by Elena Lawson
Something about the horses calmed me. Brought me peace. The work of grooming them gave me purpose and time to think. And riding erased all my worries and forced me to put my trust in another creature again.
The horse I’d loved to ride looked kind of like this beauty. A Friesian. Beautiful and powerful and rare.
The horse gave a low chortle and stomped her hoof a second before I closed the gap. “It’s okay,” I assured her. “I won’t hurt you.”
My hand rested gently on the flat of her head, and she pushed into my touch, her cold, wet nose brushing against my palm. I smiled again. “A beautiful girl like you has gotta have a name,” I crooned, wondering what it was. Who she belonged to.
I didn’t have to wonder long.
“Sorcha,” said a husky voice from behind me, the accent unmistakable.
I pulled my hand away, blushing like an idiot and hoping he wouldn’t be too upset I’d taken the liberty of introducing myself without asking. Some people were weird about their horses.
But when I hazarded a glance up, I saw that he wasn’t upset at all—just curious—and maybe a little surprised. His red hair was hanging down over his face, damp, and I noticed that his tunic was damp, too. As though he’d just come from a swim.
He looked down at his appearance and gaped. “Oh, aye,” he said, perhaps realizing I was wondering why he was all wet. “There’s a wee stream through the trees just there,” he said, pointing to the sparse trees sloping down at the edge of the yard. I noticed he was holding his boots in the same hand he used to point.
His feet were bare, and I could see a whisper of red hair on his legs where his pants cut off five of six inches above his ankles.
At least he was wearing pants this time.
“Oh,” I said, unsure what else to say. “I was just…trying to get some air.”
“Everett?”
“How did you guess?”
He cocked his head, pursing his lips as he flicked his blue-green gaze to the house. “When there’s a problem in our house, if it isna me, it is usually him.”
I laughed a bit at that. It was a wonder the two of them hadn’t killed each other.
I followed his line of sight, looking back to the house. There was light in the windows now, casting a golden glow over the yard. It made me realize just how dark it had become. So quickly. How long had I been out here?
“So, she’s yours, then?” I asked, jerking my head toward the horse that was now eagerly sticking her head out of her stall, making small, nasally sounds to get the attention of her master.
“Aye, she is.”
“Sorcha,” I repeated, though the name fell flat on my tongue without the added romance of Alex’s accent. Pretty much everything sounded better when he said it. What I could understand of it, anyway.
“A Friesian?”
His eyes widened. “You ken horses?” he asked approvingly, a sort of deep, huskiness entering his voice that made my stomach flutter.
I shook my head, forcing a small frown. “Not very well,” said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve ridden.”
Alex stepped closer, giving the animal what she wanted with a firm pat on her head and a scratch under her jaw. He smiled, whispering something to her in Gaelic I couldn’t understand. The sight of the pair together made my smile widen. The love was clear to see between them. She was a well-cared for horse. I’d been about to ask him why he kept her here instead of on a proper farm where she could have room to roam, but I thought better of it.
Likely he didn’t want to be separated from her. I couldn’t blame him.
“I brought her wi’ me from Scotland as a laddie—we bonded just before my parents died.”
I tilted my head to the side, studying him. The week-old copper scruff on his jaw. The disheveled state of his hair. The bulge of lightly freckled ivory skin beneath his tunic.
And the dark, hollow circles beneath his eyes.
And were his hands shaking where they still held onto his boots?
From the easy way he told me of his parents’ death, I didn’t think it was the memory that affected him, but something else. An illness, maybe?
The thought pained me, and I was surprised to feel an ache building beneath my breastbone at the thought of him dying. Strange since just yesterday he had me cornered in the drawing room. He thought me a thief, and I thought him a bastard and a brute.
He was the latter, though. But I was starting to see the other side now, and I found in it a kindred spirit. Someone I could grow to befriend, even.
But if I was being honest, looking at the long, sharp planes of him beneath his clothes—I wanted a lot more than that from him.
