Now and Forever:: A NEW ADULT TIME TRAVEL ROMANCE NOVEL (RAVENHURST SERIES Book 5)

by Lorraine Beaumont

  The other attribute that was different from Darias was Jayce’s easy laughter. Darias did not laugh often. No, he normally brooded, always very serious. Well that had been the case until that little bitch showed up. Then he acted like a sotted-fool, not like himself at all, which pissed her off even more. How could she battle against that? He seemed almost… happy. That did not sit well with Morrigan either. Surely, she had bewitched him somehow, with her dark hair and strange colored eyes. It reminded her of small purple clumps of flowers she dried for sleep aides, which she had loved, but not now. Now she looked at those too with loathing, just as she had the girl.

  That fateful night when she had walked into the great hall and seen that girl sitting beside Darias it was the final plunge of the proverbial blade into an already seeping, open wound in her heart. Immediately, she left the creature comforts of the keep and went out into the elements to perform one of her riskier spells. She had intended to get rid of that bitch once and for all.

  When she had returned to the great hall much later, she had thought for sure she succeeded too. The keep was in an uproar. But not for the reasons she thought. The girl had indeed vanished but the result was not what she had intended at all. Darias, her love was on the floor, lying in a pool of his own blood. When she saw him… she had very nearly lost her mind.

  MEMORYTHE PASTRAVENHURST

  “What happened?” she screamed crazily. Knights skittered out of her way their eyes glazed with fear as she stormed across the hall. The only one that remained was Jayce, who was leaning over his brother, holding him close.

  “Move back,” she railed at the knights closing in, her voice shaking and settled down at his side. Tears streamed steadily down her face, clouding her vision. She lifted her arms to the heavens above and began to chant. To hell with the law she knew she was breaking, could possibly be hung, or burned for. It did not matter. She fully intended to break everyone of them, if it meant bringing him back.

  Everything happened so quickly though, she did not even utter the final words she needed to say before the wound began to heal of its own accord. Jayce looked into her eyes with a mixture of disbelief and awe. She too, was grateful he was healing, but she was not the one who had fixed Darias. No, a force far greater than she, was responsible. Deep down though, she knew, it was him. He was the only one powerful enough to do such a spell. She knew she should be thankful for the lengths he went to save Darias but she was not. She knew, he would demand reparation for such an act and she knew to whom he would search out the like from…her.

  Days passed though, she did not hear anything from him, and Darias continued to sleep. She was wary about trying another spell to wake him. Afraid she may inadvertently unravel the spell woven so tightly around him so he may live to see another day on this earth. So, she let sleeping dogs lie. Instead, she did the only thing she could do and stayed by his side, morning and night just in case he woke and needed her.

  By the third day, she was exhausted, in body and mind. Sleep had finally claimed her and this time when she awoke Darias was awake as well. Only he was not the Darias she remembered. No, he was someone completely different, someone who she could scarce recognize. And to that end, she knew with an absolute certainty who had actually healed him and he was in his own way exacting the very thing she feared most of all…retribution.

  A gentle hand glided up her arm. She jerked away from it and opened her eyes half expecting him to be standing in front of her, ready to exact payment, but it was not him.

  “Are you all right?” Jayce asked, leaning close to her, a look of concern marring his otherwise perfect brow. “You were making noises. I thought mayhap you were having a bad dream.”

  Jayce was so close she could smell his earthy scent. It was heady and surprisingly comforting, reminding her of Darias. “I must have fallen asleep.” She shook her head trying to focus.

  “I know what you did.”

  She swallowed hard. “You do?” she asked weakly, feeling her chest starting to tighten.

  “Yes.” He smiled at her, which could not be right. Why was he not angry? Did he want to get rid of the girl as well? Jayce was looking better and better to her. Obviously, he knew the girl was a little witch and wanted her gone as well.

  “I wanted to take a moment to thank you for…” he trailed off, his eyes lingering on her full lips.

