Catch Me: Time After Time

by Reese Rivers

  When I hear the sound of the lock I sigh and feel the energy drain from me as I look around the room slash prison. There’s a low divan placed under one of the tall windows and on top of the dresser is a large bowl with a jug of water set inside of it but what catches my eye the most is a wood-framed, full-length mirror in one corner.

  I freeze in place and wonder if the mirror is my ticket out of here and back home. Surprisingly, I don’t race over to it and that makes me think about why. I’m in an unbelievable situation that any sane person would want out of but the honest truth is that I’ve felt more alive in the last few hours than I have in years. I mean, killing those men certainty wasn’t a highlight and I’m going to have to face the fallout from that soon I’m sure but everything else has been a roller-coaster of adventure. Looking at the mirror on the other side of the room, I can’t help but wonder why I would want to go back. A few hours ago I was alone and heartbroken from losing my last friend and place of refuge. There isn’t anyone back there that will even care that I’m gone.

  Shaking my head at the pity party I’m having in my mind, I do the responsible thing and slowly walk across the room until I’m standing in front of the mirror. When nothing happens after a few minutes, I let out a breath of relief and take a closer look at my reflection. A shudder wracks my body when I spot the streaks and splatters of blood that have dried on my chest and face. When I see a few clumps of my hair that has dried stiff with the gore my stomach heaves. Spinning away from my reflection, I shrug off my bathrobe and go to work with the cold water from the jug until my skin is rubbed raw and the blood is removed from my hair. The lack of a hot steamy shower has me looking over at the mirror again and considering clicking my heels together to see if that would work. Knowing it won’t, I use the last of the water to scrub at my tank top and a few blood spots I find on my leggings, glad that they are both black and will hide the stains well enough.

  I shrug my bathrobe back on and tie it securely before eyeing the bed. It’s been a crazy day and back in my timeframe it would be close to midnight. Judging by the light shining through the tall windows of the room it looks like mid-afternoon. A wave of exhaustion swamps me and I huff a laugh at thinking that time travel jet leg is a thing but before I can climb up onto the bed, there’s a sharp knock on the door. Whirling to face the door, I brace for what comes next but when it doesn’t open I clear my throat and call out, “Come in.”

  The lock snicks and the door opens to a pretty, young blond woman with tightly braided hair circling her head like a crown. She carries a tray with food in and sets it on top of the dresser beside the bowl filled with bloody water. A squawk of French comes out of her in a rush as she waves towards the empty jug and blood-tinted water that fills the bowl but I can only shrug having no idea what she’s said. A male voice answers her in French causing me to flinch and I see Cade leaning against the doorframe. Whatever he says to her has the woman scowling at me before removing both from the room with her cute little French nose stuck in the air.

  I eye Cade warily but when he makes no move to enter the room or leave I take my time looking him over. The man is like serious eye candy with his dark gold hair, sea-blue eyes, and square jaw. His hair must be at least shoulder length and judging by the lone ringlet that has escaped from the leather tie securing it behind his head, thick with curls. He’s wearing a billowy, cream-colored dress shirt with the top three wooden buttons open, letting me glimpse a smooth, tanned chest. My eyes drop down to the tight fawn-colored breaches that hug muscular thighs and do nothing to hide an impressive bulge. Feeling heat rising up to my face I turn away and walk over to the tray to take a look at what food is being offered and to compose myself. A partial baguette of bread, cheese, and grapes all look good but the small plate of what looks like dried fish is a hard pass so I pick it up off the tray and hand it over to Cade to take away. With my body cleaned, food waiting to be eaten, and a bed to sleep in all my current needs are being met except for one final thing.

  I chew on my bottom lip in slight embarrassment but fuck it, it is what it is.

  “Where does a person, uh, relieve themselves? Is there a separate room?”

  He looks confused for a moment but then laughs when he gets it and strides past me towards the bed. Leaning over he pulls out a pot from under it with two handles on it and holds it out to me. “Aye, here’s the chamber pot for your needs. Leave it under the bed and Bridgette will empty it for you when she comes back for the tray.”

