“Goddess?” Richard asked hoarsely. He could scarcely believe it. Could it really be the Mother of All Life speaking to him? Was she angry that he had turned Caroline away?
The Goddess seemed to know his thoughts.
“You have been extremely stubborn in this matter,” she said severely. “I took care that you and Caroline—the Caroline from this world who is meant for you—should be Dream Sharing for years—much longer than is usual in order that she might feel for you. But you chose to deny that fact as long as possible.”
“So then…Caroline really is my destined mate?” Richard asked. “This one—not my late wife?”
“This is what I have been trying to lay upon your heart all this time. But now you force me to come and tell you directly.” The silhouette of the Goddess made an irritated moue with her mouth. “Truly, there are none so blind as though who will not see.”
“I must beg your pardon, Goddess.” Richard bent his head penitently. “Truly I have been, as you say, willfully blind. For that, I have no excuse.”
“I would be more angry with you if I did not know the conflict in your heart,” the Goddess told him. “I know the claim that blood has on you—and your wish to protect another innocent from the cruelty of your old world.”
Suddenly the window cleared and showed a picture of Emmeline. She was dressed in a deep burgundy gown, worked in one of the new bustle-type fashions which were just coming into vogue. Her long, golden brown hair was tucked up under a smart little black hat and her appearance was neat and clean and eminently respectable. She was standing at the service entrance of a grand house—her own former home, Hastings Hall, Richard saw—and arguing with someone.
When he looked again, he saw that the woman she was having words with was none other than her own mother—his Aunt Agatha. Beside her mother was a nurse holding a baby in her arms and, to Richard’s trained medical eye, it didn’t look quite well. It was crying—a fitful, sickly sounding wail that never ceased and its tiny fists waved weakly in the air.
Failure to thrive, he thought and wished he was there to give the child a full examination.
Emmeline seemed to know something was wrong as well, for she was reaching for the baby, a pleading look on her face. But her mother frowned and made a shooing motion with one hand. Clearly his cousin had come to see her son and just as clearly, she was being turned away.
“Go on now, Emmeline, before you cause a scandal!” her mother said.
“But he’s ill, Mother. At least let me hold him for a moment,” Emmeline begged. “I can quiet him for you—I am the only one he will stop crying for.”
“I assure you, Higgins has him well in hand.” Her mother nodded at the wet nurse who clutched the crying baby tighter. “She comes highly recommended and the baby is fine.”
“No, he’s not—he’s ill. I can tell!” There were tears in Emmeline’s eyes now but she was too proud to let them fall. “Please, if I could but hold him for a little while…”
“Do you not remember our agreement?” her mother snapped. “I told you that your father and I would raise him as our ward but only if you absented yourself from his life and from ours. You can do no one any good here, Emmeline. Go back to wherever it is you call home.”
Then the door was slammed in her face and Emmeline was left standing there, fighting back the tears that threatened to overflow her eyes and roll down her pale cheeks.
Richard felt his heart leap into his throat at the sight.
“Emmeline,” he said hoarsely. “Poor, dear cousin! She needs someone to champion her cause—someone my Aunt cannot ignore.”
“And so she shall have,” the Goddess assured him.
The scene of Emmeline fighting not to cry faded and a new one took its place. It showed a huge, muscular male who must be a Kindred. He was stripped to the waist and wearing a kind of loincloth that crossed low on his hips. It was his only clothing other than intricately worked leather braces which covered his forearms from the bases of his thumbs to his elbows. His eyes were hooded in shadow so that Richard could not see their color, yet they seemed to gleam like those of an animal.
But the most startling thing about the huge male was his scars. They were large, jagged, and prominent—silver-white lines that crossed his dark tan skin with startling effect, like streaks of lightning. One bisected his face diagonally, marching from the right side of his forehead across the bridge of his nose and crossing his left cheek just under the eye.
