Don't Look Before You Leap
an excerpt

Chapter One
Lara stood before the Artifacts of Ancient Egypt case and admired her handy work. It was a good display. Some intact pieces of pottery, jewelry, a few tools, a mummified cat, among other things were carefully placed to draw interest, with small cards displaying the name, date and a brief history of each item. She'd worked hard on this particular display, and it showed. Still something was missing. The pieces in the collection were diverse, but none of them was unique. She longed to take an expedition to Egypt and search for artifacts herself. Her existence as a museum curator was a lot less exciting than she'd imagined in college.
A movement out of the corner of her eye caused her to whirl around. She expected to see Tim, the night watchman standing there leering at her, but this man was not Tim. This man was young, virile and had the oddest expression on his face as he stared at her. He bit his lip and jammed his hands into his pockets.
"How did you get in here?" Lara asked. "The museum closed three hours ago."
"That's not important," he said. "I need to talk to you, Lara."
Her brow knotted. Did she know this man? It wasn't possible. She'd have remembered him. He had the looks of a movie star and the presence of warrior.
"How do you know my name?"
He stared at her for a moment, looking very sad, then glanced down at the lapel of her suit jacket. "Lara Kingsington," he read aloud, "Museum Curator."
She followed his line of vision to her nametag. She didn't quite believe that was how he knew her name, he looked at her with familiarity and longing, but there were more important things going on here. First off, how in the hell had he gotten past security? Then she had a distressful thought. Was he a burglar?
She glanced at the alarm panic button behind him. He grinned. "You aren’t thinking of setting off the alarm, now, are you?"
Well, she wouldn't be getting the award for Most Subtle this year. Perhaps, if she distracted him, she could reach the alarm.
"Who are you?" she asked.
That sad look again, as if it hurt him that she didn't know who he was. Was he some sort of ego maniac? She pictured him wearing a t-shirt that read "My reputation doth proceed me."
"My name is Reece Jericho. I really need to talk to you Lara, it pertains to your impending murder."
She hadn't recovered from discovering who he was before he hit her with that second whammy. She gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
He chuckled. "You always were adorable when unsettled."
"You're planning to kill me?" she squeaked. Reece Jericho, famed artifact treasure hunter, was a killer?
His hazel-brown eyes widened, "Oh, God no, sweetheart, I'm here to save you before it happens."
Her eyes moved to the alarm panic button again. Wait a minute. "Did you just call me sweetheart?"
"Forgive me. I keep forgetting that we haven't met yet."
"If you would be so kind as to make a damned bit of sense, I'd be much obliged, Mr. Jericho."
"We don't have much time, Lara. He'll catch up with me soon."
"Let's start with this murder thing," she suggested. "How do you know I am going to be murdered?"
His voice was raw when he said, "Because, I found you. Dead."
He pulled his hand out of the pocket of his tan cargo pants and drew out a folded piece of newspaper. He bit his lip, before handing her the clipping. She took it from him, her heart thudding unexpectedly at their close proximity. Her eyes met his and time seemed to stop for a moment. The man should hand out drool bibs as a courtesy to the wardrobes of women. My god, he was gorgeous. She forced herself to look away, the worn clipping in her hand begging her to examine it. She looked down and the headline nearly tossed her on her ass. "Curator Found Strangled to Death in Museum Parking Garage." Beside the text of the article was a picture of her that she didn't recognize. She was posing with none other than Reece Jericho, looking happier than Mrs. Smith at a pie eating competition.
"That's you," she blurted. She looked up at him. "I don't remember having this picture taken."
"You wouldn't," he said. "Look at the date."
Her eyes returned to the clipping, seeking the date. Her confusion was absolute. "That's almost two years from now."
He waited while her mind raced to put all of this information together. "How?" she breathed. She scanned the article's text, trying to make sense of it. There were details on the crime, some speculation that it was one of a series of stranglings committed over the past year, some details about her work and life - some of the things were not in her memory because they hadn't happened yet. The final line of the article threw her for another loop. "Ms. Kingsington's fiancée, Reece Jericho, could not be reached for questioning."
