“I loved you,” I whispered.

“Cora,” he whispered back.

“I know you don’t believe me, you’ll never believe me but it’s true. I loved you.”

“Stop speaking,” he murmured.

The black started to permeate, take over. It was coming fast. I was losing it.

“In this world,” I kept whispering, “you were the only thing I had but you were the only thing I needed.”

“Gods,” he muttered, the word sounding dragged out of some deep part of him.

And that was all I heard before everything faded to black.

Chapter Seventeen

Until You

I felt weak light hit my eyes, I opened them and I saw my light green pillowcase.

I blinked but when my eyes came back open, there it was. My light green pillowcase.

My pillowcase. From my bed. In my world.

I shot up to sitting and nearly blacked out, my head was so woozy. I lifted a hand to my head and closed my eyes tight until the feeling went away. Then I kept them closed thinking, well, guess all I had to do to get myself back to my world was give myself a head injury… good to know.

Then I slowly opened them and looked around.

Then my mouth dropped open.

My room looked like a hurricane had rushed through it. There were clothes and shoes and accessories everywhere. I spied some glossy bags, squinted, leaned forward and my heart slid into my throat.

Okay, well, there it was. The Cora of Tor’s world had come here, she hadn’t cleaned in two months and apparently she somehow managed to shop at exclusive department stores.

I flopped back to the pillows, whispering, “Shit.”

Then I felt the mattress under me. I’d always liked my mattress. It was firm and comfortable.

What it was not was firm but soft and downy like Tor’s.

Tor.

My nose started stinging and I sucked air in through it.

No more Tor (which I told myself was good). No more Aggie (which was not good). No more Salem (also not good) or Clarabelle (ditto) and, of course, all the girls in the kitchen who I had just figured out liked me.

No more fairytale.

A lone tear slid out of the side of my eye, down my temple and mingled in my hair.

“Good,” I whispered but it wasn’t a convincing whisper.

It was total bullshit.

Now I was home, heartbroken, having been played by the master, the black Prince Noctorno of a whole other world and it was clear just looking at my bedroom that I had a big mess to clean up, left by the other Cora.

First, I needed to get a cold compress for my head.

Then I would tackle the mess Cora made of my house and, probably, my life.

I gingerly got out of bed and just as gingerly walked across the room. I flinched at the bright lights of the bathroom when I turned them on. Then I winced when I saw the state of the bathroom (dirty towels, makeup and hair stuff everywhere). Then I stared at my mustard yellow bathroom suite which had obviously not been cleaned in two months but even if it was sparkling clean it would still look like crap.

“Goodie, I’m home,” I muttered, did my thing, dug through the stuff on the long bathroom counter (Cora, I saw, had also splurged on some pretty pricey face stuff and makeup). Found face soap, washed my face, opened a new toothbrush and brushed my teeth. I took three aspirin and washed them down cupping the water in my hand under the tap to do so. Then I wetted the sole clean washcloth I could find in my bathroom closet with cold water, wrung it out, folded it and wandered back to my bedroom to lie down thinking a quick rest, parents first (if I wasn’t disowned), friends second (if they were talking to me), work last (if I still had work).

I moved over the threshold, something caught my eye, I looked up and stopped dead.

Tor was standing there.

Tor wearing a pair of faded jeans (that looked really freaking good on him) and a navy blue, long-sleeved tee (that also looked really freaking good on him).

His feet were bare, his hair was messy and his eyes were on me.

“What the –?” I started to breathe.

“What are you doing out of bed?” he demanded to know in his Tor-like, imperious, deep voice and I blinked.

This was a mistake for in the nanosecond my eyes were closed, he made it to me (truth be told, my bedroom wasn’t that big), had me cradled in his arms then he walked me to my bed and gently set me in it. Then he yanked the covers over me. Then he pulled the washcloth out of my hand, studied it a second, sat on the bed beside me and pressed it on my forehead.

I stared up at him and whispered, “Who are you?”

He stared down at me. “I’m your husband.”

Oh my God! Did Cora of the other world find Tor of this world and marry him in two months?

Holy crap!

“You’re my husband?”

His eyes moved over my face before he said, “Yes, love, I’m your husband.”

Oh no. Oh God. Oh no.

I couldn’t live in my world with the Tor of my world while remembering what a stupid fool I’d been about the Tor of the fairytale world!

That would suck!

How could this situation, already bad, get so much worse? What did I do to deserve such shitty karma?

“Did we, uh… like, get married in Vegas or something?” I asked and his brows drew together.

“No, Cora, actually, we haven’t been married, something I will rectify the minute we get back home.”

Oh boy.

“Back home?” I whispered.

“To our world.”

Oh boy!

“Our world?” I asked tentatively.

“My world and what will bloody well be your world as soon as I discover how the f**k to get out of this dreary, foul place.”

Holy crap! Tor came back with me!

I shot straight up to my feet and jumped off the bed, running over the clothes and shoes on the floor, my head whirling but I ignored it, praying I wouldn’t pass out.

Of course, I didn’t make it to the door. I was caught with an arm at my waist and pulled back into a hard body. I struggled, Tor’s other arm locked around my shoulders and chest, caging me in and his mouth went to my ear.

“Calm yourself,” he said quietly.

“Let go of me!” I shrieked.

“Calm yourself, love.”

“Let… me… go!” I yelled, still struggling.

He let me go but only so he could put his hands to my hips, whirl me around and step into me in a way that I had no choice but to back up until I hit wall and then his body fenced me in.

I tipped my head back to scream in his face but his tender voice got there before me.

“You’ve sustained a head injury not to mention a variety of bruises and swelling. You need to rest.”