by Lisa Olsen
“No, I’m fine,” he insisted, proving himself right by easily bounding up to his feet and offering the princess a hand up.
“Oh, a gentleman,” she smiled up at him, and he couldn’t resist bending over her wrist after she rose, kissing the back of her hand.
“At your service.”
“I like this one excessively,” she dimpled, wrapping her arm around his.
“There’s no way past the barrier from this room as near as I can tell,” Rob reported, coming to join them, offering a polite nod, but none of the smiles that the lovely ladies gave so freely. “There’s more of this place to be searched yet, but I’m starting to think we’re sealed in well and good.”
“I don’t suppose you have any ID on you, do you?” Anja asked with a hopeful smile.
“Ah…” He patted down his pockets and came up with a cell phone, but no wallet. “I’ve got this. No signal,” he reported, paging his way through the screens. There was no sign of what his name was, though he did find a familiar face. “I see an Anja Evans here in my contacts, so I guess we know each other,” he said with a brief smile. “And a Hanna Evans with no picture, but no entry for Rob.”
“Am I in your device, Ulrik?” Princess asked, her head butting in to see, and he turned to her with a frown.
“Ulrik?”
Her eyes went wide with surprise. “I… it just came to me. Ulrik… it seems to fit you well, I think.”
Somehow it didn’t sound right to him. “Ulrik? I don’t know, it doesn’t feel like me.”
“How about we call you Rick then?” Anja suggested.
“I guess it’s better than Ulrik,” he agreed, though just about anything else was.
“We could always go with something else. What’s your favorite movie?” Anja grinned.
“Something tells me my name isn’t Legolas either,” he smirked, and she laughed with delight.
“Good one! Though you look more like an Aragorn to me.”
“No way, Legolas is way more badass. All the elves were.”
“Elves aren’t bad,” Princess remarked, her forehead puckered with confusion. “And you have a perfectly good name without searching for a fanciful one.”
“If you’re done playing, I reckon we’ve got more important things on our plate than movie trivia,” Rob interrupted, his brows drawn together into a single dark line like a disapproving parent. While it ticked at his nerves to be scolded like a child, he supposed Rob was right.
“Sorry,” Anja immediately backed down, chastised. “He’s right. We’ve got bigger things to worry about.”
He went to the wall, eager to feel this barrier they spoke of. “Whoa…” he breathed at the tingle of energy. “This is like something out of science fiction.”
“Right?” Anja crowed, hopping up and down with excitement. “That’s what I said, but they think it’s magic. I’m not saying it was aliens, but…”
He had to laugh over her enthusiasm. “It was aliens,” he finished the quote for her.
“Not you too,” Princess sighed. “It’s clearly magical in origin. The markings on the ground suggest a spell.”
He looked at the chalk circles and the runes with interest. “I hate to say it, but yeah, this looks like a spell to me. These two runes here are for strength and gift… I can’t tell what the others are, they’re too smudged.”
“You can read runes?” Anja blinked in surprise.
“Apparently,” he shrugged. “Not that I know what to do with them for any kind of magic. What about you guys?” They all shook their heads.
“Hey, look and see if you’ve got the two other guys in your phone.”
He was halfway to complying with Anja’s request when he realized what she’d said. “Two other guys?” He’d been too preoccupied to notice the other two men in the room, but he saw them now, frowning over the one chained to the wall. “What’s going on here?”
“No idea,” Rob shrugged. “We were hoping one of you knew.”
Looking down at his phone, he scrolled through the contacts, but the screen flickered and went blank. “Damn it, the battery’s dead. So much for that idea,” he sighed, tucking it back into his pocket. “How about everybody turn out their pockets and see if there’s anything useful at all?”
“I haven’t got any pockets,” Princess reported. “What about the others? Shall we search them too?”
“I ain’t going near the naked bloke,” Rob snorted.
