First Dimension

by Rebecca Royce

  “I am embarrassed because your mother told everyone, but most especially you, that I don’t think I’m attractive enough to be with you.”

  “What?” He grabbed the pillow and pulled it out of her hand. She rushed back to the bed and grabbed another one, holding it up against herself like a shield. “I thought that was some kind of joke.”

  “A joke?” Her eyes shot daggers at him. “My feelings of insecurity and unwantedness are a laughing matter to you?”

  “Did you make up that word?”

  “What?” Her voice had raised two octaves; he wasn’t sure what that meant.

  “Unwantedness. I think you’ve invented that word.”

  “This isn’t a joke. I’m humiliated.”

  “It was the most ridiculous thing I’d ever heard. You’re a beautiful, smart, accomplished woman and as the first Warrior to fail in his mission in well, ever, I am not exactly a catch and it’s not as though you’re from here and therefore so impressed with my family name that you’re desperate to marry into this mess we call a family.”

  “I’m completely confused, Hawk. You aren’t making any sense to me.”

  “Tell me which part of ‘I think you are beautiful and I want you to stop thinking you aren’t’ you don’t understand?”

  “Do you mean that?”

  He nodded. “I do.” His heart pounded.

  “I’m disgusting.”

  “Alright, now I’m getting really mad at you.” If she were a man who said that about her, he’d kill them. As it was, he couldn’t kill her but he still wanted to strangle her.

  “No, I mean I’m gross.” She pulled on his old tee shirt that she wore. “I haven’t showered since I’ve been here and I’ve been sick twice.”

  He pointed at the bathroom. “Shower is there.”

  “Does it work like the ones back home?”

  “Here,” he placed his hand under her arm and walked with her to the bathroom. The showers on earth had involved knobs, the ones here were buttons. Since she was beyond bright, he was sure she could have figured it out but it was an excuse to touch her, to walk with her, to look at her legs one more time under his tee shirt. At that thought, his groin hardened and he wished he could adjust his pants. But she’d already said no, and that meant the same thing no matter what dimension they were in.

  He opened the door to the shower. “This much is the same.” He motioned toward the stall. “This button does hot, this one cold, and these two make it hotter or colder.”

  When she launched herself at him, he nearly stumbled backwards. Her mouth met his desperately, begging him to kiss her. He complied. All thoughts of why were unimportant to him.

  He’d wanted Hadley from the moment he’d laid eyes on her and if she had finally come around to his way of thinking, he would gladly comply. Mouth to mouth, tongue to tongue, he couldn’t get enough of her.

  More, he needed more from Hadley. He pushed her into the stall and against the shower wall. She pulled at his shirt. Gods, she was aggressive and he never would have guessed it. He loved it. Hadley managed to get one of his arms out of his shirt before he had to help her.

  Pushing her more firmly against the wall, he braced her with one knee while he pulled his shirt all the way over his head. Her hands grasped his chest, finding his thick coarse hair, weaving her hands through it and he shuddered.

  He wanted her shirt off right now.

  “Raise your arms.” God, with her body pressed to his like this, he knew there had to be a divine being. It was as if she’d been made to fit against him. With her arms above her head, he took off her shirt, nearly ripping it in his intent to get to her.

  Her body lay before him, against the wall, an exquisite sight. There was only one thing he needed to perfect the moment. Pulling off his pants so he was as naked as she was, he pushed the button to turn on the hot water, and pulled her in under the spray behind him.

  “Oh god, Hawk, yes … this is exactly what I needed.”

  “Sex, hot water, and Hadley—it’ll be like heaven for me too.”

  “I want this, Hawk, I want this completely.”

  Under the gentle pounding of the hot spray, he smiled. “Me too, darling, me too.”

  He leaned down to kiss her neck, sucking gently and resisting the urge to bite, to mark her as his for the world to see.

  Hadley grabbed his face in her hands. So many emotions played in her eyes and he wished he had a mind reading device so he could know what she thought, what she needed.

