Everywhere and Nowhere (Safe Haven Book 1) (5 page)

“What are you doing?” Her gaze never lifted from the weapon in his hand.

“I’m going to cut myself deeply until I bleed, and then I’m going to cut you. We’re going to combine our blood. The uniting of our two life forces should open a portal. Jeremiah will walk through it, holding you. He holds on him a beacon that will pull everyone else who wears the same beacon through the portal with him. When everyone is through, I will cut myself again. This time, since it is my blood alone, the portal will close.”

Hadley shook her head. “At another time I might be fascinated by the physics of this. But for now, I thought you said I was human. More like my father, which is why I will die. Why will my blood open a portal?”

He had to shout to be heard over the loud buzzing noise that had started on deck above them. It sounded as if someone had started a huge machine. Hadrian didn’t even want to begin to imagine what kind. “You have trace elements of the princess’ blood in you. We know this because we tested the other seven sisters when they died. It should hopefully be enough. My blood can open the portal. The royal family’s—in other words, yours—keeps it open.”

Her eyes widened. “But…”

He had no time to continue to argue with her. Grabbing her hand, he sliced her perfect peach skin with his old but still sharp knife and tried not to wince when she screamed. He needed to remind himself that she was nothing but a spoiled Pettigrew and it was time she accepted her fate. So why did he feel so sick and worried and why didn’t it particularly bother him that his concern was not for his own men or his own safety?

Drops of red blood, the purest of its particular color, dripped from her hand as she bellowed as if she’d been stuck by a sword and not merely cut on the hand. Without a second thought, he sliced deeply into his own hand, barely feeling the pain, as if it were no more than a bee sting or an annoyance he could quickly forget. Grabbing her hand, he pressed it against his and felt the surge of power enter his veins.

Soon
. The portal would open soon.

Hadley gasped, her skin turning even paler. “Hadrian, is this the pain you promised me?”

He shook his head. “So sorry, sweetheart—you haven’t even begun to know the torture that is to come.”

Hadley watched in awe as a giant hole opened in the air to the left of where she and Hadrian stood. It didn’t look like anything she’d seen on television or in any science fiction movies. While it was clearly an opening, nothing dark or ominous seemed present, either lurking inside it or flowing through it. Rather the brightest white light she’d ever seen clouded her vision.

Several of the crew around her gasped and applauded. She’d never learned their names, but in her defense she’d been their prisoner and there certainly hadn’t been time.

She pushed herself closer in Hadrian’s embrace. It was silly, really. He was the leader of the bunch, and they’d all set out with one intention and that was to kidnap her and shove her through that opening in the universe, but somehow Hadrian made her feel safe. Or at least safer than she was outside his embrace.

And unless she was very much mistaken, he was hard. Was that for her or some kind of result of the portal opening? Her mouth watered—she wanted to find out.

“Jeremiah, move—you need to take her through the portal.” Hadrian sounded annoyed.

His facial features were all scrunched up and it felt as though his body temperature had risen in just the short time she’d been pressed up against him.

“Send out the girl and we won’t box you, Hadrian.”

A voice from the top of the stairs filled the room and Hadley gasped. There was something so inhuman about the way it sounded. Robotic in its makeup, as if it had never drawn a real breath. Hadley wasn’t sure what it meant to be “boxed”, but she was sure that these men, who were going to make her go to another dimension but who seemed to be genuinely concerned for her and her mother—except for the whole pain thing, she had to remind herself—did not deserve to have whatever it was happen to them.

An orange glow filled the room and Hadley cocked her head to the side, wondering how much weirder this whole experience could get before her head literally exploded.

Hadrian shoved her to the ground. She hit hard and her entire form shook from impact. Her body, already overdone from the heat in the room and also from Hadrian’s touch, felt as if it might implode from the sheer frenetic energy created by Hadrian’s body on top of hers.

Smoke filled the room. Hadley tried to raise her head but Hadrian pushed it back down to the floor.

“Jeremiah, for all that is holy, come here and get Hadley and go through the entrance.”

Hadley squirmed under Hadrian. There had to be something she could do other than lie on the floor while Hadrian guarded her body as if she were some sort of valuable commodity he needed to get through the portal.

As she watched, Jeremiah rose from the floor and ran toward them. He dropped to the floor and rolled next to Hadrian. Pulling the pin…no, beacon—that’s right, it was called a beacon—from his shirt, he shoved it onto Hadrian’s.

Hadrian jerked as if Jeremiah had just stuck him with a sharp object. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Making you fulfill your destiny.”

