Page 44 of City of Love

“Aahhhh!” Gideon slammed his fist onto the bar countertop, rattling every inanimate object in the room.

“—when she suddenly phased out of our world.” Alana ignored him and continued. “She’s been missing now for two hours.”

“Shit,” Matthew said, his brows knitting together.

“Yeah, shit,” Gideon agreed.

They were getting nowhere fast, and he and his friends had a ticking clock of their own. The longer they stayed in World Two, the weaker, and therefore less useful, they’d be. Eventually they’d have to return home to regain some strength. And Gideon refused to go back without Lexi safe at his side.

“But she was wearing her timer when she slipped out of your world?” Matthew asked.

“Yes.”

“Then hopefully I can help.” He hurried into his office and returned with a small flat tablet that Gideon recognized as one of their computing devices. Matthew tapped his fingers on the screen.

“Gideon, this may be a stupid question, but have you tried to reach her telepathically?” Alana asked while they waited.

He had been trying, of course. Non-stop since they’d crossed into World Two. And there was nothing. He was so afraid of what that might mean, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to mention it to the others. The fist to his gut had ballooned to the size of a basketball since they’d arrived in her world.

“Lexi? Sweetheart, please, are you there?”

He looked at Alana and shook his head, swallowing the words he couldn’t speak.

“Listen, from what you’ve told me, you both need to be in relaxed, open frames of mind to connect, right?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Well, you’re clearly anything but calm since the moment she disappeared. Let’s try it together. Listen to my voice, take a deep breath, and relax.” She took one of his hands in both of hers and squeezed. “Try it again now.”

“Lexi? Where are you? I’m right here. I’m in your world.”

He waited. There was only silence.

“She’s not—” He bit off the words.

“No, you’re wrong,” she said. “She is there. Don’t you feel her? She’s not awake, but she’s there, just under the surface of consciousness. Try again. Wake her up.”

“Lexi, wake up! Wake up and tell me where you are.”

He felt a movement then, a struggle to the surface.

“Gideon?” Her voice in his mind was groggy, quiet.

“I hear her,” he said out loud. “Yes, sweetheart. I’m here. Where are you? I’m coming to get you.”

“Ow, my head… why didn’t you answer me before… and where…”

“I couldn’t hear you before, baby. Where are you?”

“Gideon… stop… Benjamin Smythe.”

He could sense a throbbing pain on the side of her forehead, and then she slid away into unconsciousness again. At least, thank God, she was alive. But what did any of this have to do with Benjamin Smythe?

“Got her.” Matthew blurted out, interrupting Gideon’s thoughts. “Though I’m afraid you guys really aren’t going to like where she is.”

Matthew was driving them to a location adjacent to the Philadelphia airport. The worst possible place for Gideon and Julian to be. The noise of the jets, the smell of the fuel, the hyped-up emotions of thousands of people. On top of it, the early evening skies were darkening, and the first of the giant fireworks displays were exploding over the city.

“Although at the moment I am glad of it, please explain to me again why you had this electronic… leash… on my woman,” Gideon said, his hands braced against the dashboard of the car as they sped down a vast roadway Matthew had called I-95.

---