EIGHT
My butt landed on the ground with an audible “Oomph!” Seconds later, Drake thudded down next to me.
“Merde!”
I heard him moving around, and his clothing brushed across the hardwood floor as he righted himself. I leaned back on one hand to steady the dizzy feeling in my head and rubbed my eyes. I peered at the jumbled form of a man next to me. “Drake?”
My vision slowly clarified as I focused on him. A mop of rich, chocolate curls on his head, a black suit that spanned the broadness of his back, a swirling of dust that floated and remained suspended in the air around him. The glittering vibrancy of having his physical body in front of me was nothing less than mesmerizing.
Nothing like the dreamscapes. Don’t get me wrong, Drake was overwhelming enough. He didn’t need the ethereal dreamscape that made everything feel just a little bit counterfeit. Here, with him sitting next to me now, in the flesh as he so graphically put it, my heart went from being frozen with shock to pounding like a long-distance runner in an instant. My skin was hot, trapped beneath the thick layers of wool and cotton. I wasn’t really sure if the strange feeling that overcame me was from seeing him in the flesh. Or maybe it was from being thrown about in the cosmic universe after traveling through time and space.
“Oui, I am here, ma minette,” Drake groaned, breaking my trance.
He knew who I was! Thank God for that…
Lovie and Christopher had both postulated that Drake would remember me. In spite of the fact that he’d been living inside my head and was traveling through time with me, it was still just an optimistic guess. The last time we’d done this, when I’d dealt with the Axeman, I encountered Drake exactly as he was at that time, alive and unaffected by death. However, on that adventure, Drake didn’t know me. After hours of persuasion and troubleshooting, I managed to make him believe some of our shared memories. This time, however, we didn’t have time for that. Thankfully, we didn’t need it.
Drake shook his head, only ruffling the mop of his hair, then he focused on me. A slow smile lit up his face when he suddenly exclaimed, “It worked!”
As soon as our eyes met, a jolt of electricity pulsed through me, ending in my fingers and toes. I expected an awkward tension between us, but Drake looked away as if he hadn’t even noticed. In fact, he seemed more enchanted with his surroundings than he was with me. That left me with a vague sense of loss and then guilt over the fact that it had bothered me. Luckily he could no longer feel the things I felt because he no longer resided in my body so my strange little reaction to his apparent disinterest could stay ensconced in my own head.
He rubbed his hands across the floor, apparently awed that he was able to touch it. “It really worked,” he whispered while he took in the room around him, and a look of nostalgia appeared on his face.
My attention turned to our surroundings. Beyond Drake, I looked at the ornate wallpaper, and based on its style and age, it should have looked exceedingly worn and dated. But it didn’t. It had a lustrous, satiny sheen that meant it was brand new. Distracted by the surreal sight before me, my eyes traveled all around the room, and I began observing the whole scene. It was the same small hotel room we were in moments before, but now, it felt completely different. The bed was plain with crisp, folded, white linens and a large, wooden headboard. A pattern was lightly embellished on it and some hand-carved details brought out the beautiful wood grain. Heavy drapes hung straight down from the window and an antique dresser, (technically, it wasn’t an antique, however) with an oversized, ornate mirror placed directly across from the bed. A Bergere armchair that was thickly upholstered in tapestry in the style of Louis XIV was placed next to the dresser. It seemed like a museum, except everything was very much alive and obviously functional.
I could feel Drake looking at me, pulling my focus back to him. When our gazes met, his eyes quickly left mine, and traveled down my body, sending another jolt of heat down my spine.
“Ma minette,” he started as he shook his head in an appreciative way. “It is very good to see you from this angle rather than seeing your reflection in the mirror.”
“Thanks,” I said with an uncomfortable laugh. “It’s good to see you too.”
“The clothes survived the trip, mon chaton! Check your coat pockets.” He glanced up at me closely, his eyebrows rising when he saw the expression on my face. “What?” he asked, shrugging.
“You just completely checked me out,” I said even though I knew I was wasting my time in reprimanding him.
“Oui and?”
I shook my head. “And nothing.”
