Arrows of Time - Kim Falconer [182]
They stood on the ledge, the very outcropping where he and Rosette had spent so much time. His heart tugged at the thought and his mouth turned down at the corners. Was she all right? Recovering? Perhaps they should have seen her before they left. He’d wanted to, but hadn’t pressed the point.
‘You’re doing it again,’ Selene said.
‘Doing what?’
‘You’re thinking about her.’
‘Who?’
‘Don’t be daft. You’re obsessed with Rosette. Admit it.’
‘I’m not thinking about her. I’m certainly not obsessed. I’m just wondering about…’
‘Her.’ Selene supplied the word when he hesitated. ‘It’s obvious. The more you deny it, the weaker your case.’
‘I’m on trial. Is that it?’
Selene ignored the question. She headed out into the swamp, testing its depth. He watched her pick a path around the darker pools, skirting the edges of the black pits. He followed. There was no point in trying to explain his connection to Rosette when Selene was like this. They needed a new topic, quickly. ‘Do you think we’ve been spotted?’ he asked.
A lone raven landed on a nearby branch, calling out before it took flight again, its wings whooshing overhead.
‘Perhaps we have now,’ she answered. ‘In any case, it looks like your time loop theory was wrong.’
His boots were squelching in the mud as he hurried to catch up to her. He nodded. ‘It’ll be interesting to see what time we are, though.’
She slowed her pace and turned to him. ‘You mean, we could be in the past?’
‘That, or even a completely different now.’
She shrugged. ‘Not too different.’ Her nose wrinkled. ‘Demon’s darkness, this place is rank.’
Jarrod knocked on the door. He knew he’d already been announced. Drayco had spoken to him as he’d climbed the stairs, searching for Rosette’s room. He’d left Kreshkali and Teg in the library. They were casting horary charts and checking the planetary transits, searching for clues to where An’ Lawrence might be found, or where in all the myriad realities they could look. He’d wanted good news to take Rosette—a destination at least. She would surely ask after him. So far, there was nothing positive to relay.
When he focused his quantum thoughts on the matter, he came up with so many waves of potential, so many seemingly random places the Sword Master might have reached, it was no help at all. It was very strange. It was almost as if An’ Lawrence was nowhere and everywhere all at once. He knocked again.
You don’t need to keep banging on my door, Jarrod. I heard you coming up the steps and down the hall.
Rosette?
Enter!
Rosette’s voice in his mind made him smile. ‘And I’ve heard you snoring into your pillow all morning,’ he answered back.
‘You have not!’ She swung the door open, and greeted him on the threshold, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him deeply.
As he held her body, he sensed for damage, scanning her DNA.
‘Hey, Dr Cossica,’ she whispered. ‘Stop probing. I’m fine.’
As she stepped aside, his eyes caught Grayson’s. He sighed and let his hands slip from Rosette’s waist. ‘How’re you feeling?’ He turned her left and right. ‘Good to be back in the old body?’
‘Not as old as yours,’ she laughed, pinching him.
Grayson got up from the couch and grabbed his pack. ‘I’ve got work,’ he said. He thrust his hands deep in his pockets and headed for the door.
Rosette reached for him but he slipped past. ‘I’ll come down to the stables and find you,’ she said, but he was gone.
Jarrod lifted his brow.
‘It’s always been a tricky one,’ she answered his silent query. ‘Seems more so now.’
He roughed the top of Drayco’s neck and sat on the couch, patting the space next to him. The temple cat leapt up, which made them both laugh.
‘I think he meant me, Drayco.’ She squeezed between her familiar and Jarrod, putting an arm around each.
‘How is it with him?’ Jarrod asked, after a few moments of silent communion.
‘With Grayson?’ She held her smile a moment longer before letting it fade. ‘We’re close, connected. You know that. But…’