If this wasn’t 1888, I wouldn’t be afraid to be forward in asking for it, either.
“My mother’s gone, too,” I said after a time. “She died when I was younger.”
His face perked up, and he jolted as though shocked, his brows raising to his hairline. “D’ye remember then, lass?” he said animatedly, moving in closer, dropping the boots to take both of my hands roughly into his own, a crooked grin brightening the darkness in his face. “D’ye remember ‘bout yer family? Where they are?”
Shit. I realized my mistake and froze, my heart thumping wildly. I hoped it was dim enough outside that he didn’t notice how I’d seized in fear. Sorcha whinnied in her stall, sensing the abrupt change in mood.
I hurried to swallow and force myself to calm. “N—no,” I said, stuttering both from trying to recover the lie and from the feel of his rough calluses against my own worn ones. His brows pulling in, Alex glanced quickly down at my hands, and I felt his fingers graze the raised ridge of hardened flesh from too many hours spent in the gym. Training.
I tugged my hands away. “No, I—I don’t really,” I said, still trying to recover from my mistake. “I can remember my life just fine. Just not the events leading up to being here.”
Alex frowned, and I caught the lick of suspicion in his expression, but it was gone too quickly for me to be certain it was there at all.
Damn. Stupid!
“Why are ye lyin’ to me, lass? Is there somethin’ yer afraid to say? If ye don’t want to go back where ye came from—if it’s no safe there, or—”
I shook my head, feeling the sting of tears in my eyes. “No,” I said, stopping him, my voice a cracked whisper in the shadows. “I do want to go back,” I said. “It’s all I want.”
I hadn’t truly allowed myself to think it before just now. I was just trying to get through this—whatever this was. I didn’t want to think about home, and the bittersweet emotions that came with that.
My life in my own time was in shambles. I knew that. But I couldn’t just be content to leave it—and all the people in it—behind. Guiltily, for a fraction of a second, I’d thought this may be my chance for a clean slate. To start over in a new place—to never have to see my father’s face again. But that second passed, and I felt awful just for having thought it.
Despite what he’d done—he didn’t deserve that. Neither did Aunt Deb. And poor Amy would blame herself if I stayed missing. Presuming that is what I was.
Alex’s tensed muscles loosened, and he came forward again, this time with open arms. He didn’t force himself on me like he did yesterday. He came only near enough for me to decide if I wanted the comfort he offered.
A warm tear slipped down my cheek and dripped from my chin—the sob that came with it making my chest swell. I leaned into his embrace, feeling the damp warmth he offered. The understanding.
He, too, was a foreigner in this strange place. An outlander. Just like me. And just like me, he didn’t have either of his parents here anymore to guide him.
Alex rested his chin atop my head, making soothing hushing sounds while he rubbed wide circles in my back as the tears began to subside. “I believe ye, lass,” he said, and I felt the abrupt compression of his chest as he sighed. I leaned further in. He smelled of wild heather, fresh air, and horses. “Dinna fash, Rebecca. I’ll
do what I can to get ye home. I promise.”
Chapter 16
ALEX
After she stopped cryin’ I walked her back to the house, glad to see she didna shy away from me as she had done the night before. Instead, she walked close at my side all the way until we got inside.
My skin bristled at the stiflin’ heat o’ the house. The boys always kept it like a damned furnace in here. It was a wonder I didna roam the house in not but my tunic more often. But the rush of heat wasna the only reason the hairs on my arms raised.
Inside, Ellis and Everett and Jasper waited. They were all sittin’ quietly in the dinin’ room. A meal set out—but none of ‘em were eatin’. My mouth closed tight, my teeth grindin’. This better not be another one o’ Everett’s damned interventions. If it were, I’d have his head.
With company here? Was he mad?
I’d drunk the damned Laudanum, hadn’t I?
“The devil is this?” I said, wonderin’ why they were all starin’ at me as if I was the fool.
Dinner, Ellis signed in that way he had o’ making me feel like I was a wee lad being chastised for my bad behavior. Heat grew inside until I was seethin’. Startin’ to see red.
