YesterWorld (Book 2 of the Down World Series)

Original Edition: Chapter Thirty-Nine

Alexei's face didn't change in any discernible way when he saw me sitting on the couch, or when he looked over and noticed Adam at the bar. Instead, the smile only grew wider over his chiseled face and icy blue eyes. Putting the groceries down on an entry table, he reached out a hand to Adam as he crossed the room to meet him, and my body shivered like an ice cube had dropped down my spine. But when they had finished shaking hands, I was relieved to see that Alexei still seemed oblivious as to who we were.

I breathed a quiet sigh of relief. This Alexei had never met us before. I didn't know what time period he was from, or when he had crossed over to this dimension, but whenever it was had to have been before any of our interactions with him.

"So you're the competition," Alexei joked in his crisp, clear voice that betrayed almost no hint of an accent. Every time I'd heard him speak, I was struck by the idea that he must have studied hundreds of hours of American television to emulate our speech patterns, and ended up speaking a hybrid that was almost too perfect to be believable.

Now he stood back and appraised Adam from a foot away, that knowing smirk never leaving his face. Then he turned to Jenny on the couch. "Well, I think I could take him, honey. What do you think?"

Jenny only giggled in response, playing her part again. Meanwhile, Adam stood still as a statue, only a glimmer in his eyes letting me know that his mind was working overtime to assess the risk here, and to make a plan to get us out of it.

And then Alexei turned on me, his eyes drinking me in from head to foot like I was new furniture. "And you didn't come alone," he continued, still addressing Adam. "What a lovely girl you are. What is your name?"

"Mara."

"Ah, like el mar, the sea," he smiled, proud of himself for this observation. "And you're as pretty as an ocean."

I shivered again despite myself, Alexei's eyes boring through me and making me feel suddenly naked. Was I wrong that he didn't know us? Why was he still staring at me? Unable to hold still anymore, I started to get up. I didn't really have a plan, except to stand near Adam. To feel safer by his presence.

"No, don't get up," Alexei said before I could fully stand.

"I'm just going to get a coffee."

"I'll get it for you," he offered, and his tone let me know that it wasn't an offer. "Sit back down."

I swallowed hard, my legs trembling in a way that I hoped wasn't noticeable as I sat on the couch again.

"Jenny, sit next to her."

Jenny looked up at him, surprised, from the other side of the coffee table. "Why?"

"I want to look at you both at once," Alexei said, heading behind the bar to get me the coffee that I hadn't really wanted.

And as Jenny slowly stood and made her way over to my side, I looked over to Adam, whose anxious eyes now landed on a decision.

"We actually have to go," he said, his voice straining to sound steady despite what I could clearly make out as nerves.

"Not yet," Alexei smiled again, pouring the coffee. "You came to see Jenny, right? From a long distance, she says. You must have had good reason."

"Just to visit," Adam continued, every muscle in his body clearly tensing.

"So visit," Alexei snapped, his voice turning harsh as he slammed the coffee down. "Look at her. That's what you came for, right? To see her again..."