  My nose wrinkles with a major eww vibe causing his eyebrows to shoot up in amusement. “If you were a man, I’d tell you to piss outside but it’s a mite harder for a lass, innit?”

  I glare at his amusement and groan out between clenched teeth, “Barbarians! Where I’m from, we have a separate room with a seated bowl attached to a pipe that goes into the wall and flushes the…waste away.” I close my eyes and dream for a second about standing under a hot shower before opening them and telling him, “We also have water that’s heated in pipes that you can stand under and have hot water shower down on you to get clean. Sadly you won’t get to experience that for another two hundred and fifty-ish years.”

  Cade studies me with his gorgeous blue-green eyes and then shakes his head wistfully. “What a marvel that would be, then. So far I’m liking what you say the future holds.” He looks down at the plate of fish and then shrugs. “Eat and rest, lass for you will have to reckon with Sebastian on the morrow. As much as you don’t seem afeared of him, you’ll need your strength to face him once again.” As he goes to walk past me he tilts his head towards my hair and takes a deep sniff and then with a cheeky grin and a wink leaves the room, locking the door behind him.

  Eden

  My dreams are filled with violence when the men that I killed in this time merge with the gang that attacked me and killed my partner, Sam in my own time. I spend the night thrashing as I fight them off in my nightmares. I swear at some point I hear soothing voices with Scottish accents trying to calm me but I’m trapped in my nightmares. When I finally wake up, I feel more tired than when I climbed up into the bed the day before and the blankets are twisted around me like knots. As soon as I open my eyes I know I’m not alone without even looking. I lay still and let my pounding heart slow as the dreams start to fade away. I make no move to wipe away the tears that are drying on my face and just wait for whoever is in my room to speak. It doesn’t take long.

  “We know you’re awake, lass. There’s no reason to pretend you’re not. ‘Tis the first time you’ve settled in hours.”

  I’m so tired I don’t even bother sitting up just turn my head on the pillow to look towards the blonds who are sitting in a pair of chairs beside the bed that hadn’t been there when I went to sleep the night before. I swallow the dryness in my throat before asking,

  “Am I to be interrogated before breakfast? Is it normal for you to invade a woman’s bedroom while she’s sleeping?”

  Finn is slumped in one of the chairs watching me with tired eyes while he taps my iPhone against his chin. Cade is in a matching chair but leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. It’s him that answers me.

  “Och, nay it’s not bloody normal but we didn’t have much choice in the matter with you screaming into the wee hours of the night, now did we? You had the servants so flummoxed that they were wanting to call out a priest to do an exorcism.” He leans back and rubs at the sexy stubble on his jaw that’s grown since I last saw him. “You have some savage night terrors, lass. Who is Sam? Is he your man, then? You called for him over and over again in desperation.”

  My body freezes hearing that and I can’t stand the sympathy I see in both of their eyes so I turn my head away to look up at the canopy over the bed. “No, he’s not my man. He is, was my partner, uh, co-worker where I used to work. He, he died.” I blink back the new tears that burn in my eyes. “I’m sorry. I…it was a bad night. I’m sorry I woke you and the servants.”

  “Aye, well, we’ll just have to have a kip later
today. Don’t worry yourself, lass.”

  “It’s Eden, not lass. My name, I mean. It’s Eden.”

  “To be sure, it’s a lovely name. One from the bible, isn’t it? Will you tell us who you were fighting in your dreams, Eden?”

  That is the last thing I want to talk about so I switch topics to one slightly less terrifying.

  “I thought Sebastian was going to beat the truth from me this morning. Is he running late?”

  Finn snorts a laugh. “Fat chance of himself ever being late for anything! No, he tore out of here at dawn for a long ride. Your screams seemed to bother him a mite. Be assured he won’t be harming you, Eden but he will want some answers to his many questions, as do we.”