Hadrian snorted and coughed as he inhaled a ton of smoke-filled air. “What are you, some kind of prophet now?”

“Exactly.”

As they lay on the floor, she could tell by the sheer number of footsteps she heard that an army was amassed above them. The boat was sinking and the room they hid in had been fire-bombed. Hadley wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take.

“Hadrian, while the two of you discuss these life-altering issues, may I remind you that I am still perfectly capable of dying?”

“That’s why you have to go right now, my lady.” Jeremiah bowed his head. “And there is still the matter of your sister. We can’t let her die. This is where it stops.” The black smoke had gotten so thick she could barely see him. It was a good thing she could feel Hadrian’s heart beating or she would have thought it had stopped. “I’ve altered, Hadrian—I’m changing like the others started to. I’m seeing pieces of the future and I know you are supposed to take this woman through the portal. You, not me. So get moving before she dies in this heat.”

“Jeremiah, how will you avoid being boxed?” Hadrian’s voice sounded rough.

“Don’t worry about me, my prince—I’m more resourceful than you can possibly imagine.”

For a moment silence filled the room, broken only by the sound of wood smashing as it split from the pressure of the water and the heat and flames of the fire. Hadrian cleared his throat.

“All right, Hadley, I’m going to roll you under me and then you hold on to me tightly.” His strong arms maneuvered her under him. “Harder, Hadley.”

Hadley wasn’t sure how much tighter she could hold him but she squeezed her fingers into the back of his shirt despite the pain in her gashed hand, hoping her nails didn’t cut into his skin.

“I’m going to lift you onto your feet. Follow me.”

She nodded. “Okay.” Whatever was coming her way, she was ready to move on to the next part, because her current situation was dire at best.

“This was the bit I said would hurt.”

Hadley closed her eyes and did what he asked. He lifted her off the ground. His embrace was strong and she couldn’t believe that anything would be too hard to handle if she just held on tightly enough. He pushed her head down onto his shoulder.

“Hadley, can you hear me?” He was shouting—why hadn’t she realized how loud the buzz in the room had gotten?

“I can.” She coughed when she spoke but at least she’d answered.

“Know this. If I had this to do over again, I would have left you alone.”

His words caused a pang in her heart and she wasn’t sure why they’d bothered her so acutely.

“But then I’d be dead in six months.”

“I can’t promise they can fix you on the other side of the portal.”

She appreciated that he wasn’t lying to her. “I know they can’t fix me here.”

While still safely ensconced in Hadrian’s arms, she felt him push them through what at first felt like nothing more than a thick batch of foggy air. It was dense and difficult to breathe.

Hadrian pressed his mouth down on top of her head. “Hold on to me.” He’d already given her these instructions and since he didn’t come off as a man who repeated himself very often, she felt sure what he said was very important.

Wondering if she was about to die, she pulled his mouth down to hers. She wanted that heat again. One more time. He kissed her back and for the mere seconds their embrace took, the troubles that had befallen her seemed to disappear. Her pussy wept. How could she be so turned-on just from the touch of his mouth? His lips were warm and his breath sweet. Sparks of pleasure surged through her body.

Wishing it could go on forever but knowing it couldn’t, she pulled her mouth reluctantly from his. He hadn’t asked for an explanation but she felt compelled to give one. “If we’re going to die, I needed it one more time. I should be embarrassed to admit this, but what the hell. You must know how much I want you from three little encounters. I just wish I could have had the chance to know what you could do to the rest of my body.”

“Hadley, I—” Whatever Hadrian had been about to say was left unsaid as a sharp, blinding pain pierced her body. She screamed and he pulled her closer. All the pleasure of the earlier moment disappeared.

Feeling Hadrian’s body tense, she suspected he was feeling the same agony she was. Had to give the man credit, he didn’t utter a sound of protest.

He spoke through gritted teeth. “I’d like to tell you it will be over soon but it won’t.”

She wanted to laugh. In the brief time she’d known him, no one had ever been blunter with her than Hadrian.

She couldn’t see anything. Pressed up against Hadrian’s shoulder, she couldn’t even see the white of his shirt. It was as if they existed in a state of nothingness…with the exception of pain. Somehow the sting that consumed her had become palpable, a living, breathing thing that existed as much as she and Hadrian did. “What’s happening?”

“I’m not sure of the science of it.” Hadrian’s voice shook.

“Then give me the unscientific explanation.”