Trying to avoid an awkward moment, I struggled to get to my feet but the layers I wore weighed down my body. I nearly knocked off the large, flowered hat on my head in the process. Drake was at my side at once, lifting me up by my elbow.
His fingers were strong and solid, so I abandoned my effort to pull myself together and focused on the task at hand. “Son of a bitch,” I grumbled as I wrestled the hat back into place before rubbing my butt. I’d definitely hit the floor hard. “Next time I’m stuffing a pillow down my pants. Er, my skirt.”
“My dear, you have ample padding already,” Drake said, his deep voice full of suggestion.
I cuffed his arm and he didn’t even flinch, but smiled at me. I took in his face, the playfulness draining as soon as I realized I was with Drake. We were here, together on the same plane, in separate bodies. It didn’t seem real, and I fought the urge to touch him again. I wanted to see if it were truly him.
“Your pockets, ma minette! Check your pockets!” Drake said, completely oblivious to what I was thinking.
Of course he was! He wasn’t trapped inside my head anymore.
The tender moment fled in a flash. I heaved a sigh and shoved my hands into the side pockets of my thick coat, my fists immediately closing around the fat wads of cash. My eyes met Drake’s and happy relief flooded me.
“It’s here,” I said, pulling out the cash. I handed one of the wads to Drake. His hand closed over the money, and his dark eyes penetrated mine in a shared moment of collective excitement. We pulled it off! In the next instant, I realized what a success bringing the money there meant. Nothing stood in the way now. With money, we had all the necessary resources to buy food and accommodations.
Accommodations. My heart practically stopped beating in my chest as I stared at the vibrant man in front of me. Would we be sharing accommodations? That thought stunned me into complete stillness.
This time, Drake didn’t look away when he saw the expression in my eyes change from elation to something more along the lines of a deer caught in headlights.
“Mon amour?” he murmured, a dangerous smile on his lips. The smile wasn’t dangerous. But the way it made my insides flutter was very risky. The last time I’d been with Drake beyond the dreamscapes, I witnessed the final moments of his life. “What are you thinking?”
“Nothing,” I answered too quickly, in a breathy voice. Inside, I was reliving the anguish of the indelibly etched memory of his death. But now as I stared into his handsome face, those haunted thoughts suddenly left me. Now, here he was! Real blood flushed his cheeks, real breath rolled in and out of his broad chest, real desire emanated from his chocolate eyes.
“It is us, in the flesh,” he said in a deep and low voice. But it was the way he was looking at me that made my breath nearly stop. The room was so quiet, I could hear my heartbeat in my red-flushed ears. He was taking me in too. His smile simmered slightly as we gazed openly at each other. His eyes made me feel naked.
Finally, he lifted his hand to his mouth and coughed, raising his eyebrows in an expression of playful accusation.
I cleared my throat and smoothed down the front of my coat, patting it when I remembered the purse I tucked away there. I retrieved the small clutch, and checked inside it. Everything was intact: the map of Dorothy’s route on the day she disappeared (today!), my notes, more cash, and the pocket watch.
“Is everything in ship-shape order?” Drake asked, his voice low.
The way he lowered his voice made me more aware of how close he was; that and the intoxicating scent of his cologne that wafted around me. I discreetly took a step back, the sight of the map in my clutch snapping me back to what was really important: finding Dorothy. She needed us and this was it: our one chance to figure out where she was trapped.
“Yes, it is,” I answered with a small smile, now more in control of myself and less susceptible to being in Drake’s presence. I noticed his hair was still a tousled mess on his head so I sighed and stood on my tiptoes to smooth his locks.
Drake stilled at my touch as he stared intently at me. I paused when I felt the soft puff of his breath on my cheek. Hastening my effort, I cleared my throat and quickly raked my fingers through his hair to tame it, trying to ignore how thick it was. I only half succeeded. I fixed his hair but totally failed at trying not to notice how damn luxurious it was. I abruptly stepped away. Drake’s eyes never left my face the whole time, and his lips curled into a devilish smirk.
He knew the effect he was having on me, the bastard!
“There!” I said.