  I let out a deep sigh and close my eyes. “I told you the truth last night but here’s the cliff notes version. I was born in 1998, I will be thirty years old in a few months and the year I was living in when I traveled here was 2028. I live in a city called Seattle that is in the state of Washington in the country of the United States of America which is on the continent of North America. In this time you would call it the colonies, I believe. I think France has settlements in the northeast, what we call Canada now. I have no idea how I managed to travel through time three hundred and sixty-one years. No one sent me and I have no interest in your business or your King. I was in my aunt’s house cleaning out a bunch of old junk when I came across a beautiful, jewel-encrusted mirror and the next thing I know, I’m puking my guts out in a field in France. If I had more answers, I would gladly tell you.” I turn my head back to look at them and hope they can see the truth in my eyes.

  Finn taps my phone on his chin one more time before dropping his hand to hold it in his lap. “It’s a wild tale for sure and it sounds like a fine adventure but you have to agree it’s a tad unbelievable.”

  I narrow my eyes at him in annoyance. “So says the wolf shifter that chums around with a pair of vampires.” The guys share a look before Cade nods.

  “Fair point, lass, I mean, Eden. It would just be easier to swallow if you could give us some sort of proof.”

  I press my lips together to stop myself from screeching in frustration but then realize I might have some proof that would convince them.

  “Siri, open photo gallery,” I call out and then lift a hand to point down at Finn’s lap and try not to laugh when Siri answers me and freaks the guys right out.

  “OK. Opening photo gallery to the last picture saved.”

  They both jump to their feet and Finn tosses the phone away from himself but thankfully it lands on the bed. Cade is glowering at me and stabbing an angry finger my way.

  “Magic! You are a witch!”

  I roll my eyes and finally sit up so I can pick up my phone and hold it back out to him. “NOT MAGIC! I told you last night, it’s technology. It’s a computer that can do basic functions. Here, take it back and look at the pictures of where I’m from. That should be all the proof you need.” When he snatches his hand back and eyes the phone like it’s going to attack him, I play on the man’s ego. “Are you two big bad wolves seriously afraid of a little box? Come on, it’s not going to hurt you! Take it and look at the pictures. All you have to do is swipe the screen to go to the next image.”

  Cade turns to Finn and nudges him forward. “Go ahead, Finn.”

  “I’m not bloody touching it! You take it!” He scoffs and takes another step back.

  With a huff of annoyance, I untangle from the blanket ropes around my legs and slide over to the side of the bed so my legs dangle off and hold the phone up screen out so they can see it. “You big babies! Here, I will hold it so you don’t have to touch the scary box.” I tell them in a teasing tone. “The last picture I took was a city view from the second-floor windows of my aunt’s house. Lean in and take a look.”

  After a couple of seconds they gather enough courage to lean closer and study the screen. I try not to smirk as their eyes get large and they take in the downtown view and the space needle.

  After a few minutes of ogling the picture, Cade asks, “This is where you live?” At my nod he continues, “Is there more…pictures as you call them?”

  “Hundreds,” I tell him and swipe to the next. We spent the next few minutes with me swiping and them oohing and ahhing over each picture. I answer questions until a look of fury takes over Finn’s face and he yanks the phone from my hand to bring it closer to his face. I haven’t been looking at the pictures but holding the phone up in their direction to see so I have no idea what picture I have that could possibly cause such a reaction. When Cade leans in to see what has Finn so angry, his amused expression flips to one so fierce I find myself scooting back away from them on the bed and shaking slightly when I see his blue eyes begin to glow gold.

  “Who the hell did this to you?” He rages as he swipes the phone from Finn and spins it my way to show me.

  I choke back the bile that fills my throat at the picture that a nurse had taken for me in the hospital a day after I had woken up. I couldn’t get out of bed to see the damage in a mirror so after I begged and begged she had taken it so I could see how bad it was. I hadn’t looked at it again after that and had forgotten it was even on my phone. My eyes are glued to the image of my broken face and body.

