Paradigm (Travelers Series Book 3) Read Free Page A

would want to know who he is. So it’s probably best I leave it well enough alone for now.
    Alex, not noticing my preoccupation over the crowd, tugs on my elbow. “Come on, hon, let’s go. Jaime and Brett will be fine without us. Don’t forget, I have an extra birthday surprise for you tomorrow afternoon. I want you to be clearheaded before I pick you up. ”
    “Okay,” I say, almost at a whisper. The thought of celebrating my actual birthday with Alex does have its appeal, but I’m still reluctant to leave now that I’d made contact with the mysterious Cooper. Knowing this isn’t the right time revisit old ghosts, I allow Alex to guide me out the door, although I have no doubt in my mind Cooper will reappear. It took four years for me to get over the fact that he would never come back.
    But now he has.

Chapter Two
The Magnificent Freaks
    Thornberry Reality 2017
    “T o us freaks!” The group chortled after Etta.
    For the first time in a long time, the group forgot about what was going on in the world outside and enjoyed the camaraderie and laughter going within the confines of Etta and Cooper’s little house. It wasn’t often they came together for such a social occasion, but it was a much-needed distraction for what faced them outside those walls.
    Mission accomplished, Etta thought, as far as her birthday dinner was concerned. It allowed them to enjoy themselves as friends, versus remembering why they were brought together as a group in the first place. Their ragtag team that would have never become friends had destiny not brought them together.
    The group gathered around the Everett living room after enjoying the lovely chicken Cooper and Moose had received from one of the local farmers. It wasn’t an occasion they shared often, so they made sure to make the best of it. After a few jokes and laughter was had all around, they retired to the living room to figure out their game plan.
    “So, how do you suppose we go about approaching Etta this time?” Jenny asked. “I mean, obviously it all works out ‘cuz she’s still here and all… ” She stops to look at Etta. “But we all know the timeline can split again at anytime and poof!” She snaps her fingers. “She’s gone.” She looks over at Etta. “No offense.”
    They’d attempted to bring the past Etta back to her true reality. And while their mission had been successful, something or someone had interfered with the course of events and changed the path Etta was supposed to take. The Council immediately went to work on a way to get her back, and while they succeed in bringing her back a second time, several years off-schedule, they knew it was only a matter of time before she could disappear on them again.
    Etta shrugged off her friend’s comment. “None taken, besides, it’s a good question. I’m not exactly known for being a pushover, so what do you guys think? Any ideas?”
    After the split in the timeline, the task of rounding up their team fell on Cooper. He could have waited until he jumped back to retrieve Etta again, but the task of recruiting their team needed these last couple of years to hone in on their powers in order to take down Thornberry. Time was of the essence, and he couldn’t afford to wait for Etta in the event he failed in his mission to get her back. So he gathered the friends that now sat before them without her and waited for another opportunity to get Etta back.
    The efforts to get Etta back to this future reality wasn’t without its leaps and loops. Literally. Cooper had attempted to bring her back several times throughout various phases of her life. The first successful attempt had been when she was a teenager. However, the course of events changed and she never traveled to her destined reality in 2011. Since going back to that point in time could strain the paradigm of time, they had to come up with a different plan. One that has already proved successful, but because they were in the future, the efforts must be