Timeless (Immortal Love Series)

by Amy Richie

  “Come on Eva,” David tugged on my elbow. “He’s not bothering you.”

  “He is bothering me.” I started walking again. “Just by being here.” Dominick never left my side.

  After two times around the room, David declared me too tired to go again. “I don’t feel tired.”

  “Your heart rate is skyrocketing.”

  That’s because Dominick Letrell is following me. “I’ll sit down for a minute.”

  “Are you hungry?”

  I hadn’t thought about food but the mention of it made my stomach rumble. “A little.”

  It couldn’t have been a full minute later that the door opened and in walked a small auburn haired woman. She was beautiful enough just standing there but when she smiled it made my breath catch. “Hello Eva,” her voice sang out.

  I was completely mesmerized. “Hi.”

  “I’m Claudia.” The name didn’t ring a bell. “I’ve brought you some breakfast.”

  I hadn’t even realized she was holding a silver tray. “Thanks.” I made a move to get up but Dominick’s barking voice made me pause.

  “Just set it on the bed and leave.”

  I frowned, but luckily she didn’t listen. She pulled a small table up to me and placed the tray on top of it. After she uncovered the delicious smelling food she sat on the bed beside me. David cringed and looked at Dominick. “What do you want Claudia?” Dominick demanded.

  I couldn’t be sure but it looked like the lovely Claudia stuck her tongue out at Dominick, who didn’t appear to be joking at all. My mouth fell open.

  “I got in just last night.”

  “I hadn’t heard you were coming,” David replied. Did David know her?

  She looked away, pretending to help me. “We’ve missed you David.” They did know each other.

  “Is he here?”

  “No, he didn’t…he didn’t come.” Who was he? “We looked for you. For years. We wanted…to find you. But then we heard you were with Neleh.”

  If David and Claudia did know each other, they weren’t close. They were certainly awkward now. I looked over at Dominick, momentarily forgetting that we were enemies. He was staring directly at me; he hadn’t stopped looking at me since I woke up. He was probably making sure I ate. I put the fork down on my plate. We both crossed our arms. This could get annoying.

  “Then we got word that you were here.”

  “Did Kiera call you?” David sank down and made himself comfortable on the floor, which made Claudia relax.

  “Yes. I asked her to inform me if and when you and Neleh parted ways.”

  David smiled then. “I see.”

  “David, we were thinking,” she flexed her jaw nervously. “Well, you don’t have anywhere to live now, right?”

  “Out of the question,” Dominick suddenly snarled.

  Anger glimmered in her pale green orbs, making me like her even more. “You don’t answer for David.” There was menace in her voice.

  “She will not go anywhere with you.” He jerked his thumb in my direction.

  “And David won’t go without her?”

  “I don’t know that I would go anyways,” David finally spoke for himself.

  “What makes you think you can tell me where I will go?” I demanded of Dominick.

  “When we heard that Dominick finally found a mate, we assumed that the woman would be willing.”

  They all three smiled but I found nothing amusing about her words. “I am not his mate,” I denied vehemently.

  Claudia looked at me with a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry dear.” David laughed.

  “I am not his mate.”

  “Yes you are,” Dominick responded hotly. I was positive that he said that only to irritate me.

  “Where do you want us to go?” My voice was too harsh but I couldn’t help it.

  The reminder of her mission made Claudia’s face fall. “Marcus and I make our home in the states. I mean, Blakesly House will always be our home, but right now we stay in the states.”

  “And you want us to go there with you?”

  She cast a nervous glance to Dominick. “I came to ask David, but we would love for you to come as well.” She took my hand in hers.

  “She is not going anywhere.”

  “I didn’t ask you.” He turned his glare to include me, but I didn’t flinch back. “We’ll go, won’t we David?”

  “I…I don’t know.”

  “I understand why you don’t want to come with me David, but he—” her voice broke and she had to look away.

