Time Jumper

All her life, strange things had happened to Hannah Grey—like clocks stopping in her presence and visions of portals to other worlds. Never mind that her skin sparkles like a million Christmas lights. When a disturbing spectre threatens her, she decides it’s finally time to visit the Patomani reservation for a history lesson on just who—or what—she is.

Instead, she finds Aden Running Wolf. The blind demon-hunter thought he could never love again, but Hannah instantly arouses his desire. Yet she could also be the ticket to restoring his former life. Would he succumb to the passion exploding between them—or make her his ultimate sacrificial lamb?

Dear Reader,

Imagine walking into a room and having clocks stop, or getting caught in déjà vu experiences for hours, or being able to see portals into other worlds in your dreams. That’s what Hannah Gray’s life is like. No wonder the poor woman feels different, not solely human, as if she doesn’t belong anywhere. She has always wondered about her parents and why they left her in an orphanage. Then suddenly one day she’s struck by heavenly lightning and her body comes alive with magic. She doesn’t know that using this paranormal gift can destroy her, or that she’s such a rare commodity evil entities will stop at nothing to capture her. So she’s really freaked out when she meets Aden Running Bear on the Patomani Indian reservation in her quest to learn about what or who she is. Aden has an agenda all his own and he, too, wishes to exploit her magic. Will he take her life for his own gain? Sorry, you’ll have to read on to find that one out.

But I should tell you that Hannah’s story introduces the supernatural world of Fala, Takala and Nina Rainwater, Hannah’s cousins. If you’re into sexy and scary male warlocks, vampires and shifters, you’ll enjoy the Rainwater sister’s adversaries in The Guardian, The Nightwalker and The Beholder. Happy reading and watch out for those guys you meet that just don’t seem quite human.

Best wishes,

Connie Hall

If you liked this story by Connie Hall, don’t forget to read about Hannah’s cousins in The Guardian, The Beholder and The Nightwalker, coming in 2011 in print and eBook formats from Silhouette Nocturne.

Plus, don’t miss the other spooky and sensual NOCTURNE BITES, available at www.millsandboon.co.uk and wherever eBooks are sold. Titles include:

The Prophecy by Nina Croft Lured by Lori Devoti Moon Marked by Linda Thomas-Sundstrom His Magic Touch by Cynthia Cooke The Bewitching Hour by Vivi Anna The Vampire’s Desire by Alexis Morgan Moon Shadow by Jenna Kernan The Secret Vampire Society by Lisa Childs Taken by the South Wind by Anna Hackett Wind Kissed, Fire Bound by Anna Hackett After the Kiss by Michele Hauf Darkness of the Wolf by Bonnie Vanak Wild, Tethered, Bound by Stephanie Draven Time Raiders: The Seduction by Cindy Dees Savage Dragon by Anna Hackett

Looking for more paranormal romance? The sizzling and spine-chilling books of Silhouette Nocturne are available at www.millsandboon.co.uk or your local bookstore.

Interested in writing for Nocturne Bites? Send your submission to NocturneBites@Harlequin.ca

Time Jumper

Connie Hall

www.millsandboon.co.uk

All my possessions for a moment of time.

Elizabeth I (1533-1603)

Foreword

Time jumpers have been in Patomani tribal folklore for thousands of years. Legend states that the Creator sent Maiden Bear, bringer of all white magic, to reign over the newly formed earth. When Maiden Bear arrived, she clashed with the evil supernatural beings who ascended from the molten bowels of hell. Maiden Bear knew that she must leave the earth one day and that a powerful shaman was needed to combat this evil. She bestowed this honor on one female brave from the Patomani tribe. Maiden Bear called this shaman, The Guardian, defender of all white magic on earth. A guardian needs special powers in her fight against evil, so Maiden Bear fashioned time jumpers, human vessels who can move forward or backward in space and time and leap into other dimensions. Maiden Bear knew that whoever controls time controls the fate of all magic, good or evil, so she limited a jumper’s magic to only one jump. This act draws so much of a jumper’s life force that when her task is over, she dies and her spiritual powers pass on to the next chosen human vessel. Souls of time jumpers always have a special place in heaven at the throne of the Maiden Bear.

Chapter 1

Thunderclouds billowed and writhed across the evening sky, obscuring an enormous moon. Frigid wind, thick with impending icy moisture, rocked Hannah Gray’s white Honda Fit as she turned into the Patomani Indian Reservation.

She gazed at the speedometer. Wasn’t working. Figured.

