“Where is the third, then?” I ask to get this show on the road.
“Wait here.” She Astrals off and returns shortly after with an unconscious human man. Oh, dear. Ice slides down my spine as I think I know what she is going to do with him. “Let’s go,” she says. She pauses to give Cole a lingering kiss, which grosses me out, and then grabs my arm and nods determinedly.
I close my eyes and picture where I want to be: Helsby, Cheshire, 1506, this World.
Please let me land in this World and not let me fuck up my own past.
I open my eyes and we find ourselves in a barn on the outskirts of the village. I peek out and we are in the right era, that much is all I can tell though. I change into something sixteenth century appropriate and Aefre does the same. “You will wait here,” I say to her. “We cannot both go to get him.”
“Why don’t you wait here, and I will go and get him,” she remarks.
“For starters, you have no idea where to find him, and secondly, no idea how to get him to come with you. You cannot just take him from the middle of the street.”
She frowns at me but must conclude that I have a point. She slumps the man in the corner and sits on a hay bale. “Be quick,” she snaps at me and presses something into my hand. I find myself rushing off. I want to be out of here as soon as possible as well.
I experience a moment of nostalgia as I see the village as it was so long ago. I picture my own Devon and me here and we are happy. Such a simpler time, I think with a sigh. Then I get a move on. I make my way to the brothel where Devon and I met. I hoped to land myself on the same day, and if I managed that, he should be here.
The men leer at me as I push open the door to the brothel and get accosted shortly after that. I push one away from me as he grabs my arse and gives it a quick squeeze. Of course, they are going to assume I work here so I don’t take too much offense, but I don’t hold back much, and he stumbles away. I quickly find the madam and pull out the bag of coins that Aefre had pressed into my hand before I left.
“Devon Sawyer,” I say to her. “Is he here?”
“Who wants to know?” she replies. “Are you his wife?”
“Uh, no,” I say. “Just someone looking for him.”
“Humph,” she grunts. “Mayhap he is, mayhap he isn’t,” she adds, crossing her arms over her ample bosom. And this is what the coins are for. I take a few out and place them into her outstretched palm. “Is he here?” I ask again.
“Upstairs, third door on the left,” she states as she tucks her booty away safely.
I head towards the stairs and she calls back to me, “If you are joining in, it’s extra.”
“I’m not,” I assure her with a shudder.
I make my way up the steep stairs and go through my game plan. My Devon was first attracted to my fangs, so flash those and I shouldn’t have to flash much more…hopefully.
At the third door on the left, I brace myself for what I am about to barge in on and knock once before I open it. I don’t have time to stand around and debate my entry. Fortunately for me, Devon and his chosen girl hadn’t gotten very far. She is half naked, but he is still clothed.
The whore looks me over and cocks her hip. “It’s extra.”
“I’m not joining in,” I say again and stride towards Devon. His eyes roam over my body and when he gets to my face, I flash him my fangs and his face goes from shock to awe. Thankfully. If I had to wrestle him out of here, that would not have been good.
“What are you?” he asks as I grab his hand.
“Wait,” the whore says. “We were just getting start
ed.”
I toss her a coin and she grabs it and clothes herself. The easiest money she’s made in a long time, she takes it with glee.
“Follow me,” I whisper to Devon, who trails after me like a lap dog. We descend the stairs, with his hand on my arse, which I slap away gently, and take it in my firm grasp.
“Where are we going?” he asks as I lead him out of the brothel. So far, this has been pretty easy. The worst part is still in front of me.
“Somewhere very special,” I say to him with a seductive smile, which practically has him drooling.
“You are something special,” he murmurs to me and I duck my head. I really don’t want much interaction with him, as it isn’t me, he is going to be with. I lead him silently to the barn where Aefre and the unconscious fellow await and close the door softly behind us. Aefre stands up as we enter and she smiles, a cat-that-got-the-cream smile and advances on him. Christ, is she going to turn him first and then go home?
Devon looks from me to her, both looking exactly the same, in delight and I hate to burst his happy bubble, that he thinks he gets to take both of us, in his dreams, and I Shift back to Liv much to his shock and disappointment.