I stood in front of Marcus, worried that the intruders might shoot him if he didn't raise his hands up like the Druid and I did. Since Allena shot Tulio with a gun, I hoped that he already knew that guns were much more dangerous than crossbows.
"What do you want?" I asked Emma.
How the hell did she find my address?
"The two stones that you got. Hand them over to me."
Seriously?
"What stones?"
How does she know? I looked at the Druid to see if he knew these people but he looked clueless too.
"Stop wasting your time. The energy profiles from your fingerprints clearly show that you were in contact with them very recently. Just hand them over and we will forget about all this."
"For what? Don't you know that they won't work for you?" The Druid asked them.
A look of confusion or doubt flashed on their faces before Emma tightened the trip on her gun.
"We will see that for ourselves. Put them o
Marcus's POVIt was killing me to see her hurting like this. I was all too familiar with this sad face of hers. I was helpless in my dreams, and even now when I was with her, I didn't know the words that could console her.I hated Jon when she first told me that she was with him for five long years. Seeing her in tears today had me realize that Jon was her support system. I was glad he was there for her when I couldn't.She wiped her tears off by rubbing her face against my shirt while I held her tighter."Let's go before Jake finds us again," the Druid said.There was no fireplace in the entire hospital to create the portal. The sorceress said the stone needed to be thrown into the fire once it was activated.The Druid took us to the corner of a cafeteria and waited impatiently for employees warming their food in what he called a microwave. Once we made sure that no one was watching us, he took a metal fork and put it into the microwave, an
Allena's POVThe broken glass created a hissing noise drawing our attention to the sputtering fire. The glass pieces raised high up in the air spinning around taking the shape of a whirlpool before they manifested into the sorceress."We meet again Allena," she said, looking ever so mysterious with long flowing hair.I needed to extract a manual full of "dos and don'ts" from her, I thought. Marcus and I had no clue how to go about breaking this curse. All we knew was that we had about three weeks."I know what you are thinking Marcus," she said, looking at Marcus. What was he thinking? I had no idea."And no, it is forbidden to do what you are thinking, that's why I am here. You can't kill Laelia or Tulio now. It is not allowed to change what already happened."Both Laelia and Tulio were in the fortress at the moment. Oh, the temptation! I even wondered last time if Marcus kissed her goodbye before leaving with us."You can't sa
Marcus and his men crossed the shallow waters near my village and a fight erupted almost immediately. His grandfather was dead several years ago and with him gone, there were no marital alliances or peace negotiations. Marcus and his dad did as they pleased, taking over every Celtic tribe and turning men and women into slaves.With Allena's memories intact, I felt an uncontrolled feeling of hatred for the Romans and their raids. I thought Avus was crazy with his forced marriage contracts and control, but I realized now how important his role was as a peacemaker.All those things that Iona told me about when I first opened my eyes here as Allena last time, about using women for domestic help and men for construction projects and powering catapults in their wars and whatnot, those people were us this time.Their fortress was only a couple of hours away from where our village was. They took over every village that was between the fortress and A
"Allena...""Allena, wake up! Ugh! This girl sleeps like a log," I heard Selma's voice encroaching my sex dream."Wake the hell up Allena! Marcus and his family are almost here.""Is she still sleeping?" I heard Iona chuckle.I had no mood to open my eyes or talk to these people. Today is going to be one of the worst days in my life if Neill's plan fails and I end up getting engaged to Marcus.I heard my father's voice booming through the room now. Bloody hell! I sprang out of my bed immediately and grabbed some clothes to run to the bathroom with my eyes still closed."We are not going to a funeral. What in the world are you wearing?" I heard him complain the minute I walked out to eat breakfast."He already decided to marry me. Why do I have to impress him now?""Go change! Don't make me repeat my words. Iona, go help your sister. You both are not going to come out until she looks good enough at the very least.""Aaarg
"This knot symbolizes eternity and the cycle of life." One of the druids explained to Marcus. He nodded happily while holding my hand and looking into my eyes.I didn't like this one bit. My reactions to his eyes, his touch, and his presence were all worrying me. Without even realizing it, my eyes were stealing glances and I was leaning in closer to him. Anger coursed through my body when I realized that I was thinking about feeling his irresistible lips with my own. And to make things worse, he seemed to have noticed my struggle.He was probably used to this kind of attention from women. After all, his girlfriend was one of the prettiest women I have ever seen. He must have some mental condition where he derives pleasure from torturing people and seeing them burn with lust for him.What would Neill think of me?I fought with him only last night, calling him insecure and getting pissed at him for not trusting me. I don't trust my own body anymore. A
The night was long with no sign of Neill. The back entrance of the house was guarded, and Marcus and his family were sprawled out on makeshift beds in the front entrance. Neill wouldn't dare stand near either side of the house.It was past midnight but sleep seemed to be miles away. I quietly got out of my bed and stepped out of the house under the moonless sky. Everyone seemed to have passed out with no trace of movement. I searched for Marcus's bed from a distance.I walked further down when I couldn't see him until I came across an empty bed. His sexy scent! I lied down on his bed for a moment, deeply inhaling the scent from the pillow that he laid on. It calmed my nerves after a full day of exertion, and I was tempted to close my eyes. But wait! Where was he?I walked to the edge of the hillfort facing the village and saw a silhouette walk down toward the oak grove. Was it Marcus? or Neill? Did Neill come to visit me and then Marcus caught him? I have to get
Alternate World One, Week 2They called it 'Taming the barbarians'; did they have any idea how inhumane they were?They beat all captives from the Celtic villages to submission, not literally physical beating, but by showing them the taste of prison life with no food for a week. Almost anything sounded better after that, especially death, was a welcome change.We were kept in tiny enclosures, alone, with just dirty water to quench our thirst. If we tried to talk to each other, we were brutally punished. Even the sound of our breathing annoyed some of these guards.There was no sign of Marcus all these days. He must be busy raiding more villages and taking more prisoners.After one week of starving us, they trained us. They put the men through a rigorous strength training routine; after a week of starvation followed by a week of brutal training, they killed off the weak. The survivors were put through the next round of training with weapons, and the
I walked to the dining area, excited about seeing Marcus finally. Even the sight of a ruthless version of him was better than no sight of him at all. Thankfully, he was the only one eating. I hated to face his dad or Cassia. And I still haven't figured if Laelia or Tulio were in this already wretched world. "Who the fuck gave you permission to change things around?" He asked me with an icy glare. His words didn't sink in yet because I first wanted to look at him until it satisfied my heart. This was the longest we went without seeing each other.He was wearing the same shirt that I took out from my Marcus's closet when he was away, the same shirt that got ripped when we had sex for the first time.He pushed the bowl of mussels across the table toward me. They looked delicious; what the hell was his problem?"What's w-wrong?""Why do they taste so creamy?""Are you lactose intolerant?""I am what? I will whip y