Relativity (A Sage Hannigan Time Warper Novel #2)

by Peggy Martinez

  “It’s complicated,” he finally answered. After a few more minutes, waiting for him to go on, I realized he wasn’t going to tell me anything else. I poured my eggs into the hot skillet and then Aldwin added his veggies. I sprinkled shredded cheese and kept my mouth shut. Aldwin expertly flipped the large omelet and then portioned it out onto plates when it was done. I stabbed my fork into mine and began eating as soon as Aldwin sat across from me on the tiny breakfast nook. I ate quickly, trying not to talk, and trying not to explode. That lasted for a whole ten minutes, and then the inevitable happened—I got pissed.

  “So, that’s it? That’s all the answer you’re going to give to me? It’s ‘complicated’?” I threw my plate in the sink and came over to stand directly in front of him. “Don’t you think I at least deserve to know why you never tried to contact me? Was I so forgettable that you didn’t even feel it necessary to let me know you were alive…that you were fae?” I bit back a sob at the pain I’d felt when I thought the man I’d loved was dead and gone.

  “You think I just forgot about you, Sage?” His voice was low, his eyes wild with intensity. “You think I didn’t feel your loss like a knife in the heart when I woke up after the most wonderful night in my entire existence to find you gone? He stalked forward as he spoke, and I walked back until I ran into the kitchen island. “You think I didn’t mourn you? I drove myself insane wondering when you warped to. It could have been further in the past...you know that, right?” His eyes glittered dangerously and the tick in his scarred cheek spoke volumes of the anger coursing through his body.

  “I know, Aldwin. I’m sorry.” I sighed and put a hand out on his chest as he caged me in.

  “I’ve lain awake in bed the last hundred years remembering, Sage.” He pushed himself further into my space, putting both his hands on either side of me, onto the counter behind me. I had to lean back as he leaned in. “Remembering your scent,” he said softly as he buried his nose into my hair and inhaled. My eyes fluttered closed, and I tried to hold my body rigid, but my arms were already shaking from the force of it, from the need to lean into him instead of away from him. “Remembering the curve of your neck,” he murmured as his lips grazed my jawline and his hand cupped the back of my neck, sending tingles all along my skin and drawing a moan from me. “Remembering the taste of your lips,” he spoke huskily against my mouth.

  His mouth devoured mine and the only thing I could do was wrap my arms around his neck and hold on as he made up for a hundred years of doubts, desires, and distant dreams. His mouth slanted against mine, and my body trembled against his as desire and longing clouded my thoughts. Aldwin reached down and swiftly lifted me onto the counter top without breaking contact with my lips. He settled himself between my legs as his hands wandered up my sides and lifted my shirt to expose my stomach to his touch. I dug my finger into his hair and yanked his head back so I could look into his eyes. He was breathing hard and his eyes were glazed over, desire making him sexier than ever. I slanted my mouth over his and he growled in approval. It wasn’t until Aldwin’s fingers fumbled with my bra clasps that I had a sliver of sanity break through the heady fog of desire.

  My entire body tensed and Aldwin immediately stopped. “Aldwin,” I whispered, my forehead against his, my breathing heavy. “We can’t.” He reluctantly removed his hand from my back and smoothed down my shirt in the process. My fingers were still locked in his hair, and unwinding them from the thick, raven-colored locks was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I pulled away slightly from his embrace and glanced up into the face of the first man I ever loved. He was already closing himself back off from me and it was just another pain I’d have to endure. Aldwin cleared his throat, and I realized he was waiting for something. I blushed as I unwound my legs from his waist.

  I fell into bed (alone) sometime after five o’clock in the morning. We’d managed to keep our hands off of each other long enough to study the book a little while longer and to translate a few more key passages. It wasn’t without difficulty, I assure you. One thing we knew for sure was that something big was about to happen, and we needed to save Colleen to make sure we had her on our side when the crap hit the fan. Our first order of business was to hunt down little ole’ Absalom and find out where he had stashed the warper. For the second night in a row, I fell asleep counting the ways I was going to torture the vampire who’d killed my parents.