She needed to hear him—anything to ground her so she didn’t give into the urge simply to become part of the endless ache. A voice she’d never heard before but that now existed as clearly as her inner monologue told her that she must not give in to the pain. If she did so, she might never come back, never return to herself.

Listen to me, Hadley. It is virtually impossible to get your attention when you’re awake. But pay attention. Do not lose yourself to this
.

She knew that voice. It was the giant squid from her dreams. Oh god, now she was dreaming while she was awake. Unless, of course, she’d lost consciousness and just wasn’t aware of it—which was entirely possible.

“What you’re feeling…well, part of what we’re both experiencing is the fact that we’re dragging twelve souls behind us. We are essentially acting like a magnet and pulling them along the path with us.”

Hadley, so caught up in the voices she heard in her head, had all but forgotten that she’d asked Hadrian to explain to her what was happening.

“Everyone but Jeremiah.” She didn’t need to ask that as a question. As much as she didn’t understand everything that had transpired, she understood that Jeremiah had insisted on staying behind in Hadrian’s place.

“It’s so bizarre. I keep thinking it should feel as if we’re flying. But it doesn’t. It feels as if we’re not moving at all, as if we’re suspended in midair and just surrounded by nothing but emptiness and pain.”

Hadrian shook his head and Hadley stared into the green depths.

His eyes changed.

They still looked green like the ocean, but it wasn’t any sea she’d seen before. The best description she could give of them was aquamarine. It was as if the word had been invented to describe Hadrian’s eyes. Still aware of the pain around her, she found some peace in the closeness she shared with Hadrian and the mystique of his newly colored irises.

“That’s an excellent description. Every transfer feels like this. It’s why I’ve never understood why the royal family sends their children out to do it as part of their becoming full-fledged adults.”

She wanted to sigh and cuddle into his embrace, but that would be ridiculous given the circumstances. She’d all but assaulted him twice with her affection, he’d taken her once, and he hadn’t said word one about it—she wouldn’t do it again unless he did it first.

“How can I understand you when you speak, if you’re from a different plane of existence?”

He raised a brown eyebrow as he looked at her. The shade of his hair had changed as well. What had seemed the darkest brown she’d ever seen now held shades of auburn and gold. She wondered remotely whether her appearance had altered as well.

“I’ve been speaking English.”

Hadley sighed. Once again he hadn’t followed her line of thinking. No one ever did, and her imaginary friend the giant squid had told her there was a good reason for that, but she’d be damned if she knew what it was. Or why she was listening to a manifestation from her dreams.

“I know you’re speaking English. Did you have to learn it when you first arrived two centuries ago?”

The thought of trying to learn the dialects and languages of an entirely different world made her stomach twist. Thinking it might be a bad idea to vomit, she tried to swallow her fear. But the sourness remained despite her best efforts.

“I found that I could understand everything being said to me when we came over. I’m not sure why that was, but it was true for all of us. We’ll have to see what happens with you when we get there. They’ll know what to do with you in Astor.” He looked left and right and his hair came loose from its ponytail. She wished she could reach up and stroke it. “Okay, Hadley. We’re going down.”

As if his words made it happen, Hadley felt herself fall like a wingless bird. She looked down and saw that the ground was rapidly approaching. They were like a missile and their destination was the land below them. Unless something got in their way, they would plummet toward the ground until they hit.

“Hadrian, you do remember that I can die?”

He nodded. “I know, and I can die here. But neither one of us is going to do that right now.”

Hadley’s temper flared and her cheeks heated. How the hell could he be so sure? At the speed they were falling, they were going to hit hard. And his bones might be built to withstand such a thing, but hers weren’t made to be smashed like a bug on a windshield. She heard herself start to scream and closed her eyes as she prepared to feel all her molecules collide in a fatal smash.

She landed softly on her rear end, Hadrian’s arms still around her. Opening one eye first, she dared to glance around to see where she was. Hadrian released her gently and she opened the other eye.

They were in some kind of field, a grassy one. But it didn’t look or feel like any grass she’d ever seen before, being orange. Neither the corn stalks nor the dead fields she’d sometimes seen on her travels had looked like this. She shook her head. Truly, she didn’t care. Everything could be completely different for all it mattered. They hadn’t gone splat on the ground. How was that even possible?

She whirled around, intending to ask Hadrian that very question, but stopped short. He was standing, his hands at his sides. He stared off in the distance at a purple mountain range covered in what she hoped was snow, as it was white. It would be nice to have some things the same. His expression was passive. He neither smiled nor frowned. But his eyes, which she had spent so much time examining in the last few moments, glistened with what she could only guess were unshed tears.