Her hands moved over her curves, distracting him, but he found his voice soon enough. “I suggest we leave them both alone for now. Let’s not borrow more trouble than we already have.” In his other pocket, he found a small velvet box with a ring inside, the diamond sparkling as he held it up to the light to read the inscription inside. “To the stars and back.”
“Ooh, look at the pretty,” Anja smiled, pulling out a tube of lip balm with a waft of cloves as she applied it.
“I accept!” Princess declared with glee, pulling the ring from his numb fingers to slide it over hers.
Anja’s smile faded. “What makes you think it’s for you?”
“Of course it’s meant for me,” Princess snapped back at her. “I’m the one who remembered his name, even you’re all too daft to honor it. I accept, Ulrik,” she repeated, throwing her arms around him in a clinging hug.
He didn’t know what to say. Had it been meant for her? She did seem familiar, but… marriage?
The memory struck fast, like a blow.
Her hands slid up his chest as she inched closer, a smile curving her lips. “I am the one you love, I’m everything you’ve ever wanted and more. You love me.”
“I love you,” he repeated, and in that instant, he knew it was true. Carys was the one he loved, she was everything he’d ever wanted and more. It seemed so simple, how could he ever have doubted it?
“Do you remember that night we first met?” she asked, her smile stretching wider as he saw the light.
“Of course.”
“That is how I would have you remember me. Erase any displeasure of past hurts or slights, remember only the good times we shared. We will start a new life together.”
“New life,” he repeated, his hands settling on her hips, where they belonged. It was happening, they were finally free to be together as he’d always wanted them to!
Her face tipped up to his, blue eyes surprisingly bright in the fading light. “Tell me then, do you love me?”
An overwhelming rush of love went through him, and he could barely contain the words. “I love you Carys, I’ve always loved you. When I thought you’d died, it destroyed me. I wanted to die too.” The pain washed over him as he relived that terror, but one touch from her and it all went away.
“Shh, cariad,” she whispered, tipping her lips up to his. “We will never be parted again.”
“Never again,” he pledged, covering her lips with a passionate kiss.
“Your name is Carys,” he gasped as the memory faded away. “I remember now. You’re Carys, and we were in love.”
“Are in love, cariad,” she corrected him gently, her head resting against his chest.
Ulrik supposed she was right. He remembered her clearly, and that all encompassing feeling of love – just not in the moment. But that probably had to do with his missing memories. He’d probably come to love her all the more as the gaps filled in. After all, he’d had the engagement ring with him, and the only other girl in the room was already married. Somehow he didn’t think he’d been about to offer it to the naked guy snoring on the couch.
His arms wrapped around Carys, holding her close. Maybe this was how it was meant to be?
Chapter Four
“Now that’s a fine thing then,” Rob declared with a smile. “Congratulations to the both of you. I wish you every happiness.”
“Thanks ever so much,” Carys beamed, her hand dangling so we could all see the ring.
“Yes, congratulations,” I added, offering my own two cents. I might not care fo
r the girl, but they did look happy together. Maybe she wasn’t always such a snooty b.i.t.c.h.?
“Thanks,” Ulrik said with a tight smile, looking a touch stunned at the rapid turn of events, and I could relate. I wasn’t sure what I did or didn’t feel for my husband yet either.
“I’d say we break open a bottle or two to celebrate, but I’m afraid it don’t change the fact that we’re still trapped here. Wherever here is,” Rob pointed out. “Hows about we split up and take a look at this place in more detail? Anyone finds an open door or even a window give a shout out, yeah?”
“That sounds like a plan,” Ulrik nodded in agreement. “Only keep an eye out. There’s no telling who or what else we might find in a place like this.”
“Okay,” I nodded. “I think the kitchen’s through there. Let’s see if there’s another phone jack in there that might work,” I suggested.
“I mean it, you two. Stay together, and don’t try anything foolhardy.”
“It’s okay, we got this,” I promised, my voice dropping to a whisper as soon as Ulrik and Carys moved away to the opposite end of the room. “Boy, he sure is bossy.”
