A Times Journey Box Set (A Times Journey Novel Book 4)

by Bethany Shaw

  Her knees wobbled and stomach heaved. Please don’t throw up. Even with her eyes shut, the world still bobbled around unnaturally. How much longer until this passes?

  “That’s it, Cadence. Take deep breaths and calm down,” he soothed as he rubbed her back.

  Calm down? That would be much easier if she wasn't pressed so close to him. He was all muscle beneath his shirt and warm, so warm. Great, now she was getting delusional. Damn time travel.

  She took a few extra calming and steadying breaths before pushing away from him again and standing steadily on her feet. It was times like these when she found comfort and heat in his arms that she needed to remind herself that he was a murderer—a vicious vampire.

  "Why don't you ever get dizzy?" she questioned sitting down on a log.

  He shrugged watching her intently. "I do. Like I said if you give it a second it goes a lot better than trying to move around right away."

  She rolled her eyes. "So any idea if the spell worked or not?" she asked. The trees still looked the same and there were no signs of human life. They had opted to do the spell in the middle of the woods so they were less likely to end up in the middle of a town square, or a house, or God knew where else.

  He sighed. "I don't hear anything."

  "Me either.” Not that it meant anything. Her human ears were nothing compared to exceptional vampire hearing.

  He just shook his head. "Let me clarify, I hear all sorts of things, none of which sound like a budding civilization. If we’re going to be stuck together we’re going to have to work on some things."

  "What do you mean work on some things?" she asked with a frown.

  He placed his hands on her shoulders, lifted her up and gently spun her around so her back was to him. She tried to turn back, but he held her firmly in place. "Close your eyes and tell me what you hear."

  "What?" she asked. His warmth seeped into her and she trembled at his touch. What is he doing? “You can hear better than I can. I don’t understand why we are doing this.”

  "Just do it. I'm trying to show you something," he insisted.

  "Whatever." At least she wasn't facing him. She closed her eyes. "Now what?"

  "Listen. What do you hear?"

  She paused the only thing she could hear was his breathing. His hot breath whispered over her bare neck, sending chills zipping down her spine. She couldn't tell him that. She needed to think of something else. "Your creepy breathing right in my ear." His breath tickled her ear as he chuckled.

  "Cadence. You really should focus."

  It was kind of hard to with him breathing all over her. She closed her eyes and forced herself to listen to her surroundings. "I still don't hear anything," she said after a long moment.

  He sighed and walked in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders as he inched toward her.

  "Even as a human, you need to be alert to your surroundings," he began.

  She narrowed her eyes at him. What exactly is he getting at?

  "Use your senses, Cadence. Hear what is around you.” He pointed up. “There are two birds in the trees above us." She looked up and saw them. "There is a deer hiding behind that tree over there and a rabbit is right there." She followed his finger as he pointed at the wildlife around them.

  “Okay...so there are sounds. What does this have to do with anything?” she questioned.

  "I’m getting to that part. Patience.” He beamed at her. “If you listen real close, you should be able to hear the footsteps trudging through the dead leaves coming right at us."

  “What?” she gasped as he eyes flew open.

  "Don't worry; it’s just Harrison," he added. “The point I’m trying to make is we don’t know where we will come through. We need to be alert. Know our surroundings. One of these times, someone could be waiting for us to merge through to his or her side and that person might not be our friend,” he pointed out.

  Okay. I guess he makes a valid point. But how am I supposed to combat the dizziness, let alone take in my surroundings like that?

  "How do you know it's him?" she asked curiously.

  "Everyone sounds different when they walk or run. A person’s body shifts and differentiates its weight in certain ways.” He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Looks like you were right about true love. He's not alone," he added.

  "Really?" she asked excited at the idea of seeing Melanie again.

  "Unfortunately," he replied.

  She’d never understand his disdain for love and she wasn’t going to argue with him right now either. Cadence followed the direction of Zak’s finger and held her breath. Sticks crackled as they snapped and leaves crunched as two blurs raced toward them.

