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LENGTH: Long Novella
SENSUALITY: Sensual

Cover art (c) Eliza Black 2004
ISBN 1-58608-391-0
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But Hannah has a secret he cannot begin to fathom ... she is from a parallel world....

Rating: Contains mild sexual content and some violence.

"The world of the Threshold is a marvelous creation. Adam wears a Stetson and calls the Hannah darlin' and I loved it. Hannah is innocent yet strong and wise. How she sees herself is totally believable. The ending was fantastic." Paranormal Romance Reviews

BEYOND THE THRESHOLD

By

Angelica Hart

CHAPTER ONE

Hannah’s gray eyes widened as an icy chill took hold, yet she remained still, unshaken in her rigid stance. Behind her, through the office window, the Atlantic tumbled with riotous swells. "I won’t go with you."

"You have no choice," Gnaegi announced, his tone as unflinching as her stance. "We can use your portal or you must return to the Threshold."

"The portal has been destroyed," she said, avoiding his gaze.

"Rebecca wouldn’t have done that, and you couldn’t have."

"Well, she did, long ago."

He stepped closer. "Then we leave for the Threshold. Come."

Towering over her, the burly man, dressed in a worn, black suit and a flat hat with a four-inch brim forced rancid breaths into her upturned face. He wrapped an enormous hand around hers. "Do not make me use force."

She yanked her hand free. "You disgrace the ways of old if you do."

"You do not belong here. It upsets the balance."

"It was you who sent me away. If not for Becca, I would have been lost and alone."

"She was not your blood aunt. She was an evil woman who lured you from your world. You were to accept your fate, not follow her, not become like her."

She placed the desk between them, wanting distance from both him and the memories he stirred. "She was not evil! And, I did nothing wrong. You know I did nothing wrong, and still you allowed him to shame me, to have me shunned." A small sob caught in her throat, and she forced it down. "You didn’t even try to stop him. I will not go back. You could not make Becca, return and you cannot make me return either."

His gaze narrowed as disgust washed over him. "How can you stand the stench and debauchery of this place?"

In truth, she couldn’t stand being a proprietor of a nightclub, but she adored living in a seaside resort and knew she could build a life here once she sold the club. Only, she couldn’t sell the club she inherited from Rebecca Byler unless she married. It was a condition of the will

If only she had locked the door upon entering her office, Gnaegi would not have been able to follow her inside. Hannah, though, wasn’t used to locking doors anymore than Becca had been. Then again, Gnaegi would have managed somehow. He had his ways and only those of the hierarchy were privy to those ways, the hierarchy and those who ended up shunned because of what they knew. Becca had been one of them. Only, she took that knowledge and used it to her advantage. Hannah wished the woman had shared those truths with her, but like the sale of the nightclub, Hannah would only know those truths upon marriage, whereby she would receive a letter that explained all, even the exact location of the Threshold.

Hannah didn’t know why Becca had made marriage a condition of so much. Perhaps, she did because she had never married and didn’t want Hannah also to have a solitary lifestyle. Hannah considered it a foolish condition. However, she could have accepted that if Becca had chosen any other profession. Considering their backgrounds, it made no sense and Hannah simply couldn’t get used to it. Each day was a test in endurance, every evening a struggle to find her true self come morning. This wasn’t who she was. This wasn’t Hannah, born to Caleb and Rachel on a farm in an archaic land. This wasn’t the woman who would have been happy living forever in that world, the woman who was now shunned and lost and alone. Yet, this was all she had until she could sell. If only Becca hadn’t put that ridiculous condition on the will. She had a lawyer trying to contest the codicil, but thus far the only outcome had been a monthly retainer fee.

She just wanted to give up, especially times like now when she faced Gnaegi on the very night her bouncer was out with the flu. At least, he would have kept the man at arm’s length.

"Leave," she said. "This discussion is over."

"You know who I am and why I have come. I cannot allow you to disrupt the balance so that you can live a comfortable, self-indulged life."

"I don’t care about the balance. I’m certain one person out of sync won’t make all that much of a difference. Besides, I refuse to live where all those I love cannot even speak to me. At least here, I have a chance at happiness." She plucked up a handset with more authority and audacity then she felt. "Now, leave before I call the law. You can explain to them about the balance and where you come from and how I need to go back."

His gaze narrowed. His hands clenched into tight fists. For a moment, she feared he’d hit her. It wasn’t the way of his world. Torture had been refined to a non-physical art and reserved for those of criminal status. Hannah might be shunned, but she was not considered a criminal. Still, what did she know of Gnaegi, except that he resided on the counsel of elders, that he had betrayed her just as Seth had. Seth, her childhood betrothed, and the man she had grown to foolishly trust and adore.

Instead, he took a step back. "I am staying at a hovel called the Seascape."

Having passed it every day on her way to the club, she knew it well: a dark, dismal hole that attracted its share of cheating spouses, drug dealers and prostitutes.

The shock on her face must have shown, for shame cloaked him like a vestment.

"It is best for me not to draw attention, and in the mire of darkness one can remain obscure."

"All you’d have to do is change garments and you wouldn’t be that out of place. Besides, the guardians dress the same as you, and they are stared at but not bothered."

"I prefer not to take chances, just as you should not and return to your home."

"This is my home!"

"You dare to raise your voice to your elder of the old order?"

"You are not my elder any longer, Master Gnaegi. Leave me be, yet."

"As I started to say, I am at the Seascape. I’ll give you some time to think upon this."

"I do not need time. I am not going anywhere."

His unexpected grin iced her blood. "You will restore the balance, Hannah Holt, even if means carrying your half-dead body across the Threshold."

With that he fled the office, slamming the door behind him.

Hannah slid to the floor, leaned against the desk and drew her knees to her chest, forcing herself not to cry. From experience she knew tears wouldn’t solve a thing. She needed to discover how Becca had gotten Gnaegi to leave her be. What could she have possibly said or done that would have worked? Hannah’s head began to throb, an insistent pounding that would probably haunt the entire evening.

Inky, another inheritance from Becca, jumped onto her knees, staring directly into her eyes. The gray feline with its contrasting pink nose, inner ears and white smudges on its cheeks and four paws, tilted its head one way, then the other as if asking what was wrong.

"Oh, now, you come to my rescue? Where were you when that brute arrived?"

Inky meowed, and then scampered off to the far end of the office, chasing a shadow.

Hannah laughed, a genuine laugh that jettisoned the tension and reminded her that life went on, one moment at a time. She would not think of Gnaegi now. He’d probably give her a few days and by then she would find a way around this. She didn’t have a choice.

Rising, she crossed to her desk and tackled the books. It was the only part of her job that didn’t reek of something dark and nasty, that and dealing with her employees. Most were good people, and she intended to make certain they all had a job with the new owners. That is if the lawyer ever found a loophole. For marriage wasn’t even a consideration. She was flawed and no man could possibly want someone so flawed. At least not someone interested in marriage.

An hour later, she rubbed a throbbing temple, as numbers seemed to hop and skip across the ledger. She still did things the old way, but she was beginning to think a computer would be a good investment. After all, she would need one for her new venture, a gift shop. She had to keep thinking that would happen. She had to stay focused. For without hope, she’d go totally mad.

Checking the clock, she smiled, only another half-hour and she would be through the evening. Relief slid through her like easing into a warm bath. That relief, however, was short-lived as the sound of crashing glass reached her.