First Dimension

by Rebecca Royce

  “Oh, like hell.” Hadley clenched her fists. “I am not going to be breeding for anyone. Our mother does quite enough of that, thank you. No, we are finding another way out of here. Hawk and the others, they know about this place now, either they or I will find us an escape.”

  Deirdre’s smile was sad, no warmth met her eyes. “Well, I hope you are more successful than I was.”

  Hadley’s heart bled for Deirdre. The other woman had obviously once tried for escape herself. She hooked her arm in her sister’s. “Okay, take me where I am supposed to go. There are five Pettigrew women here now, I am quite certain we can handle anyone and anything.”

  Moments later, she sat cross-legged in a makeshift tent Deirdre had referred to as a pod. Introductions were made to Bethany, dark haired like their father, and thin like a beanpole, and Clarice who, in contrast, had white-blonde hair and ten pounds too many on her that, in her sister’s case, didn’t make her look fat, just curvy. Annabelle still hadn’t emerged, which Hadley was just fine with.

  What was she supposed to say to her oldest sister? Oh hey, thinking I would never have to face the music with you, I decided it was okay to sleep with the love of your life as if you had never existed?

  Hadley swallowed. No, she definitely wouldn’t be saying that. She still wasn’t really sure how much they knew about her. Deirdre had sounded surprised that she knew Hawk so maybe Annabelle didn’t actually know about it. Shaking her head, Hadley decided against chickening out. She’d wait for an appropriate time and tell her. And if, say, that particular perfect time never arrived, then she never needed to say anything. She closed her eyes, knowing in her soul that wasn’t the answer either. Realizing she was being rude, Hadley opened her eyes. Bethany babbled on about the things Deirdre had already told her. Not wanting to get the sister she felt the closest to in trouble, Hadley listened again, nodding at the appropriate times and asking what she hoped were the right questions.

  “Who were the ones who came and got me and how did you know I was here?”

  Bethany opened her mouth to speak but a voice from the back of the room caught her attention. “When I first came here, I thought I’d died and actually been sent to hell, but now I know that all things happen based on our chosen paths.”

  Hadley whirled around, her rear end scraping the floor as she did so. In front of her stood a statuesque redhead who looked like she belonged on the cover of a magazine. She didn’t need to ask who it was; instinctively she knew it was Annabelle. The skin on her arms tingled; there was no way Hadley could ever compete with her in the looks department if it came down to Hawk making a choice.

  Annabelle crossed the room and pulled Hadley into a tight embrace. “Welcome, sister.”

  Tears filled Hadley’s eyes and this time spilled down her cheek. They were sisters, not rivals for the attention of a man—even if Hadley happened to love that man. The thought struck her dumb. She’d thought it so naturally, as if she’d been thinking it for years. She did love Hawk. But it didn’t really matter. Annabelle loved him first. If, and it was a big if, Hadley somehow got them all out of there, she would have to find a way to reconcile herself with things if Hawk still loved and chose Annabelle.

  She shook her head. This was not the right time for any of this. Bethany stood, her eyes shooting daggers at Annabelle. Uh oh, there was some sort of tension between the two women and Hadley felt certain she didn’t want to get in the middle of it.

  “As I was just about to answer you,” Bethany tugged on Hadley’s arm until she was no longer in Annabelle’s embrace. “The men who came for you are the grabbers, they have a special ability for dimension travel and they knew where you were, I would guess, because our father told them.” Her dark eyes flared as she spoke the last bit. Bethany was obviously a woman who harbored a lot of anger. Hadley got the distinct impression she wasn’t to be trifled with and made a mental note not to make an enemy out of her.

  Thunder sounded in the air and Hadley jumped. She hadn’t realized it was about to rain. The four women hung their heads and moved to the center of the living area where five rugs were laid out. On top of each rug was a folded wool blanket that looked to be too short to actually cover Hadley’s entire body. Was that where they were sleeping?