  The sounds of loud, methodical thumps woke me later in the afternoon. I groaned and reluctantly abandoned the comfort of my bed to go and find whomever it was I was going to have to kill. I jerked open the back door of the house and stopped dead in my tracks. Aldwin was standing in the sunlight with small sharp knives in his hand. He was throwing them with disturbing accuracy at a large wooden shed with a target painted on the side of it. The shed was situated close to my bedroom window—hence the thumping sound I’d heard. I stood there with my mouth hanging open as I watched a shirtless Aldwin fling knife after knife with deadly precision at the target. The sun shone through the tree tops and highlighted his every move. I could see his muscles flex, the sweat roll slowly down in a thin stream over his abs. I stood there transfixed until the scent hit me.

  I don’t remember moving, but the next thing I knew I was in Aldwin’s arms and trying my best to climb into his skin. Aldwin grunted when I hit him with the force of my body traveling at warper speed.

  “Sage...we....can’t....you...need...to stop...oh, dear god.” His muffled reply and chopped-up words fell onto deaf ears as I tried my best to melt into him and devour him and his scent as best as I could.

  My back hit the ground and Aldwin straddled me in some strange turn of events. I was momentarily thrown off my game, but I could remedy that. I jerked forward only to find that my arms were pinned to the ground. I looked up through a haze and into Aldwin’s wild eyes. His scent was all around me—all over me—but it wasn’t enough. I lunged forward again, but I couldn’t break free from his grip.

  “Sage!” I shook my head and tried to focus on his words. “Sage...you have to snap out of it. You’re strong. You can do it.” He shook me slightly and his face began to come into better focus and his words didn’t seem like they were coming from as far away as they had before. I blinked rapidly and felt my breathing begin to return to normal. “Better now?” he asked quietly. I nodded. Aldwin lifted himself off me and then helped me up off the ground. With his hands still holding my arms in a tight grip, we stood staring at each other for a few minute before either of us could say anything.

  “What just happened?” I asked.

  “I accidentally glamored you.” He winced when my mouth popped open.

  “You accidentally glamored me?” He nodded, his mouth in a straight line. I pointed a finger and opened my mouth, but Aldwin cut me off.

  “In my defense…I was out here alone, which was the only reason I let down my guard down. And, it isn’t usually that bad with most people. It’s just you and I have a connection, and that makes it more intense.” Intense...yeah that about sums up how it had felt when I nearly ripped him apart in my gotta-have-some-of-that-sex-on-a-stick haste. I shook my head....I needed a very cold shower. I glanced up and the look on Aldwin’s face was just too much. I burst out laughing. I laughed until my sides hurt and tears streamed down my face.

  “I’m sorry,” I snorted. “I didn’t mean to molest you this morning.” I wiped a tear away and Aldwin’s eyes pierced me with a scathing glare.

  “Yes, well, let’s hope it doesn’t happen again, Sage.” His voice thickened as he walked towards the back door. “I won’t have the strength to stop a third time,” he murmured as he stomped into the house.

  I gazed up into the late afternoon sky and inhaled the lingering scent that was Aldwin and whispered, “Me neither.” I closed my eyes and soaked up the last few rays of sunlight from the late afternoon sun before making my way back into the house to try and wash away Aldwin’s scent from my body and from my mind.

  I was sitting in
the living room finishing off a sandwich when I heard cars coming up the driveway. The door swung open and everyone began pouring into the spacious hideaway. Trina skipped over to hug me with Matt not too far behind her, looking uncomfortable and out of place among so many preternaturals. Next came Milena, looking picture-perfect as usual and striding around like she owned the place. I rolled my eyes. Finally Soren came in, his gaze touching mine as soon as he walked through the door. I walked over to him, and he welcomed me into his reassuring embrace like he always had. My mind whispered that he always would.

  “Did you find what you needed to know?” he whispered into my hair. I knew he was asking about more than just the book, but I answered his question as if I were oblivious.

  “Yes, we found out a lot from the book. Let’s talk to everyone.” I smiled at him and his eyes searched mine before letting me pull out of his embrace. I held onto his hand as we walked forward to join the group in the living room.