The clock display read: 8:52, 8:51, 8:50. The digital numbers were moving backward? Peachy! She was used to clocks stopping around her. That had been a regular occurrence all her life. But rewinding? Now that was a new twist. Could things get any wackier? Her life had been one episode of X-Files after another, and the series didn’t appear to be ending anytime soon.

She felt her hands trembling. Then she made the mistake of looking at them. They glowed as if she’d been struck by St. Elmo’s fire. In fact, her whole body pulsed neon.

She cringed. She’d never get used to seeing her own skin lighting up like a firefly. She’d been glowing for a week, since that—Oh, God! She didn’t want to think about what had happened to her in the past seven days. It was too creepy and frightening to contemplate or believe. If she hadn’t lived through it, she would have sworn it was a horrific nightmare.

She turned her mind to her driving and controlling her trembling hands. They steadied a little, but her insides still quaked. Were her organs glowing, too? Was her blood still red? Was she turning into some kind of monster? Another tremor shook her. It really didn’t matter, she told herself. The important thing was, she was still alive and lucid and she was about to discover who or what she was.

Memories of the past seven days made her glance over her shoulder, check the back seat.

Empty.

So why did she have this feeling that she wasn’t alone, that a specter watched her, counted her breaths in the silence of the car, waited for the right moment to attack again? Get a grip. It won’t get you. You’re okay. For now, anyway.

She drove along the reservation’s main gravel road. The road snaked between barren farming fields, through dense woods. Most of the homes were as far off the road as possible, covered by woods. All she could see were driveways carved through dense swatches of trees and mailboxes standing guard at the front of them. A lot of the driveways had No Trespassing signs firmly planted at the entrance. From what she’d read on the Internet, the Patomani Indians didn’t welcome outsiders. It seemed the info on the Net was right.

She was so busy looking for mailbox numbers and trying to drive that she didn’t see the two figures dart out in front of her until it was too late.

Hannah gulped and couldn’t believe what she was seeing: a stag’s lower body and a human torso from the waist up. The creature was running upright across the road, its spindly buck legs defying physics.

It paused and gazed directly at her. Glowing red eyes pierced through the gleam of the headlights and drove straight into her face.

The force of those red eyes hit her like an avalanche. Like a high-pitched freight train tearing through her mind, deafening her, ripping at the confines of her skull. The creature’s occult power electrified her whole body, and her back stiffened. Her hands were glued to the wheel and her foot was pressed to the accelerator. If the creature continued to control her mind she knew she would die. She was losing her grip on the wheel, those red eyes steering her toward death. As she veered off the road, she saw the creature’s pursuer plunge a blade into the stag-man’s chest, using her unexpected arrival to his advantage.

Hannah screamed and barreled into a tree. Glass shattered as her seat belt wrenched the breath from her lungs. A massive limb pushed its way through the driver’s-side window, smashing into her head. Pain tore through her cheek and temple. The air bag exploded, but then let out a loud sigh as the tree bough stabbed it to death. She felt it deflating and thought what a fitting end to a horrible week. Then she let the darkness take her away.

Chapter 2

Aden Running Wolf cursed the unfortunate timing of the car’s driver as he jerked the blade from the eportachi’s chest.

The demon snorted in disbelief at its own impending death. Then it threw back its head and howled up at the sky, the bawl echoing through the air like the bay of a hellhound.

Aden couldn’t actually see the demon, but after being sightless for the past two years, he had mastered a sixth sense that he called sightless radar. He could detect and mentally map out the qi meridians of animate and inanimate objects. Living objects gave off more energy and were easier to follow, and this demon’s evil vibrated all over. So he knew exactly where to plunge the blade in again. The stench of rancid demon blood hit him and he leaped back, gasping.

“I curse you, blind hunter,” the eportachi growled in pain and lunged at Aden again.

“You’re a little late.” A sardonic grin twisted up one side of Aden’s mouth. He anticipated the demon’s every move and before the creature’s fists connected with his face, he lunged left and kicked the beast in the gut.

The demon staggered, hooves hitting the road so hard the ground trembled. “You took unfair advantage,” the demon ground out, the loathing in his voice masked by guttural gasps of pain.

“I’m the blind one here.” Aden knew that his physical flaw was the only reason he was still alive. The power to mesmerize and kill was in an eportachi’s eyes. Up until this moment Aden had resented his fate. But now, when hunting sight-infesting demons, he realized there was a positive side to it.

“You can’t kill me. Only the Guardian is powerful enough to destroy me.” The last word was laced with a gasp of incredulity, as if the eportachi couldn’t acknowledge any type of vulnerability. Then the creature summoned the last of its fading energy and charged Aden.

“Rules change in warfare,” Aden said as he easily sidestepped the stumbling demon.

