Page 5 of Dream Mates (Into The Parallel Omegaverse #2)

Chapter Three

Grace

W hile the judge went over the evidence, I sat in a small locked room, alone, with a weird sandwich and something that tasted like carbonated iced coffee. Even though my stomach was rumbling, I wasn’t interested in the strange food that tasted wrong.

Fear sat heavily in my belly taking up any and all available space. While I understood I was a witness, I still had no idea what was happening.

Also, the defense’s lawyers had been mean to me , even though their literal job was to get their clients off free. The best way would be to blame it on me.

Poor me. Literally poor me. The main reason I’d been so underpaid at Rydor Corp was because money could be a huge motivator to commit crime.

Hoping the room had no cameras, I removed my phone from my pocket. No bars, no signal–just like last time. I set mine to battery saver, since even if they had a compatible charger, they weren’t going to let me use it.

In the notes section, I started writing down everything I remembered in case they made me forget again. Video or audio would be faster but would take more battery.

Obviously the Temporal Authority made me forget what happened, then remember. I wasn’t sure if it was the shot in the neck or the weird little bottle of juice. I also had no idea how I could understand everyone–and they could understand me. That wasn’t something they ever explained.

I still didn’t quite remember everything.

However, I did recall that the Temporal Authority was obsessed with secrecy. Which I understood. But did they really have to leave me in another world unable to remember my own name or that they were coming back for me?

Writing everything down would also help me work it out in my head.

After I’d gotten a lot of my memories down, no one had come for me. I had to pee. How was this all going to go? When I finished testifying, would they take me back to Wes? Drop me back in the world I grew up in? Try me for some other crime?

I’d asked so many questions when they took me, trying to get answers, mostly out of professional curiosity. After all, parallel worlds weren’t just real but there was a reliable way to move through them, and a governing organization to police it all.

While I got zero access to things like equations, or the machines they used, I had learned travel was very regulated and entirely illegal in my class of world.

But, the discovery of parallel worlds, or how to travel through them, wasn’t inherently illegal.

Depending on how I handled it, had I managed to find a way to actually travel to Wes’ world, I might not have immediately been arrested or punished.

I’d been informed that because of my contact with the Temporal Authority, I’d never be able to engage in my side project or adjacent research. There were also a whole lot of rules, and no one would let me anywhere near them.

Oh, I should write down everything I knew about the Temporal Authority for Spencer, to add to his own knowledge.

Wait. If the discovery of parallel worlds wasn’t inherently illegal, then why did the Temporal Enforcers take Spencer’s dad then blow up the super collider to destroy his lab?

Maybe Agent Weigmier would tell me. If one good thing came of this it would be being able to let Spencer know why his dad was taken and what happened to him.

If they let me return.

Please, please, please let me return to Wes.

A sob ripped from my throat as I started to cry. I was drained. Scared. What if I never got to see Wes and everyone again?

Wes. He was probably beside himself. While he tried to hide it, I knew that he felt awful for never being able to find me back when we were teenagers.

That failing to protect me went against his protective alpha instincts.

That knowing I was being hurt, and not being able to stop it, had made indelible marks on his soul.

Evan would be hurt, and so would Riley, because they let me in. Spencer was probably just sad–and thought I was dead.

Oh god, Spencer probably told everyone about everything and that I was dead. That would be his thought, and he’d share it with the group.

If only I could let them know I wasn’t. Damnit. Brennan would be pissed at me. I hid this from him. I’d lied. I’d brought harm to the pack. Just when the two of us were making headway, this had to happen.

More sobs wracked my chest. I set my head on my arms and slumped over the table, crying myself to sleep.

The door opened, and I sat up, eyes crusty, bladder ready to explode. My back ached from the unnatural sleeping position. How long had I been asleep?

“You’re upset.” Agent Weigmier slipped in, still in that severe black suit. He was an unassuming man, of an average height and build, with brown hair, brown eyes, and forgettable features.

Which was probably the point.

He looked tired. But I had no idea what time it was or what all he did here.

“Of course I am. I don’t know what’s going on or what’s going to happen to me after the trial.” My chest shook as I remembered my fears of never seeing Wes and Evan again.

“We’ll discuss that later, pending the outcome of the trial. But it will be according to protocol.” He stood in front of me.