  "Cadence," Melanie said happily as she halted a few feet in front of her.

  Cadence blinked as Harrison appeared before them.

  "Zak, Cadence. It's good to see you again," Harrison greeted.

  "It's great to see you both too. Are you a..." she trailed off looking at Melanie.

  "Shortly after you left a fever took most of the village. I did my best to tend to the ill, and ended up quite sick myself. Harrison gave me his blood just in case I didn't make it. It was a good thing too as I succumbed to the illness later that evening," Melanie said quietly.

  Cadence grinned and opened her arms as she hugged Melanie. It was good to see the woman again even if she was now technically her enemy.

  "So, if you don't mind me asking when are we?" Zak asked changing the subject.

  "1401," Harrison replied.

  Cadence sighed. They’d moved forward, but nowhere near far enough.

  Chapter Ten

  She couldn't sleep. The warm fire crackled loudly to her right and she couldn’t help but look at the crawling orange and yellow flames. The light illuminated Zak’s form as he slept on the floor.

  He looked peaceful. His face was relaxed and mouth slightly open. The ties on his shirt had loosened exposing his bare chest. She licked her lips as she stared at his rippling muscles.

  A part of her couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be with him. He was a thousand years old, she would certainly hope in that time he would know his way around a woman’s body. Trent was an attentive lover, but he’d never made her heart thrum the way Zak did. It would be a lie to say she felt nothing physically for Zak, and maybe she did have some feelings towards him, too. She craved his touch, the way it made her heart quicken, her body heat, and the ache in her core. She shouldn't be thinking like this, and yet she couldn't help herself. Trent would loathe her forever if he knew what she was thinking, but how could he know her thoughts. He was centuries away from her.

  Again, her gaze flicked to Zak’s soft features and the way the fire danced across his stubble. His body was lean and hard and she wanted to reach out and trail the pads of her fingers over his skin. She closed her eyes. These thoughts were dangerous. She needed to stop thinking like this. Her eyes fluttered open, like a magnet, they found him instantly.

  The feelings weren’t real. It was some form of Stockholm Syndrome. She’d been with him too long. It was skewing her view of him.

  I don’t have feelings for him. I don’t care about him at all. He’s a vampire...a monster.

  She shot up and threw the blankets off of her and tiptoed out of the room and out the front door. A good walk would help wear her down. She wrapped her arms around herself as the icy air sent gooseflesh pimples up her arm.

  A small creek ran along the back of the house. Cadence strode through the thick grass until she came to the shore. She picked up a small stone and skipped it across the water, watching as the water rippled from the contact.

  "Trouble sleeping?"

  Her heart jumped and she gasped whirling around to find Zak leaning against a tree, his eyes intent on her. She rested her hand over her pattering heart and forced air into her lungs. “You scared me," she whispered. "I thought everyone was asleep."

  Zak smirked and pushed off the tree, ambling down toward her. "I'm a li
ght sleeper." He leaned into her, his face just inches away. "And you’re not as quiet as you think you are."

  "Are you going to give me another lecture and teach me how to sneak out of a room?" she asked taking a step back. He was too close.

  "It was never my intent to lecture you, Cadence. I was only trying to help. I can teach you if you let me," he offered, his eyes watching her intently. “We could work on mastering your powers at the same time. If you’re going to use your active powers in a battle, it’d be best to understand your surroundings. The two go hand-in-hand.”

  To be honest, she wasn't sure how she felt about spending time with Zak training. Sure, it sounded innocent enough, but she could see it turning less than innocent too quickly. Plus, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to work on her magic. What if she hurt him? What if she couldn’t control it? She shuddered.

  "I think we have bigger problems to worry about at the moment," she said changing the subject.

  "Oh, you mean like how nobody lives here anymore?" he said staring out into the water.

