Quantum Entanglement Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Quantum Entanglement

  http://www.authorlkhill.com/storysquad

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Snake Eyes

  Chapter 2: Cabin Safe House

  Chapter 3: Familiar Faces

  Chapter 4: Scant Explanations

  Chapter 5: Bearing Witness

  Chapter 6: Traveling Pains

  Chapter 7: Outdated Notions

  Chapter 8: Trapped

  Chapter 9: Burrowing for Honey

  Chapter 10: Canyons and Memories

  Chapter 11: Lessons

  Chapter 12: A Painful Talent

  Chapter 13: Forbidden Links

  Chapter 14: Quantum Entanglement

  Chapter 15: Whirls and Flashes

  Chapter 16: To Be of Use

  Chapter 17: Sonic Shield

  Chapter 18: Forcing Memories

  Chapter 19: To Cleave a Mind

  Chapter 20: Arachnoid

  Chapter 21: Partial Histories

  Chapter 22: Painful Memories

  Chapter 23: Sitting Ducks

  Chapter 24: Questions of Identity

  Chapter 25: The Grief of a Parent

  Chapter 26: Saving What Would Have Been Gone

  Chapter 27: The Center Point of a Gyre

  Chapter 28: Forbidden Things

  Chapter 29: Come What May

  Chapter 30: Canyons and Corpses

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

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  Quantum Entanglement

  Book 2 of Interchron

  By Liesel K. Hill

  Copyright 2013 Liesel K. Hill

  Cover art by Les

  https://www.fiverr.com/germancreative

  Discover more titles by Author Liesel K. Hill on her Author Website or her blog, Musings on Fantasia.

  http://www.authorlkhill.com/storysquad

  Table of Contents

  COVER

  Free Starter Library

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1: Snake Eyes

  Chapter 2: Cabin Safe House

  Chapter 3: Familiar Faces

  Chapter 4: Scant Explanations

  Chapter 5: Bearing Witness

  Chapter 6: Traveling Pains

  Chapter 7: Outdated Notions

  Chapter 8: Trapped

  Chapter 9: Burrowing for Honey

  Chapter 10: Canyons and Memories

  Chapter 11: Lessons

  Chapter 12: A Painful Talent

  Chapter 13: Forbidden Links

  Chapter 14: Quantum Entanglement

  Chapter 15: Whirls and Flashes

  Chapter 16: To Be of Use

  Chapter 17: Sonic Shield

  Chapter 18: Forcing Memories

  Chapter 19: To Cleave a Mind

  Chapter 20: Arachnoid

  Chapter 21: Partial Histories

  Chapter 22: Painful Memories

  Chapter 23: Sitting Ducks

  Chapter 24: Questions of Identity

  Chapter 25: The Grief of a Parent

  Chapter 26: Saving What Would Have Been Gone

  Chapter 27: The Center Point of a Gyre

  Chapter 28: Forbidden Things

  Chapter 29: Come What May

  Chapter 30: Canyons and Corpses

  Epilogue

  Author's Note

  Also by Liesel K. Hill

  About the Author

  Connect With the Author

  FREE BOOK OFFER!!!

  For my sisters. Erica, Katie, and Heidi. My best, most loyal friends in all the world. I love you, girls!

  Chapter 1: Snake Eyes

  “YOU’RE TICKED OFF AT me, aren’t you Maggs?”

  Maggie pulled her gaze briefly from the dark streets rushing by her window to glance at her brother. She tried not to sigh.

  “No, I’m not mad. I just kinda wish it was over.”

  “Wishing it was over defeats the point of going out to have fun.”

  “I know. I’m sorry, Jonah. I’ll try to be more enthusiastic.”

  Jonah gave her an irritated look, but went back to staring out over the steering wheel.

  Maggie’s gaze went back to the street. Her fingers came up to her mouth and she forced them back into her lap. Biting her nails was a nervous habit, and she’d bitten them down to bloody stumps more than once in the past five months.