He stood gazing at me long enough for me to fidget before stepping back. He straightened and turned toward me, holding out an arm.
“Mrs. Montague?”
My brow instantly furrowed and my mouth dropped open long before I could speak. “Mrs. Montague?” I repeated, clearly at a loss. Why was he calling me by his last name?
“Of course,” Drake answered confidently. “What do you think will happen if someone sees us leaving this room together? What do you think they will instantly assume?”
He had me there. Wild flings in unnamed hotel rooms between unmarried people weren’t as common in 1910 as they were in modern times. My mind slapped me back to the concept that, at some point, we had to find hotel accommodations. Maybe we would somehow solve this thing in one day, but more likely, we would be spending the night together. As a married couple, it would have been weird to ask for separate rooms. That meant…
We would be spending the night together.
“And besides,” he continued while tucking my hand into the crook of his other arm and gently pulling me toward the door. “It will be fun.”
“Fun?” I started.
He waved his hand as if he were dismissing all the extra trouble we could avoid by posing as man and wife. Of course, he was totally unaware of the thoughts that ran through my head. “People in my time are not like the people of yours. A single man and woman spending too much time together will generate suspicion.”
Trying to refocus myself, I intended to at least appear to shrug it off. After hearing what Drake was proposing, I cleared my throat and tugged at the monstrous hat on my head. “Sounds reasonable.”
Drake drew me nearer to him as he closed his other hand over mine.
He stared down into my eyes, obliterating any possible attempts to keep my cool and making my heart pound against my chest. “I am elated in this moment with you, ma minette. Blissful even,” he murmured.
Before I could utter my reply, he gently pulled open the door. Without letting my hand go for a moment, he leaned out into the hallway. “It is clear,” he whispered as he opened the door all the way.
We stepped out into the hall, and my skirt and my long coat rustled.
I lifted my chin as we walked. It was time to start simmering Drake’s zeal for making me squirm. We had to get down to business. I pulled my hand from Drake’s arm so that I could get the map of New York out of my handbag. After looking it over countless times before, and memorizing it, I checked the time jotted down next to the dot on the map that represented Dorothy’s house. It was the first place she would be seen today on the walk she would never return from. “First line of business is to figure out what time it is. Let’s hope everything jives and we haven’t missed Dorothy…”
“I am sure we are not late, mon chaton. Look. People have not even picked up their morning newspapers yet. She won’t be leaving for her walk until two in the afternoon.”
He was right. Several papers lay on the floor next to the doors. I stooped down and picked one up, noting the date. “And we got the day right, that’s for sure.”
We continued down the hallway until we reached an archaic elevator. In style, it looked archaic, but also very new. A shiny replica of an old Otis elevator cage. Except this wasn’t any replica. I admired the ornate brass embellishment while we waited. I could feel Drake watching me, and heard his breathing.
“Surreal, is it not?” he asked softly.
“Yes,” I barely whispered.
The elevator arrived, and we stepped inside the cage and Drake shut the gate behind us. A flutter of nerves bothered me and I wondered how stable an elevator like this could be, but as the car began to smoothly glide down the long cables, I relaxed and admired the fancy trimmings around me. It didn’t seem old at all. It even seemed sturdier than some modern elevators I’d been in.
A hint of Drake’s cologne reminded me we were in close quarters. I shifted on my feet as I watched the floors light up that we passed, wondering how Drake’s spirit could manifest into a physical being so completely. His signature cologne was an unexpected thrill. It brought back memories of dreamscapes and the times when he would appear before me, shirtless, or fully clothed in a luxurious robe, and even dressed to the nines in an expensive suit. He was always testing my resolve, daring me to keep my distance. And the unfairness of it all? He could feel everything I felt, knowing which tactic twisted me up the most inside.
“So how does it feel to be back, after getting so used to modern conveniences?” I asked in my effort to distract myself from being so aware of him. He was standing right next to me and all those memories of him shirtless kept flashing in my brain. At least, he couldn’t read my mind or know what I was feeling now.
Drake gave me a soft smile as the elevator began to slow down. “I think you will be delightfully surprised. There are more practical amenities than you could imagine in my time, ma minette.”