"Fiancée?" she sputtered, looking up at him again.
"I'll tell you about my marriage proposal sometime," he said, grinning at her. "But right now, we need to get out of here."
"I don't care if you do look like Orlando Bloom on steroids and claim to be my future fiancée, I'm not going anywhere with you."
"We can't stick around here. He's sure to catch up with me soon."
"Who?"
"Carl."
Lara heard a low hum come from the vicinity of Reece's chest.
"Shit. Too late," he said. "We have to hide."
"What's going on?" she asked, leaning closer to his chest to listen more closely. The humming was growing louder. "What's that sound?"
Reece took her by the arm and pulled her behind a large statue of the Egyptian sun god Ra. He glanced around, and finding they were still alone, reached into the neck hole of his black t-shirt and pulled out the broken amulet on the leather cord around his neck. The strange piece of jewelry was humming, the sound growing louder by the second.
"What is that?" she asked, trembling fingers moving towards the amulet. It appeared to be made of beige stone and had hieroglyphics carved into its surface. It was cracked down the center. The other half of the amulet was missing.
"If he catches us, you will die, Lara, do you understand? Shh."
He drew her against his chest, and she thought she should struggle against him, they were strangers, after all, but being plastered to his muscular body was soothing and exciting in the same breath. His large hand splayed over her lower back as he drew her nearer. "I've missed you," he breathed against her hair. "I won't let anything or anyone take you from me again."
There was a loud crackle and then the humming of the amulet stopped. Lara listened carefully, eyes roving as she sought the source of the unsettling feeling in the air. She heard the sound of booted footsteps and wondered if the night watchman had finally come to check on her.
"I know you're here, Reece," a voice called. Lara did not recognize it. "You can't have her. You can't change the future or the past."
Lara's heart thudded. She knew this man, Carl, was talking about her future. Her future death. Brutally murdered at the age of thirty-three. She obviously didn't want that.
Reece's arms tightened around her. "We have to run, sweetheart," he whispered. "Will you come with me?"
"Where?" she asked.
"We won't know until we get there," he said. "And the real question is when."
"Huh?"
"Hold on to the amulet," he instructed. "I'm not sure it will take both of us together."
She looked up at him, and he smiled. She wasn't sure why, but she trusted him. She took the stone amulet around his neck in her hand. He covered her hand with his, closed his eyes and whispered a strange series of words. Egyptian words.
"Found you," an enormous, beefy man said as he rounded the statue. He grimaced when his eyes fell upon them gripping the amulet with a faint yellow glow around them.
"Sorry, Carl," Reece said. "Not this time."
There was a loud hum coming from the amulet in Lara and Reece's combined hands now. The sensation of falling sideways gripped Lara and she cried out in surprise. She was not in contact with the earth any more. The only thing solid was Reece. Her arm went around his waist as she held onto him with all her strength, her eyes squeezed shut.
"Easy," he said breathlessly. "Almost finished."
There was a loud crackle, and Lara felt the Earth come into contact with her feet again. It wasn't as if they touched down, but as if the Earth appeared beneath them suddenly.
"That wasn't so bad," he said.
Lara realized something was different immediately. First, the smooth fabric of Reece's t-shirt was now thick and furry-- an animal hide. Second, the sounds were definitely not those of a silent museum. Screams of fright, raucous laughter, roaring flames and the sounds of destruction surrounded them. And the last time she had checked, she'd been wearing shoes. Her bare feet were now planted in a thin layer of snow, and there was a breeze blowing up her backside that did little for her peace of mind.
"Well, this is an unexpected, yet pleasant, surprise," Reece said, his hand sliding down the bare skin of her back.
Lara released the amulet and jerked away from him. Apparently, he wasn't expecting this reaction because he offered no assistance as she fell backwards and landed on her naked rump in the snow. She shrieked in discomfort, and then looked up at Reece, planning to give him a piece of her mind. But it wasn't Reece who was standing over her, looking amused and concerned at the same time. It was some gigantic, blonde man, with a scraggly beard and a horned helmet on his head. A Viking! Lara screamed and tried to scramble away.