And none of it made much sense. They could only hope that the way forward would become clear when the time was right.
Christ, she was sounding just like Kane and his crazy mission. But maybe they all needed a little faith right now.
At that moment, the Harley purred around the corner from the underground parking garage. At the same time, two big black SUVs pulled up just behind it. Kane took off his helmet and swung off the bike. Coming toward her, he wrapped his arm round her shoulders and kissed her.
As she raised her head, the driver’s door of the first SUV opened and Jake stepped down. The other doors opened, and Christa, Sadie, Josie, Ethan, and Steve spilled out. Dexter, Imogen, Finn, Chase, Connor and Ryder appeared from the second SUV.
Kaitlin stood there for a moment, locked in place. They weren’t supposed to be here. They were supposed to be safe in Australia. She blinked a couple of times. Jake regarded her with one eyebrow raised as Kane gave her a gentle nudge forward.
She stopped in front of Jake. He opened his arms, and she moved into them, wrapping her arms around him, and crying.
She never cried. But she’d believed she would never see them again and here they were.
Finally, with a sniff, she stepped back and frowned. “What are you doing here?”
“We decided it wasn’t right that you get all the fun.” He shook his head. “Come on, brat. Anyone would think you weren’t pleased to see us.”
“I am. I really am. But I also sort of wish you were tucked in safe somewhere.”
“We thought about it. But in the end, we had to come. We’re family, and we need to be together at this time. Besides we have faith.”
It was weird that she’d also been thinking in terms of faith. She really hoped they weren’t going to get religion. If they survived.
She turned to take in the others, then focused on Sadie. “Just tell me you’ve had a vision and that’s why you all came. That you saw us all living happily ever after.”
Sadie grinned. “Well, not exactly. Actually, I haven’t had any visions recently. But I have faith as well.”
Jesus.
Faith? Is that what it was coming down to now?
Kane grinned. “And of course, we have a truckload of weapons and enough explosive to blow up a shitload of bad guys.”
That was better. “We’d better get off, or we’ll miss the party.”
“Yeah,” Jake said, “Let’s go.”
They all piled into the SUV. She found herself seated between Kane and Sadie. “It’s weird,” she said as they pulled into the traffic. “We’ll all be together, except for Quinn.”
“I wonder where he is,” Sadie replied. “Or rather,whenhe is.”
“Hopefully, somewhere safe with Melody. But who knows what will happen if we succeed and stop the cataclysm? Will wherever he is cease to exist? Will Quinn cease to exist?”
“I don’t know. But we don’t really understand time. Maybe there isn’t only one strand. Maybe there are lots of strands that run alongside each other, and in this one, he’ll cease to exist, but in another, he’ll still be there.”
Kaitlin had spent a lot of time, contemplating this, lying in bed and discussing it with Kane, and she was still no closer to comprehending the ramifications of changing the future.
She sat back and slipped her hand into his. She hadn’t slept much last night. They had made love as though it was their last time together. Which it might be. Now surrounded by the peopleshe loved, she closed her eyes and relaxed, letting her mind go clear. There was nothing else to discuss. They had gone over the possibilities endlessly. There was no reason to go over them again. A sense of peace filled her.
She found herself smiling as the fear slipped away.
They would survive. Or not.
They drove out of the city and headed north. They’d correlated the expected crash site from all the various sources of information. It was about an hour’s drive from the city, just off Route 17. They’d set up base on a hill about a mile away. It was close to midday as they pulled up.
The others seemed unsurprised to see their company, and Kaitlin watched with narrowed eyes as Rose hugged Sadie. “Did everyone know but me?” she asked.
“Yup,” Kane replied, sounding unrepentant. “We thought it would be a nice surprise.”