  "Yes. What do we do?" she asked curiously. Harrison and Melanie had stayed behind, just the two of them, waiting for her and Zak to return. After the epidemic had claimed most of the village, survivors fled, joining other, larger villages.

  "Without a witch, we’re stuck here," Zak said stating the obvious. "We could travel to the coast and take a boat somewhere. This continent hasn't technically been founded yet; however, I'm sure we should be able to find a boat; my siblings and I found one to take us back to the Old World in 1014. We should surely be able to find one now."

  "But where will we go?" she asked hesitantly. Damn it, I should’ve paid attention in history class. I don’t know much about the world in this era.

  "Wherever we want. Although that does present a problem," he replied.

  "Like?" What kind of problem could that present?”

  "From here to Europe by boat would take weeks. We’d miss at least one full moon. Two if we have any troubles once on the sea."

  "Oh," she said quietly. That does present a problem. "So what do we do?"

  He chuckled. "Trusting me to make decisions, Cadence?"

  She rolled her eyes. "Well, you are ancient, you have more worldly experience than I do," she teased as she laughed out loud.

  "Let's walk to the coast and see what we come across on the way," Zak suggested. “If we can stay—good; if we can’t, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

  She nodded in agreement. It’s not like there is any other choice.

  ***

  They would reach the coast tomorrow morning, he was sure of it. From what he remembered there were tiny trading villages all along the coast, or at least there had been in 1014. Surely, they were still there now—he hoped. It would just be a matter of finding one of them. As much as he would love to show Cadence the world, the thought of spending close to two dreadful months on board a ship was not appealing.

  "Melanie and I are going to go hunt," Harrison said as they stopped to make camp for the night. "Did you want to come, Zak? We’ll bring you back something, Cadence."

  “I’ll stay here.” He didn’t have any desire to feed on animals. Their blood was disgusting. He was hungry, but not desperate. The animal blood only made his thirst worse. It barely quenched and it made him crave more.

  Cadence gave him a weary look before turning back to Harrison with a smile. "Thanks. I appreciate it. I’ll get a fire going."

  Cadence set to work gathering small twigs and setting them in a pile. "Do you really think we will reach the shore tomorrow?" she asked as she knelt down next to the twigs. She stared at the wood and mumbled something under her breath. Nothing happened. She huffed and tried again. Nothing.

  "The coast yes, I have no idea about a village." He crouched down next to her and set to work starting a fire with two rocks.

  “You should’ve gone with them,” she said standing up as she brushed her hands on her skirt. “You must be hungry.”

  “What’s your least favorite food?” he asked as smoke trickled up from the rocks.

  Cadence sighed. “I don’t know. Okra I guess.” She frowned and shook her head as she eyed him.

  “Imagine eating a diet of filet mignon on a regular basis and then all of a sudden the only thing available to sate your hunger was okra,” he said trying to explain his craving to her.

  “But you can live off animal blood?” she questioned.

  “Technically yes. But it’s not as nourishing as human blood. I’d have to feed more often and it could effect my physical speed and strength if I stayed on that diet for an extended period of time,” he answered honestly.

  “How long can you go without feeding?” she asked her eyes widening as fire erupted from his efforts.

  He moved the wood and did his best to give the flames air. “A few days without repercussions.”

  “But the longer you go...” she trailed off darting her gaze away.

  “It starts to effect me physically,” he admitted.

  Cadence cleared her throat and sighed. He could guess what she was thinking. They’d been traveling for four days already and been in this time for nearly five.

  His gums throbbed as his fangs began to drop. Cadence’s blood was euphoric and thinking about the coppery warmth was enough to have his stomach growling.

  “You’re staring at me,” she cautioned as she took a step back.

  Zak closed his eyes. Hunger gnawed at his belly and her throbbing pulse called to him. Focus.

  “Oh for crying out loud, Zak, just do it,” she groaned.

  He opened his eyes as his brows jutted up to his hairline. Was she serious? She thrust her arm toward him and swallowed.

