Chapter Twenty-Four

The Only Hope We Have

 

The loud banging at the front door jolted both of us awake.

I blinked, rolled out of Tor’s strong arms and away from his warm body, feeling like I had an hour’s sleep (which, with a glance at the bedside clock, was close to the truth).

Tor had a different reaction.

He threw back the covers and growled, “By the gods, what the bloody hell now?”

With sleepy fascination, I watched him pull up a pair of drawstring pajama bottoms then, still with sleepy fascination, I watched him prowl toward the door then I suddenly was not sleepy or fascinated anymore because I instantly freaked out, threw the covers back, jumped out of bed and snapped, “Tor! Where are you going?”

He stopped and turned his head to me and I started searching for my nightgown and panties, found them on the floor and tugged the panties on in a flurry of motion, my head tilted back to look at Tor when he spoke.

“I’m getting the bloody door.”

I pulled down my nightgown only to see he’d resumed prowling and was out the bedroom door.

I raced after him, hissing, “You can’t! What if it’s Noc?”

Tor stopped at the door, lifted a big hand and pointed a long finger at my peephole.

“You have a tiny porthole,” he replied in a low voice, his blue eyes on me.

Oh.

Right.

I did. I had a tiny porthole.

The banging came back as he bent and looked through it then his head turned to me, his expression unreadable then I stopped trying to read it when I heard Phoebe shouting, “Cora! I know you’re in there! Open up! I don’t have all day.”

Phoebe!

My heart started racing.

She’d called last night. Now she was here.

I didn’t know whether to be terrified, happy or to brace.

My eyes refocused on Tor just as he unlocked the door, pulled it open and when he did, I decided my best option was to brace.

Then I saw my petite, dark-pixie-cut-haired, adorable-faced, gorgeous platform pumps with skinny jeans and kickass sweater wearing friend standing at the door, one hand raised ready to knock again, one hand holding a department store bag by the handles, body arrested and head tipped way back with mouth falling right open when she caught sight of Tor.

Oh boy.

She blinked then her eyes did a top-to-toe scan. They stopped on the way back to the top, arrested on his chest, she blinked again and I had a feeling she also started salivating (I had this feeling because that was what I did when I saw Tor’s chest) then her eyes slid all the way up, they moved over his face then she whispered, “Dude. What happened to you? You didn’t have a scar the last time I saw you.”

Oh boy!

“Phoebe,” I said cautiously, moving into my living room and her head jerked my way, her eyes lost their wonder and her face instantly closed down.

My heart clenched and I stopped moving.

I’d been right to brace. Cora had done something to her.

Really, really, God, really, I hoped I never met that awful woman!

She opened her mouth to speak but Tor got there before her, shifting slightly but the movement was hard to miss since he was a big guy but also because it was vaguely threatening and Phoebe didn’t miss the movement or the vague threat. Her head jerked back as her eyes cut to him and I watched her body go still.

“You are clearly an acquaintance of my wife and we are not unaware that others of her acquaintance are unhappy with her, or, the other her. What you must be aware of is that I will not tolerate you being unkind to her, that is to say, the real her,” Tor declared, Phoebe blinked yet again and I snapped, “Tor!”

He looked to me and asked, “What?”

I didn’t answer and this was because Phoebe whispered a shocked, “Your wife?”

I looked from Phoebe to Tor, pointed to my friend and said, “That’s what.”

“What’s what?” Tor returned.

“Your wife?” Phoebe repeated.

I walked three more strides into my living room, stopped and planted my hands on my hips. “You can’t go around telling everyone we’re married.”

Tor turned to me, crossed his arms on his chest, tilted his head slightly but dangerously to the side and asked back, “And why not?”

“Because it freaks them out!” I semi-shouted.

“The other her?” Phoebe asked.

“Oh for goodness sakes,” I hissed, stomped to the door, reached to Phoebe, grabbed her arm, pulled her in and turned to her. Then I introduced my friend to my parallel world husband, throwing my hand out from one to the other and back again as I spoke, “Phoebe, my kind of husband, Tor, Tor, my hopefully still best friend, Phoebe.”

Phoebe blinked again and asked, “Kind of husband?”

