Timeless (Immortal Love Series) (9 page)

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Authors: Amy Richie

BOOK: Timeless (Immortal Love Series)
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He stood up and slapped his hand against his thigh. “Alright, you sleep.” Like that would be possible. “I’ll be back soon.”
“
You won’t go far?”
“
I won’t go further than I can hear you.”
“
So you’re not leaving the house?”
He laughed. “I’ll see you soon.”
I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him leave the room. He was such a good man. Nice. Considerate. Strong. Handsome. Comfortable. Protective. For the first time I wondered how it was possible that he lived alone here. I sighed and let my head fall deeper into the pillow. Best not to allow myself to think along those lines.
Chapter Nine

 

I sighed a small sigh. As soon as I pushed thoughts of Nickolas out of my head, thoughts of a different sort forced their way back in. What was I going to do? I couldn’t just stay here with Nickolas. Soon he would be moving us to the colony. The colony didn’t sound like a place that I wanted to be, at least not until I got my memory back.
My memory would have to come back. It just had too. I needed to know why I was here. Where had I come from? Maybe there was a house nearby. I perked my head up a little. There had to be a house nearby, otherwise where would I have come from? Maybe my family was looking for me. There must have been an accident, maybe I fell.
I poked and prodded my head, searching for an injury, but I found none. I experimentally checked the rest of my body for injury. On my left arm was a large oval shaped bruise. It was dark shades of purple and black. I gingerly touched the offending mark, it didn’t hurt. Actually, it was strangely numb. I pinched the area. No feeling. Odd.
Other than that one bruise, the rest of me was in perfect shape. I must have fallen though, how else would Nickolas have gotten me and brought me here? Had he captured me? Kidnapped me? I banished those thoughts immediately. Nickolas was my hero, not the villain.
I laid my head back down on the pillow and rubbed furiously at my eyes. I yawned a deep yawn. Maybe Nicolas was right, I did need to rest. I flipped over to my side and let my eyes drift closed. I could worry about everything else later.
Before sleep could claim me a scene played out in my head. It was so vivid and real, it left me gasping for air. I was sure it must be a memory, a clue. In my mind, I was in the forest and I was running, running as fast as I could. I heard the sounds of someone behind me. Someone was chasing me. My expression was one of terror and I kept tripping over branches and tree roots. My arms and face were scratched up and bleeding in several places. The sounds behind me were getting closer.
I bolted upright and covered my mouth. No screaming, I didn’t need Nickolas to come running. Something had definitely been chasing me. What was it? Maybe it was the wolves. I looked at my arms again. No cuts. I jumped quickly out of bed and almost fell. I caught myself and made my way to the stand with the mirror. The bowl on it was full of water and there was a cloth of some sort draped over the side. I ignored the bowl — I wasn’t thirsty — I needed to see if there were any cuts on my face. The small mirror showed no cuts on my face either, though. Maybe the vision wasn’t real. “But it was,” I whispered.
My steps were surer as I walked back to the window. Trees. I must have run through those trees, to this house. Nickolas’s house. But why? Why was I in the forest? What had been chasing me?
The only conclusion I could come up with was that I lived nearby and that I really had been attacked by werewolves. But I was absolutely certain that the angel was not my sister. So what did my dream mean? Who was she? I sighed heavily. Every answer I could come up with only brought more questions. A sudden thought occurred to me then, Nickolas must already know who I was. If I lived somewhere close by, he would know me and my family. That is — if he lived here.
With determined steps, I went over to the dresser and pulled open the first drawer. All I found were socks and other bits of fabric. I pulled one out and held it open. It didn’t look like anything I had ever seen before. I threw the fabric back and opened the next drawer. More clothes. This drawer was full of shirts and the next was filled with pants.
These must be men’s clothes, I concluded after taking stock of my own clothing. All I had on was a tight fitting shirt made of a thin white fabric and short pants of a similar style. I turned to look around the room for any other items that would prove this was Nickolas’s room. There was a door that I hadn’t seen before. I quickly went and pulled open the door. More clothes hung there in a very small room. I was confused. How many places did one need to put their clothes?
I backed out of the small room and shut the door. I pressed my back against the cool wood of the door. He must live here. So he knew my family. After only a moment of hesitation I made my way to the doorway that Nickolas had disappeared through earlier. He had said he wouldn’t go far; I needed to find him while my memory was still clear. Maybe he could fill in some missing pieces.
I was a little hesitant about leaving the safety of the bedroom. I hadn’t been out of it yet, and Nickolas had told me to rest. He seemed nice enough but would he be mad at me if I disobeyed him? I bit the inside of my lip. Well, I wasn’t going to be able to rest until I knew so before I could change my mind I ducked through the doorway.
The house was very simple in its arrangement. There was a large open area with a dead animal on the floor. I crinkled my nose in distaste. “Eww,” I whispered. Against one wall were two chairs made of wood and a hole cut out of the wall. The hole was full of black stuff. From where I was standing it looked almost like ashes. “Eww,” I said again. Situated between the dead animal and the hole full of ashes was a square shaped wooden table. There were three chairs placed around it. I narrowed my eyes slightly. Why did he need so many chairs if he lived alone?
I had to step around the animal to make it to the door. I stood on my toes and danced towards the door — careful not to touch the fur. I shuddered when I got to the head and saw the large teeth. “Eww.”
I was quick to open the front door and get outside. My mind was still on the horrible toothy grin on Nickolas’s floor when I stepped off the front porch. It took me a moment to remember why I had come outside in the first place. I looked around at the scenery for the first time. Trees. I shook my head in disbelief. The clearing in front of Nickolas’s house was just big enough for a few items that I did not recognize.
The trees seemed eager to come up and swallow the house and me. I took two steps back. I thought about running back to the safety of the bed but I had come out here on a mission. With a firm resolve, I straightened my shoulders and set out to find Nickolas and the house I must live in.
I ran all the way around the wooden house and didn’t find anything. Nickolas was nowhere to be seen. And I couldn’t see any houses either. In fact, the only thing I could see was trees.
“I won’t go further than I can hear you.”
I remembered Nickolas’s promise from earlier.
I cupped my hands around my mouth and called as loud as I could. “Nickolas!” I counted to ten in my head before I tried again. “Nickolas!” I rolled my eyes at my own foolishness. If he did know my family he would have said something by now.
I had already turned to go back inside when I heard his voice. “Eva?” he called. He shot out of the trees in a near blur, freezing me in my steps. His relief when he saw me was evident. “Are you hurt?” I couldn’t even shake my head before he was at my side. His hands felt down the length of my body, checking for injury. Almost instantaneously he was crouching low in front of me. “What is it? What happened? Is someone here?” he asked without looking at me.
I hadn’t even blinked yet and I was feeling incredibly stupid for calling him. “There’s no one here,” I muttered. I was angry, but only at myself for acting so impulsively. And now I was embarrassed.
He spun around to face me. “Then what…I mean why…?”
“
I wanted to ask you a question.” I crossed my arms and looked away from him.
“
You mean to tell me,” he began angrily but then took a breath, “that I just ran faster than…maybe than I ever have, so you could ask me a question?”
“
You said you wouldn’t go far,” I reminded him. I was moments away from stomping my feet.
He stood there chewing the inside of his lip while I blazed red. Finally, after an extended eternity, a huge grin broke out on his face. “Well, it better be one hell of a question,” he teased.
I gave him my best glare, turned back to the door, and stomped all the way back inside. I placed myself in one of the chairs by the hole of ashes. I sat and scowled, expecting him to follow. But I sat there pouting for quite a while before he came in. He was holding a large plate full of food. He set it down on the table and turned towards me.
“
Your lunch Milady.” He bowed foolishly low in front of me.
I resisted the urge to stick my tongue out at him. He winked. I got up with a haughty air. “Your animal over there is dead,” I informed him with a flip of my hair.
His loud laughter startled me and I jumped. He was still laughing when I sat down and started eating. The food was delicious. I would have told him that if he didn’t aggravate me by laughing so much. Really, what was so funny?
Nickolas kept chuckling while he made several trips outside to make a small pile of wood by the door. When he finally quit laughing, he would look at me and start up again. I sighed loudly and got up from the table. I would just go to bed, that would solve his laughing fit.
“
Why did you go out in your underwear anyway?” he asked suddenly.
“
My what?”
“
Those clothes.”
“
What about them?”
“
Those are not meant to be seen by anyone else, and you just walk around like its nothing.” He walked over to stand in front of me.
I shook my head in confusion. “I just…I don’t…” These clothes weren’t right?
“
These are things you wear under your dress. And actually these are not women’s underwear.”
“
How do you know?” I looked down at my clothes. “Did you put them on me?”
“
What?” He flinched back. “Of course not.”
“
I have no memories of these clothes Nickolas,” I said softly. “I don’t know what to say. I am sorry if I embarrassed you.”
“
I wasn’t worried about me, Eva.” he nodded towards one of the chairs. “You sit there. I’ll get you a blanket and then start a fire.”
“
A fire. Where?”
“
In the fireplace.”
I was appalled to see that he was pointing to the hole of ashes. “Don’t you think that would be kind of stupid?”
“
Stupid? Why?”
“
To start a fire inside your house.” His face was still blank. “Nickolas, your whole house is made of wood. I just don’t think it would be a good idea to start a fire inside of it.”
He laughed sweetly, making me smile despite myself. “You are so funny, Eva,” he said fondly.
I smiled back at him and forced a laugh. I wasn’t trying to be funny.
Chapter Ten