“Too right,” Rob muttered, leading the way.
“I mean, what does he expect us to do? Split up and go traipsing through darkened corridors in our underwear? This isn’t some cheesy horror movie.”
“I hadn’t planned to leave your side, though I wouldn’t mind seeing you in your unmentionables.” Rob’s lips twitched into the faintest smile, and I bit back a laugh, not wanting the others to think we weren’t taking things seriously.
“Well, you never can tell. If we can’t bust our way out of here, you might be seeing them sooner than later.”
“The things you say…”
All at once I wasn’t standing in the hallway to the kitchen at all. I was in the same room I’d seen before in that brief memory, when I’d seen him give me my ring.
I leaned forward, brushing my lips against the corner of his mouth. Rob startled, his eyes flying open, but he didn’t pull away. We stared at each other, neither of us so much as breathing, and then he closed the distance between us, his lips covering mine. His kiss was slow and thorough, as though we had all the time in the world, but it packed no less heat than the fervent kiss in the rain. That first kiss had taken me by surprise, and I was too shocked to do much more than react, but this kiss… It wasn’t just a kiss… it felt like… like the way a song moves you, that’s the only way I can describe it.
Emotion swelled with every brush of his lips and rasp of his cheek. I breathed in the heat of him, stealing his breath and it warmed me to the core. With each slow, drugging kiss, I was bound tighter and tighter to him, and all I knew was, I wanted more. He felt it too, I knew he did. Not just from the way his heart quickened every time I touched him, or the way his breath hitched in time to mine, but I felt it deep in my bones, the way an old man knows the certainty of a coming storm.
“You alright, luv?” Rob stared at me with concern when I blinked and found myself back in the present.
“Yes, I… I think I remembered our second kiss.”
“Oh?”
“It was a super good one too,” I admitted, taking in a shaky breath, still feeling the heat of it.
“Tell me about it. Might could jog something loose in my brain as well.” His eyes dipped to my lips, and the hallway suddenly felt very intimate in the faint light.
“Well… it was slow at first, like I wasn’t sure what you’d do when I kissed you.”
“Can’t imagine I’d react unkindly to such a thing,” he remarked, drifting closer, and I moistened my lips.
“But then you kissed me back, and the way you held me, was like you never wanted to let me go.”
“That sounds about right to me,” he nodded, his eyes fixed on my lips. “Keep going. What about you? What did you want?”
My back came up against the wall as he leaned in, not quite touching me anywhere, but I could almost feel him there, the air crackling with energy between us. “I wanted you,” I answered simply, my voice dropping to match his low tone.
“And what do you want now?” he pressed, his hands landing on either side of me, trapping me against the wall with his body.
What did I want? What a loaded question. I remembered clearly how much I wanted him, how deeply it touched me, how much more it was than a simple kiss. But what did I feel now? I drew in a breath, taking in his scent of bay rum aftershave and the faint hint of cigarettes, and it felt so familiar I wanted to cry.
I didn’t know him, but I wanted to.
“I…”
“Hey, over here!” Ulrik called out from the other room, and our heads both swiveled in that direction. “I found another one.”
Rob let go of me, and we scooted back to the great room in time to see Ulrik carrying a girl, her body limp and unresponsive. He laid her on the ground by the fireplace and brushed the hair away from her face. She was dressed in a pair of jeans and a pale pink sweater, her straight blonde hair reaching well below her shoulders. Her features were close enough to Carys’ and mine that we could’ve all been sisters, but I didn’t recognize her either.
“Looks like she was bleeding from the ears at some point,” Ulrik reported, pushing the hair behind her ears.
I leaned in to take a closer look, spotting the crusted blood. “Ick, poor thing. I wonder what happened to her?”
“Is she…” Rob dropped to his knees beside her, his face pinched with worry as he laid his hand across her forehead. “Where did you find her?”