  Jonah’s intentions were chivalrous. A few months ago, she’d have jumped at the chance to hang out with him. Since returning from her little adventure at Interchron, though, she had a hard time working up excitement over anything. She’d hoped Marcus would be back for her within a month, two at most. Five months later, she’d heard nothing from the team.

  Worry grated against her nerves.

  Not that she didn’t trust him, or the team; they could take care of themselves. She knew that now better than before—she remembered it—but couldn’t keep her imagination from running wild. What if something terrible happened? What if they never came back for her because Interchron had been discovered and the rebellion annihilated? Or worse, assimilated?

  Maggie told herself to be patient, but each week that passed with no word made her more irritable. The irritability was just the manifestation of the true emotion: paralyzing fear. Even she recognized her true feelings for what they were. She avoided them like the plague.

  So when Jonah showed up on a Friday afternoon to say she needed to get out of the house and they were going to a piano bar to cut loose, have some fun, and meet his new girlfriend—she noted he announced, rather than asking—she simply couldn’t muster the umph her brother deserved.

  And another new girlfriend? Jonah had seen a steady stream of women over the last year. Maggie suspected their time loss incident in Vegas affected him on a deeper emotional level than he would admit, even to himself. Before Vegas, his relationships were solid. Most lasted months, some years. Vicki turned out to be a dud. As soon as things got complicated in Vegas, she bailed.

  Since then, none of Jonah’s relationships had lasted more than a few weeks. This woman—Justine, apparently—was the latest in a long line. Maggie wasn’t looking forward to a night of polite small talk over a half-drunk crowd. She hoped the entertainment proved distracting enough to make the evening pass quickly.

  As they arrived, Maggie pulled down the passenger-side visor to check her make-up in the mirror. She ran a finger under each of her dark blue eyes to rub away excess eyeliner, then pushed her fingers through her auburn, shoulder-length hair. She’d used a curling iron to give it some body, but it turned out more wavy than anything else. Wondering why she bothered to look nice for Jonah’s flavor of the week, she slapped the visor up as he came around to open her door for her.

  “Thanks.”

  “Of course.”

  He paid for them to get in, their hands were stamped, and they headed into the main area. It was a large room, littered with wooden tables, each with either four or six chairs. The “stage” consisted of a raised platform in the middle of the room on which sat four adjacent grand pianos. Only one was occupied at the moment. The man played softly, trying out different keys and scales. Probably tuning the piano in preparation for the show.

  Jonah scanned the room. A slender, dark haired woman saw them and raised a hand. Jonah moved toward her, pulling Maggie behind him.

  “Hey Beautiful.” Jonah bent and kissed Justine lightly on the mouth. “I’d like you to meet the other woman in my life: my sister, Maggie.”


  “Hello Maggie,” Justine extended her hand, “I’ve heard so much about you. Glad to finally meet you.”

  Maggie smiled back, and found it easier than she would have thought. “All good things, I hope.”

  Justine gave a throaty laugh. “All kinds of things, but truly Jonah raves about you. I hear you’re a caterer.”

  “Yes.” Maggie launched into an explanation about her business while Jonah pulled out a chair for her. Justine was neither loud and bubbly, nor overly shy. Rather she seemed friendly and confident. Maggie liked her more than any of Jonah’s recent girlfriends.

  Justine did have interesting eyes, though. They were captivating. If Maggie had to put a name to their shade of blue, she’d have said cerulean. They were so bright, they looked electric. Maggie decided it must be the lighting in the bar that made them so distinctive.

  She and Justine talked non-stop for nearly thirty minutes. Jonah nodded his head to the music and threw grateful looks at Maggie from time to time. She could tell he was glad they were getting along.

  “So you can repair watches?” Maggie asked. She remembered Jonah saying something about Justine working for her father.

  “Oh, you bet. I think I know more about Rolexes than the makers do.”

  Maggie laughed.

  “My father calls me a time-meddler.”

