danger?”
Luke thought about that for a moment. In his
vision the guy had only appeared to hurt his knee. Not a big deal,
really. Certainly not life or death.
“No,” he said. “I don’t think so.”
“Then what’s the big rush? I can just heal
him when we get there.” She paused for a moment, called to him
again. “Luke! Slow down a minute, I can’t breathe.” She was bent
over, her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. He
stopped, turned to face her.
“I want to stop it,” he said.
“You want to stop what?”
“The fall. I want to stop it from
happening.”
Sera looked up at him. “To change the
future.”
“Yes.” He bounced on his feet, needing to get
going. His senses on overload. His whole body virtually
humming.
She took one last deep breath, nodded, and
pushed past him. “Well, then. Let’s go.”
Luke let out a whoop and ran after her.
They raced up the mountain, slowing here and
there when they needed a slight breather, but pushing themselves at
a relentless pace most of the time. Through the trees, around huge
boulders, over rocks and roots. They didn’t talk, they just
climbed—both focused on getting there, stopping it, making sure
Luke did not fail. They didn’t notice the greens, reds, yellows,
and oranges of the season going by in a blur.
As they arrived at the bottom of a steep
rocky climb, they heard someone cry out suddenly. And then silence.
Luke stopped cold and stared up the path, his breath gone. That was
the guy.
Damn it. Again.
He looked at Sera and shook his head.
Then he ran.
Sera stayed close on Luke’s heels, and when
they reached the guy they were both gasping for breath. Luke got
there first, then stepped aside for Sera to see.
The guy was tall, looked fit, and had short
black hair. His face was screwed up in pain, and he was clutching
his left leg as he sat at the base of the huge smooth boulder. She
couldn’t see his knee because he wore jeans. But she didn’t need
to. The pain on his face told her enough.
Luke took a swig of water and handed the
bottle to Sera as she came up to them. She drank, took a deep
breath.
“You okay?” Sera said to the guy.
He winced as he turned to her. “My knee just
gave out,” he said, his voice tight.
Luke nodded. “Maybe we can help you get down
the mountain.”
“I can’t put any weight on it.” The guy shook
his head, then sized them up. “And there’s no way you two could
carry me down. I’m going to have to call for help, but I forgot my
phone in the car. Do you have a cell?”
Sera met Luke’s eyes. Of course they had
their cell phones, but they weren’t going to call a rescue crew up
the mountain unnecessarily. She looked at the guy while she
fingered her necklace, a special silver pendant she never took
off.
She nodded, and said, “Yeah, but why don’t we
help you move over to this rock to sit on first? I think you’ll be
more comfortable. Then you can call.”
“Yeah, okay, that’d be good,” the guy said.
He smiled painfully. “Thanks, I’m Ben.”
“Sera, and this is my brother Luke.”
Luke reached out for Ben and ducked under his
outstretched arm while Sera got on the other side of him. As soon
as her hands touched Ben, heat raced down her arms. She could see
his body fill with bright white light that centered hotly on his
left knee. She glanced at Luke, his grey eyes met hers, and he gave
a quick nod. He could see the healing light, too. But Ben
couldn’t—no one else could. Only she and Luke. It was always just
the two of them—in this and so many other things.
As they helped Ben to his feet, his face
relaxed, his body became less tense with pain. His knee still
glowed with the healing light, but it had started to fade. They
gingerly moved him over to the rock and helped him sit down. Sera
rested her hand on his shoulder until the light had left his knee
completely, then she took a step back. Her hand sought her necklace
again. Just as it
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