Time Jumper

Time Jumper
Connie Hall

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?

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 (http://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.