  Maggie had to work to keep the smile on her face. After everything she’d been through in the last year, it was a disturbing thing to hear. She smiled politely, though, and pretended the thoughts making her heart race weren’t present in her head. She did that a lot lately: pretended she wasn’t thinking about exactly what she was. It made her feel isolated, like an imposter in her own life.

  The conversation waned. Justine didn’t seem to notice. They all listened to the music being played, and Maggie found herself relaxing. Not thinking about the team or Marcus’s absence for the first time in months was...actually kind of a relief.

  The entertainment included four pianists, each on their own piano, who could play every song known to man. The audience could pay to have favorite songs played. Soon, as the crowd grew more raucous, bidding wars began. The pianists encouraged the competition. Whoever paid more got their song played. For enough money, you could even interrupt someone else’s song with your own.

  Maggie didn’t participate much, but had fun watching. Jonah got in on it, whooping and cheering with the crowd. It was good to see him enjoying himself. Justine cheered when he did, and the two of them seemed surprisingly good together.

  After an hour and a half, the pianists took a break, promising to be back in fifteen minutes.

  Justine turned to Maggie. “Will you come to the bathroom with me?”

  “Sure.”

  Jonah turned his best puppy dog eyes on them. “I’m not invited?”

  Justine got up and swatted Jonah playfully on the head as she passed him. Yeah, Maggie definitely liked her.

  Jonah rubbed his head in a mock-disdainful way, winking at Maggie when he saw her watching.

  Maggie chuckled and shook her head. “Be right back.”

  As soon as they got to the restroom, Maggie knew the ‘right back’ part had been an inadvertent lie. The line for the ladies room was a mile and a half long.

  “Maybe it’ll move quickly,” Justine offered.

  Maggie glanced at Justine, but said nothing. She didn’t know the other woman well enough to unleash sarcasm on her, but she didn’t think Justine’s optimism particularly justified here.

  Justine seemed to read the thought. “Oh, I suppose that’s wishful thinking. I have an idea. Come on.”

  She led Maggie to the back of the bar where they found a rear entrance. It led out into a dark, deserted alley—the kind that in the movies house thirsty vampires, waiting for unsuspecting women who hadn’t told their brothers where they were going, to strike. The alley ran along the side of the building, ending in the busy road at the front of the club.

  “Where’re we going, Justine?”

  “I noticed we’re next to a tattoo parlor. My sister works in one. They’re usually pretty cool about stuff. If they have a bathroom we can use, we’ll get back to the table in time for the show to start again.”

  Maggie frowned. She didn’t relish walking into a tattoo parlor this late at night, especially in this part of town, but Justine seemed set on it. If it meant avoiding the anaconda bathroom line, she supposed she could deal.

  They walked into a shoebox of a place. The tattoo artist, a middle-aged man with long, blustery white hair, was clean shaven and wore a black biker vest. He worked on the forearm of a man in his mid-thirties. Bald, covered in tattoos Maggie didn’t look too closely at, the customer’s nose appeared to have gone twelve rounds with a brick wall.

  They both glanced up when Maggie and Justine walked in.

  “Can I help you ladies?” The artist’s tone said he wasn’t truly expecting business from them; neither of them looked like the tattoo type.

  “Sorry to burst in,” Justine said, “we’re from the bar next door. Could we use your bathroom?”

  The tattoo artist sighed. “I generally only let paying customers use it. Don’t suppose I can perform a service for you?”

  Justine shook her head. “Sorry. I really gotta pee.”

  Maggie ducked her head to hide a smile.

  The artist pressed his lips together. “Go ahead.”

  Justine turned to Maggie. “Do you have to go?”

  “No. I’m good.”

  “Kay. Be right back.”

  Justine scurried into the back.

  Maggie wondered vaguely how she knew where the bathroom was. Maybe all tattoo parlors had similar setups.

  Maggie had sipped soda all night. Ever since Vegas, she’d been spooked about alcohol, but that wasn’t the real reason she didn’t drink it. She’d been practicing her neurochemical abilities since Marcus and Karl dropped her off. She’d discovered that alcohol acted as a natural inhibitor to those abilities. She could still use them, but as with everything else, alcohol made her abilities vague and imprecise, so she didn’t indulge much.