  Morrigan blinked stupidly. “Thank me for what exactly?” she prodded after a moment.

  “I know you tried to find the girl…for Darias.” He shook his head. “You did your best.”

  “Yes, I did,” she swallowed hard, the lie sticking in her throat awkwardly. “The weather is ah…” Morrigan felt trapped by her own big fat lie. It was squishing her breath from her lungs, making it hard to take a breath.

  “I know.” He shook his head in understanding. “You do not have to explain. That was mightily kind of you. Considering, all you have been through… with Darias, I mean. I know you cared, I mean care, a great deal about him. It must be hard for you.” He gave a small but grateful smile, his dark eyes glittering.

  “Yes, very hard,” she agreed and swallowed hard, suddenly feeling horrible which could not’ be right. Since when did she feel remorse for her actions? It was a foreign emotion to be sure and she did not welcome it now.

  He lifted his hand and pushed a lock of her wet hair over her shoulder. “He doesn’t even remember her?”

  “No?” she asked, not sure what he was even saying.

  He shook his head. “It is sad really. Here I thought…” he exhaled heavily. “It is not important.”

  “You thought what?” she could not help but ask.

  “I had hoped that her being here may bring back the brother he once was, you know before everything happened.” His eyes filled with a depth of sadness it made her stomach twist on itself.

  “Oh,” she said. Her chest tightened considerably. She had not thought of that.

  “I fear with her gone, well, it doesn’t matter now.” He raked his hands down his face and sighed heavily.

  “What do you fear?” she prodded. “Please finish.”

  “I was hoping he would remember and this…this blackness that has taken him over would somehow relinquish its hold on his soul.”

  “Right,” she said. “Of course, I see now.” She rubbed her damp palms on the front of her gown. Jayce’s substantial presence seemed to close in on her.

  “Come,” he said holding out his hand to her.

  She blinked, looking at his outstretched hand, not sure what to do.

  He smiled. “Come, I will not bite,” he assured her taking her hesitation as something completely different.

  Tentatively she placed her hand in his. It was large and warm as he pulled her easily to her feet. “Where…”

  “You are tired. I will help you to your room,” he explained.

  “Oh.”

  He lifted his hand, put it around her shoulders, and pulled her close to his body.

  The simple act of tenderness was her nearly her undoing. She stumbled forward.

  He caught her against his hard muscled body, steadying her. “Would you like me to carry you?” he asked, a frown of concern etched across his face.

  A vision of him lifting her into his capable arms drifted into her mind, making her shiver. “I can walk,” she assured him.

  “By the saints above!” he exclaimed. “You think I am a weakling?” he joked, lifting his hand to his chest feigning an injured look. “You wound me woman.”

  A small giggle slipped from her mouth. She froze and covered her mouth, stunned. It had been so long since she had laughed and it felt foreign. “Do not be silly. I am sure…” she trailed off looking at his muscular arms. She cleared her throat, her words catching on themselves. “I mean …ah…” She bit her lip, nervously.

  Jayce gave her another one of his heavily lidded stares. “You keep that up…” He leaned in closer, whispering breathily against her ear, “You will get a bit more than me
simply carrying you to your room.” He pulled away and gave her a devilish grin.

  Morrigan visibly shivered.

  “Come, you are chilled.” He tugged gently on her hand. “Let’s get you to bed.”

  Morrigan nodded her head, once more at a loss for words. Again, she shivered but it had nothing to do with being chilled.

  Bumps in the night

  PRESENT DAYRAVENHURST

  “DAMNIT Raven! Stop hitting me!”

  She froze instantly. “Reed?” she said, just to be sure.

  “Yes Reed!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing?”

  “Something is trying to get me?”

  “Now, Raven,” he said her name with a placating tone. “If you wanted to see me, you could have merely knocked.”

  Ravens eyes boggled. “I didn’t come here to see you!”

  “Really?” he asked his disbelief apparent.

