Page 23 of High Stakes

“I do not jest. You truly are near the village of Edenshire.”

I sat up, wincing through the pain that the receptors weren’t helping to ebb. By this time, I was able to breathe normally, but my legs felt wobbly and mostly-functional. I knew if I tried, I could walk.

Jacob looked me over skeptically. “You... you shouldn’t be sitting up.”

“I’m feeling much better now.”

He shook his head. “What I mean, is that you shouldn’t be able to sit up. Father didn’t see you land; he only felt the tremors in the ground when you hit. But I saw you fall from the sky. From the clouds,” he amended.

I took the pouch of water and brought it to my lips, gulping all I could. As the water trickled down my throat, I almost cried. I drank until not even a drop would come out, then held the container out for him to take back.

“You can have it. It’s yours now,” he contended, refusing to accept it.

“I’m not ill,” I promised.

He kicked the earth with his boot, hands in his pockets. “I can’t take any chances. Three of my brothers are dead from the plague. I mean, you don’t look sick, but... I’ve never seen anyone who looks like you.”

Plague?

His mother called his name from the tiny home I could now see perched on the hill above us.

“You should go,” I told him as I stood up, noticing Jacob duck his head and avert his eyes. The tightness of my suit was nothing out of the ordinary in my time, but I knew the standards of modesty were different in thirteen forty-eight. “Thank you for your kindness, Jacob,” I said softly, taking his water container with me as I left him behind, following a small path leading back toward the fields.

“Jacob!” His mother cried out for her son, racing down the hill to fetch him. To keep him away from me.

But as I walked, I realized I had bigger problems than pain and plague. My hand tech wasn’t on, and neither was my suit. No matter what I tried, neither would respond. I pushed circuits and the upstart buttons on both, but nothing happened. Beyond that, I couldn’t even think rationally.

‘Irate’ didn’t begin to describe how I felt. There was no way Kael sent me here by accident; to this time, to Edenshire, to Adam and his family. I realized he never intended to drop us into some lavish vampire soiree. He even named me for this specific moment in time! I bet he was wearing a proud grin at dinner this evening as he and Victor cut into their steaks, discussing how they fooled us all. If I ever got out of here and saw Kael again, I was going to stake him. And Victor, too.

Another thought entered my mind… if I was here, where or when were Titus and Abram?

Chapter Nine

Though it was grass-stained and stank of mud, I stood out in my space-age tech suit, when what I needed to do was blend in with my new environment. Of course, the uniqueness of my clothing was less noticeable now that it was nonfunctional and the circuits didn’t glow. The suit was unique to my body, reading me and amplifying what I physically needed: healing, warmth or coolness, speed. The radiation core in my hand looked like it was intact, so I wasn’t sure why it wouldn’t reboot. If I couldn’t get my hand tech and suit to restart, my chances for making it back to my time were virtually nonexistent.

My only option was to steal some clothing, so I limped down a muddy trail that led away from Adam’s house and farther into the countryside. For miles, I cursed Kael Frost. Did he consider the possibility that traveling so far back in time would render his inventions completely useless? Bastard. I was going to tell him exactly what I thought of his lauded ‘genius’ when I got home. If I got home.

There had to be a way to fix the tech. I just had to calm down and think.

The farther I walked, the better I felt. Physically, at least. All remnants of the pain of traveling faded completely away as I jogged over hills carpeted with thick grass, dotted with the occasional boulder. By sundown, I’d made my way several miles west from where I first landed.

Nestled in a valley next to a wide stream was a cluster of small stone houses and a large, wooden barn that leaned so far to the left, a stiff breeze would probably topple it. I crouched behind a willow, watching for any signs of life.

After ten minutes of no activity, I realized there was no one here.

All the houses were empty; the front doors on most of the homes were open and darkness filled the windows. No smoke rose from the chimneys. No voices came from inside. No one tended the animals that milled around aimlessly in the yards.

Goats, lambs, and cattle grazed on tufts of grass. A handful of chickens pecked at the ground. A hog snuffled and snorted as he waddled toward me. “Go away, pig.” I shooed him with my hand and the pig grunted and turned around, walking back toward the companionship of the other animals.

My stomach growled.

I would’ve gone in to look for food and clothes, but...

Plague. The word crashed through me.

The houses might be abandoned, but there was a very real chance the occupants had died from the plague and their bodies were rotting inside the homes.

If I got sick in this time, I could die. That was a risk I would avoid at all costs.

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