  Clarice pointed to a rug next to hers and Hadley walked over to it. “Is the thunder some sort of signal to go to bed?”

  Clarice shook her head. “Not technically, but it rains hard every night. We can be guaranteed that in a few moments, the lights will go out and we’ll be plunged into complete darkness. The men don’t mind it; they can see perfectly, maybe better, without light. But there’s nothing for us to do but go to bed.”

  Hadley unfolded the scratchy blanket and lay down. This was a far cry from the bed she’d shared with Hawk earlier in the night. There wasn’t even a pillow. With the lights still illuminated she could see the other woman had made balls of their blankets and used them as cushions for their heads. It must not get too cold here at night. She followed suit and tried to make herself comfortable.

  If everything about the situation was odd, and heaven knew it was, then lying on a floor with four sisters she knew nothing about was the cherry on top of the sundae for Hadley.

  She cleared her throat. “So how come none of you are with your—well, with the men who claimed you?”

  Annabelle rolled over onto her stomach. “They may still come for us, tonight, little sister, or they might not. It will depend on whether or not they have need for us.”

  Hadley shivered. She had no intention of lying on a floor waiting to see if a man had need for her. This was like something out of a nightmare.

  “So, they just come, and you—uh, you’re … available for them?” She needed to be very sure she understood just how awful this was.

  A tear flowed down Clarice’s face. “That’s just about it. Ha. Sometimes they just want us to clean up their homes but sometimes it’s just what you’re imagining it is.”

  Hadley wasn’t a damsel, and she’d never imagined that she’d want to be rescued by a knight in shining armor, but if Hawk rode up on a horse right now, she wouldn’t complain.

  The lights went out and thunder sounded in the sky again followed by the sound of hard rain on the tin roof of their tent.

  She’d never felt so alone in her life and in desperation she closed her eyes, pleading with the universe that she could sleep.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Tell me again why you’re all coming with me?” Hawk stomped around the room for maybe the tenth time.

  “We will not leave Lady Hadley to those creatures.”

  Stone’s voice sounded viler than Hawk had ever heard before. Hawk reached out and grasped the other man’s shoulder. Hadley knew how to inspire loyalty in those around her in a very brief period of time. Normally, he would insist on doing this alone, but in the great possibility that he failed, he counted on one of them to complete the job and see that his woman came to no harm.

  His woman. He closed his eyes. Even now, she might be pregnant with his baby. His heart sped up at the thought. They had taken no precautions to prevent conception. The chances were unlikely, due to their long life spans people in Haven took a very long time to conceive, he and Dragon were one hundred years apart, but there was still a possibility.

  He’d meant to kidnap Hailey and leave Hadley alone. Fate had thrown the wrong sister at him, but she’d turned out to be completely right for him in every way. Nothing would keep him from her.

  He turned his head to Dragon, who watched him in silence. “And you? Why are you coming?”

  His older brother rolled his dark eyes in disgust. “I would think it would be obvious. I am the only one who can get us there, and I am the only one who can get us back. You’re going to require me to be present at the exit site.”

  Hawk didn’t buy it, not for one second. He stalked into his brother’s space. “So this is entirely altruistic, is it?”

  “No. I can’t lie. I want the credit
for taking you there and back. I want the King’s thanks and I want to see the Shadow dimension for myself. But it doesn’t negate the fact that you do still need me to do it for you.”

  Those reasons made more sense. Dragon was always out for number one. Hawk nodded. He supposed it was a fair deal. Dragon would get them there, he could save Hadley, and Dragon could get whatever experience he needed out of this too.

  “Then let’s do it.”

  “Wait.” His mother’s voice filled the room. “You don’t know about the Shadow dimension. Or at least, you shouldn’t know about it.” The last was said with a glare at Dragon who, surprisingly, looked down at the floor.

  “Mother, we are running out of time. I need you to stay here and take care of Hadley’s body. She may start to show flu-like symptoms. It is imperative that you not let her body die.”