  “I’d rather you take a little from me than go crazy on some poor unsuspecting person when we reach the coast tomorrow. You won’t think twice about bleeding them dry, I’m sure,” she replied.

  She was right. He would drain the first person he happened upon without another thought. Cadence on the other hand, he would never harm her. She shoved her arm toward him and raised her brows expectantly.

  He grasped her wrist and trailed his fingers across her arm as he pulled her closer. Cadence gasped and her heart beat rapidly. Her chest heaved as she locked eyes with him. His gums ached as his fangs tore through his flesh and dropped down. "I won't hurt you, sweetheart." He lifted her creamy wrist to his lips, and placed a soft kiss to it before he bit through her flesh.

  Zak latched onto her wrist tenderly, careful not to tear into her flesh. Blood flooded his mouth and he lapped at the delicious liquid. She tasted like heaven. Her blood was silky and smooth and glided down his parched throat in rivulets.

  Cadence’s free hand grasped at his shirt and he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. He could suckle for hours, but he couldn’t take too much from her. He only needed a little to sate his appetite.

  His fangs retracted and he swirled his tongue over the puncture marks on her skin, lapping up every last ounce of her blood.

  He opened his eyes and kissed the puckered flesh tenderly. It would heal in a day’s time, faster if he gave her some of his blood. He placed a kiss to the wound and peered down at her.

  Her eyes were shut and her teeth clutched her lower lip tightly. He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her temple. Cadence’s eyes fluttered open. She gasped at their closeness, but didn’t pull away.

  Zak closed the distance, allowing his lips to graze against hers. Her heart picked up its staccato as he traced the outline of her lips with his tongue.

  "Zak?" a voice questioned.

  Cadence reeled back like he’d smacked her. She stumbled away and ran into a tree. Her hand flew to her lips as red crept over her cheeks.

  "Harrison," Zak said unable to keep the anger from his voice. Why did his brother have to show up now? She was letting him touch her. He was so close to kissing her.

  "Excuse us,” Harrison stammered. “We can come back in a bit.”

&n
bsp; "No, that's okay,” Cadence blurted as she dragged her hand through her hair.

  "Are you sure?” Melanie blushed.

  “Please stay,” Cadence begged. “I’m famished.”

  "Actually, we came across a village. It's about a ten minute walk from here," Harrison replied.

  ***

  Cadence let out a relieved breath as firelight finally came into view. Torches burned atop pillars lighting the night sky. The hike to the town had been more than ten minutes. It’d felt like an eternity. The minutes had slipped by agonizingly slow.

  It had been a long night. A part of her was thankful for the interruption from Melanie and Harrison, the other part was a little curious as to what Zak’s kiss would have felt like. If he could get such a strong reaction out of her from just lingering on her lips, she could only imagine what kissing him would be like. She shouldn't be thinking about this. Zak was her enemy. The coven would never approve. Hell, they’d probably kill her if she started anything with him. And then there was Trent...he’d never touch her again. He probably wouldn’t regardless; he was too afraid of hurting her now that he was a vampire, but still...

  “It’s small, but it should suffice,” Zak said, drawing her from her thoughts.

  Cadence squinted as she tried to make out the city. It was hard to see much without vampire vision in the dark. From what she could see, the coastal town was tiny. It looked more like an outpost of some sort than an actual town. There were several buildings and what she thought might be an inn.

  Her leaden feet stuck in the muddy ground like glue as they ambled down the hill and finally reached the street leading into town. The largest building was an inn and they stumbled in. There were three vacancies available. Melanie and Harrison each took a room, leaving her and Zak to share again.

  The two shaken vampires had each slipped into their rooms leaving them alone in the dank hallway.

  "You know,” Zak began clearing the air. “I've been around for a long time, and very few things surprise me, but I have to admit, when Harrison asked for three rooms I assumed he and Melanie would be sharing."

  She sighed and put her palm on her face. "I can see why they’d think we could share.”