Another, much larger scar, bloomed upon his muscular left pec. It spread like a seven-pointed star just over his heart and looked like it must have been inflicted by a mortal wound. Yet here the warrior stood, still living and breathing, despite it and the other silver scars which also marked his torso, biceps, and muscular thighs.
“Who is that?” Richard asked. “And what manner of Kindred is he?”
For the male had to be Kindred—no human male could attain such height and musculature.
“He is an Esk’hara Kindred,” the Goddess told him as the male’s picture faded, to be replaced by her silhouette again. “And his name is of no consequence to you. Sufficient to say, he will be Emmeline’s protector. You are relieved of your blood duty to her—another will share his life with her so that you may share yours with Caroline.”
“Caroline!” Richard’s heart leapt into his throat when he remembered that she was already gone—gone to seek another life without him.
“You must hurry,” the Goddess told him and there was urgency in her voice. “She will be in grave peril soon and you must be there. Go!”
With that, her silhouette faded from the window and it showed nothing at all except the far wall.
But Richard didn’t waste time staring at it—he had urgent business.
“Quickly—I need to take a shuttle down to Earth!” he exclaimed, looking at Sylvan.
“My brother Baird can fly you,” Sylvan said. He looked at Olivia, who nodded, a look of concentration on her face.
“Already bespeaking him. He’ll meet Richard at the Docking Bay right away.”
“Come,” Sylvan told him. “I’ll take you there at once. It sounds as though you have no time to lose.”
Chapter Thirty-five
“Hey, are you Mandy?”
Caroline looked up at the speaker—a tall man with a scruffy-looking beard and a T-shirt which read, I’m not Perfect—I’m AWESOME!
“Um, no. Sorry,” she said, attempting to go back to her tepid cup of coffee.
After arriving down on Earth a few hours before, she had realized she didn’t really have a place to go. She had given up her apartment when she moved to the Mother Ship, so she had to find herself a hotel room for a few nights, until she could get herself together. It also meant having dinner at the rundown diner nearby the Holiday Inn she was staying in—not that she had much appetite.
Really, her decision to immediately vacate the Mother Ship right after speaking to Richard for the last time hadn’t been too smart, she admitted to herself. But she’d felt the need to get out of there—to get anywhere that didn’t remind her of the painful separation.
Not that it was painful for him, she thought bitterly. He couldn’t wait to get back to his own world and never see me again. He’s probably there right now, doing his best to put me and this whole nasty incident out of his mind. He’s probably glad he’ll never see me again. He—
“I said, are you Mandy?” the guy with the scruffy beard and the “I’m AWESOME!” T-shirt asked again. “Because you look just like the description of the girl I’m supposed to meet.”
Caroline realized she had never answered him.
“No, sorry,” she said shortly. “I’m not her.”
“Well, who are you then?” Without asking if he could, he slid into the booth across from her, grinning widely. “And why is a pretty girl like you eating dinner all alone?”
Actually, Caroline wasn’t really eating. She had ordered a French Dip sandwich and fries—comfort food—b
ut had barely taken a bite of anything. She just couldn’t bring herself to feel hungry after the awful day she’d had. To be honest, it was more like an awful three weeks if she counted the time she’d been trapped in the past and the time she’d spent feeling miserable because Richard wouldn’t see her. She’d barely eaten anything in that time and, as a consequence, had lost some weight. Which was probably why Mr. Scruffy Awesome thought she was worth hitting on, she thought bitterly.
“Sorry,” she said as politely as she could. “But I’ve had a really bad day and I’d just like to be alone. Okay?”
But clearly Scruffy McAwesome wasn’t the kind to take no for an answer.
“Well, if you had a bad day, let’s see what we can do to cheer you up,” he said, grinning at her. Caroline noticed that his mustache was so long it covered his upper lip and straggled down across his teeth when he smiled—teeth that looked like they could use a good brushing.
She shivered in disgust.
“Look, I really just need some time to myself, all right?” she said, trying again to send him away.