  I was horrified by the tears I saw on her lashes. “David.”

  “Eva, you don’t understand.”

  “So you guys had a fight. You and…”

  “Marcus.”

  “Marcus?”

  “Yep.”

  “Marcus Letrell.” A nod of confirmation. “Oh.” That changed things.

  “Undoubtedly Neleh filled your head with lies about the Letrell’s?” Claudia asked.

  “She told me some things.” I wasn’t ready to start bashing Neleh.

  “You’ll have to judge for yourself, but we aren’t a bad group.” I didn’t miss that she included herself.

  I pushed my uneaten tray away from me and joined David on the floor. “Maybe we should go.” He didn’t look at me, but I could tell that he was thinking things through. “Where else are we going to go?”

  “You can stay here at Blakesly House. It’s your home now to.”

  I stared at him in disbelief. Was he really going to go along with me belonging to Dominick? It was an outrage. But then his words sunk in and I understood what else they meant. He wouldn’t leave me here alone would he? Panic made my heart speed up. “David.”

  “What?”

  “You’re not leaving me.”

  “I have to think things through.”

  “David.” I didn’t want to get emotional with Dominick sitting so close, but I couldn’t chance David leaving without me. “You can’t leave me. You’re all I have left.” I couldn’t look at him and see the pity there.

  I heard Dominick sigh but I didn’t hear him move so it surprised me when he was suddenly in my face. “You’re not alone.” That was all he said. Then he stood up and faced Claudia. “We’ll all go with you.”

  Chapter Thirty

  “How are we going to get through?” I whispered.

  “Shh.” Dominick grabbed my arm to pull me closer to his side.

  I bit back the complaint that I felt coming when he touched me. The entire way from Blakesly House to the border of the states I had to endure Dominick being no further away than three inches. He refused to leave my side for anything. I should have felt safe but the way his eyes darted around, looking for possible dangers only made me nervous.

  “I was only…”

  “Shh.” I sighed as loud as I could.

  “There’s a place up ahead; about ten miles south. We could scale the wall.”

  “Scale the wall?”

  “Shh.” I puffed my cheeks out. Claudia could talk, but I couldn’t.

  While Claudia and Dominick argued I took the opportunity to get some answers from David. “Why do we have to be quiet? They can’t hear us through this wall.”

  “They have sound sensors,” he explained with his lips pressed close to my ear.

  “Claudia lives here, so why…”

  “Shh.” Dominick came up behind me and took my hand to lead me close behind him.

  The walk was slow. In many places there were only a few feet of land before the ocean began. I could finally understand why David was so hesitant about coming here. Since Jewell, the states had a severe ban on anyone entering or exiting without a pass. They had gone to the extreme of building a fifteen foot wall all the way along its border. Anyone caught on the outside of the wall would be shot without question.

  Since no planes could fly into the states, we were forced to travel by water. Underwater shuttles made it easier, getting us to the states in less than 48 h
ours. Even in those cramped spaces, Dominick barely let me breathe. And now here we were, running along the edge of the wall.

  Dominick’s voice close to my ear made me jump. “If you get tired, I could carry you.”

  I shook my head, not a chance. “I’m fine.”

  He applied slight pressure to my hand, which I tried to get away from him. No luck. “You don’t have to hold my hand, I’m not a child.” He didn’t even acknowledge that I had spoken.

  About an hour later, they stopped at another spot along the wall that looked the same as any other spot. Claudia nodded once at the two men. “This is going to have to be quick.”

  Dominick brought his lips close to my ear. I ground my teeth together and listened to what he had to say. “As soon as we start climbing an alarm will sound, bringing border control to us. They’re at least ten miles away, but we have to move quickly to get on the other side and away before they reach us.”

  “Ok,” I breathed.

  “You’ll ride on my back and be very quiet. And Eva,” my breathing stopped, “hold on tight.” Our eyes met and our lips were barely an inch apart. His eyes softened momentarily.