“It’s a long story,” I muttered.

“I’m not her kind of anything,” Tor stated at this point. “I am her husband and she is my wife and the mother of my unborn child.”

Oh my God!

Phoebe’s eyes bugged out of her head.

I whirled and exclaimed, “Tor!”

“What?” he growled, losing patience.

“You also can’t go around telling everyone I’m pregnant!” I cried.

“The little white stick said you were and I knew you were even before that contraption confirmed it so why the bloody hell not?” Tor returned.

“You just can’t,” I shot back.

“You’re pregnant?” Phoebe whispered and I turned back to see her face pale, her eyes still big and they were on me.

“Uh… yeah,” I whispered back.

Her big eyes darted to Tor then back to me then back to Tor then to me.

Then I knew she came to a decision (and not a good one for me) when she straightened her shoulders and pulled in breath as I watched her face close down.

Then she lifted up the bag and informed me, “Dave said you were back. He also told me some stupid story about how you had amnesia or whatever. Total soap opera but he bought it because he’s a big dork. So, whatever. I’m here to return that Coach bag and that blouse you loaned me. Then I’m gone.” She shook the bag. “Here it is.”

I didn’t look at the bag; I kept my eyes glued to my friend.

The other Cora had done something to her, obviously, I just had no clue what.

And I also had no clue what to do to make it better.

What I did know was that I couldn’t bear thinking she was mad at me at all much less leaving her in this world after whatever happened to me and Tor knowing she would always hate me for whatever the other Cora did so I had to do something.

“Take it,” she said, shaking the bag again.

“She hurt you,” I whispered.

“All right, don’t take it,” Phoebe stated, moved further into the living room, dropped it by my armchair and hitched her purse up on her shoulder muttering, “Have a happy life with your hot guy kind of husband.”

Then she started toward the door Tor had not yet closed.

“His name is Prince Noctorno Allegro Hawthorne. He’s of the House of Hawthorne, heir to the kingdom of Hawkvale, ruler of Bellebryn,” I announced, Phoebe’s shoulders went up her neck as I spoke, she stopped and slowly turned to face me.

I kept talking.

What the hell? I had nothing to lose.

“Obviously, all this is in an alternate universe that, evidence is suggesting, has the same people in it as we have here but even though they look the same, they’re different. I was transported there in my sleep two months ago and the Cora from there was sent here. She’s a bitch, like, an all ‘round bitch. She doesn’t discriminate with her bitchiness. She’s a bitch to everyone, here and in the other world, Tor’s world. Everyone hates her there but she’s had a lifetime of building that. It proves the true strength of her bitchiness considering she’d been here for just under two months and succeeded in making everyone hate me.”

Phoebe stared up at me and said not a word.

So I kept right on going.

“Anyway, we still don’t know what’s going on but a quick update, I was transferred there and within minutes, I accidentally started a curse that, if it comes to fruition, will bring plague and famine to everyone in Tor’s land. Tor is married to the other Cora but he hates her as in, a lot, so, since this world-hopping business is about as usual there as it is here, that is to say, not at all, he thought I was her so he didn’t like me either. Obviously, since I’m now pregnant, he got over that. Then we were both transported back here and we don’t know why that is either. We also don’t know how to get back. What we do know is that when we do, he’s divorcing her, marrying me and I’m having his baby. So, I’m kind of his wife –”

“Cora,” Tor growled from behind me, interrupting me and successfully expressing his displeasure at my turn of phrase.

Therefore I hurriedly explained, “Though Tor isn’t fond of the ‘kind of’ part and just considers us hitched.”

Phoebe blinked. Then she looked up at Tor and blinked. Then she looked back and me and when she didn’t blink, I kept talking.

“So, as if uncertain travel between parallel universes isn’t enough for us to deal with, the Cora of that world, when she was in this world, was bitchy to all my friends, including, obviously, you, and now they all hate me. She also left my house and car a total pit, which was not nice but luckily at least that was easily remedied. She also got herself into some kind of trouble. We think playing poker. The Noctorno of this world is a cop and he’s involved with her somehow. There’s a shitload of money in my DVD cabinet and he’s, that is, the other Noctorno, or, I mean, the Noctorno of this world is coming back to collect his clothes sometime later. He can’t see my Noctorno,” I gestured behind me, “mainly because he’d freak. And now we need to get back to make sure the curse doesn’t befall Tor’s land and do it before getting arrested or whatever.”

