As they approached the town square, her anxiety increased, and she wondered what the scene would look like. She imagined the mayor had forced the fire and police department employees to stay in town, and she could also think of a few other residents who wouldn’t budge from this place nestled in the mountains, even under the threat of a nuclear bomb.
The bodies she’d seen that night had been removed. A large crater—the portal to the other worlds—sat in front of Peter Saint’s statue. A policeman stood near it looking nervous, as if he waited for something to happen, but preferred it didn’t.
“That’s where we all emerged into your plane,” Jayden said. “It’s how most will get back.”
“How does it work?”
He shrugged. “Every being has a different way. Some will recite an incantation; others, spells. Some will have Talismans—it just depends from where they came.”
“Why are all of you here, Jayden? I understand that the seams of the universe opened up, but why did all these supernatural entities want to leave their worlds and come to Saint’s Grove?”
“It varies, Bella. Some are here for nefarious reasons, like Ulric. Yet, others have come from other time periods and realms for a reason other than causing havoc; perhaps unfinished business, or to let a loved one know about something that will happen in the future. Your experience has been about death, destruction, and chaos, but not all the beings are here to cause terror and mayhem.”
“How will you get back?”
His face fell for a moment, and a wave of sadness crashed through her at her own question.
You don’t want him to leave.
He smiled. “I have my way.”
The sun shone in the sky, warming the air to a mild temperature. It should have been a busy day for the businesses around the square. A few people milled about, but the usual hustle and bustle remained absent.
They passed the Second Amendment Gun Shop, and the owner waved from behind the counter. She imagined his sales had skyrocketed in the past few days. As they walked down the street, she couldn’t see inside most of the stores, and she hoped their owners had found safety when the trouble began.
Saint’s Grove had always been a nice place to live with its community events such as concerts in the square and the farmer’s market. Tourists liked to visit to get out of the heat in the cities, but also because of the amazing original architecture of the town square with its Victorian style buildings, not to mention the scenic walkways and all the stores and cafés located in the town square. As they continued to her shop, she noticed the blood of the Event’s victims staining the area, and wondered how something so innocent such as a town gathering could have turned so horrible.
That’s what you get when the seams of the universe bust open.
“You know, your present and past selves are a lot alike.”
She gazed over at Jayden, a little jolted by his revelation, but curious, nonetheless. “Really? How so?”
“In your past life, I always thought of you as trapped by your circumstances. You wanted so much more than what had been given to you, things you could never have being a woman and a princess. In present day, you’ve restricted yourself. It seems to me you haven’t opened yourself up to life and what it has to offer. In your past life, you were held hostage by the rules of the era. In this life, you’re imprisoned by your own self-imposed limitations.”
She considered his thoughts as they approached McHale’s Grocery Store. “Why do you think that?”
He turned to her. “Because you said that this Event had made you feel more alive than any other time in your life. It shouldn’t take something so catastrophic to get someone’s blood pumping. That should happen every day, and in my limited personal experience so many centuries ago, it wasn’t the battle that did it for me, but being with you. You excited me. You made my heart beat faster than any skirmish ever could. Even the danger of being caught with you did not thrill me the way actually spending time with you did. So, maybe, being in love is the ultimate high, and you haven’t opened yourself up to it.”
She stared into his dark gaze, almost ashamed that so much death and destruction made her feel alive. A bit of indignation roiled through her, and she raised her chin and straightened her back, as if she suddenly wore a steel rod for a spine.
“Maybe for you, being in love was the ultimate high, but you don’t know if it was that way for me. Maybe … maybe other things got my heart pumping, as you say.”
He threw his head back and laughed, and she became even more annoyed. “What’s so funny?”
Pressing his lips into a fine line, he bowed his head. “Nothing, Princess. Your haughty nature at this moment reminds me of the woman I knew so long ago. And when you’re ready to hear about the ways love made you happy, let me know.”
Confusion tore through her. “B-but you said I was killed by my husband.”
Shadows crossed his face. “I did say that. You didn’t love him, and for a brief time, I was the one who made your toes curl and cries of passion fall from your lips.”
He turned as if he hadn’t dropped such a large sexual bombshell and tried to open the door, but found it wouldn’t budge. “We’ll have to break in.”
As she followed him around to the back, she swallowed heavily, her throat slightly constricted. Could he be right? Could she have closed herself off from life and love?
He cupped his hands around his eyes and looked through a small window. A moment later, he pulled off his vest and wrapped it around his elbow. She glanced at him, taking in his large, muscular form as he slammed his elbow through the pane, and a wave of desire shot through her.
After shaking out the leather, he slipped it back on, then cleared the rest of the glass. “Stay here while I check out the store.”
As he hauled himself through the space, she felt awful for breaking in, but what could she do? Starve?
A few moments passed as she considered his words. She knew they had been lovers, but could he have been the one to make her toes curl, and not her husband? What did that make her in that time? A harlot?
Suddenly, the door opened, startling her. He grinned, holding a can of soup in each hand. “If I were a guessing man, I would bet that you like the creamy potato, or maybe even the tomato.”
“Yes—I like both, but we should leave a note and some money, then board up this window.”
He nodded and held the door for her.
The store had made it through the trouble without a scratch. Everything seemed to be exactly where it should.
As she walked through the quiet, deserted aisles and grabbed a few more items, his prior accusations rang true. She had dated, but had quickly brushed most of them off because she’d claimed they didn’t excite her. Maybe she hadn’t given any of the men in her life a chance. Maybe she sat and waited for someone who would never come, closing herself off to the possibilities of falling in love, or giving someone the opportunity to excite her.
Yes, the realization of her actions bothered her most of all.