  “Ready?” Claudia broke the spell. “David?”

  “Yeah,” he rubbed his palms onto his pants.

  Dominick crouched down so I could fasten myself onto his back. “We’re ready.”

  She held up three fingers and counted down. We were up and over the wall before I even had time to be nervous. Once on the other side we hit the ground and kept running. Roads and fields flew by, leaving me dizzy. “Eva, close your eyes. It will help with the dizziness,” Dominick told me. I nodded but then realized he couldn’t see me so I just closed my eyes.

  Eventually I was able to relax and even pretend that I was with Nickolas. I imagined that we were on his beautiful white horse and he was kissing me. Everything else outside of that moment ceased to exist.

  I sighed gently into Dominick’s neck. “You ok?”

  “What?” I jerked myself back to the present.

  “We’re there.”

  I opened my eyes and looked around. It was obvious that we were looking at a large city. I had never seen anything like it in my life. Buildings rose up from the ground and they were all smashed together. There were no people on the streets but Claudia assured me that they would be out soon.

  “Marcus is meeting us with our ID’s but we still want to make sure we aren’t seen. The fewer questions we have to answer, the better.”

  As if on cue, a tall man with dark hair and dark eyes stepped out from the shadows. “Claudia,” his relief was evident.

  “Marcus.” She smiled warmly at her handsome mate.

  “David.” His smile grew. “I am glad you came.”

  “Marcus.” David nodded.

  “And this is Eva.” Marcus stepped towards me, but Dominick put himself in front of me. “Ah, brother. It’s been too long.”

  “Four years since I last saw you.” The two men embraced fondly, but I saw Dominick’s wince.

  Marcus managed to gawk openly at me before Dominick blocked his view again. “I see you have brought your mate.”

  “I am not his mate,” I informed him through clenched teeth. Marcus, David, and Claudia chuckled softly. There was no use arguing in the dangerous night so I pursed my lips and crossed my arms.

  “Let’s get somewhere safe before we’re seen,” Dominick suggested.

  They all nodded soberly. Marcus took a small metallic object from inside his coat. It looked like a weapon of some sort. I instinctively took a step back. “This is an I2,” Marcus explained as if I knew what that was.

  “What’s an I2?”

  “An identification Injector.”

  “Hmm,” I grunted.

  “Come on, Eva, you’re first,” he held out his hand.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “The I2 will inject your identification into your hand. The chip goes between your third and fourth knuckle on the palm side. If an officer sees you out they will scan your hand and all your information will be there for them to see.” He smiled, “at least what we want them to see.”

  “How do I know that’s really what it is?” His face was blank. “Let David go first.”

  “He can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it’s already programmed for you. David isn’t a girl.” In a flash my hand was held in his firm grasp. I tensed up, mentally preparing to fight him. But before I had time to do anything he was gone and Dominick was crouched in front of me, growling ferociously.

  Claudia burst into giggles, holding her sides. David smiled and shook his head, but he was nervous. Marcus emerged from the shadows, laughing. Even Dominick appeared amused. Was I the only one who found this situation not funny?

  “You shouldn’t have grabbed her like that,” David advised, “you know how he feels about Eva.”

  “That was absolutely not necessary,” I snapped. “I can take care of myself.” I held out my hand and waited calmly while Marcus composed himself enough to use the I2.

  “You couldn’t have, you know,” Dominick remarked casually while David was getting his ID.

  “Couldn’t have what?”

  “You couldn’t have defended yourself against a warrior. Neleh filled your head with a false confidence. She made you think you had a chance in a fight against a warrior.”

  “I have fought a warrior.”

  “Who?”

  “I mean, Capir defeated me easily enough, but…”

  “The guard Capir?”

  “But Henri was easy.”

  “She beheaded Henri in four seconds,” David interjected proudly.

  “Your turn Dominick,” Marcus held out his hand.

  “I think it was more like six seconds.”

