Timesurfers Page 26

  No one seemed the least bit fazed about her creating zombies. If anything, Austin was more relaxed than ever. He was always comfortable in his own skin, but there was a buoyancy about him tonight. “So you weren’t surprised?” Cate prodded.

  “Nope.” Austin gave a bright grin.

  “How about repulsed or scared?”

  “Pu-leese!” Austin drew out the word. “Not much scares me. I’m relieved if anything.”

  He did seem relieved. “Why?”

  “Everyone likes the idea of my world. Travelling through time, the magic, and being a badass. Very few people can actually stomach the reality of it. You’ve proved you can, and I’m psyched!” His eyes shone with excitement.

  “But—”

  “Let yourself enjoy tonight. It’s a few hours. All the other rubbish will still be there after.”

  “I have one question for you and then I promise to be fun-filled Cate all night.”

  “Ask away.”

  “When the dome came down to mask the magic for the hand-to-hand combat the three boys could talk about my future. There was no magic stopping them. I know that I should have killed Zach but I didn’t.”

  Austin looked dumbfounded. “We went to disarm the bomb, then because of what happened, Naitanui decided I should watch you until we could confirm your identity and trace your history with the cubes. He found a few snippets of you in the cubes but nothing substantial.”

  Austin hadn’t known about Zach, but Rose did. Jonah was feeding her information.

  “That is definitely your one question. Is fun-filled Cate ready to show herself?”

  “She is.”

  Chapter 28

  Toga

  She shoved the dark thoughts to the back corner of her mind, determined not to let them consume her until after the toga party. As they headed along a balcony, the uneven stone floor pulsed under her feet. The dull thud of music hinted at the party on the other side of the doors directly ahead.

  Austin strode past a lengthy queue of people.

  Cate grabbed at his arm. “Ah, should we wait at the end? I’m not up for a ‘you pushed in’ fight.”

  “It’s a perk of being a successful grommet. No waiting in queues.”

  A wall of sound crashed over her when Austin ushered her through the solid wooden doors. Glitter exploded from iron tanks that hung from the ceilings. It floated through the air like acid rain and settled over the mass of toga wearing figures writhing on the dance floor. The darkness and smoke filled air created near on complete anonymity.

  Austin pulled her close and pointed left. Rafe wore a gold leaf Caesar crown and an obscene amount of glitter with his lime green toga. “He’s wearing a leopard print G-string under that.” Austin shook his head and rolled his eyes. “It’s the same each time. After a few drinks he’s flashing everyone.”

  Cate had imagined Rafe would be a great dancer. Instead, he looked to be having an epileptic fit interspersed with some complex yoga moves. “Isn’t that Godfrey from this afternoon?”

  “Yep, that’s Godlike Godfrey. He hates if you call him that.” Austin threw his head back and laughed. “We did our GTs together. He’s my go to man when I want to actually go surfing in the ocean.”

  Godfrey was pretty easy on the eyes.

  Austin cupped his ear with his hand. “I hear them playing our song! Let’s boogie.”

  There was extremely dirty dancing going on everywhere. When Austin pulled her obscenely close, she dropped her chin, unable to look him in the eyes. He was an awesome dancer. Rhythm oozed through him, and his body responded effortlessly to the music. She peeked up at him. There was a look of freedom on his face as he moved with his eyes closed. She took a mental picture and relaxed into him. They fit perfectly.

  The girl behind Austin whipped her hair like a weapon. If Cate tried that, she’d either break her neck or end up on the ground a dizzy, disoriented mess. She closed her eyes and let her body feel the music. Nothing much happened.

  Someone grabbed her hips from behind and started grinding against her. Austin opened one eye and swung her away from the perpetrator. She peered around Austin and saw Rafe. Completely devoid of shame, he gyrated against his next target. She envied that he could let go so completely with no fear. He caught her staring and smiled big.