Again Scruffy McAwesome refused to go.
“But if I leave you all alone, you’ll just sit there and feel sorry for yourself,” he said brightly. “We have to cheer you up, pretty lady! And I know how—why don’t you come out with me to a movie? The new Transformers is playing right now.”
Caroline couldn’t think of anything less likely to cheer her up than sitting next to Scruffy McAwesome—who would doubtless turn into Scruffy McHandsy when the lights went down—and watching giant robots battle for the right to rule the galaxy. Why wouldn’t this guy take the hint and leave?
“Please,” she said through gritted teeth. “I just want to be left alone.”
“But that’s the problem—you have been left alone, haven’t you, pretty girl?” he persisted, leaning across the table to take her hand. “Did some guy dump you?”
“That’s none of your business!” Caroline yanked her hand out of his clammy clasp.
“Well if he did, he’s a jerk,” Scruffy continued. “I mean, I can see you’re a little on the chunky side but that’s no reason for him to let a pretty girl like you go.”
“What?” Caroline stared at him. Where did he get the nerve to talk to her like that? “A little on the ‘chunky side’?” she repeated, glaring at him. Apparently she hadn’t lost as much weight as she’d thought, but this was ridiculous!
“Yeah! But see, I can help you with that.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a bottle of pills and shook them in her face. “See, these little beauties are made with pure Garcinia Cambogia extract. That’s for the fat burning. They mix it with raspberry ketones which help speed up your metabolism and before you know it…” He snapped his fingers dramatically. “You shed all that ugly fat and the next time you see your ex, he’s kicking himself for letting you go!”
“I don’t believe this,” Caroline said flatly. “Are you pretending to hit on me so you can fat shame me into buying your stupid pills right here in a public place?”
“I’m not shaming you—I’m helping you,” Scruffy McAwesome told her earnestly. “I mean, you’ve got such a pretty face! You deserve to have a beautiful body to go with it.” He leaned across the table, grinning to expose his yellow teeth and too-long mustache again. “And for a gorgeous lady like you, I’ll knock off fifty bucks! I’m going to let you have this whole bottle of fat melting magic for just two hundred dollars.”
“Two hundred dollars?” Caroline nearly choked. “Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack—which is what you’re going to have if you don’t melt some of that fat away,” he remarked, nodding at her body.
Caroline grabbed for her purse and took out her wallet. As she started pulling out some money, Scruffy McAwesome grinned, clearly thinking he had made a sale. Then he frowned, when he saw that she’d only taken out a twenty.
“Hey, I said two hundred—not twenty,” he protested.
“Oh, this isn’t for you,” Caroline told him. “This is to pay for the sandwich I ordered which you won’t let me eat in peace.” She slapped the twenty on the table and looked him in the eyes. “First, trim your mustache,” she told him. “The way it curls down over your teeth is disgusting.”
“Hey!” He put a hand to his mouth, looking angry.
“And second, speaking of your teeth—brush them,” Caroline continued. “They’re yellow and I can smell your breath from here.”
She knew she was probably taking some of the anger she felt at Richard out on Scruffy McAwesome but in her opinion, he had been asking for it.
“Hey,” he protested again. “There’s no need to be nasty, lady!”
“Oh, I’m sorry—I thought we were commenting on each others’ personal appearance. Was I wrong?” Caroline asked sweetly. “I mean, if you’re allowed to barge in on my dinner and call me fat and offer me overpriced snake-oil pills to cure me of my horrible social malady, can’t I also give you some grooming advice? The advice being that you should start grooming period, instead of just rolling out of bed, pulling on some baggy clothes, and going out to stalk women who don’t want you or your shitty pills!”
The fake-happy smile on Scruffy’s face faded to an angry glare.
“Now you listen here, you fat cunt—” he began.
At that point, Caroline had had enough. Standing, she grabbed her cup of lukewarm coffee and threw it full in Scruffy McAwesome’s face.
