Free The Keepers Book Two of the Holding Kate Series by LaDonna Cole Page B

begrudge him for being willing to give of himself to my wife. Could I?
    Secretly, though, I burned with jealousy. I wanted to be everything to Kate as she fulfilled me. I wanted her to take comfort only from me, and I wanted to be enough for her. I died a little every time I realized the draw Trip had on her, and his willingness to be her protector and strength.
    The time finally came when Kate’s therapist released her to go on the jumps, and Kate agreed, eager to get on with it. The call came from Mama Ty, we were on green status. The jumps could start at any time, and Eunavae traveled across campus to bring us baked muffins from Kim. Eunavae would be the target jumper. We had decided in order to more fully control the jumps, we’d take one Chartreuse team member along on each jump. Since we had all had our own jump therapies, they would take a turn at being the target of the Inner Circle, allowing us to more fully observe the intricacies of how the perpetrator manipulated and sabotaged the jump. We hoped we could identify the infiltrator quicker this way.
    We gathered our supplies, suited up in our jump attire and stood on the front porch waiting for Eunavae. When she zipped up to First Cabin in the golf cart, she stepped out with a large basket covered with napkins. She glanced at the cabin then jerked a double take at us all standing on the front porch. She stilled, raised her brows and turned her head suspiciously from side to side, eyes darting. We burst out laughing.
    “What are you all doing out here?” she asked as she climbed the steps toward us in a slow and measured pace.
    “Waiting for you,” Tara answered with a brow cocked. Then the screeching started and she pointed up before adding, “And that.”
    The sphere descended, and we were vacuumed into the spinning vortex that dissipated into miniscule fizzes of light and winked out all around us.
    Kate hung in front of me her hair fanning out around her in a spray. Each member of the team dangled at odd angles, floating around. The supplies drifted in suspended gravity.
    “What the hell?” Dirk grumbled and threw his arms out to his sides. The sudden movement propelled him down to the soft spongy ground beneath us. His boots barely tapped the soil, and he ricocheted back toward us. I slowly reached out and grabbed his arm as he floated by me.
    “Zero gravity?” Donnie whispered.
    “Not zero, but close,” I murmured. “Okay, everyone, slowly grab a crate.”
    A comedy of errors ensued as Eunavae overshot her crate and slammed into Trip, sending him tumbling over Kate. She grabbed his shoe as he passed her, and his significant mass dragged her along.
    “Whaaahhh!” She made a noise that started in the back of her throat and grew in volume as she whisked away, tumbling head over heels. Trip had a good hold on her as they somersaulted into the distance.
    We burst out laughing, the surprise on her face, priceless. Exhilarated by the buoyant feeling of freefall, or maybe the thin air on this jump compelled us. Whatever the reason we laughed until our sides hurt.
    Kate called my name indignantly and that sent us into another fit of chuckles. Their momentum slowed, so I knew they wouldn’t get too far away from us.
    Dirk and I sank to the ground and then assisted the others to a landing. Trip and Kate were a dot on the horizon, but they appeared to be descending too.
    “This is different,” Dirk laughed. “Secure the crates. Use the tent spikes to secure everything to the ground. No sudden movements.”
    I slowly knelt down to the turf beneath our feet. A thick conglomeration of tiny purple strings were loosely interwoven. Spongy density caused it to spring back into place creating a bouncy surface.
    I surveyed the landscape. No trees, only uniform mounds jutted out of the turf in evenly spaced intervals. I made my way to the nearest one. Hollow inside, it claimed enough space for two people to crouch into.
    “We might not need the tents,