Time Thief (The Anomaly Trilogy) Read Free Page A

depths. Something told him this woman hid her fear from everyone, even herself.
    Why the hell had Leven turned on him like this? Sean studied the woman. Maybe Leven knew she’d talk. And what she had to say wouldn’t match Leven’s story.
    “Why’d you kill Leven’s wife?”
    Her eyes closed, a spasm crossing her face. When her eyes opened, they were blank. “She was a murdering, torturing bitch. She killed my family. In front of me. She sliced up my baby sister.” Her voice caught. “Lily was nine.”
    God. He’d been so stupid. Letting his burning need for revenge drive him to work with a man like Gabriel Leven.
    Another spray of bullets hit the car.
    Sean’s focus narrowed. He scanned the street. “When I return fire, you run across the street. Through that alley.”
    She followed his gaze. Nodded.
    “Run and don’t look back.”
    “I’m good at that.”
    “Good.” He lifted his gun. “Ready?”
    Sean didn’t wait for a response. He broke cover and picked his targets. He shot the men on the road side of the car first.
    Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her move.
    What’re you going to do now, Archer? He fired again. Bullets impacted near him. How about just survive?
    A window shattered above him, showering him with lethal shards of glass. There was a sting above his eye, the warm slide of blood. He swiped at the flow then ignored it.
    But after trading more gunfire, he realized he was going nowhere. He was pinned down.
    There was no panic. No fear. He’d always thought he’d face his death with a roar, fighting it all the way. But those bloody moments in the desert had changed him. Now he welcomed death.
    Now he wouldn’t be the only survivor left to drown in his guilt.
    Suddenly a small hand gripped his forearm. He jerked around.
    She was back.
    “I told you to run.”
    She heaved an aggravated sigh. “I couldn’t leave you.”
    Then she closed her eyes.
    Disorientation hit. Sean’s head spun and he felt a quickening inside him. Like a surge of adrenaline.
    Everything around them froze.
    Holy hell. He stood, barely aware of her rising beside him. There was no sound. It was eerie.
    In front of him, he saw multiple bullets hanging suspended in air. Leven’s men were standing beside the SUVs, guns raised, looking like suit-covered statues.
    “Time just stops.” His men had looked like this. He’d looked like this. Lambs to the fucking slaughter.
    “No. Time’s still progressing, just slowly. Or we’re moving quicker. I don’t really know.”
    Her voice wavered and he looked at her. Her face was white, her lips pinched. Her hands were shaking and as he watched, she shoved them in the pockets of her jeans.
    “It hurts?”
    She sucked in a deep breath. “Not usually, just if I do it again too soon.” That intriguing moss-green gaze linked with his. “I can’t hold it long. We need to get out of here.”
    They took off for the alley. It was strange to see the cars in the middle of the street just stopped. As he and the woman moved between the two brick buildings, the stench of rot hit them. Then she stumbled.
    Sean grabbed her before she hit the ground. She was shaking. He saw blood on his hand and cursed. “You’re hit.”
    “Just a graze. Go. I’ll be fine.” Her voice was the barest whisper.
    “Lady, you’ve run circles around me for the last three months. I’m not letting you out of my sight again.” He hauled her up—there wasn’t much to her—and slung her arm over his shoulders. “Now move.”
     

Chapter Three
     
     
     
    Bay fought to hold time.
    Every muscle in her body burned. Dizziness clamped down on her and nausea swirled in her belly.
    She’d expected her captor-turned-ally—what had they called him? Archer?—to run. Instead he’d dragged her across downtown with dogged determination.
    She did what she could to help but her stumbling steps were slowing them down.
    Her leg muscles cramped and she dug her fingers into his shoulder to keep from crying