Phoebe said nothing, just stared at me.

I held her eyes and tried to read something there, anything.

There was nothing. She was just staring at me.

My heart lurched.

But my mouth whispered, “I know it sounds crazy but it’s true. I can’t prove it except to point out the other Noctorno you’ve seen doesn’t have a scar and my Noctorno does. So, you might believe me if you saw both Tor and Noc together but I can’t give you that so… well…” I threw out a hand. “I don’t know what else to say. Except I hope one day, when you know I’m gone, you’ll know I’m back there, with Tor, in his world, married to him and making a family because I love him and you’ll know it wasn’t me who hurt you but it was me who always loved you and I’ll be missing you.”

She continued staring at me, unmoving, unblinking.

I had nothing else to give.

Then she asked softly, “You’re pregnant?”

“Yes,” I said softly back.

“With a hot guy’s kid?”

I pressed my lips together and tried not to hope.

I couldn’t not hope.

I nodded and felt the tears stinging my eyes as the hope clogged my throat.

Then I whispered, “In Tor’s world, I’m also a princess, I can talk to birds and they talk back, the air shimmers like there’s glitter in it and my clothes kick ass.”

Phoebe stared at me.

Then she asked quietly, “You love him?”

I pulled in breath through my nose and felt Tor’s heat get close to my back.

Then I nodded.

Then suddenly she tipped her head back and screamed at the ceiling, “My best friend is knocked up with a hot guy’s kid and she’s a princess in an alternate universe!”

Then she tipped her head down and launched herself at me, bursting into tears, holding me tight and rocking me violently from side to side.

I heard Tor close the door about half a second before I also wrapped my arms around her, burst into tears but mine were relieved as well as joyous.

We rocked back and forth crying for awhile then she reared back, grabbed my forearms, shook them, her eyes darting to Tor and back to me before she shouted, “Look at him! He’s tall, hot, those scars are way hot, I’ve never seen any man wear pajama bottoms that well and he has just the right amount of chest hair! Girl, you did all right.”

See! There was a reason Phoebe and I were BFFs.

“Girl, I know!” I shouted back.

“Sweets,” Tor murmured from behind me and I felt his hand warm on the small of my back before I twisted my neck to look up at him, “you may wish to calm down and rejoice far more quietly.”

“Sweets,” Phoebe whispered reverently, “hot.”

I smiled at Phoebe’s words but my eyes didn’t leave Tor’s face and I saw his eyes smile back before I said to him, “Right. That would probably be prudent.”

“Right,” he replied, leaned in and touched his mouth to mine.

“Hot,” Phoebe breathed and, incidentally, didn’t let go of my arms.

Tor pulled back, his eyes slid to Phoebe and back to me before he muttered, “I shall get dressed.”

Phoebe finally stepped away from me and as she did so, she stated, “Please, if you’re doing that on my account, I’m totally cool with you exactly the way you are.”

Tor looked at her then he looked at me then his mouth twitched, he shook his head, made no response and strode to my bedroom.

Phoebe and I watched.

Then I heard Phoebe repeat a breathless, “Hot.”

I looked at her to see she was looking at me.

Then, as often happened, sometimes for no reason whatsoever, we both dissolved into giggles.

And our giggles went uncontrolled when we both heard muttered from my bedroom, “Bloody hell.”

In fact, at that, we collapsed into each other’s arms and roared with them.

So much for being quiet.

* * * * *

I made my prince and my best friend blueberry pancakes and bacon and we went overkill by following this with red velvet cake.

But, whatever, it was time to celebrate. I was in love with a hot guy prince and future king, pregnant with his child and I still had my best friend. If that didn’t say celebration, nothing did.

And furthermore, if there was a time I could overeat, now was it.

While Tor showered, I filled Phoebe in on more detail about Tor and she breathed the word “hot” or drawled the word “nice” about seven thousand times while I was doing it.