  “Don’t seduce me, not now, Hawk. I don’t need anything but you inside of me. I might be dead in six months, just let me feel alive now.”

  He needed to feel that way, too and there was nothing that would be more heavenly than the feeling of being deep inside Hadley as she shattered around him. Pushing her lithe body up against the wall of the shower, he pulled her leg up and around his hip, opening her up to him.

  Plunging inside of her felt like coming home, as if he’d looked for it his entire life and now he’d found it. He closed his eyes, hoping they could go on this way forever. In and out, she moaned and made the most delicious tiny noises in the back on her throat. He opened his eyes. With her head thrown back and the hot water surrounding her, she was the most sensuous sight he’d ever witnessed.

  Harder, he needed to be inside of her deeper but he wasn’t sure how much longer he could last if he kept looking at her looking like that.

  Moments later, he felt her explode around him. Thanking the heavens for this moment, he followed, spilling himself inside of her as she clung to him shouting his name.

  * * * *

  “Thank you for getting the shampoo out of my hair.”

  He smiled, snuggling in closer behind her. “It was the least I could do considering I stopped you from doing it yourself.” They’d stumbled through an actual shower, stopping several times just to explore each others’ body.

  “If I recall correctly, I jumped you.”

  Yes she had and he wished he could play the image of her doing so over and over in his mind on an endless loop. “Well, I did bring you into the bathroom. Don’t think there is a man in any dimension who would do that without the intention of having you in the shower.”

  Hadley giggled. “So romantic.”

  “If we had more time, if there weren’t all these things pressing on us tomorrow, I could show you romance the likes of which you’ve never imagined. We would walk on the cliffs not far from here and I would feed you from the tree that never stops growing fruit. All year, even in the winter, it produces fruit.”

  “Sounds very fertile. Where I’m from, and you probably know this, women would flock there to try to get impregnated thinking its endless production would somehow transfer to them.”

  Hawk shrugged. “Maybe it would. I think a lot of things are possible there.”

  “I think this has to be the strangest pillow talk I’ve ever done.”

  Wrapping himself closer, he picked up her hand and kissed it. “Why?”

  “I don’t know. We’re talking about fruit trees and fertility problems. Kind of random.”

  She smelled like peaches and he knew the shampoo and soap they’d just coated themselves in did not contain such an aroma. It was just Hadley’s natural scent. He closed his eyes. “What would you like to talk about?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think there is anything we can talk about that isn’t going to make us stressed, worried, or upset.”

  “We can talk about your shoulder blades and the curve of your neck. That won’t make us worry.” In fact, the thought of them made him hard. He smiled and opened his eyes.

  “Hawk.”

  “Feel that, did you?”

  “They’re here Hawk.” Her voice shook. “Why won’t they leave me alone?”

  All sexual excitement fled immediately. “The Shadows, you can see them?”

  “See them, hear them, and feel them.”

  Hawk scanned the room. Once again, he couldn’t experience
any of what she did. It made him feel incredibly ineffectual. How the hell was he supposed to protect her from something he couldn’t feel on any level?

  “What do they want, Hadley?”

  “Me.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  “They can’t have you.” He spoke as loudly as he could hoping they could hear him. He needed his weapons.

  As if reading his mind, she grabbed his arm. Her eyes were far away, distant. “You can’t fight them with any weapons you possess. They want you to know that. But they can hurt you. If you provoke them, they will hurt you.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. How can I provoke them if I can’t even see them? What do they think—my voice is offensive?”

  She didn’t answer him. He shook her gently and she didn’t acknowledge him at all. Damn it, he was losing her. They would take her and then there would be nothing left but her body, which would whither and die. No, he couldn’t let it happen.

  “Hawk,” her shout was pained. “They’re taking me now. I don’t want to go but they say my father gave me to them at birth. They’ve waited and now it’s my turn to repay the debt owed.”