I had to admit, after studying the delicate craftsmanship and finely-tuned engineering of the elevator alone, we wouldn’t be roughing it. It wasn’t like being in a third world country or anything.
Once we reached the ground level, the elevator shuddered to a stop and we got out. Piano music serenaded us, but I hardly heard it. I was too busy observing everything around me. People walked by dressed in early twentieth century clothing; and the women wore floor-length, full-skirted dresses with ruffled blouses. They were topped off with flowered monstrosities like the one I was wearing. Men’s coats almost reached the floor as well, but they were black or gray in contrast to the rich colors of the women’s attire. Putting on the ancient clothing before we left the modern era made me feel overdressed; but now that I was looking around, I wondered if anyone considered my dress dated. I didn’t focus on it too long though. I couldn’t. It was too fascinating, and wonderfully bizarre to see people walking around like it was just a normal day. I supposed for them, it was.
The dated decor was splendidly so, and just like the room we arrived in, everything looked so real and alive. The meticulously carved woodwork at the entrances of buildings and the crown molding in all of the rooms boasted the quality. God, it was beautiful.
“It is ten o’clock. We have some time to kill, as you are so fond of saying,” Drake said as he looked up and eyed the enormous clock in the lobby.
Drake pulled me through the hotel, and when we opened an enormous, revolving door, the chilly air hurt my face. We stepped out into Times Square. It was December 12, 1910. I stopped, virtually rooted in place as I absorbed the scene before me. Even though it was cold, the smell of manure and animals wafted up my nostrils as I looked around. Model T cars puttered by us in slow motion. Actual Model Ts. An electric cable car pulled up to the side of the road, and dozens of people dressed in early twentieth century garb unloaded. A horse-drawn carriage passed, and the clopping of horse hooves echoed against the tall buildings.
Where there should have been flashing electronic billboards and eye-catching, high definition graphics, I only saw the sides of buildings plastered in billboards with antiquated fonts. It was like being on a movie set. I half expected the director to yell “Cut!” before every person in the scene paused and waited for their next direction.
Drake’s breath tickled my ear, sending goosebumps down my arms and snapping me back to reality. “You are blocking the door, ma minette.”
“Oh!” I stepped to the side without missing the annoyed glances of a man and woman. Early twentieth century New Yorkers for you.
“Shall we find a place to have brunch perhaps?” Drake tapped my hand with one finger. “You should set your timepiece to the correct time.”
“Yes,” I said, still looking around at everything, and not quite over the initial shock of it all. Shaking my head, I withdrew the handsomely decorated pocket watch. I spun the knob to set it, and my hands began shaking slightly. Once I put it away, Drake started to pull me along again.
“I am cerain we can find something on Fifth Avenue, and we will be that much closer to our two o’clock rendezvous.”
We walked along, my hand still looped in Drake’s arm, his hand closed over mine. Happily immersed in the intriguing world around me, I let Drake guide me while I gawked, especially at the people. For the most part, they paid no attention to us, but some, especially women, looked at me curiously. A couple whispered to their companions, who looked up at me as well. I wondered what they noticed about me, but I had an idea. At five-foot-ten, few women could approach my height.
“Have you ever been to New York before today?” Drake asked.
With my eyes fastened on the bustling streets in front of me, I replied, “Yes. I took a trip once in college.” I scanned the buildings, comparing them to what I remembered one hundred years into the future. The streets were still bursting with buildings that provided a framework around the cloudy, gray December sky. But they weren’t nearly as tall as I remembered. The noise from Model Ts was different too; the engines clattered and whistled as they passed us, and I detected the distinct clopping of horse hooves coming from the carriages that shared the street with them.
“Did you ever go to New York?” I asked.
“Yes.” That was all he said.
We walked along until Drake slowed down in front of what I realized was a café. I was so busy people watching, I failed to notice we’d arrived at a place to eat.
“Would you be satisfied to order exactly what you want for once?” Drake asked me, his lips drawn up in a smile.
I smiled back. “And you can order what you want for once.”