  He shimmied around and slid in behind her, grabbed her hands, and wrapped them around his neck. He forced her body to follow him as he moved. “Be sexy and free!” he yelled near her ear and twirled her around to face him. She giggled at his renewed efforts to make her follow his outrageous moves. “Try a sexy face,” he pouted. “Always helps me!”

  In the second she looked up at the water misting from rows of black rubber tubing crisscrossing the ceiling, Rafe disappeared. Her heart squeezed out a few extra beats as she searched for Austin through the unfamiliar faces dancing in a trancelike state. She blinked, concentrating on the dark-haired boy on the other side of the room. Had his eyes flashed violet? Panic gripped her heart and squeezed. Violet eyes flashed back at her from every face she checked. She pushed her palm into her eyes and looked again. No violet eyes anywhere this time.

  Godfrey had become the meat in a very hot dance sandwich, but his eyes were fixed on her. “Are you okay?” he shouted.

  She nodded and shouldered her way through the crowd, suddenly desperate for fresh air. Her hand pushed against the wooden doors, and she gulped the cool night air that rushed against her face as she stepped outside.

  “Cate!” A step behind her, Austin closed the doors, dulling the deafening noise. His cheeks flushed red.

  She hurried to the edge of the balcony. “I needed a moment. You didn’t see any violet-eyed zombies in there, did you?” Her voice trembled.

  He smiled that outrageously potent smile that scrambled her brains and made her heart threaten to explode through her chest. “No.”

  “Great, there are no zombies. Not so great—I’m seeing things.”

  He slid both hands around her waist and nestled his chin on her shoulder. “It’s been a big day. You’re safe with me. This is a guaranteed zombie-free zone.”

  She relaxed back into him. Heat poured off him through her toga. An involuntary sigh escaped her lips as he lifted her hair and kissed the back of her neck. From the moment she saw Austin, it was "Hello! Hot stranger, I think I love you! I know I need you." It was like her life had been a puzzle she’d been looking at forever, and Austin was that lost piece you find under the table that suddenly makes everything else fall into place and make sense.

  “Let’s go in here.” Austin tugged her into an opulent room. Enormous tapestries hung along three walls. Her fingers brushed the heavy black velvet curtains fastened with silver tassels. The starless night sky was visible through a massive circular window.

  Austin’s hands cupped her face, and her body swayed toward him. His lips brushed hers, sending shivers rippling along her skin. He pressed his face against her chest, his breath hot against her skin as he kissed the base of her neck. “You make my world beautiful.”

  Her fingertips traced the scars down his cheek, and her thumb brushed across his lower lip. She hugged him fiercely and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. “I have to find Xavier by myself.” It was a relief to get the words out.

  Austin pulled back and wiped droplets of sweat from his forehead. “Why?”

  The anguish on his face sliced through Cate’s heart. Choosing between her family and Austin was excruciating, but she knew she was doing the right thing. “Naitanui and Mortez can track you. I have to find Xavier and then keep him and Mum safe.”

  “They can track you too.” The confusion and hurt on Austin’s face made her stomach turn.

  “Yes, but there’s way less chance of them finding just me. Two of us travelling together will be much easier to spot.” Her argument sounded feeble even to her ears.

  “Look, don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t think you can find him by yourself. You think Elias took him, which is based on no subst
antial evidence. It could have been any Timesurfer. Let me help you.” Austin’s eyes burned with an intensity she hadn’t seen before.

  “I can find him and I will find him. You have this great life. I won’t be the one who messes that up for you. I don’t want you to end up despising me.” Austin had to get on with his life. She didn’t want the two of them to end up like Rose and Jonah. Their love destroyed them a little more every day.

  “I want you in my life, Cate.” He ran his hands over his hair in frustration.

  “Keeping my family safe has to come first. There is so much more to this than how I feel about you. No matter how much I want to be with you it can’t happen. I don’t want anyone to be able to use my powers as a weapon. I don’t want to be part of this world.” Fireworks exploded over the sky. Perfectly framed by the round window, they looked like tears rolling down a cheek.

  “You disappoint me, but I won’t beg.”