  “She made you fight Capir?” Dominick was still stuck on that.

  “It wasn’t really a fight,” David explained.

  “Did it even last a full second?”

  “And she made you fight Henri?”

  “That was impressive.” I almost smiled at David’s tone.

  Dominick stepped close to me. “That’s what you were laughing about that night by the fire.”

  “Outside the colony.” I smiled at the memory. “Because you said I couldn’t...” I snapped my lips shut on the memory. This was not Nickolas, it was Dominick Letrell. I turned my shoulder so it was clear that we were done talking. His lips twitched.

  “You ready? We don’t live far and it’s a nice neighborhood so we don’t have to worry much about the VC. Stay close though.” Claudia stepped out of the shadows first, followed closely by Marcus. David went next, but when I tried to follow, Dominick wrapped his arm around my waist and pressed me to his side.

  “You heard what she said, stay close.” I rolled my eyes but allowed him to lead me behind the others.

  “Dominick,” Claudia hissed, “let her go with David.”

  “No.”

  “Every time you get near her, her heart beats too loud. The humans could hear it even without their sonics.”

  Damn my treacherous heart! I wished I could take it out and burn it. Irritation crept into my cheeks. Dominick released his hold around my waist. As he passed by me to allow David to replace him he turned and winked.

  “Stop it Dominick. There it goes again,” Claudia scolded.

  Grr. Why couldn’t he just go drown himself. David draped his arm over my shoulder. “We’ll be there soon,” he whispered close to my ear.

  “I’m fine,” I whispered back. I leaned into his side, thankful for his support.

  I couldn’t understand why my heart was reacting so badly. It was as if it had its own mind and forgot that Nickolas wasn’t real. He was just made up. My shoulders slumped further down. I had to do better at remembering.

  I forced myself to remember, in detail, the things Neleh had put me through. Reva had told me it was all because of Dominick. I felt my stomach tighten with a familiar rage and my lips
turned upwards a little.

  Obviously I wouldn’t be able to kill him now, I wasn’t even sure that I wanted to anymore. But I certainly didn’t have to be his friend. I didn’t have to laugh with him and remember when he lied to me. When he made me believe that he loved me. I took a deep breath to calm myself before we reached the house.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Claudia and Marcus’s home was large, even for the wealthy. It was located on the fifth floor and since it was before curfew we had to sneak in via the fire escape outside. The spacious living room melted into a dining room and kitchen. The furniture was simple and not overly done. I loved it.

  “You can share a room with Nadia,” Claudia told me, “and you two can take the spare room on the left side,” she pointed to Dominick and David.

  “I thought you had…,” David began but was cut off by Dominick.

  “Elizabeth is here.”

  “You didn’t expect me to stay at home and face all this danger alone did you,” came a woman’s voice from behind us.

  I whirled around, my reflexes slower than anyone else’s. A beautiful black — haired woman stood with one eyebrow arched and her arms crossed over her chest. Elizabeth.

  “So you’re Eva, the woman who captured my big brother’s heart.” She circled me like a vulture.

  I wasn’t made to back down. I steeled my feet and kept my eyes fixed on her. “I am Eva,” I only acknowledged her first claim.

  Her voice was saucy and her accent thick. “You’re kind of pretty,” she shrugged, “but really Dom, what do you see in her?”

  I heard him growl from the hall. “Easy Elizabeth.”

  Suddenly her face broke out into a beautiful smile. “So he does love you. We shall be friends.” She threw her arms around me, forcing me to embrace her. “She can share a room with me, no?” She turned pleading eyes to Claudia. My mouth was still hanging open.

  “No,” Claudia laughed, “you are sharing with Achilles. Eva is in with Nadia.”

  “Oh,” her black hair fell forward with her nods, “you will like Nadia, but not as much as you will like me.” I couldn’t tell if she was kidding or not.

  “I’m tired,” I blurted out. “David, I’ll share a room with you.”