“Where’s Jaden?” she asked suddenly, her head whipping around. But the chamber was empty. She looked up at Kerr and then her eyes sought out her mother’s.
“Jaden was there. She helped us shift from Drakkon! Where the hell is she?” The panic and fear she felt was overwhelming. Kerr grabbed her close as her mother flew to the virtual map that hung along the wall.
Frankie was already there and she turned to them, her face tense. “She’s gone back in time, nearly four hundred years.”
“Where?” Lily asked, already blaming herself. Time-shifting was always dangerous even under normal circumstance. Something must have happened while they were in the in-between realm and her sister had not made it home.
Her mother was studying the map and she whispered softly, “Sweet god of Turin.” Rachel Black turned to them and though her manner was composed, her voice even, Lily knew she was worried.
“She’s on the planet Nall.”
Lily clutched Kerr tightly.
“What does that mean?” he asked as he pulled her into the warmth of his arms.
Nall was a dangerous planet at present, but four hundred years ago it was barbaric.
A slave planet.
“We need to go after her,” she whispered.
“No.” Rachel Black’s voice was firm. “The greater power wants her there for a reason. Jaden is a Black Opal. A warrior. She will be fine. We need to concentrate on the task at hand.”
“Which is?” Kerr asked.
“Destroying The New Order.”
Lily nodded and shook out her long hair, her hand enveloped deep within Kerr’s large one. “I’m up for that.”
Kerr was quiet and she nudged him. “What’s wrong? I know this is a lot for you to take in.”
“What about my people? I can’t abandon them but I will not return alone.”
Lily turned in his embrace. “We will go back. That is my promise to you but first I need to fight for my family.” She tossed an angry look at her sister Frankie. “The New Order must be destroyed.” She paused as she eyed up the tattooed stranger and then a thought occurred that sent a chill through her.
“You all right?” Kerr must have sensed her anxiety
“Mallick said something to me. He wanted to claim me as his. He said it was his right.” The darkness that fell across Frankie’s face wasn’t reassuring. The tattooed stranger’s arms pulled her sister in close as Frankie sighed.
“They’ve a new plan in the works.” Frankie’s voice held a slight tremble. A look passed between Frankie and her mother.
“And that would be?” she asked, eyebrows raised.
Rachel Black walked toward Lily and smiled at Kerr. “You were meant for my daughter. You are her mate. The New Order has managed to find out who each of you is predestined to meet.”
“But that’s totally crazy,” Lily blurted, the words dying on her tongue at the bleak look on Frankie’s face.
Her mother nodded toward the stranger. “This is Dekkar James and he is a human from the planet Earth in the time of 2010. He was targeted for assassination because he’s Frankie’s mate.”
Lily looked up at Kerr. “So he’s my…um, he belongs to me?” Mother of god, but her tongue was all sorts of tangled. “That’s why I was sent to Drakkon?”
Rachel nodded. “I didn’t know it at the time. It was just another mission but in the weeks you’ve been gone we’ve learned of their plans.”
“And that would be?” Lily was almost afraid to hear the answer.
“They want my girls for themselves. They want to procreate with you. Produce their own pack of time shifters so they don’t have to use synthetic means to time travel.” Rachel sighed. “We cannot let them achieve their goal. The results would be disastrous.”
Lily turned and looked up at Kerr, her eyes earnest, full of unshed tears. “I can take you back to your people now. I don’t want… You shouldn’t have to get caught up in our war.”