  The disdain and sadness in his tone pierced her chest like a dagger. “Can you please take me to Naitanui?”

  His fingers were hot and slick against her arm. “Naitanui!”

  He released her the instant they arrived at the Break. Beads of sweat rolled down his back as he walked away without a backward glance. Guilt twinged her chest with each step he took away from her, but this was what had to happen, regardless of how unsavoury she found it.

  Naitanui appeared on the chair at the head of the glistening black marble table. He wore a white dinner jacket with a black silk shirt and tie. “You’re calling it a night early, I see.” He tugged his diamond cufflinks and straightened his sleeves.

  “I’m ready to find my brother.” Her voice was robotic and flat.

  Naitanui gave her a tight smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I can’t help you with that yet.”

  “You said you’d help me find my brother if I competed in the GTs.” Hysteria bubbled through her chest, raising her voice an octave.

  “When the time is right, I will.” Naitanui’s unemotional eyes narrowed, waiting for her to piece together the puzzle of the last few weeks. For a long moment, silence bounced off every undulating crevice of the Break.

  “You never wanted me. You wanted her. When future Cate wakes up and remembers all this, you want her to come to you. That’s the only way to keep your precious history untainted,” Cate said bitterly.

  “I was clear from the outset I protect history, good and bad. I was only ever going to deal with the Catherine in my present.”

  He had been crystal clear about that. She dropped her forehead against the smooth, cool marble table, deflated like a balloon stuck by a needle. “You used me to get to her.”

  “I will lower the magic wards which prevent unauthorised access to the Break by Mortez and her Timesurfers at 12:12 a.m. tomorrow for two minutes only. If you want me to help you find your brother you will come to me then, alone.” Naitanui handed her a piece of paper.

  She read the contents aloud. “12:12 a.m. Tuesday 17th January 2017.” He wanted her to wait three years before he would help her find Xavier. This was going horribly wrong. “If I choose to do this, how do I travel to the Break?”

  “Just call my name and the magic will do the rest.”

  “I want to go home.”

  Naitanui nodded. “Enjoy your first solo trip. I hope you have a very happy nineteenth birthday tomorrow if I don’t see you.”

  Chapter 29

  Another Plan

  The twilight shadows shimmered as Rose materialised and strode with a fierce grace toward the house. Jonah smiled from behind the bare jacaranda tree. She was right on time. The curtains were drawn at Cate’s bedroom window. Since the GTs, Cate had made the job of surveilling her as difficult as possible. She hadn’t taken well to being thwarted by Naitanui. Jonah jogged across the manicured lawn.

  Rose was all business. “Did you deal with Pip?”

  “Pip is sleeping peacefully courtesy of a caramel latte laced with sleeping powder from yours truly.” Beads of sweat trickled down Jonah’s back. Catherine was near delirious from the raging temperature she had been running for close to fifteen hours now. His temperature started at the GTs ball. Whatever was going down now impacted him, Mortez, the boys, Rose, Austin, and of course Catherine.

  This was the last roll of the dice. He would return from this trip just minutes before the midnight reset, after which everyone’s temperatures would vanish and the altered time line would be revealed. That altered time line would become their new reality.

  “This is risky, Jonah. If Mortez discovers we’ve collaborated to have Cate murder Zach, she’ll make you hurt. Regardless of the fact it’s the best thing for her. The guilt and self-loathing Cate experiences after she kills him is paramount to setting her on the correct path.”

  He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his shirt. “You mean the path she chose the first time?”

  “Yes, the correct path. The one she will have to learn to live with. You’re running a temperature and so is Austin. I can’t believe that little teenage troll is even making me run a temperature. That’s proof this alternate time line where she doesn’t kill Zach affects us all. I’m confident in saying it won’t be for the better.” Rose wiped droplets of sweat from her top lip.

  “I think you might be right there.”

  “How did you convince Zach that he was going to be murdered? It’s worked like a charm so far.”