  Maggie became aware of the man in the chair staring at her. The tattoo artist went back to working on the man’s forearm, but the customer ran his eyes up and down Maggie’s body. She sighed and turned away, pretending to study the pictures on the walls. Her irritation from earlier resurfaced. The bar proved surprisingly fun. She suddenly wasn’t a huge fan of the tattoo parlor. She willed Justine to hurry.

  A few minutes later, the artist finished, and the guy in the chair got up, paid, and left. He cast one more leer over his shoulder at Maggie as he walked out the door. Images of Arachimen and Trepids flashed in her mind, and she shuddered.

  What was taking so long? Surely the piano show had started again by now. Justine had to be doing more in there than just peeing!

  The tattoo artist watched her, eyes hopeful. “How about you, honey? I could make that pretty skin of yours real colorful.”

  Maggie forced a smile. “No thanks. Maybe next time.”

  He shrugged and moved to a table against the opposite wall. Maggie thought it might be a cleaning station.

  Finally Justine emerged.

  “Let’s go. Thanks!” The last was called over her shoulder to the tattoo artist. He didn’t answer.

  “Sorry it took so long. It wasn’t very clean in there. I laid down several layers of toilet paper before I was satisfied.”

  Maggie chuckled. “I completely understand. Let’s hurry. I’m sure Jonah’s wondering where we are.”

  They’d covered roughly half the distance to the door of the bar when a hulking figure stepped from a perpendicular alley. Maggie recognized the bald man from the tattoo parlor. He stood like a granite statue, barring their way. Alarm bells went off in her head.

  “Going somewhere, Ladies?” Baldy hissed.

  Six men stepped out from the alley behind him. One and all, they leered at Maggie and Justine, some of them chuckling appreciativ
ely when they caught sight of the two women.

  This was not good. She glanced at Justine. The woman wore an expression of unbridled terror. Maggie would have to take the lead.

  “Yes. We’re expected back, so if you’ll excuse us.”

  Maggie made as if to walk around him. Two of the men behind him stepped into her path. They’d formed a solid wall between Maggie and the bar’s back door. Standing right next to him, Maggie realized how much bigger Baldy was than her. She barely came up to his shoulder, and he must have weighed three times what she did.

  “Maggie!”

  Behind the gang, Jonah emerged from the club. He muscled his way through the line of men, planting himself firmly between them and Maggie.

  “What’s going on here?”

  Baldy looked Jonah up and down arrogantly. He overtopped Jonah by several inches. The difference wasn’t much but six hoodlums stood at Baldy’s back.

  “This your boyfriend?” Baldy asked.

  Maggie didn’t answer.

  “No wonder you’re wandering around in dark allies, looking for more excitement.”

  In front of her, Jonah tensed. Maggie put a hand on his arm. “Jonah, let’s get out of here.” He glanced over his shoulder at her and she nodded toward the front of the alley.

  After a moment, he nodded. He walked backward, pushing Maggie and Justine behind him. The sound of crunching dirt came from behind them and Justine inhaled sharply, grabbing Maggie’s arm. Three more goons stood across the alley behind them. They were surrounded.

  Maggie’s blood pounded in her ears. She could save them, if worse came to worst, but it would mean using her abilities in front of Jonah. Even if he understood—a long shot; Maggie knew her brother well—there was also Justine to think of. What would she say?

  Images of running from needles trying to jab her arm and dispense thorazine ran through her head and she shuddered. Worst was coming at them fast.

  Then it arrived.

  One of the men behind them grabbed Justine and she screamed. Jonah moved to help her, but Baldy punched him in the stomach. Jonah doubled over and the guy kicked him in the ribs.

  Before Maggie could react, one of the gangsters grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her toward him. He shoved her up against the wall. “Hey Darlin’. You’re a pretty one, ain’t ya?”