  The bruising and swelling had been at their worst by then and the jagged, sewn-up wound that ran up the side of my forehead and into my hairline looked like Dr. Frankenstein had stitched me up. Thankfully, it had healed into a thin scar that wasn’t all that noticeable after a religious twice daily application of bio-oil serum. My hand lifts unconsciously up to it and my fingers trace the scar before I lunge towards the phone and try and yank it from Cade but he pulls it back.

  “Answer me, lass! Who did this to you?” He demands again.

  I glare defiantly back at him. “As you can see, I’m perfectly fine. It happened a while ago but I’ve healed and I’m fine now.”

  He chuffs in disagreement before looking down at the picture again but his voice is soft when he says, “This explains your night terrors, then. I’m sorry, this happened to you.” His eyes flash back up to mine. “Do you not have a man in this city to protect you?” When I don’t answer but keep glaring he nods in understanding and says, “Sam. Your partner, you said. He died to protect you, then. A good death, that.”

  Bitter anger sends me off the bed until he’s forced to take a step back.

  “Either move on to the next picture or give me my phone back. I won’t discuss this with you again,” I spit through a clenched jaw.

  Finn tries to break the tension by running a hand down my arm. “Och, lass, you slept in your cloak? As soft and fine as it is, you shouldn’t have to sleep in it. I’ll be sure to have Bridgette fetch you some clothing and a nightdress to wear.”

  Ready to leave the topic of my injuries, I jump on the chance to ask a question I’ve been wondering about.

  “You speak French to the staff but you spoke English to me from the start. Why? And if none of you are French why do you live here?”

  His lips quirk into a smile. “Aye, most hereabouts are Frenchies and we speak the language well enough. Why not live here? It’s been a good home to us for many decades. You spoke to us first in English, remember? You asked what the fuck just happened so that’s how we replied. Which reminds me, I’ve wondered what that word…fuck…means as I’ve not heard it in such a phrase.”

  I feel the blood rush to my cheeks, the curse of a redhead, and consider the words to best explain the many, many meanings of that swear word. When I chew on my bottom lip, I see Finn’s eyes lock onto it and heat up making what I’m about to say even more cringy. It’s only fair to explain the different meanings to them as I tend to overuse that word.

  “Uh, so fuck is considered a swear or curse word in my time. It’s used to intensify a statement. It gets used in a lot of ways - in anger and excitement. Um, here’s a few examples, shut the fuck up. This is fucking ridiculous. Go fuck yourself. I’m going to kill that fucker. I’m tot
ally fucked and many others.” Heat blooms even more in my face as I tell them the literal meaning. “Fuck is also a vulgar way to say sex.” I have to clear my throat to get out the next bit. “Like you would say, I want to fuck her or um, we fucked like rabbits last night.”

  Cade lifts his gaze from my phone at this and Finn steps closer with a spreading grin on his face. He reaches over and gives a tug on one of my sleep-tangled curls. “Well now - I believe I’ve just found my new favorite term.” He says in a husky, sexy murmur filled with promise.

  I feel my core clench at the look in his eyes and I swear the temperature in the room doubles as Cade takes a step towards us but before anything else happens the door crashes open and Sebastian storms into the room. A bark of laughter shoots out of my mouth when Finn rightly uses the new-to-him word and groans out, “Fucking hell!”

  Sebastian

  The witch’s nightmares drive me from the house before the sun has crested the horizon. I don’t trust or believe anything she says but the sounds of anguish, desperation, and fear that come from her room have every fiber of my being wanting to go to her rescue. My arms ache to gather her close and promise her she will always be safe with me. It’s complete rubbish. I’m not the hero and humans, especially female humans haven’t held my interest in centuries. The hex I know she’s placed on me and judging by Luca’s uncharacteristic behavior last night, him as well is hard to resist but no mere witch will best me. The wolves are taken with her as well but they rut with any willing female so I send them into her room to comfort her knowing she will do the least amount of damage to them with her charm spells.

  My horse is lathered from the hard ride we took to help clear my mind and I’m ready to face her once again to get to the truth of her presence. It’s too much of a coincidence her appearing in the same place as the assassins sent to kill the King. I need to find out who her master is before he makes another attempt on the current monarch’s life.