“Which is? I get it. I’m from some backwater world that doesn’t get to know anything about your laws, but don’t I have rights? I didn’t even know you were coming. I thought I’d broken a law, and you were here to kill me.” A sob escaped my throat, which was raw from crying.

He frowned, voice lowering, as he shook his head. “Not here.”

I stood. “Fine. I need to pee.”

His eyes focused on the uneaten food on the table. “You didn’t like your food?”

“I was too nervous to eat, but I could use something now. Maybe something hot? How long was I asleep? When can I go home?” I prodded, anxious to be done with this. “Can I tell the guys I’m okay? I don’t want them to worry.”

That’s what ate at me the most.

“The evidence has been accepted. We need to speak before you meet the judge.” He put the hat he’d used before to help obscure my identity back on my head.

Agent Weigmier led me down the hall to the restroom.

“I’ll wait here. Be quick. Talk to no one.” He leaned against the wall.

I went to the restroom and ran a hand through my short blonde hair. I was going to meet the judge? Great. It would be nice if I knew more about temporal due process.

My T-shirt dress was wrinkled. My sandal wasn’t mine, it was Riley’s and covered in silver spikes.

It wasn’t quite the same height as the removable walking cast on my broken foot, which made walking a little lopsided.

Also, this had been my indoor boot. Now it was gross from walking all over wherever I was.

While I knew that I was in a Temporal Authority complex, I didn’t know what world I was in, if this was the main facility, or much of anything. It hadn’t been for lack of trying on my part. You’d think that someone would want to answer my questions. Nope.

I came back out and he was waiting. Agent Weigmier had only been assigned to my case about the time someone had tried to kill me.

He glanced at my injured wrist, which was in a little removable wrist brace and my walking cast. “Are those from your previous injuries or are they new?”

“New.” I trotted to keep up because his legs were long, and well, I had a broken foot.

“Do they hurt?”

“A bit. If you have ibuprofen, it would be much appreciated.” They ached. I ached.

My heart ached.

He nodded. “I can provide a mild pain reliever. I’d rather keep you out of the infirmary. We still need to minimize contact.”

“You said that to me before.” I frowned, trying to remember all the blurry bits.

“Yes.” His expression was impassive.

I really wanted answers, but the hall wasn’t the place to ask them.

It felt like he intentionally took me down backstairs and used janky elevators and turned down halls needlessly. Though if it was to confuse me or protect me I couldn’t say.

We finally ended up in a small office. There was a couch, a table, a desk, some chairs. It looked almost film noir–if film noir had gone paperless.

“Sit. Please don’t leave. This is for your own safety. I’ll get food and come back. We have much to discuss. Drinks are in the cooling unit.” He left, and I could hear the door lock.

I got a bottle of what I hoped was water out of the mini fridge and plopped down on the couch. In novels, it was never good when the heroine ran off when told to stay put, so I was going to stay.

Also, I wanted those answers.

And, well, I might have testified, but that didn’t mean I was finished–or that the danger was over. Yep, better off staying here. Especially if anyone still wanted to kill me. Taking out my phone, I tried to write down more things.

Something brushed my ankle, and I looked down.

A black kitty looked up at me with big blue eyes, ones that sparkled with intelligence. He had a blue collar with a little crystal on it.

“Hi, Kitty. You are absolutely some sort of shapeshifter, aren’t you?” It was in the sharpness of his face, the pointiness of his ears.

Then again, I was in an interdimensional police station that served thousands of worlds, occupied by all sorts of people. Kitties could be different on other worlds. Did worlds with elves or faeries exist? He was absolutely a fae cat.

The cat jumped up on the couch and headbutted me.

“Do you want scratches?” I scratched behind his ears. “Hopefully, I’m not offending you or binding me to faerie or anything. I’m just a humble mathematician from a Class IV world, and I know nothing of the universe.”

Looking up at me, the cat gave something that was very close to a laugh.

“Can I take you home with me?” I asked the cat. “We have no pets. I think we need a cat. But if I get chickens you can’t eat them.”

The cat meowed and rested his head on my thigh. I tried to pet the cat with one hand and continue writing with the other.

When the door clicked, I shoved my phone back in my dress pocket.