he said grimly.

“I really don’t like guns.” Hannah stared at her hands, somehow feeling like Josh was judging her.

“Hey. I know. It wasn’t your fault.”

She looked up, and for a split second she saw his face
as it had been in her dream last night – older, wiser, and completely focused on her. She stared into his dark eyes and heard people shouting in Spanish, smelling the burning fire of her nightmare.