  He pulled her to him. “Do you feel me, Hadley? This is real. I’m real, you’re real and this is where you need to stay. Keep yourself here with me.”

  “That’s not possible anymore.” Her voice had taken on a monotone quality that tore into his heart.

  In his arms, she collapsed, her eyes rolled to the back of her head. He grabbed her chin and shook it. “Hadley.”

  Nothing. He pressed his ear against her chest. Her heart still beat. That meant there was still a little bit of time. But he knew from experience that it wouldn’t last. On earth, he’d thought it was the poison ending the Pettigrew women’s life but now he knew better. Twenty-four hours until the Shadows took her and there was nothing left here of Hadley but an empty, dead shell.

  He laid her gently down on the bed, kissing her on her forehead. What they’d started tonight, hell what had been brewing between them since the day he’d first laid eyes on her, would not end this way.

  Shoving on his shorts, he ran into the hall.

  “Dragon.” He ran towards his brother’s room and pounded on the door.

  Hawk heard Dragon charge at the door. “What is with you and not letting me ever get any damn sleep?”

  “I need you to send me to the Shadow world. They’ve just taken Hadley.”

  Dragon raised an eyebrow. “Well, today may turn out to be interesting after all.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Hadley couldn’t believe her eyes. What had seemed spooky, dressed in only the darkest black color was actually a world filled with brightness. She looked up at the sky, and sucked in her breath. The heavens above her were white, not black. Closing her eyes, she wished for the impossible and asked the universe to bring Hawk to her.

  The landscape was sparse. In the distance, she could see bent-over trees and even further away there was some sort of structure. A castle, maybe, or a very large house. She had no frame of reference to judge by. But where she stood was completely barren, like a cleared field that had been long devoid of vegetation.

  “Are you Hadley?” A female voice startled her and she whirled around. The woman who stood before her was tall and blonde. She spoke with a raspy voice, the kind she’d seen in Kathleen Turner movies when she’d been younger.

  “I am.” Determined to stay brave she lifted up her chin in an act she hoped looked defiant. “Why have you brought me here?”

  “I didn’t bring you anywhere. I was brought here, the same as you.” The woman extended her hand. “My name is Deirdre and I think we are sisters.”

  “You’re D, the one Hawk couldn’t watch pass away.”

  “Did he leave the group after he thought I died? Wow, I suppose I should be honored but that all feels so far away for me, like it was eons ago. Time moves a little differently here. As you can see, I haven’t aged a day since my, ah, death.”

  Hadley looked at the other woman and couldn’t help but notice the similarities between them. Or rather the similarities between Deirdre and Hailey. Although Hadley looked a great deal like Hailey, technically they weren’t identical twins. There were some distinct differences between them. Hadley’s face was slightly longer than Hailey’s. The shape of Deirdre’s face was exactly the same.

  A slight spread of freckles covered Deirdre’s nose, another tribute Hailey shared that Hadley didn’t. Her own freckles were everywhere, like a spotted leopard. All three women seemed to be exactly the same size in height although Deirdre was slimmer, much like Hailey.

  It was an odd moment. There was no protocol for meeting a sister you never knew you had in a shadow dimension you didn’t until recently even know existed. Realizing she stared, Hadley looked down at the ground.

  What had happened to her manners?

  “I’m sorry to be rude, I’m just a little overwhelmed right now.”

  “It’s okay. I remember staring at Annabelle and Clarice when I first arrived. I hadn’t known they existed. You obviously know Hawk, did he mention us? Father usually forbids them from mentioning the other girls.”

  Hadley shook her head. “Hawk has deserted and returned to Haven to try to get help for our mother. I know about all of it now but I didn’t know previously.”

  Deirdre raised one eyebrow. “You were in Haven. No wonder they got you early.”

  Hadley glanced back at up at the white sky one more time, unable to believe the difference between it and Haven and Earth’s blue one. “What do you mean?”