Rebecca pushed in front of me, takin’ me by surprise—I’d all but forgotten she was just beside me. “Are you ready to explain what happened this afternoon?” she said, her words laced wi’ venom—aimed squarely at Everett.
So that’s what was troublin’ the lass. I could tell there was somethin’ more than just the obvious fact of her wantin’ to get home.
I looked between the two o’ ‘em. The big, hulkin’ mass of man that was Everett, and the small, yet fierce little lamb that was Rebecca. “What did ye do to her, man?” I demanded o’ him, feelin’ suddenly protective of the lassie. Everett was my brother, aye. But if he’d wronged her—well, it wouldna be the first time I’d drawn fists against him to be sure.
Everett at least had the gall to look surprised—the sting of betrayal showin’ in the thin line of his lips and the narrowin’ o’ his eyes. “I didn’t do anything to her, Alex,” he growled before he turned to the lady, and then back to me.
“I’m surprised she didn’t try to get answers from you—the pair of you looked real close out there in the gardens.”
“If yer implyin’—”
“He isn’t implying anything,” Jasper near shouted, risin’ from his seat and commandin’ silence from us all wi’ a dangerous stare. “Beck met David this afternoon,” he said, glowerin’ at me.
My back stiffened, and I did my best to school my features when I turned to look at Rebecca again. She was lookin’ for somethin’ in my eyes. The answer to a question, no doubt. One we couldna give her.
Could we?
What had she seen?
When I looked back to Everett and the lads—I understood the reason for the tension I’d felt when we first came inside. Their faces were heavy. Their countenance taut as a bowstring.
She’d seen too much.
Chapter 17
BECK
I sat at the end of the mahogany table, hands folded on my lap. Not just folded. Fisted. Honestly, Everett had an entirely too punchable face.
Ellis stared at me with sympathy while Jasper tapped the edge of his metal mask. The half of his lips I could see was pursed. Alex was scowling, his arms crossed over his chest.
The tension was almost palpable, settling in my stomach like a bag of rocks. While a part of me wanted answers, needed them, a tiny voice in the back of my head warned me against it. What if I didn’t like what I heard?
This entire experience felt like a dream. I kept expecting to wake up at any minute. Almost instinctively, my hand went to the skin of my wrist and pinched. Hard.
When four gorgeous men continued looking down at me, I mentally cursed.
Not a dream.
My stomach was a tumultuous mixture of dread and anxiety. Sweat coated the back of my neck, but my hands were clammy. I could practically reach out and pluck the tension from the air like I would the string on a violin.
“Explain,” I demanded at last, mentally patting myself on the back when my voice didn’t break. I wanted to scream and cry…to curl into a ball and forget this ever happened. Logically, I knew I needed to remain strong. Knowledge was strength, and I couldn’t be left in the dark another moment. These guys were willing to shed light on what was happening, hand me a flashlight, so to speak. Well, a candle. It kind of sucked to be in a world where electricity was still a shiny new toy—a novelty—instead of a widely used tool.
The four of them exchanged terse looks, but it was Jasper who sighed resignedly.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about this world. About us,” he began, tone wary. He scrubbed a hand through his dark hair.
Everett sat up, growling, and Jasper flashed him a reproaching glare.
“We agreed,” Jasper whispered harshly, and Everett physically deflated. Ellis glanced between his brothers, brows furrowing. After a moment, Everett nodded, indicating for Jasper to continue. Turning towards me, Jasper’s face significantly softened. Golden flecks fireworked in his one good eye, the sight memorizing. Was his other eye just as beautiful?
Focus, Beck.
“There are…creatures in this world. Humans aren’t the only things to exist.”
I vaguely realized Ellis had gone ramrod straight in the chair beside me, but I was entirely too fixated on Jasper’s words. He spoke them on a breath as his one eye gauged my reaction. I didn’t know what he was seeing, what he expected to see, but his lips curled downward when I released a sharp, bitter laugh.