Ulrik jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Over there by the wall, she was mostly covered by the drapes behind that chair. I almost missed her entirely, but I spotted her foot.”
“She’s a witch!” Carys declared, pulling an oversized book out from the curtains. “She must be the one who trapped us in here. We should tie her up before she wakes. Then we can force her to pay for her crimes!” she added hotly, blue eyes blazing with intensity.
“Well, she’s dead now, so I guess it doesn’t much matter,” Ulrik reported, setting back on his heels.
“No… she can’t be dead,” Rob frowned, rubbing the inside of her wrist. “She just wants a bit of time to wake up is all.”
“Rob, do you know her?” I asked, kneeling down beside him.
“No, but… look at her, she’s just a bitty thing,” he frowned. She did look all of five feet tall, I had to agree. “She don’t deserve to die, witch or not.”
I reached out to touch her arm and found her cold as death itself – no pulse, no breath, no sense of any life in her at all. But CPR had worked on Carys. “It couldn’t hurt to try CPR on her.”
“That kissing game?” Carys scoffed. “Like as not she wants to molest another female,” she added under her breath, still clutching the book to her chest, but I heard her just fine. I ignored her, that seemed to be working out for me, so far she hadn’t contributed anything useful to our group beyond finding the spellbook.
“She’s only trying to help,” Ulrik said softly to her before turning to me. “Look, if she’s been out like this since we woke up, I doubt CPR is gonna do a thing for her, but you’re welcome to try.”
I knew he was right, but Rob looked so distressed, I asked his opinion too. “Rob, what do you think? Should we try CPR?”
He was still looking down at the girl, a puzzled look on his face. “No, I reckon he’s right. Whatever happened to her, I don’t think we can do anything to bring her back.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, twining my fingers through his as he rose to his feet. “Do you think we should go through her pockets to see who she is?”
“Nah, don’t matter much now, do it?” Rob sighed, grabbing a throw blanket off of a chair to cover her. She was petite enough that it covered her entirely.
We all stood around staring down at her with varying degrees of sadness. Though I felt no familiar pull toward her, it did make me sad to see someone so young die, witch or not, like Rob’d s
aid. Only Carys seemed wholly unaffected, paging through the book.
“Is it a spellbook?” Rob asked, looking over her shoulder.
“I think so, but I can’t make heads nor tails of it,” she sighed in disappointment, tossing it negligently onto the nearest chair.
“Have a care, that might be our only way out of here,” Rob scowled, retrieving the book.
“Fat lot of good it’ll do us if none of us can read it,” she retorted, but the rest of us took another look.
The pages were weathered and stained, as if the book had been bound a long, long time ago, with flowers and herbs pressed between some of the pages, and occasionally, a lock of hair tied with ribbon. I couldn’t read it either, though a word or two looked familiar.
“Do either of you recognize the language?” I asked the men, and Rob shook his head.
“It’s all nonsense to me.”
“It’s old Norse,” Ulrik said, not quite ready to let it go yet. “I can make out a word here or there, and I could probably sound them out well enough to read an incantation, but not well enough to figure out what spell to use to help us out.”
“Which leaves us exactly where we started, plus a dead body,” I sighed, setting the book carefully on the coffee table.
“Our objective hasn’t changed then,” Ulrik said. “We check out the rest of this place and see what else we can find. There’s always a chance that one of these two will be able to read it,” he gestured to the two men who continued to sleep.
“What are the odds of that?” They didn’t seem good to me.
“No, he’s right,” Rob chimed in. “It ain’t time to throw the towel in yet. For all we know there’s a window we can climb out of, or the bloody chimney for that matter. Let’s go check out the rest of the house, yeah?” He held out his hand to me.
“Sure,” I smiled, threading my fingers through his. “Let’s go check it out.”
Chapter Five
The kitchen didn’t turn up much other than some candles, which made the rest of the search easier as we got farther away from the fire in the great room.