“Hey!” he spluttered, wiping at his eyes but Caroline was already out of the booth and on her way out the door. She brushed past someone who tried to grab her arm as she went but she yanked away.
“Your money’s on the table,” she said, not looking because her eyes were clouded with tears. “You’re lucky I’m paying you anything if you can’t even keep strange men from bothering a woman when she’s trying to eat alone!”
Then she rushed out the door, heedless of where she was going—she just had to get away!
* * * * *
“Caroline? Caroline, wait!” Richard called after her, but she seemed not to hear him.
It had taken him some time to track her down. Luckily, Baird, who had been his pilot, had been Caroline’s pilot too and the Beast Kindred had been able to tell Richard what hotel he had dropped her off at. From there, he had followed his nose, using her sweet scent to guide him to the small eatery, not far away, where she was having dinner.
Everything was strange in her world and time—the clothing was much more casual—especially for women. He saw bare arms and even bare legs everywhere, which was shocking. The vehicles were a bit like the wind-up carriages of his own time but much bigger and faster and the people sat inside them to drive, instead of up on a box at the front.
But despite all the strange new things around him, Richard found he had eyes only for Caroline. He had wanted to go talk to her at once but he saw, to his horror, that she was already seated with another man.
A bolt of pure possessiveness ripped through him and a low growl rose in Richard’s throat. Had she used one of those dating apps she’d showed him on her phone to find a replacement for him already? Did his loss really mean so little to her?
Then again, he had been the one to send her away. Maybe he deserved this. Knowing that didn’t make seeing her with another male any easier though.
He had been standing in the back of the restaurant, watching her and the man, uncertain of what to do for some time. The Goddess had told him that Caroline was in imminent danger. Was this man going to attack her? Should he go and rescue her?
But Caroline seemed perfectly fine and in no danger at all. When the man took her hand in his, she pulled it away. Their conversation seemed to become heated but again, he didn’t offer her any physical harm so Richard hung back.
Caroline seemed to be handling the situation quite well but it surprised him when she suddenly got up, threw a cup of coffee in the man’s face, and stormed out of the restaurant. He tried to stop her as she went past but
she didn’t seem to see or hear him. She said something about the money being on the table and then rushed out the door.
“Caroline!” he called again, running after her. He saw her just ahead of him, entering a busy intersection. She was hurrying along and swiping at her eyes, not looking where she was going.
It was clear she didn’t see the huge black vehicle with its oversized tires barreling straight towards her.
“The danger is imminent—save her!” a familiar voice whispered in his ear.
Richard didn’t stop to think—he rushed into the intersection, running as though someone had given his feet wings—and maybe they had. How else could he have reached Caroline and pulled her out of the way just in time? The behemoth of a vehicle sped past them, so close Richard swore he felt its side brush the sleeve of his coat. It honked deafeningly as it went, as though to protest the near-accident.
“Oh!” Caroline gasped as he scooped her up in his arms and got her to safety on the other side of the road. “Oh, Richard!” She stared at him in surprise. “What…what are you doing here?” she asked breathlessly.
“Saving you…again,” he said. He was still waiting for his heart to stop thumping. Seeing her almost killed like that had nearly been the death of him too! Had he thought he was halfway in love with her before? Now, holding her in his arms after nearly losing her forever, he knew he’d been lying to himself all along.
He was hopelessly, madly, irrevocably in love with Caroline Lambert.
The question was, how did she feel about him?
* * * * *
“Is…is it really you?” Caroline thought she must be dreaming. And up until now, it had been a nightmare.
Being stuck in a run-down Holiday Inn with no other home to go to, eating a depressing dinner in an equally depressing diner, being hit on and fat shamed by Scruffy McAwesome, and then nearly being run down by one of those stupid jacked-up pickup trucks with the giant tires and the dangling pair of fake testicles swinging from its back bumper—that was all definitely the stuff of nightmares.
But now things appeared to be looking up.
Trapped in Time Page 30