Then, while I cooked and we ate (standing up in the kitchen with our plates close to our mouths, something else that made Tor’s lips twitch), I filled Phoebe in with more detail on everything else.

Then we retired to the living room.

Tor was dressed in jeans and a cool, light blue shirt he didn’t tuck in, I was wearing my nightie with my short robe tied over it and we were sipping after breakfast, after cake coffee.

Phoebe was curled in my armchair. And I was tucked tight to Tor’s side on the couch, the soles of my feet to the cushion, my legs having fallen into his thigh; his arm was curled around me holding me close when it occurred to me.

And what occurred to me was that my best friend was definitely crazy, a certifiable nut, but, even so, she’d bought our equally definitely crazy story really easily.

And that was weird.

“Uh… Phoebe,” I called when she’d taken a break from updating me on her life (doing so at the same time educating Tor to the fact she was definitely crazy and a certifiable nut) and was sipping from her cup.

“Yeah, babe,” she replied.

“Not to look a gift horse in the mouth because I’m glad you believe our story but why do you believe our story? I mean, when we told him, Dad freaked as in totally freaked. He accused Tor of being the leader of a cult and tried to kick him out of the house. You didn’t even blink.”

Well, she did blink, repeatedly, but she didn’t freak.

She grinned at the cult comment then threw out a hand and, as if she was not rocking Tor and my worlds, she blithely said, “Because Brianna’s friend Marlene’s friend Circe lives in an alternate universe.”

This time I blinked and I also felt my mouth drop open.

Tor’s body went solid at my side.

“What?” I whispered.

“Pardon?” Tor growled.

She studied us, eyes going back and forth.

Then she repeated, “Because Brianna’s friend Marlene’s friend Circe lives in an alternate universe.”

Tor leaned forward and since his arm didn’t move from around me, he took me with him.

“Explain,” he ordered, his voice low and commanding.

Phoebe’s eyes didn’t move from him as she whispered, “Well, I mean, I don’t know Circe and I’ve only met Marlene once at a party. But everyone in that circle knows Circe went to bed one night and another Circe was there the next day and the here Circe was gone. The here Circe also came back home so for awhile there were two Circes then the here Circe went back there. She’s there now, as far as I know.” She tore her gaze from Tor and looked at me. “She was also knocked up when she got back, by the way.”

I stared at my friend.

“More,” Tor demanded, his tone not having changed and Phoebe’s eyes shot back to him.

“I… well…” She sucked in breath then she looked at me and went on, “I don’t know the whole story and from what you said while you were making breakfast, Cora, it seems her other world is different. Maybe it’s another one. I mean, birds don’t talk to her, I don’t think. The air didn’t glitter either. Definitely. From what I heard, it was primitive, savage even. The place she went to was barren with rocks and stuff, they lived in tents and a lot went down when she was there, like, serious stuff and when I say that I mean, like, NC-17 rated stuff. She’s a queen, though, married to the king of what I think Marlene called a horde.”

“Korwahk,” Tor whispered.

I looked to him and asked, “What?”

He sat back (again taking me with him) and turned to me. “She describes Korwahk.”

“That sounds familiar,” Phoebe put in and we looked at her. “She’s, like, the Golden Queen?” she asked as if we could confirm then she shook her head and muttered, “I don’t know, something like that.”

“The Golden Warrior Queen of The Golden Dynasty,” Tor stated and I looked back to him to see he was looking at Phoebe. “Is she fair with golden eyes?” he asked.

“I don’t know about her eyes but yes, I think she’s blonde,” Phoebe answered.

“Honey?” I prompted Tor and his eyes came to me.

“It was reported through diplomatic dispatches while you were with me in our other world that Dax Lahn, the king of Korwahk, they are known as Dax in their language, has finally claimed his queen. She is known as the Golden Warrior Queen and it is said he’s also claimed their union begins The Golden Dynasty.”

Wow. That sounded cool.

“That sounds cool,” I said quietly but a strange flash in his eyes made me think it was anything but cool so I asked, “What?”

“It is nothing,” he muttered, turning his attention to his coffee cup and therefore I knew he was also totally lying.

So I repeated, “What?”