  Aldwin spoke to everyone about what we had learned so far. There was something big going to happen very soon. We had to make sure we rescued Colleen before it did, and then we would all worry about the third warper in the prophecy once this first mission succeeded. Aldwin nodded in my direction, his eyes not quite connecting with mine. I didn’t blame him after what had happened outside earlier. Milena narrowed her eyes at both of us.

  “So, all of us agree, we need to find the vampire named Absalom and see where he is keeping Colleen.” I spoke quickly, ready to get going.

  “But how do we know Absalom has Colleen? And even if he does, how do we know he’s in this area and not halfway around the world?” Trina asked. I clenched my jaw as everyone looked at me waiting for answers. Fortunately, Soren spoke up.

  “We aren’t a hundred percent positive, he has her. But, it is the most likely scenario. Absalom has made it his mission over the last hundred years to hate and torment Sage because she messed up the plans he had made back in 1904.” He paused and glanced over at me with questioning eyes. I nodded once.

  “And he killed her parents,” he said softly as he squeezed my hand.

  “How are you sure he killed her parents?” Milena asked. I was a bit surprised she didn’t ask it in a sneer. Just a question as if she cared.

  “We warped back to the time of her parents’ deaths the other day.” He shrugged when everyone gasped. “He also put on quite a show with over a hundred vampires out in the park. They didn’t attack, but they could have, and that was the point he was trying to make.” Soren’s brows knit together in thought.

  “You warped someone with you?” Trina nearly shouted. “I’ve never heard of a warper being able to that before. That has to be some sort of special power or something, right?” Her eyes were shining as she looked at me like she wanted to study me under a microscope. I fidgeted.

  “Absalom doesn’t have that kind of power.” The comment came, surprisingly, from Milena. She ran a finger over her lips, a thoughtful gesture, but of course it looked sensual when she was the one doing it. “He has to be working for someone. There’s no way that many vampires would follow his lead. He’s too weak,” she said. I raised a brow. How did Milena know so much about vampire business? Eerily, she seemed to be able to read my thoughts as well.

  “What?” she asked with a shrug. “I make it my business to know what goes on around me. I have contacts,” she said with a purr. This time Trina rolled her eyes. “And I happen to know where Absalom and his little gang frequent,” she said, a smug smile playing on her lips. Well, well. Maybe Milena wasn’t going to be as useless as I’d originally thought.

  I crossed my arms over my chest. No way in hell I was going to go on a mission to find Absalom with Milena of all people. I’d rather have gone alone. Soren argued that it was a good idea since not only did Milena know the area that Absalom frequented, but she also had the power of glamor on her side. She would be an asset to Soren and me as we set out to find the little worm. I clenched my jaw and nodded my agreement....I might see his point, but I still didn’t have to like it.

  “Come on. I have a little surprise for you,” Soren whispered into my ear. I hid my surprise and let him lead me by the hand to the back of the house. We entered the kitchen and Soren kept walking towards the pantry. He opened the door and clicked on a light. I looked around, wondering what in the world we were doing in the cupboard with the dry goods. Soren pulled me further back into the pantry and shut the door behind us. He flicked another light switch and the entire back wall of the pantry swung out, revealing stairs that led down into some sort of basement. I swallowed. This was the part of the movie where the stupid teenage girl was supposed to run the other way, but since I was clinging to the hand of a vampire, I was pretty sure the normal horror flick rules didn’t apply to me.

  When we made it to the bottom of the stairs, I could only stand there and gape at the display in front of me. Every weapon imaginable was just waiting there to be picked up and adopted into a good, loving family. I let out a squeal and rushed forward to check out all the goodies. Soren chuckled behind me. I swung around with an accusing glare.

  “What’s so funny?” I asked

  “I wish I had known back in 1904 that the best way to your heart was with armored cars and your choice of weapons...would have saved myself a lot of grief.” His smile tapered off into a grimace. I swung around to hide my frown. I hadn’t even realized he’d felt like that about me back then. I’d been obliviously in love with Aldwin then.

  “So what do you think of these?” I turned around swinging two gorgeous eighteen inch twin blades. They felt good in my hand as I swung them simultaneously around my body. They felt really good. Soren stepped up to me once I’d stopped playing around and picked up a holster made from supple black leather. He walked over to me and fingered the black snaps on my blouse.