  “It’s a little hard to get us from Earth. This dimension, the Shadow dimension, doesn’t have as good a connection to Earth as it does to Haven. It takes them thirty years to get girls from there. But you’re still not quite thirty, right?”

  “That’s right.” Hadley let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. That meant they hadn’t gotten Hailey yet. There was still time to get out this. Well, she hoped there was, anyway.

  “Follow me, we have to take you to your pod.”

  “My pod?”

  “It’s where you will live until you are claimed.”

  Hadley moved forward and grabbed Deirdre’s arm. As she moved she became aware of the strange feeling on her legs. She glanced down at herself. Dressed entirely in dark brown, she wore a makeshift dress made out of material that resembled a hospital gown she’d once been forced to wear when she’d needed her appendix out. It shuffled as she moved. Her feet, too, were in industrial quality slippers better served for walking neon-filled halls than dirt and rocks.

  Deirdre wore plain black pants and a black turtleneck, indicating to Hadley that if this were the arrival outfit, she would most likely not have to stay in it permanently. Her entire transportation to the Shadow Dimension felt distant to Hadley, even though it had just happened. She couldn’t quite remember what happened after they’d pulled her in. Darkness. And then standing in the clearing.

  “Who is going to be claiming me?”

  Deirdre sighed. She grabbed Hadley’s arm and as she looked right and left in what Hadley could best call a defensive gesture, she pulled Hadley with her until they both stood hidden behind a large black bush that was nearly dead.

  “Technically, Annabelle should be explaining this to you because she is the head of our family. But she’s changing. I’m not certain how to explain it but she’s less and less communicative, more and more interested in simply leading a spiritual life and she’ll probably just confuse you to death. So I’ll do it but don’t tell anyone that I did because, again, technically, this is supposed to be Bethany’s job if Annabelle doesn’t do it or after her, Clarice. I’m fourth in the line of importance.”

  “So all of you are here. A through G.” Hadley’s mind whirled as if she’d just been hit by a tornado. Tears filled her eyes and she laughed. Deirdre sounded just like her, spoke just like her, and Hadley had understood her perfectly. Even Hailey didn’t share her thought patterns that closel
y.

  Deirdre smiled and rubbed Hadley’s arms. Once again showing how closely they shared thoughts, as most people would have no idea why she’d teared up.

  “Annabelle, Bethany, Clarice, and I are all here. We’ve all been claimed. Annabelle has a child, although he was taken from her years ago, as is customary, and no one has seen him since. Bethany should be entering that cycle soon. Eliza and Fiona were scooped up in the middle of the night and, I guess, transported somewhere else, we have no idea.”

  Hadley swallowed. So it wasn’t bad enough she’d been brought here, she could be taken again. “And G?”

  “Grace, well, she didn’t transition very well, which is why we’ve all been very worried about you and your twin sister. They sent her to the mines. It’s where all the men work. This planet, as dark and lifeless as it is, is filled with all sorts of Mystical currency. It’s what they sell, the incentive they offer to leaders to get them to give over their women. One of the things they mine is called Breathless. They give it to our father, it keeps him alive endlessly and forever young.” Deirdre smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “But you seem to be steadier than she was, less flighty, so I’m sure they’ll keep you to mate with and not send you into those places.”

  Hadley silently winced, because if traits ran in families, then Deirdre had just described Hailey to a tee and, as she’d already suspect, Hailey would not do well with any of this, not at all.

  Shaking away that thought, Hadley whispered all of her sisters’ names once. It wouldn’t do, now that she knew them, to call them A through G.

  Deirdre still hadn’t answered her question. “Who is going to claim me?”

  “Here’s what’s happened, although I’m unclear as to the timing of everything, but at some point, the Shadow People stopped producing females. Slowly they started to die. So in order to ensure the continuation of their people, they started stealing women from other places. We, in turn, get taken from our dimension. Our bodies are left behind and we ‘die’ there. Our father wanted endless life, the Shadow People have the means to give it to him, so he, in turn, presents us to them as gifts of a sort.”