  Leopard nodded. “I will not fail in this, but you must hear me out. I was but a small child when we saw the Shadow People, regularly. They are a dimension filled with males. It has been over a century since any of them have been able to produce a female child. They came to the King, the father of our current ruler, and requested the right to mate with our women. The idea was to continue to produce males to work the mines in Shadow Land, to build their ships for above-ground travel, and, in other words, keep their dimension running despite the lack of women. The King scoffed. He wasn’t giving us over to be broodmares to the Shadow People. He banned them from Haven and had the Mystics ward our barriers so they couldn’t cross again.”

  “Let me be clear about this, just so I’m sure I understand, all shadows are men? Even the ones that are of women. Your shadow is actually a man?”

  Leopard shook her head but Dragon interrupted. “The shadows that you’re thinking of are not the Shadow People. The shadows on the wall are just bent light casting images of you on the wall or the floor or wherever. These are people from an entirely different dimension and when they come here they look like shadows.”

  Well, at least that made sense. As much as anything did when one was trying to figure out the intricate details of dimensional travel. It didn’t matter. He had one objective and that was to get to Hadley and bring her home while there was still time. If there were Shadow men waiting for him when he got there, then he’d dispose of them like he would any other threat. If they could feel, they could bleed. If they could bleed, they could die.

  He gathered his family in a circle. Dragon pulled a small silver object out of his pocket. Hawk smiled; he hadn’t seen one of the Mystical amulets since he was a child and his parents had taken Dragon to Astor to leave him with the practitioners there. Merchants had tried to sell his father a few when they’d passed a Mystical shop. They were supposed to bring good luck.

  “Worried about our odds?”

  Dragon scoffed. “Only the simplest of Mystics use them for luck charms. Mine is a bit more complicated.”

  Closing his eyes, Dragon muttered some words Hawk couldn’t understand. When he opened his lids again, his brother’s eyes had turned an even darker shade of black. “Open.” He waved one hand and a visible slice formed in the air around them. Gradually, the slice got wider until it was a giant hole large enough to step through. A smile crept on his brother’s face. “After you.”

  Without hesitation, Hawk stepped into the opening, confident that his men would follow and if, for some unknown reason, they didn’t, then he knew he would still get there and find a way to rescue Hadley.

  Pitch-blackness filled his vision, surrounding him like a warm cloak. Hawk continued to move forward; he didn’t need to see, only to move. He pulled his sword from its sheath. You never knew what would present itself on the other side of a portal.

  A blinding white light assaulted him and Hawk felt himself falling. He landed with a thud and rolled to his feet jumping up, sword still in hand. His attention focused on the sight in front of him, so he heard rather than saw the others arrive. Each made a similar thumping sound with the exception who, he assumed, was Dragon. His brother’s landing sounded even less graceful.

  They had come down in some kind of open field. Half-dead trees with branches dragging towards the ground scattered in front of his vision. One lone vulture prowled the cloudless black sky. He knew it had to be daytime or there would be no way he could see as well as he did. In this dimension, daytime sky was darkness.

  He resheathed his sword. At the end of the field, an opening to a cave stood ominous and unsecured. A partially collapsed boulder obscured half of the rock entrance. Loud mechanical screeches and men’s shouts were audible from inside. These must be the mines he’d heard his mother mention. Did they have Hadley inside?

  An alarm bell rang out into the field and Dragon grabbed Hawk’s arm. “It looks like our entrance was not unnoticed. We should run.”

  “Retreat will get us nowhere. You are too important to lose; no one will be able to return without you. Hide yourself.”

  “I am not a coward.” Dragon’s fists clenched at his sides.

  Hawk reached out and grabbed his brother’s arm. “I know that. Please, we cannot afford to risk you. Anyone else can be replaced but not you.”

  Dragon’s eyes flared for a moment before he half nodded. Spinning in a circle, Dragon transformed into a small version of his namesake and took to the sky. He breathed a stream of fire in Hawk’s direction before flying higher and landing in a branch of one of the dead trees.