  “Take off your shirt,” he whispered into my ear. I shivered in response and unbuttoned the shirt as commanded. His eyes followed my every move as I unsnapped each button and shrugged out of the top. I had a soft, stretchy red undershirt on with my faded denim jeans. Soren’s arms circled around me, and he pulled the straps onto my arms and buttoned it closed just below my breasts. I glanced up quickly into Soren’s compelling gaze, my eyes wide in question. The holster wasn’t adjustable...it had been made in my exact size. His grin told me how much he enjoyed shocking me speechless. I smiled and softly kissed the corner of his mouth. His nostrils flared and his eyes dilated slightly.

  “No time for that, warper,” he grinned as he slid each of the short swords into the holster on my back. He tugged on my hair and then pushed it behind my ear. “I like your haircut, by the way. It’s sexy.” I was grinning from ear to ear when we surfaced a few moments later. Not even the sight of Milena waiting for us with an impatient tap of her high heel was able to wipe the smile off my face.

  Aldwin was staying behind to work on translating more of the book while Soren, Milena, and I tracked down Absalom, the gimpy-eared vampire. I glanced over at Milena. She was filing her nails, leaning against the SUV. She was wearing skin tight black slacks, a loose, white silk blouse, and shiny, four-inch red stilettos. She saw me looking at her, paused her filing, and raised her brows to an impressive height. “What, warper?”

  I shrugged. “Don’t you want a weapon or two on you? This could get messy.” She snorted and continued with her filing. Nice. Oh well, her funeral.

  Soren drove us across the city in the Kombat. The silence only lasted a while before Milena decided to break it with her annoying observances along the way. She didn’t like the music, it was too stuffy in the back, blah blah blah blah blah. The only thing I could do was grit my teeth and try not to throttle her.

  An hour later, we pulled up to what appeared to be an abandoned subway. “This is it,” Milena said as she threw open the car door. I glanced around, but didn’t see any signs that anyone ever frequented this area, except maybe rats. Soren and I joined the fae in front of the SUV. I gave her a skeptical look, and s
he rolled her eyes. “You are so distrustful,” she snapped. I shrugged in response. I didn’t trust easily, but that wasn’t entirely my fault. Having someone I trust shove a dagger into my chest would do that to a person.

  We followed Milena down a flight of cement stairs and into an old underground subway station. I felt a very light shiver race down my back as we made it to the ground level.

  “We just walked through the equivalent of a supernatural security system. Everyone will know we are here now,” Soren hissed. I grinned and was surprised to see Milena smiling as well. Maybe I wasn’t the only one looking forward to a good fight.

  At first I wondered if anyone was even down in the crap hole we’d entered. After a few minutes of walking along the subway tracks, we’d not seen or heard anything besides the scurry of rodents in the shadows. I’d just begun to relax a little when Soren hissed out a warning. The next second, we were surrounded by at least two dozen baby vampires. My swords came free from my holsters easily as the first wave of vampires descended upon us. I backed up and allowed Soren to take up my rear.

  “Milena, stay close to me!” I shouted. Her laughter sent a shiver up my spine. The first two that had made it to me were no match for my twin swords of fury. I glanced behind me to see where Milena was and what I found left me standing there, my jaw dropped open in astonishment as two more vampires moved in on me. I spun to my left just in time to miss having a chunk torn out of my body by a particularly aggressive baby vampire. His aggressiveness was too erratic though, his hunger making him predictable and sloppy. His head joined the other three on the ground at my feet without too much effort.

  My powers shimmied through my body as I fought. I was still faster. I was still stronger, but something wasn’t quite right. Something was off. I searched for Soren in the surrounding chaos and found him easily dispatching baby vampire after baby vampire. My eyes sought out Milena, and I spotted her just as she shoved her inhumanly elongated nails right into the chest of a vampire and pulled out his heart. She swung around a second later and put her four inch spiked heel right through the throat of another vampire. Her nails had lengthened into lethal six inch built-in weapons. She was like a femme fatale cross between Edward Scissor Hands and the Wolverine. I should have been disgusted, but instead I felt a little jealous. She kicked ass and looked amazing doing it.