  “Why you conceited, egotistical…”

  “What’s with the name calling?”

  “Oh get over yourself would you.” She wrenched her body, trying to step away from him. “There is something out there.”

  A loud shuddering noise splintered against the door as that something tried to enter the room.

  “What the hell is that?” Reed took a reflexive step backward, pushing Raven behind his body.

  “I don’t know,” she snapped right back at him. “That is what I was trying to tell you.”

  “Weren’t you just out there?”

  “Yes, but it is dark and excuse me for not waiting to get a good look at whoever…or whatever it is.”

  The door shuddered again, groaning against the hinges.

  Raven jumped. “Is this damn place haunted?”

  “It wasn’t until you got here.” He pulled her back further away from the door.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Raven didn’t mean for her voice to come out so shrewish but she always got edgy and a bit mean when she was scared and right now, she was scared shitless.

  Reacting to her tone, Reed answered with a harsh edge to his own voice, “Exactly what it sounds like.”

  A surge of anger shot through her. “I am getting a little sick and tired of your accusations.”

  “Careful… wife,” he warned.

  “I am not…” She stopped in midsentence. “Oh right…I forgot.”

  “You forgot you were married to me?” Suddenly Reed felt like someone just punched him in his gut.

  “Well you really cannot blame me…it is not like you have acted like husband material,” Raven added matter-of-factly.

  Another clap of thunder rumbled overhead, shaking the house.

  “Eeep!” Raven jumped and threw her arms around Reed. He staggered backward but caught himself just in time. She ran her hand down his chest realizing belatedly his shirt was open…damn his skin felt nice—it made her fingers tingle.

  Reed held her closely for a moment, his hand sliding under her hair. Husband material? A part of him scoffed at the idea while another part wondered if he was even capable of such an act. He shook his head, banishing the thought. “Come on,” he said, sliding his hand down her arm and grabbed hold of her hand.

  “Where are we going?” asked Raven, squeezing his hand tighter, it felt warm and strong—comforting.

  Reed rolled his eyes. “Can’t you trust me and stop asking so many damn questions?”

  “No. I can’t.” He was so close she could smell his cologne and the warmth of his breath on her face. Unbidden shivers slid over her skin.

  The door shuddered again and an eerie moan sounded through the door.

  “Okay, just this once,” she amended, stepping even closer and grabbing tighter to his hand. “Aren’t you going to see what is making the noise on the other side of that door?”

  Reed stopped abruptly. “Hey, I don’t know what is out there any more than you do and right now is not the time to find out. The lights are out and I can’t see, so I am moving on to plan B.”

  “You have a plan?”

  “Yes.”

  “What is it?”

  “Get the hell out of here before whatever is out there comes in here. That’s my plan.”

  The door shuddered again.

  “Sounds good to me,” she said, pressing closer.

  Slowly he maneuvered them both around the furniture of his room, holding tightly to her. He walked directly into the edge of a table and doubled over, groaning in pain.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I walked into a table.”

  “You should really be more careful.”

  Reed tensed and pulled up short.

  Raven mashed into his back pushing him forward. He fell into a chair. Shoving away, he bit back another groan.

  “What’s wrong now?”

  “I ran into a chair?”

  “Be careful.”

  “Be careful,” he mimicked in irritation. “I was trying to be, but you keep pushing me forward,” he snapped. He didn’t know why he was so angry with her. She didn’t do anything, but she was so close, too close.

  “Oh sorry,” she said, following closely on his heels when he moved once again.

  “Oh sorry,” he mimicked and tugged on his hand. “Raven let go.”

  “What?” She gasped. “Don’t you dare leave me!”

  “I am not leaving you,” he sighed. “I need my hands to find the damn door.”

  “Oh.” She released his hand but grabbed hold of hold of the bottom of his shirt, just in case he tried to leave without her. She could feel his bare back with her fingers. It felt smooth…nice.