  Was there no limit to what his brother could do? Hawk shook his head.

  Seconds later, the yells of charging men filled his ears. He smiled. There was no fighting force equal to that of the Haven Warriors. Even if they were hugely outnumbered, they would still win. That much he was sure of. Before this hour was over one of those poor doomed souls with the misfortune to match swords with him would be the one to tell him where they held his woman.

  Hawk counted thirty men. Nodding his head, he pointed left and right. His men spread out into their standard fight formation. This wouldn’t take very much effort. “Swords up.” He waited a beat for his men to comply. “Eliminate.”

  Three men reached Hawk first and Hawk swung around, gashing two in their middles as he engaged the third. The man had some skill in a fight but not much, and with two right thrusts, Hawk had disarmed him. He lay crumpled on the ground with his compatriots.

  Hawk turned, scanning the grounds. His men had their opponents easily in hand. Stone hadn’t quite disposed of his. Hawk stormed forward and picked the man up from where he cowered.

  “My name is Hawk. I am from a place called Haven.”

  “I know of such a place.” The other man’s voice shook and Hawk suspected he spoke at least two octaves higher than he normally did.

  “You have my woman.”

  “Oh sir, you are wrong, I have no woman. I have not earned one yet. I cannot pay the grabbers to go and get one for me.”

  Hawk sighed. “What is your name?”

  “Bistronus, sir.” Hawk found he was having a hard time telling one Shadow man from another. They were all extremely tall, with long dark hair. Similar to his own description, he supposed.

  “Okay, Bistronus, I did not mean that you specifically had my woman. Although if you did, it would be very convenient. What I meant was that the Shadow people have my woman and I want her back.”

  Fury started in his stomach and threatened to explode. Acidic bile churned and made him angry. He hadn’t been this upset since he’d first found out on earth that he and his men could not get to Zamara. If there was one thing Hawk could not tolerate it was ineffectualness and he’d been feeling that way for far too long.

  “So where do you suppose I would find her?”

  “Well,” Bistronus cleared his throat. “If she just got here, then I suppose they wouldn’t have time to judge her unworthy and send her to the mines. She did just arrive?”

  Hawk nodded. “That’s correct.” This conversation took way longer than he would have liked.

  “Then she’s with the
other females in the women’s area about five kilometers from here.”

  “An easy distance, my prince.” Stone’s voice behind was filled with happiness.

  “It is indeed.” He turned his attention to Bistronus. “Did you say there are women trapped down in those mines?” Women who, like the Pettigrew girls, had been taken from their homes and brought to this dimension that could not support its own female life.

  “If they won’t be amenable to mating, we have to give them some purpose. They might as well work for us and make themselves useful.”

  Without turning around, Hawk made a quick decision. “Storm, take Donovan and Panther and go get the women out of those mines.”

  Three grunts asserted their compliance as they ran towards the nearly destroyed cave entrance.

  Dragon’s dramatic snort told Hawk he had returned to his human form since the fighting had ceased. “Might I remind you, my prince, that we have nothing to do with those women? They have no bodies to be returned to.”

  “Surely, a man with your superior Mystical powers will not be daunted by the mere problem of creating them bodies, Dragon. Now, Bistronus, you are going to take me to the women’s area and if you’re very obedient and very helpful, I will let you live.”

  “I’ll be as good as you want me to be. I’m just a miner.”

  Hawk pushed him forward. “Don’t suspect for one second that I care who or what you are. This entire dimension can burn to the ground for all I care. I am here for Hadley and everyone else can go to hell.”

  “So you expect me to find a way to give these lost women bodies?” Dragon’s voice hissed in his ear.

  “Frankly it never occurred to me that you couldn’t do it.”

  “Why don’t you just ask me to raise the dead?”

  Hawk shrugged. “Why don’t you?”

  “Because there are some things that are just not done.” Dragon kicked a rock in front of them.

  “Like studying from a man who should have died two centuries ago and who was banned from our homeland. Or am I thinking too linearly again?”