The eportachi staggered, righted itself, then wheeled around. It growled in pain and grabbed at the gaping holes in its chest. “I’ll find you again, blind hunter, and next time you’ll be the one to die.” A death rattle shook the creature’s chest.

“I look forward to it.” Aden grinned as he heard the familiar fizz of dark magic breaking through the confines of earthbound flesh. Another loud pop and the eportachi’s body exploded. Demon spirit whipped past Aden as it whirled upward.

Aden heard what he knew was a portal to hell open with a huge sucking pop, the heat of it singing the very air. He covered his face with both arms and braced himself, feeling his body being pulled into the scalding vortex. He felt the hairs on his head stand straight up, the air around him charged by the evil. The roar of it singed his face like bee stings, then a funnel of wind sucked what was left of the eportachi’s swirling spirit into the gateway. It slammed shut with a sonic-boom blast.

Aden let out a contented grunt. He knew the eportachi’s spirit would regroup in hell and the same demon would reappear on earth. And it would seek him out. But not tonight. Tonight he’d won this battle. He could still feel the adrenaline rush. He needed that rush to make him feel again, if only for a few minutes. Yes, he was an adrenaline junkie. It kept him sane.

The smell of gasoline fumes and crushed metal drew his attention. He followed the scent to the wreck. The car didn’t belong to a fellow tribal member—he’d detected that before he’d stabbed the eportachi. With his highly discerning hearing, he had cataloged the sounds of all his neighbor’s vehicles, and this one didn’t register among them. This driver was a stranger.

He walked to the mangled car, knife still in hand. He cut away the underbrush that hadn’t been crushed by the accident and reached the car’s smashed left side—what was left of it.

It had wrapped around a huge magnolia, the tree’s massive bough spearing the front seat, its thick waxy pointed leaves giving off a distinctive odor. He hacked away enough small branches, foliage and twigs to locate the driver.

The metallic stench of blood, herbal shampoo, vanilla body splash and hairspray, a female’s scent, guided him. His hands moved over her crumpled body, pinned between the limb and the seat. When he reached for her, a nimbus of energy knocked into him and felt like concrete wall.

He drew back, the fine hairs on the back of his hand standing straight up. Definitely not the garden-variety human female. After he’d lost his vision, he’d mentally cataloged the vibrations of good and evil apparitions. Not one of them had felt like this woman’s, as if he’d just walked into an electrical wire. He picked up a hint of white magic. So what was she?

Determined to free her now, he heaved the bough aside, clasped her around her back with his arm and pulled her from the seat. Her limp body landed with a plop into his arms.

For a moment he couldn’t move, because the same supernatural energy that sizzled the very air around her also coursed through him. Deep in his veins, down in the very marrow of his bones. The feeling was so new, so alive to him. He hadn’t felt this sentient since he’d lost his vision. Her web of energy held him prisoner. And he was a welcome captive, for he could forget Linda’s death, forget the tragedies of his past, forget everything while touching this woman.

The need to help her threw him into action. He found her neck and eased down the collar of her coat and shirt so he could check her pulse.

Erratic but still palpable.

He grew aware of many things at once, the charged humming coursing through her body and up his arms, the creamy feel of her skin against his rough fingertips, her long soft hair that curled stubbornly around his wrist and arm, and her feminine curves nestled against him.

He bent and whispered, “You’re okay. I’ll take care of you.”

As he lifted her out of the car, he felt her slight weight in his arms and guilt began to gnaw at him. He shouldn’t have spoken those words. Why had he said he’d take care of her? It had just slipped out, a moment of weakness. He couldn’t keep that kind of promise. In fact, she was in more danger than ever being near him.

Chapter 3

The soreness in Hannah’s body woke her. There didn’t seem to be one inch of her that didn’t hurt. She grew aware of a bandage wrapped tightly around her head, covering her left temple. It smelled strongly of eucalyptus and assorted herbs. Her head throbbed like someone was scooping out her brains …

No, wait, that was a pair of fingers patting her face. Hot breaths, smelling strongly of milk and peppermint, breezed across her cheek and neck, too. All she could think of was being attacked in the past week, and she jerked back. A stabbing pain shot through her temples as she met two pairs of munchkin eyes in cherub faces. Very human eyes, children’s eyes staring back at her.

She let out the breath she’d been holding and felt her heart slow to a normal rhythm. She realized her left side ached while holding herself up on an elbow, so she carefully lowered her head to the pillow, feeling twinges in places she didn’t know existed. She noticed she was in a strange four-poster bed. Yellow paint covered the bedroom walls and matched the bed’s comforter.

