“Don’t look so alarmed,” Gerri said. “The great thing about being here for extended time is that you don’t really age like those on Earth. A year here is about ten years there, so you look thirty when you’re forty.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Is that how you stay so young?”
Gerri winked. “Something like that. I can’t give away all my secrets.” Gerri marched to the door in a flowy blue dress that made her eyes pop. “Hurry. Dinner starts soon.”
She nodded and watched Gerri leave the room. She ran for the bathroom and took the world’s fastest shower. Then she lotioned down and dressed. Thankfully, the dress Gerri picked was one Bella had brought from her own clothes, so she didn’t need help trying to figure out how to wrap it like Teva had done with her previous one.
She was sliding into her sandals when a knock sounded at the door. Crap. She’d taken too long. She ran to the door and yanked it open. She didn’t get a chance to speak. Someone sprayed something in her face, and instant darkness took hold.
* * *
“Are you sure this is the right thing to do?” Eros asked Brecc. He glanced down at Bella, Gerri’s assistant, and sighed. They were not the kind to abduct females. Usually, they had a bevy of them trying to make their beds a permanent home.
“Nadeeya said she was Gerri’s assistant. Gerri can’t go back without her. This will delay her leaving, and we can get her to help us.”
Eros nodded. Still, he didn’t like the idea. Nadeeya wasn’t to be trusted. “I don’t know, Brecc. She looks so helpless.”
Brecc stopped and glanced down at the sleeping female. “She does. But she is beautiful. I want one like her. Do you think Gerri can do it?”
Eros shrugged. All they could hope for was to get Gerri’s attention and delay her return to Earth. The hike up the mountain was one they were used to. The transport had taken them to the base. Now they walked. Thick snowflakes fell around them in sheets of white. They were used to the constant snow. The Ice Mountains were always cold and snowy.
“I still think we shouldn’t have taken her,” Eros said.
“You heard the king. Gerri found him a mate. That means she’ll leave. We need her.” Brecc glanced at Eros, frustration clear in his blue eyes. “We need her to stay.”
He was right. Still, it felt wrong. “How long do you think she’ll be out?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never used that before. I took it away from Tatiana when she was trying to spray it in her brother’s eyes.”
“You’re niece? She’s a baby,” Eros said.
“It’s supposed to help her sleep now that she’s teething. Alessandra mentioned it was harmless.”
Eros sighed. But Tatiana was a shifter baby. Bella was a human. As it was, she’d been out for hours.
When they got to the large cabin he and Brecc shared, they laid Bella on a guest bed and waited to hear from Gerri.
Eros’s instincts told him trouble was coming. What they did, taking Bella, had been a bad move. If they weren’t so far, he’d suggest taking her back. But he could tell they were coming for her. He sensed it.
It was another hour before Bella woke. She frowned, rubbing a hand on her temple, and sneezed.
“Are you okay?” Eros and Brecc asked at the same time.
She opened her eyes, nodded, and sat up. “Where am I?”
“You’re in the Ice Mountains,” Brecc replied. “We mean you no harm. We just need the matchmaker to stay and help us. We know you work for her. We hope she will agree to help us in exchange for giving you back.”
She blinked her chocolate-brown eyes wide. “You kidnapped me!”
“You’re not a kid,” Eros said.
She rolled her eyes and frowned harder. “Abducted. Captured. Snatched. Take your pick. I am not where I’m supposed to be.”#p#分页标题#e#
Brecc grinned. “You are feisty.”
“Are you crazy? You have to... You have to...” She sneezed again, her body shaking hard. “Take me back!”
“You’ll go back soon enough. We need her to help us.”
She sighed. “I’ll ask her to help you. Hell, we’ll stay and vacation for the summer if you want, but you have to take me back. I think... I think...” She sneezed twice in a row. “I think I’m allergic to something here.”
“You will help us?” Eros asked.
“Gerri loves matching up people. I’m here to help her do that. Maybe she won’t need my help with the king, but I bet we can find you guys a couple of girls and make you all happy like clams.” She sneezed hard.