Chaos (Lanie Bross) - Lanie Bross Page 0,41

in her stomach and, after a few sips, made her swirling thoughts begin to settle. She closed her eyes for a second, savoring the taste and the silence.

“So. Do you have any idea why?”

Ford’s question surprised her. She opened her eyes and saw that he was staring at her.

“Why what?” she asked.

His dark eyes drilled into her. “Why someone is trying to kill you.”

“None.” She set the steaming tea on the ground. “I have no idea who those people are, or why they’re following me.”

“Following you?” Ford repeated. “You’ve seen them before?”

It occurred to her that he didn’t know about the attack in the park. Or that she’d already lived through the attack at the pavilion twice. Would he think she was insane if she told him that time was skipping around?

Probably. But somehow, confined in this little room and feeling safe for the first time in days, she felt she could truly trust him.

She took a deep breath. “This isn’t the first time they’ve attacked me. Actually, this isn’t the first time they’ve attacked us, either.” Ford frowned. Jas rushed on. “Look, this is going to sound crazy. But I knew they’d be there today because they attacked us in the same spot … not yesterday, really, I guess today, but before.…” She knew she wasn’t making any sense. She glanced up at Ford. His expression hadn’t lost its neutrality.

“Time shifted, then?” he asked, as if it was a regular occurrence.

Relief broke in her chest. “Yeah. Exactly. Time shifted.” He still didn’t react. “I don’t know how else to explain it. I get this horrible headache and everything gets bright. Then, when I open my eyes, I’m somewhere else. A different day.”

“Go on,” Ford said.

She wrapped her fingers around the mug again. The tea—or maybe it was the whiskey—was making her limbs feel heavy, and a cozy warmth spread through her veins.

“The last day I really remember clearly is Friday. Then there’s this chunk of time just … missing. My … brother won’t tell me what happened.” Jasmine stumbled over the word brother. Luc was in trouble—she could sense it—and it was all her fault. “And there’s more. I can smell and hear and, like, sense things a thousand times better than before—sense people, even, and what they’re feeling. Except for you. Not you.” Her face was burning. She looked away from him. “I don’t understand any of it,” she finished. “I don’t know why those people are trying to hurt me.”

Ford was quiet for a minute. Then, abruptly, he stood up. “They’re Executors,” he said, taking her empty cup. “It’s what they do.”

Laughter bubbled up from deep inside Jas. What had he put in her tea? She felt light, giddy, and not quite solid. “Executors? Like ‘off with your head’ type of people?”

When he turned back to her, he was frowning. “You really don’t know, do you. About anything.” He shoved a hand through his hair.

The way he said anything sent goose bumps up her arms. Suddenly, she didn’t feel giddy anymore. “I—I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jas said quietly.

He sat down across from her with a deep sigh. His eyes searched her face, as if he was debating how much to tell her. Finally, he said, “There are forces out there charged with keeping order in the universe. They obey their laws blindly, without care or thought for others. And they don’t stop. They never stop.” His voice held such bitterness that Jas wanted to reach out and hug him. But she had too many questions.

“What do you mean, forces?” she asked. “Like … physics and stuff?” She had never been any good at math and science. Except astronomy. She knew the positions of all the stars, had memorized them with Luc when she was a little girl.

Ford shook his head impatiently. “Not forces. People. People like the girl and boy who attacked us today.”

“Executors,” Jasmine said. Ford nodded.

She inhaled sharply. It was insane. But so was everything that had happened to her. “How do you know all this?”

Ford shrugged. “The universe is big, and complicated,” he said. His eyes were like starry skies: points of light dancing in the middle of darkness. “I’ve seen many parts of it.”

She bit her lip. Not human. The words were impossible to ignore this time. “So … you don’t think I’m crazy?”

His lips turned up at the corners and he looked at her sideways. “I think you’re a little crazy. You did knee an Executor in the groin.”

“He