 

The fire crackled pleasantly in the fireplace. Nickolas lay sprawled on the floor in front of the warm flames. I still sat in one of the wooden chairs, wrapped securely in a blanket. It was pulled close to the fire too.
“
Are you still amazed that I have a fire in my house?” Nickolas asked with a grin.
“
No. I just couldn’t understand why you would want a fire in your house. Now, I think I understand. It’s kind of nice.” I smiled down at him.
“
Yeah, it is kind of nice,” he mimicked, then laughed.
I shook my head but didn’t look at him, afraid I would laugh too. I took another sip of the black liquid he had given me. I tried not to wrinkle my nose. “What is this called again?”
“
Do you not like it?”
“
Mmm,” I shrugged, “it’s ok.”
“
Here, I’ll drink that and I’ll get you some…milk.” He reached for the grey mug.
I felt my nose wrinkle again. “You like this stuff?”
“
It’s coffee and,” he took the mug, “yeah, I’ve been known to drink a cup or two.” He laughed again.
At least he was enjoying my temporary memory lapse. “Do you have any apple juice?” I asked brightly. Apple juice sounded good. He looked at me strangely, curiously. “What?”
“
Eva, apples don’t grow here. The villagers here probably don’t even know what apple cider is.” He continued to stare.
“
But you do.”
“
I’m not from around here.”
“
Where are you from?”
“
The south.”
“
That’s a bit broad.”
He flashed his teeth. “Milk?”
“
Yeah.”
He jumped up and bounded off to get my glass of milk. I leaned back in my chair and pinched the bridge of my nose. No apples here? I guess I already knew I wasn’t from around here, but it was so frustrating not knowing.

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