“Okay, okay. This is some kind of joke, isn’t it? Did Amy set you up to this? Where are the cameras?” I glanced around the room with newfound suspicion. There easily could’ve been a minuscule camera hiding behind the potted plants. In the glass cupboard. In the corner of the room where the walls and ceiling met.
“What are ye sayin’, lass? Cameras?” Alex asked in exasperation. Ellis just looked concerned while Everett was, of course, scowling.
“How stupid do you think I am?” I questioned, rising to my feet and slapping my hands on the table. “But frankly? I’m done with this shit.”
“This. Shit?” Everett repeated, twisting the words with a confused quirk to his brow. I had to give these men credit: they definitely played the part well.
I could see it now. Amy getting in contact with the newest reality prank show. Special effects. Makeup that made that guy’s eyes glow and fur erupt on his arms. I was such a fucking idiot. Honestly, stupidity like me shouldn’t exist.
Maybe the drug I took on the yacht was a part of this. A sleeping pill? That could definitely be a possibility.
The more my thoughts wandered, the more my resolve cemented itself. This was a prank - a damn good one - but a prank all the same.
And I fell for it!
I had no doubt that if I walked another mile or two, I would arrive at civilization. There was probably a camera crew in one of the nearby houses laughing at me this very moment.
“Rebecca,” Alex began in his heavy accent, but I waved a hand at him when he started standing.
“You guys are good; I’ll give you that. Sexy as hell too. But the joke’s over. Ha. Ha. Ha. You had your laugh. Now, I want to go home.” When no one immediately responded, varying expressions of confusion marring their faces, I turned towards Ellis. “Honestly, are you even mute? Or is that a part of your character?” Hurt flickered across his face, painfully pronounced. He looked as if I punched him in the chest.
Everett stood up and mimicked my position, palms down on the table.
“Enough,” he growled.
A bitter laugh emitted from me, bubbled out of me. I was practically choking on it.
Soon, I couldn’t stop. Tears cascaded down my cheeks, and the most hideous noise escaped me. It wasn’t a laugh anymore. Not really. A sort of sob, I would say. Everett’s scowl faded marginally, replaced by a look of concern.
&
nbsp; If he was concerned, I must really look like a mess.
My legs wobbled, shook, and I couldn’t stop myself from falling to the ground. Still, I didn’t stop laughing. Didn’t stop crying. The damn tears burned my eyes.
“It’s okay. You’re okay,” Jasper said soothingly. He moved to kneel on the ground beside me, one hand going comfortingly to my back and the other resting on my arm. As he rubbed soothing circles into my back, he said, “I know it’s a lot to take in.”
He had that damn right. I knew even as the words were leaving my lips—as the thoughts of camera crews and prank shows were flitting through my mind—I knew that it wasn’t true. No matter how difficult a pill it was to swallow—no fucking pun intended—this was real.
I’m living, breathing, existing in the year 1888. And now they were telling me that there are, what? Monsters? Creatures that exist that I don’t know about?
Wasn’t falling through time enough torture?
“You have no fucking idea,” I gasped between laughter. His lips twitched at my phrasing, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he waited for the laughter to subside. His hand felt so damn comforting against me, even if it was impeded by a layer of clothing. Finally, finally, I was able to get myself under control. I used the back of my hand to brush away the tears. “I’m sorry.” I didn’t know who I was speaking to, only that the words needed to be said. “I’m sorry.” That last one was directed at Ellis. “I shouldn’t have said that. I’m just…” Another humorless laugh escaped. “I’m losing my fucking mind.”
“You use that word a lot,” Everett said gruffly. He had moved during my mental breakdown and was now standing protectively behind Ellis. His eyes were narrowed at me.
“What word?”
“Fucking.”
That word…
From his lips…
Goosebumps erupted on my arms, and delicious heat traveled straight to my core. I frowned at my reaction. I shouldn’t feel this way about any of them, least of all Everett. He took the word “asshole” to a whole other level.