He took a sip and his eyes came to me. “It is nothing, my love.”

But his eyes were troubled.

I didn’t need troubled eyes. We had enough trouble.

So I repeated, sharper this time, “Tor, what?”

He held my eyes a moment then he looked to Phoebe, “She returned?”

I looked back to Phoebe to see her nod but she replied verbally too, “Yep.”

“Did she wish to return?” Tor asked.

This was an interesting question and his stress of “wish” made it more so.

Phoebe shook her head. “I don’t know, I mean, I’m not sure.”

“Do you know how she returned?” Tor went on.

Now that was an excellent question.

Phoebe shook her head again. “No, but I can ask Brianna to ask Marlene.”

“Please do so,” Tor murmured then, eyes locked on Phoebe, he finished, “Immediately.”

“Righty ho,” Phoebe whispered because my friend might be a nut but she was far from stupid but even an idiot could read Tor’s intensity. So she immediately pushed herself up, put her cup down on the coffee table then turned and then twisted to hang over the arm of the chair to grab her bag from the floor and get her phone.

Tor took another sip of coffee and it wasn’t hard to read that he was doing this to avoid me even though I was pressed to his side.

“Baby,” I called.

“Mm,” he murmured.

Totally avoiding me.

“Uh, Tor,” I called again and he turned his head to me. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Finally, he answered, it was just not the right answer.

“What it is is not for your ears.”

“Tor –” I started warningly.

He put his mug down on the side table, twisted his torso so he was facing me and placed his other hand light on my hip. “Cora, it is not for your ears. Trust me.”

“Uh, big guy, do you think there is anything that has to do with any of this that I shouldn’t know?”

“Yes,” he replied immediately. “This.”

“I’m a big girl, I can take it.”

“My love, I don’t want you to take it.”

“I’m not certain that’s your choice,” I returned.

He held my eyes and I held his right back.

Then he sighed.

Then, as Phoebe got up, murmuring into the phone and moving toward the kitchen, Tor spoke.

“If this world your friend’s friend’s friend knows is, indeed, Korwahk and this Circe was claimed by the king of that nation, I have concerns.”

“What concerns?”

“Korwahk is in the Southlands, far away from Bellebryn and Hawkvale. Things are very different there, uncivilized, some would consider it primitive but it actually isn’t. It is only different. What it is, is savage.”

I sucked in breath.

That didn’t sound good.

“Do you think she’s been –?” I started.

“What I know is, any warrior of the Korwahk Horde, most definitely their king, gets his wife one way.” He paused, I leaned in closer, he saw he wasn’t going to get away with not telling me the whole story so he finished, “He hunts her.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered, leaning back.

“Yes,” he muttered his agreement.

I just stared at him.

On a sigh, he kept talking.

“This Wife Hunt is well-known, my love. It is even attended by spectators who travel far to watch though I cannot understand what they would get from this. To my culture, this practice is sordid although it is perfectly acceptable in the Southlands and has been happening for centuries. Women are gathered, paraded through the warriors of the Horde, let loose, the warriors hunt them and claim them by fighting their brothers-in-arms for them and then, if victorious, they take the women on the spot.”

“Oh my God,” I whispered again. “Take them as in…?” I trailed off, hoping he got me without me having to say it and I knew he got me when his fingers squeezed my hip and he nodded. “Oh my God,” I breathed it this time.

“I would assume this is also not common practice in your world,” he stated.

Hunting women and raping them?

“No!” I cried.

“It is not in my land or any of the countries of the Northlands,” he muttered then his eyes caught mine. “She, this Circe of this world, if she was switched before the Hunt, would endure that, love. I’ve no doubt about it.”

Oh my God!

I looked away and closed my eyes, now worried about Circe, a woman I didn’t even know!

