Pure Blood (Time Spirit Trilogy, #3) by Melissa Pearl Read Free Book Online Page B

on his chin. “Why don’t
Lucia and I meet here tomorrow to keep working on the travel thing
and you join us at lunchtime after you’ve gone through your
mother’s stuff.”
    “Cool.” Harrison pushed up from his car and
walked around to open the door for Gemma. Once she was secured
inside the vehicle, he sauntered back to his door, stopping to slap
a firm hand on Gabe’s shoulder. “Thanks for your help.”
    He wanted to say more, knowing this man
mirrored his feelings about Gemma’s travel, but he couldn’t form
the words.
    “I’ll prepare her as best I can.” Gabe read
his mind. “Don’t worry, she’s capable of pulling it off. I guess
we’re just going to have to trust that.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Harrison’s mind was reeling as he pulled the
Corvette onto the grass verge. The Claytons were hiding something.
That was an understatement! Gemma was not going. It was as simple
as that.
    Having spent the morning studying the file of
information he eventually found and stole from his mother’s office
the night before, he was determined that his girlfriend was staying
put. His mother would just have to deal with this in her own way.
He would just have to move for the rest of the year and commute
down on weekends. They would meet up again in college. A year was
not that long.
    The idea made his belly surge with bile, but
what other choice did they have?
    He slammed the door behind him as he walked
towards Gabe. At least he knew he would have his backing. Striding
up to the tree Gabe was resting against, he tried to calm his
boiling emotions, so that his voice would remain even.
    “Where’s…?”
    The air around them went still and a naked
version of his girlfriend suddenly stood before him. Her face was
radiant. His smile of admiration was cut short by a swift elbow jab
from Gabe. He reluctantly turned to study the bark of the pine
while he listened to Gemma’s comments on where she had been. His
lips quirked as he read through her vague explanation and
recaptured the afternoon she had gone to. He remembered it too and
felt his cheeks heat with color.
    “You can turn around now,” Gabe’s voice was
droll.
    He was so busy admiring the vivid image in
his head that he nearly forgot his horrifying news until he spotted
his girlfriend’s beautiful face. Her expression was melted
chocolate and he could have swum in its warmth all afternoon, which
is why she couldn’t go.
    “I’ve changed my mind. You’re not going.”
    “What?” The sweet chocolate hardened to a
bitter cocoa. He felt the loss keenly, but pressed on.
    “I can’t let you go. It’s too risky.”
    Gabe cut off Gemma’s outburst. “What do you
find?”
    “He was accused of murder. That’s why he
disappeared… to escape the law.”
    “That is so not true! Nathaniel Clayton would not kill anybody.”
    Harrison silently pleaded for assistance, but
felt his spirits wither at the expression on Gabe’s face.
    “If he was only accused, it doesn’t mean he
did it.”
    “Thank you,” Gemma’s voice was pointed.
“Look, Harrison, I’ve met this man and I am telling you he is not
capable of doing something like that.”
    “Gem, you spent less than thirty minutes with
the guy, you don’t know what he may have been driven to. What if he
somehow thought my mother was taken and he went after the person he
thought was responsible. What if he thinks it’s you… and tries to
hurt you!”
    “Okay, now you’re just clutching at
straws.”
    “Don’t be flippant about this! You’re not the
one sending someone you care about off to who knows where ,
to do who knows what! I’m not losing you over this!”
    “You lose me if we don’t do it! You
really think we can still see each other if you’re in DC?”
    “It’s better than not seeing you ever ,
because you’re dead!”
    “Are you seriously willing to believe that
your father’s a murderer?”
    “I’ve never met the man! I don’t know!”
    “Enough!” Gabe’s bark sealed both