The Time Contessa (The Time Mistress Book 3) by Young-Ellis Georgina

Author:Young-Ellis, Georgina [Young-Ellis, Georgina]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Leaping Tall Buildings Publishing
Published: 2013-01-10T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter One

“Eyes closed, eyes closed,” Cassandra whispered in Italian.

She stood holding Jake’s feet, about to collapse. Finally, the greenish glow of the portal chamber doors filtered past her lids. She opened her eyes. Lauro had fainted and was huddled on the floor of the chamber with Jake’s head in his lap. She slid down to join him on the floor.

The purple decontamination ray passed over them; then the pale-green doors slid open. There were Professor Carver, James, Shannon, Suhan, and Yoshi. Lauro moaned; his eyelids fluttered. Cassandra glanced back at the team and pressed her finger to her lips.

She then spoke quickly to the Italian. “We’re safe now, Lauro, but keep your eyes closed. You’re going to hear voices speaking English. These are my friends. Do not open your eyes until I tell you to, all right?”

He shook his head, but his eyes remained closed. “I have died,” he began muttering. “Guerrini killed me and it’s all been a dream of death. I have died and this is heaven…or hell.”

“You’re not dead. Promise me you’ll keep your eyes closed, now. Promise me!”

“Prometto,” he said weakly, “I promise.”

The next several minutes were a swirl of activity as the team of people waiting for them lifted Jake and rushed him to the hospital. Cassandra sat on the floor of the chamber and clutched Lauro’s hand.

“Do you have sleep tonic here?” she quietly asked Professor Carver.

“Yes.” He hurried to retrieve it.

“You’re going to feel something cool on your wrists,” she said to Lauro. “Don’t worry, it will help to soothe you.”

The professor returned with a bottle of the liquid, and Cassandra extracted the wand and applied it to Lauro’s wrists. He jumped at the sensation and opened his eyes. He screamed at the dark-skinned man peering concernedly into his face, but a moment later, he collapsed into sleep. Cassandra gently positioned his head in her lap.

The portal lab was a welcome and familiar sight, with one difference: a large holographic note hung in the air, impossible to miss. It said: CASSANDRA AND JAKE WENT TO SIENA OF 1509 TO KEEP FRANCESCO MARINO FROM DYING SO HE COULD COMPLETE THE PORTRAIT OF GIULIANA. THEY WILL BE RETURNING CLOSE TO JULY SECOND. ASK CASSANDRA’S COMPUTER FOR MORE DETAIL.

“You must have done it,” Professor Carver said.

“Done it?”

“Kept Francesco Marino from dying, at least long enough to finish the portrait. About an hour ago, we all completely forgot why we were in a portal lab in Siena. Fortunately, the sensor I injected into your arm just before you left alerted us to a shift in the space-time continuum.”

“What…are you talking about?”

“I only thought of it a couple of hours before you left and just had time to arrange it all, but not to explain it to you. I figured it would just distract you anyway, but here’s the short explanation: if you kept Francesco Marino alive long enough to finish the portrait of Giuliana, those of us still in the future would return to the original reality,

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