“Cora,” he called and I looked back, opening my eyes. “As I explained, this concerns me but Dax Lahn has declared his union with this Circe is the beginning of The Golden Dynasty. He is said to brag greatly of her beauty and spirit. It is said he cares deeply for her. He is known and what he is known for is being brutal, unforgiving and that he has the strength of ten men. There are many who think he is a god on earth, an unbeatable warrior, a formidable ruler, a cunning leader. He has great strength but he also has great intelligence. Even so, he rules a savage land with savage practices. Yet, the reports state his bride is adored, not only by her king but by his people. It is said she holds noble magic and is goddess to his god. He is said to display tenderness toward her, even publicly, which is not always the practice of the warriors of that Horde but definitely not a characteristic he has ever shown. And it is said she brings him humor.” He leaned closer to me. “Perhaps it is somewhat like us. Perhaps, sweets, he or she has found a way to break through. Perhaps she is pleased she carries his child and wished to return.”

“I hope so,” I whispered.

“As do I,” he whispered back.

“Welp!” Phoebe called from the doorway from the kitchen. “The gig is, Circe’s alternate universe guy, who, Cora, by the way,” she looked at me, “apparently is also way hot.” She took us both in and continued, “It was him that found a way to get her back. She was at a party and just,” she lifted her hands and even with the one holding her cell phone, she wriggled her fingers, “melted away.”

“Bloody hell,” Tor muttered.

But all I could think was, melted away.

I didn’t like the idea of the blue mist and I wasn’t conscious to see that. I certainly didn’t want to melt away.

“That’s the bad news,” Phoebe announced then stated, “The good news is, when she was gone, her Dad and the alternate universe Circe found a witch here who knew how to bring her back. They just never got the chance since the here Circe came back on her own somehow.”

Both Tor and I straightened but it was me who said, “Really?”

She nodded, coming to stand behind my armchair and putting her hands on the back of it. “Yep, Brianna is calling Marlene now to get the full scoop and to tell her about you. Brianna’s gonna sort it all out and we’re gonna meet them for coffee later.”

“Excellent,” Tor stated and my head shot around to him.

“Excellent?” I queried.

He looked to me. “Of course. This is good.”

“How is this good, Tor?” I asked. “We don’t have magic in our world! This witch is probably a charlatan or something!”

“Uh, we so totally do have magic, girl,” Phoebe put in. “You were at Selena’s party with me when that chick put the whammie on that other chick for flirting with her boyfriend and she fell down the stairs.”

“Her ‘whammie’,” I lifted my hands and did quotation marks even around my coffee cup before dropping them and reminding my friend, “consisted of her pushing the flirting chick down the stairs.”

“She wasn’t anywhere near,” Phoebe returned.

“That was what she said but the other girl said she was totally there because she felt her hand in her back and she saw her at the top of the stairs when she was on her way down,” I fired back.

Tor (wisely) cut into this exchange stating, “There is no harm speaking to this Marlene and then to this witch.”

I looked to Tor and told him, “Okay, you’re right, honey, but what if we find out there is magic in this world. This woman is untried. What if she messes it all up? What if she sends us to, I don’t know, some other place? What if she sends you someplace and sends me someplace else? What if Circe isn’t in Korwahk but some other savage, barren place with primitive hordes? What if one of us gets sent there? I don’t want to go to a savage, barren place with primitive hordes!”

Sensing my rising panic (though it was hard to miss), his arm around my back shifted up and his fingers curled around the back of my neck as he leaned close and said gently, “There are many what ifs, my love, but this is also the only hope we have. Right now, we are powerless. But if there is any possibility this witch can control the blue mist then we must speak to her, ascertain if she can control it and, if she can, convince her to use it to send us home.”

I stared into his eyes thinking he was right at the same time thinking that sucked.

Therefore I sighed, Tor knew that meant I was giving in and he grinned, giving my neck a squeeze and pulling me to him until my cheek was resting on his shoulder.

“You guys are totally cute,” Phoebe announced, smiling brightly at us then her eyes slid to Tor. “Dude, you are, like, crazy hot in a scary macho way but, still, you know how to work the cute.”

I couldn’t help it, I was freaking out but still, what Phoebe said made me giggle.

Then her phone rang, she jerked it up, looked at it and said to us, “Brianna,” then she flipped it open, put it to her ear and wandered back toward the kitchen ordering bossily, “Talk to me.”

Then she disappeared.

Then I heard Tor mutter, “Your friend is very strange.”

Then, still freaking out but also still unable to help it, I wrapped my arm around his abs, pressed close and burst out laughing.