The sound of something heavy striking the ground pulled Eris out of her funk. She yelled again, hoping the people would hear her. Dirt at the edge of the hole rained around her, and she pulled her hood to keep it out of her hair. Several men crowded the mouth of the hole and looked down at her.
“Can you help me out, please?” she asked.
One man said, “It’s a poacher’s hole.”
Another man who sounded a lot like Lucien, just with a rougher voice, said, “Get her out of it.”
Two men braced a third as he reached into the hole.
Eris grabbed his hand, and the men pulled her up and out. She thanked them profusely as she brushed the dirt from herself and the cloak once more. “Lucien, thank God you found me. I almost screamed myself hoarse hoping someone would hear me. Where did that hole come from?”
“Do I know you, girl?”
“It’s me. Eris.” She pushed back her hood and smiled up at him.
The surrounding men pulled their swords.
She looked around then back at Lucien for an explanation but came face-to-face with his sword as well. “Okay, you guys are taking this faire way too seriously,” she said with a nervous laugh.
Lucien asked, “Who are you, girl? Why are you in my forest?”
“If this is a joke, I’m not enjoying it.” She pushed the edge of his sword away.
Lucien almost cut through her hand when he moved it back.
She jerked away in time to keep from being injured. “Watch it. You almost cut me.”
He shoved the sword under her chin, digging it into her neck. “I’ll do more than that if you don’t answer my questions, girl.”
She wanted to smile and laugh off the joke, but it felt too real. The sword at her throat felt real too. She wanted to back up but was too scared to move.
“Answer me!”
“Best to do as he says.” Ranulf reined his horse closer to her. His was the only sword not drawn against her.
Eris wanted to take that as a good sign, but he stared at her with the same eyes as Lucien. Eyes that didn’t seem to recognize her.
Where was she?
The trees were the same, but Lucien and Ranulf were dressed differently. They were also on horseback with ten other men. Something strange had happened while she was in that hole.
Either Lucien and Ranulf had devised an elaborate but tacky prank for her benefit, or…
It had to be a joke. Time travel was impossible. Wasn’t it? And even if it were possible, why would Lucien and Ranulf be there?
She may be dreaming. That was a good explanation. She’d taken a nasty fall and dreamed she’d woken up and was being held at sword point.
The sword biting into her skin seemed like proof enough that she was indeed awake. She looked up at Lucien. He wasn’t the man she knew.
His hard, angry expression seemed out of place. He’d never appeared angry when he looked at her—remorseful and sad sometimes, but never angry. And then there was the length of his hair. It brushed his shoulders when it should be nothing but peach fuzz atop his head. And, his beard and mustache were gone—shaved clean. He almost looked like a different man.
She probably would have taken him for someone else if she hadn’t heard him speak.
A man on a golden mare said, “A search of her would turn up more than her words, Lucien. She may have a weapon and is only waiting for you to drop your guard.”
Lucien removed his sword from her throat and sheathed it. “Good point, Hugh. Strip her.”
Eris didn’t wait for anyone to act on the command. She ran.
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Eris (Eternal Truths 1) by D. Reneé Bagby
Time Travel Romance
Only time knows if they are meant to be together.
Immortals Lucien and Ranulf have survived to see the modern era to be with the woman they both love once more. Equally anticipating and dreading the reunion, they’ve vowed to let her decide which of them she wants to be with. But are they prepared to let one woman end a friendship that has lasted centuries?
Eris has just started her dream assignment. She’s not looking for an office romance, but her new bosses aren’t making it easy for her to avoid it. And right when she gives in to their joint seduction, she ends up tossed back in time to the medieval era where the men she loves have no clue who she is. What’s worse, they think she’s the enemy.
The Lucien and Ranulf of the past are rough and dangerous. Eris is doing everything she can to survive them while searching for a way back to her time. But returning home means confronting an undeniable truth, one that could end their relationship forever. It’s up to her to decide if her heart is strong enough to handle the love of two men and the reality of their enchanted existence.
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