  Jonah ran a hand through his damp hair. “He thinks he overheard Cate and Eve hatching a plot to have Brittany murder him with his super-duper hearing. It was a recording I cobbled together on a mobile phone and played to myself in the backyard.”

  Rose sighed. “The young are so easily fooled. Zach’s so full of his own self importance he wanted to believe those two would collude to kill him. He texted Brittany to come and visit him, and when he opened the door killed her without so much as a hello. She’s dead, again. Zach is convinced the threat against his life is real and he’s headed here to deal with Cate. I’ve sent someone to keep an eye on Eve just in case he changes his mind on the way.”

  “Be vigilant. He’ll attempt to kill Cate at the first opportunity.”

  She dragged her hands down her face. “Never have I been so tempted not to save someone’s life. But I’ll do my duty. Like I always do.” Rose lifted her damp black hair off her neck.

  “How’s Austin?”

  “Hot, literally. His temperature has continued to climb since the GTs.”

  Jonah brushed at the last few stubborn pieces of hair plastered to the back of Rose’s neck. His fingers lingered and traced the initials branded down her neck. “I’ve never wanted to kill someone more than the animal who gave you these.”

  “Let’s focus on one revenge death at a time shall we?” Rose wriggled her phone from her back pocket. The warm evening breeze carried the muffled ring of a mobile phone from inside the house. Rose rolled her eyes. “Any normal teenager’s life stands still for the phone. She doesn’t even have a signature ring tone. The girl is so bland.”

  “Hello,” Cate’s flat voice came through the phone when she finally picked up.

  “Come downstairs and let me in.”

  “Well Rose, since you asked so nicely—”

  Rose ended the call with a self-satisfied chuckle. “That’ll piss her off, and guarantee she’ll tear down the stairs to indignantly throw the door open. She’s bland and predictable. Go! She’ll see you.”

  “I’m going. Make it happen.” He slipped into the shadows as the painted blue door opened. As predicted, Cate was fuming. Rose dismissed her ranting with a wave of her hand and sauntered inside. Game on.

  ***

  “Is anyone else home?” Rose checked the newly redecorated lounge with a nonchalance that made Cate want to smack her in the mouth.

  “NO!” Cate threw her head back. “The boys are at the detention centre with Mum, and as I’ve recently become an only child, that leaves just me. What do you want?” After each breath, her chest snapped
back like a taut rubber band.

  Rose’s faded black jeans fit her perfectly. There was no way she had any weapons concealed in them. When she lifted her arms, Cate glimpsed knife holsters under the cropped leather jacket.

  “I’m on Cate Watch tonight, so I thought I’d come in and see how you were dealing with...everything.”

  “That’s all you people do. Watch! It’s so...insipid,” Cate growled.

  Rose tapped her silver fingernails against the railing of the polished wooden stairs. “Is that so?”

  “Yes,” Cate stated emphatically. “If you turned up and laid all the cards on the table, people would be a hundred times more likely to do what you want.”

  Rose languished on the step. “People have to make their own decisions.”

  “That is the biggest load of CRAP!” Cate slammed the front door. “That’s your pathetic excuse for protecting history in a passive way. Naitanui is weak. He should be helping me find Xavier if he’s so wedded to keeping his precious history free from manipulation.”

  Rose shrugged. “Get over yourself. More than 600 people go missing without a trace in the world every day. That’s over a million during the last five years. Naitanui doesn’t look into all of them. Now he knows about Xavier and his connection to you, I’m sure he’ll investigate his disappearance further.”

  “Elias kidnapped him.” Cate flopped on the step below Rose, suddenly exhausted from being angry all the time.

  “Someone may have kidnapped him. That someone could have been Elias. However, most Timesurfers who disappear have inadvertently fallen in a different time line or dimension.”

  “Is there a manual or something to teach Timesurfers all this stuff?”

  “You can get by with remembering four things. Time is linear and definitive. History resets at midnight and on February the twenty-ninth each leap year. Timesurfers should be home by midnight to avoid the worst of the side effects of an altered history and they always follow orders. Simple.”