Prologue
Miami, USA, February 2013 - Aefre
I wake up in an unfamiliar bed with cotton sheets. White cotton sheets. Eurgh. Is this a hotel? I peer around in distaste. How on earth did I get here? And where is here?
“Aefre. You’re awake,” Constantine says to me in English, which is odd, as he strides towards me in an unfamiliar suit and sits next to me on the bed. He drops his mouth to mine with a quick kiss me and I blink at him and kiss him back with a deeper kiss, which he responds to after a slight hesitation. At least he is here. He peers at me before he says, “Your husband called, he is running late but everyone else is here. They want to see you. Can’t even go a day without your company.” He stands up abruptly .
I frown at him. “My husband? Everyone?” I ask in English as he is talking to me in the language.
He tilts his head and frowns. “Are you well, my sweet? Did you have another dream?”
Dream? “No, I am fine,” I say. “Give me a minute?”
“Of course. I like your accent. Decided to go with a change after a thousand years?” he asks with his perfect smile.
What does he mean a change in accent? I have had a perfectly cultured Italian accent, which I find quite charming, especially when talking in this language, for as long as I can remember. Whatever is going on, I seem to be somewhere that is not my world. I smile at Constantine, who doesn’t appear to be my husband, but someone else’s, as I notice the ring he wears. It is not the ring I gave him, and say again, “A minute please.”
He is looking at me curiously. “We will be in the sitting room.”
I nod as he closes the door. The first thing I notice then is that my own rings are all different. And I have no markings on my arms. I peer over my shoulder and see that I have the Dragon on my back. I look again at my hands. Well, not my hands. Long black nails that go with the, I squint at it, 5-carat black diamond engagement ring and black diamond wedding ring. I have a ring on my thumb, which on closer inspection appears to be the one made of Faerie Silver and the blue diamond is on my right ring finger. Wherever I am, it seems I am not married to Constantine, but to some other man who is running late. I wonder why Constantine has given me this ring, what I think of as my centuries’ late engagement ring, to wear on my right hand. I quickly get out of the bed and get dressed, pulling on a smart black pants suit and white shirt from, well, that’s a good question: where? I look at myself in the mirror. I look like me. The only difference is my posture. I pull myself up to my full height as I slip on the shoes left by the dresser. Hm, Louboutins. Good to know that Christian is also here.
I pick up the phone on the bedside cabinet and see that the date and year is the same. The time reads 7:45 PM. The damn thing is locked with a passcode, but I am pleased to see that the lock screen is a photo of myself and Constantine. Well, what I can only imagine is another “me” and her Constantine. Somehow it appears I have switched bodies and lives and time with another me. I always wondered if alternate universes exist and apparently they do. Seems she has the power to move through the space/time continuum. I certainly don’t, but I try to get back to Italy and my time anyway and fail as I expected. I will just have to sit this out until she finds a way to switch us back. I look out of the window and I don’t know where I am. Well, I suppose I will have to go and face this “everyone” he spoke of. Whoever they might be. Should I mention that I am not theirs? One doesn’t know the proper protocol for something like this. I decide to wait and see.
I exit the bedroom and “everyone” turns to stare at me. Hm, quite the crowd. I take them all in one at a time, starting with Constantine .
Chapter 1
Miami, USA, February 2013 – Aefre
“My sweet? Is everything okay?” Constantine asks me as I just continue
Robert Doherty
Naomi Jones
Karina Halle
Patricia Green
Alexa Padgett
Daniel A. Kaine
Gwendoline Butler
Yolanda Allen
Adele Abbott
Max Allan Collins