High Noon - Casey Bond Page 0,14

Haven, I didn’t see her there. She was at the gala with the two of you, though.”

“Haven?” I asked, turning my attention to Maru. “What haven?”

Maru gestured to Enoch. “He’s offered any and all humans asylum in a section of the city we thought was destroyed, or at the very least occupied by the vampires. In fact, I didn’t see one blood-sucker the whole time we walked to it, and everyone in the town was human.”

“Where were the vamps?”

Maru shook his head. “That’s what I wondered.”

“Perhaps you should’ve stayed to find out,” Enoch said softly.

“You said we were safe,” Maru challenged. “I assumed you meant it, because Eve said I could trust you.”

“And yet you don’t,” Enoch volleyed.

“Trust, Eve will tell you, is earned, not freely given.” Maru gave me a pointed look. I felt the sudden urge to cry but fought back the tears that threatened. I wasn’t sure why emotions seemed to wash over me in such angry waves. Maybe it was because Maru had been through everything with me, even if we didn’t remember it at the time. He endured every bad thing, or made sure I did, anyway. And he was in every single one of my good memories. Every happy moment had him, Titus, or both in it.

My stomach dropped. Enoch noticed the change in me. “What’s the matter?”

“We have to find Titus,” I blurted. If Terah and Enoch were at odds after we last jumped and still hadn’t made amends, that meant she was likely still angry. She’d tried to dispose of me discreetly while Enoch was around, but without his presence or protection, she wouldn’t bother trying to kill Titus in secret. She’d make a bloody spectacle of it.

“I don’t know for certain,” Enoch warned, “but we can look in Falling Branch. It’s a former trading post that’s being built into a more substantial town. Asa lives nearby. Terah might be with him. She was there last year.”

What if she wasn’t? What if she’s already moved on and Titus is far away? How will we ever reach him in this era?

Enoch clutched my hand. “It might take some time, but we’ll find him.”

Hotah spoke up. “I can help. And I’ll ask Kohana if he will, too.”

Maru shook his head. “Time is a luxury we can’t afford. Kael is going to pull us back to the Compound in seventy-two hours, and I’m not even sure if seventy-two hours our time is equal to that in this time. We may have less. Not to mention that his plans may change. When I jumped, I saw a boy – a telepathic boy that Kael kept in his lab – walking into the Haven among those seeking protection.”

Enoch’s brows furrowed. “What does telepathic mean, and what do you mean when you say he will pull you back?”

Maru took a deep breath and tried to explain it as best he could. “A telepath can speak into someone else’s mind. He speaks to Kael, so anything he sees or witnesses can be directly transmitted to Kael. He’ll know everything about the Haven and the people occupying it. All the logistics. It’s a nightmare, if you think about it. The Haven was secret until he walked in, or at least it seemed that way.” Maru turned to me. “As far as the pull… so far, the Assets have jumped on their own. You’ve decided when to leave the time you occupy, but Kael pre-determined where and when you would land next. It’s like organized chaos. You thought you were just bumping along through time, but it’s really been him leading you back to him. And he’s set a date to pull you home. You’ll land near him, Eve. He is your new target.”

“That can’t happen!” Enoch shouted, jumping to his feet. He had to crouch so he didn’t hit his head on the tipi wall.

Hotah jumped up with him and tried to calm Enoch down, but he didn’t fully understand what Kael being my new target meant for me. He didn’t understand any of it.

It was a nightmare. I couldn’t think of a worse target to have, or a time from which to be extracted. But the bigger problem, the one that affected humanity as a whole, wasn’t the telepath or even Kael. It was Abram. He was out of control. He would land back in our time, an impossibly strong vampire, and wreak havoc on the human population before Victor or Kael could apprehend him. If they even could.

“Enoch,”