Hannah’s gaze shifted back to the children still standing by the bed. The little girl was beautiful, with large exotic dark eyes and hair and burnt-umber skin. She looked to be about two and wore a red smocked dress. A little boy stood next to her with the same dark features. His hair was clipped close to his head and the hair on his widow’s peak poked straight up. He appeared older, maybe four. He chewed nervously on the sleeve of his green polo shirt, while one of his hands stayed in the pocket of his grass-stained jeans.

When he realized Hannah was staring at him, his eyes grew to the size of half-dollars. He turned in a flurry and ran out of the room, yelling, “D-daddy, Daddy, sh-she w-waked u-u …” He paused in his stuttering, gulped, then forced out, “Up!”

Who was daddy? Thoughts of finding out caused Hannah to fidget, a nervous habit she’d never conquered. The more she fidgeted, the more aware she grew of her body aches and the swimming sensation in her head. She balled her hands into fists to still them and stared into the little girl’s eyes.

The girl hadn’t caught the boy’s fear. She continued to stand by the bed, tracing Hannah’s chin with her fingers, gazing into Hannah’s eyes with such spellbound wonder and trust and sheer delight that Hannah’s heart melted. Her normal reaction would have been to flinch and move away—she had always feared the reaction of others. But this innocent child had a sweet magnetism that drew Hannah in. The girl cocked her head and blinked at Hannah from beneath her thick sooty lashes. A fairy twinkle lit her intelligent onyx eyes, a look that no doubt charmed wide smiles from all those she graced with her curiosity.

Hannah felt a smile catching hold of her and she, too, grinned back at the fey child. In fact, Hannah found herself enjoying the feathery light touch as the little imp learned the contours of Hannah’s nose and lips.

“Hello,” Hannah said, touching the child’s hand, feeling the baby-soft skin.

“Ha-woa.” The little charmer continued to stare deeply into Hannah’s eyes, then she grinned, exposing a few white teeth between her plump lips.

Hannah wasn’t certain she understood fairy vernacular, but she took a stab at a translation. “Hello, back at you,” she said.

“You fizzzzzz,” the little girl said. “Fizzzzzzz.” The child stamped her feet with excitement and her eyes widened as she threw her hands up in the air, then grabbed Hannah’s bare forearm. “Ecktrick.” She gazed down at Hannah’s skin again, absorbed in the intrigue of touching it.

“Better than sticking your finger in a light socket, huh?”

The girl pursed her lips as if trying to decipher some cryptic adult code in Hannah’s words.

“Never mind. You’ll learn what to fear soon enough.”

“Mayhala.”

The male voice hardly rose above a whisper, but it held the acute intensity of a reprimand.

Delight melted from the startled child’s face. She pulled away from Hannah and whirled around, looking confused, as if she’d done something wrong but didn’t understand what. So this was Daddy.

Chapter 4

Hannah wanted to reproach him for startling Mayhala, but the expression in his cold narrowed eyes stopped her. He looked like a black bear who’d just been awakened early from hibernation, irritated, threatening, and ready to end his hunger.

He was tall and lean, she noticed, with the same exotic sun-bronzed skin tone as his children. There was a penetrating gleam in his eyes, as if he could see right into a person’s most private places. His harsh expression tugged at the sharp planes of his ruggedly handsome face, softened only by a pair of wide sensual lips. A thick ponytail of jet-black hair fell past his sinewy shoulders and stopped at the middle of his back. If he’d been wearing buckskins, moccasins and a muzzle loader, he would have looked like a character right out of The Last of the Mohicans.

Something about him looked familiar, too. A memory flashed and she was seeing him in the headlights … the one who’d been stabbing that weird creature. It had all seemed so unreal and so far away. But this guy was definitely real. His authority and predatory air filled the room like a thundercloud, and the walls suddenly closed in around her.

To her dismay she realized she wasn’t wearing anything but an oversize T-shirt that barely covered her thighs. His? He’d undressed her. Oh, God! He had to have seen she glowed like white Christmas lights. The thought made blood rush to her cheeks, but she couldn’t feel the sting of it for the wired sensation chasing beneath her skin.

An overwhelming feeling of embarrassment gripped her and she wanted to throw back the covers and run. But all she could do was lie in this bed, avoiding his gaze, her fingers twisting the covers, her feet and toes twitching as she said, “She’s okay. We were just getting acquainted.”

“You have a concussion. She shouldn’t be in here.” He reached down and scooped up Mayhala.

The girl immediately went into a tantrum. “Noooooo! Daddeee. Stay! Feel ecktrick! Ecktrick!”

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