  A pleasurable zing slid up his back from her fingers lingering on his bare skin. He shook it off and slid his hands across the wall, his hand curling around the knob to the adjacent door to his room. He turned it.

  Nothing.

  “Damnit!”

  “What’s the matter now?”

  “The door is locked.”

  “Don’t you have a key?”

  “Not that I know of,” he answered.

  “How can you not have a key?”

  Reed exhaled and raked his hand through his hair, frustrated. “I didn’t need one.”

  “Well that doesn’t seem very smart,” she muttered under her breath.

  “What was that?” he asked his irritation evident.

  “Nothing,” she lied. “Nothing at all,” she said and bit her lip to stop from saying anything more.

  Reed rubbed his face. He didn’t hear anything.

  “Reed?” she said and tugged on the hem of his shirt.

  “Listen,” he snapped.

  Raven strained her ears, listening. The house groaned and creaked in the whipping wind but other than that, she could hear a thing. “I don’t hear anything.”

  “That’s the point I was making.”

  “Oh right.” She released his shirt for a moment and rubbed her arms. It was chilly in the room. “So now what?” she whispered.

  Reed took a step backward, smashing something underfoot, his ankle turning. He reached out and caught hold of the wall for balance so he didn’t fall on his face.

  “Ow,” she whined.

  “What’s wrong now?”

  “You stepped on my toe.”

  “Sorry.” He stepped forward.

  “Now what?” she asked, rubbing her sore toe with her other foot.

  “I guess we wait it out?”

  “Wait what out?”

  “The storm to stop, the lights to come back on or whoever or whatever is out there to go away.”

  That didn’t sound like much of a plan to Raven but at the moment she wasn’t going to complain. It was better than the alternative.

  Milford sprinted down the long darkened hallway like a well-seasoned athlete. Skidding to a halt at the end, he quickly slipped inside his room and shut the door. Leaning against the smooth wood, he drew in large gulps of air, catching his breath.

  After a few deep breaths, he pushed back the black hood
and then pulled off the ghostly white mask, along with the glowing skeleton gloves.

  He couldn’t help snickering.

  He knew it was a dirty trick but he needed to speed things along.

  Oh but he wished he could have seen the look on Reeds face when he was rattling the door. He snickered again, lifting his arms in the air and dragging his left foot, moaning. His eyes were tearing up—he was laughing so hard.

  “I am getting quite good at this.”

  This was the second time he impersonated a monster.

  The first time was with Katherine. He chuckled again not able to help himself, remembering very clearly how she flattened Sebastian to the ground when she hit him full on. Of course, if Sebastian hadn’t been so sotted he wouldn’t have fallen over so easily. Served him right, he thought. Raven however, may have even broke Katherine’s record. She was fast, really-fast. Another burble of laughter came out, feeling quite pleased with his obvious skills.

  It was dark inside his room but he had been here so long he knew where everything was even when the lights were off. The carpet muted his boots as he walked across the room to his bureau and opened the top drawer. Carefully he pulled a long knife from his jacket and placed it inside. Next, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the “Missing” key that went to the adjoining chamber to Reed’s room that he had taken earlier. Moving around some of his clothing, he covered both items up.

  Satisfied nothing was showing he shut the drawer and walked back across the room. Reaching down he turned the handle to his door and opened it up.

  He waited and listened.

  When there were no sounds coming from either direction, he peered out into the darkened hallway. Easily acclimating himself to the darkness he made his way towards the large mullioned window at the end. A lone door stood off to the side. It was far enough from the other rooms and one of the smallest the house had to offer. Lifting his hand, he knocked lightly on door and pressed his ear to the smooth wood. When no one answered, he turned the handle and peeked inside the room to make sure all was as it should be. Even though he couldn’t see the heavy snores, along with a few incoherent words was all the affirmation he needed. Quite pleased with his handiwork, he shut the door. The sleep-aide he had slipped into their uninvited houseguest’s tea would likely knock her out until late morning. The last thing he needed was her interfering in what he had planned.