Rescued By the Ancient Chinese Warrior Prince (Time Traveling Men in Love #1)
Part 1- Carmine
Hopefully that phenom extends to the people here.
I don’t intend on meeting anyone, having them notice me, and risking altering history as a result.
Ancient China might have a riot if they see an Italian dude with brown curly hair wearing metallic future tech.
Speaking of which, I click my belt and activate my temporal cloaking and translator so I can blend in with any other people.
My face is unchanged, but my robes are now longer, silkier, and a mixture of red and gold threads. How ornate.
No one is around, and I’m keeping it that way.
According to my scanner, the imperial village is a few miles away, but that’s not where I’m going.
I click twice to locate my target of the mission.
I have one week to nab it, ensure that it’s legitimate, and port back to the future, or rather, my present.
I scrutinize the display on my wrist. “Oh, come on,” I whine to myself.
“You couldn’t port me closer?” The scanner never lies, and my target is apparently several miles north of here.
Gazing up, it’s most definitely in the dark mountain summit through the forest. Why did I think it would be easy?
Staff at The Agency teaches that certain geo-locations make it impossible to port into.
But still, they couldn’t drop me off halfway up the mountain?
A rustling in the bushes pulls my attention, and I turn around quickly. I grab my stun ray but keep it in my holster on my waist. Nothing but trees surround me, but hopefully it was just a bird or a deer. The last thing I want to do is end up in a historical altercation.
After a few seconds of silence, I deem myself safe, so I turn and head for my target. “It’s a good thing I work out,” I mumble, ambling through the woods. Up the massive Chinese mountain I go.
Not even thirty minutes later, I’m close to leaving the forest to reach the mountain, when I pause.
There’s another distinct movement through the trees, but the brush is much denser here.
I can’t tell if I’m alone or not, so I take my stun gun out, holding it under my left arm.
Just because I’m wearing time-appropriate garbs doesn’t mean my sleek metallic pistol won’t change history.
I only want to stun if absolutely necessary.
The rustling gets closer, but it’s moving. “Who’s there?” I ask. My pulse pounds when I realize how horror-movie-esque that sounded. Still, I’m starting to feel preyed upon. The noise grows stronger, firmer, almost like stomping.
I spin around, trying to see what’s coming, and I’m beginning to feel cornered. Fear floods my veins—in my few years as a time-traveling agent, I’ve never been chased. I’ve rarely had to use my stun gun, but now, in the wilds of Ancient China, all that could change.
The sound gets even closer, and I step back. It’s almost here, so I need to be ready to shoot. Through the dense trees appears…a black bear.
“Huh?” The large thing is on all fours. I’ve read about these animals, but it’s not like I can go to the zoo back home— our tech-laden apartments have screens, but no wildlife. He sniffs the ground then blinks at me. “Aw,” I coo.
Then it stands on its hind legs, at least eight-feet tall. The creature is massive, wielding sharp claws. Worst of all, his mouth is foaming. He’s exposing his teeth and growling now. Oh, no…
I shoot my stun gun, but he dips low, dodging it by an inch.
The rabid beast charges at me, and I’m frozen in fear.
I step back and fall down, making me easy prey.
I try to cock my stun gun, but it’s in the five-second cool down.
Fuck, my life is over. My memory flashes with growing up, kissing boys, breaking hearts, having my exboyfriend break my own heart, and then enlisting to work for The Agency.
But now, the life of Carmine Listo ends as bear chow.
I brace myself as the animal gets closer, his shadow over me.
ZIP.
The bear and I both turn to hear where it came from. To my right, out of the shadows, a figure appears. It’s a man with long flowing black hair, wearing a silky white-and-golden robe, similar to mine. And the slender dude is holding a wooden bow.
He just shot the bear. An arrow sticks out of the rabid animal’s shoulder, and we both seem to notice it at the same time. While I’m relieved, the creature looks extra livid.
The bear loses interest in me and charges at the young Chinese man.
He notches another arrow and shoots the bear, hitting him right in the face.
The creature goes down with a thud, and the archer puts away his bow.
The bear ambles up, seemingly ready to continue the fight.
The man takes out a long sword, like superheroes of the ancient cinema, and draws it.
Before he can battle the rabid bear, the animal collapses backward.
Smiling at this outcome, the dude turns his attention to me. He quickly rushes over, and like a chivalrous knight, he reaches out his hand. “Are you alright?”
By the heavens, he’s so beautiful. His hair is both in a ponytail and also with long sides draped forward.
He’s obviously skilled, and judging by his arms when he wielded his sword, he’s strong, too.
I take his hand and he pulls me up, confirming, yes, this man’s fit body could put the other agents to shame.
“Thank you. I am now.”
“What…what are you doing here?” He scrutinizes me in understandable confusion. “And how do you speak my language?”
I can’t help but snicker; hardly any historical folks ask about how we can speak all languages, since the translation device is subtly connected to my belt. Not that I talk to folks on missions. But this man just saved my life; he deserves some answers.
With his high cheek bones and dark eyes, I’ll answer anything he asks. And do anything he wants. Preferably with the robes off.
Focus, Carmine. The Agency instructs us to interact as little as possible with historical humans, and I can’t throw that away just because he’s handsome. And buff. And sexy.
“It’s, um…” I brush off leaves from my robe. “A long story.”
“You look nothing like my fellow Xing Dynasty folk. Are you from The West or The North?” His voice is a deep tenor, and I try not to get lost in his eyes.
“Very, very far west,” I murmur.
“What is your name, traveler?” he asks, putting his hand on my shoulder.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was flirting with me.
He looks me up and down and continues, “You are not from here, you wield strange weapons, and yet you wear our robes and speak our tongue. What kind of riddle are you?”
I scratch my neck and look up. “Um…well, see…” Before I can appropriately lie, a figure looms above us. “Watch out!”
The bear, with a bloody eye, is back for round two.
The archer doesn’t even hesitate when the beast gets close to him.
He spins, and, wielding his sword with both hands, he parries the bear’s sharp fangs.
With a forceful kick, he pushes the creature backward.
When it ambles forward again, he slashes the bear’s throat in one swift maneuver.
Great stars and satellites. That was equal parts dangerous and attractive.
He turns back to me and wipes his brow. “Are you well, traveler?”
I gulp. “Um. Yes. Thank you for…saving my life.”
He grins, and there’s a twinkle of interest in his eyes. He steps forward and says, “Since I saved you, I believe I have earned a name.”
“Carmine Listo,” I murmur. My eyebrows shoot up when I realize what I just said. I’m not supposed to expose my real name. What if history books mention how Carmine Listo was saved by some hot guy in the woods?
No matter. It’s not as if he’s famous. The archer bows and says, “Pleased to meet you, fearless Carmine Listo.” He smiles and puts his sword back. “I am Prince Xing Kurun, of the Xing Empire.”
My throat goes dry. Oh stars. The history books I skimmed in preparation for this trip described the Xing dynasty prince as Kirin the Kickboxer.
I always thought that moniker was an exaggeration, that he was only a legend.
But seeing as how this man—Kurun, Kirin, same thing— just took down a rabid bear twice his size and kicked him, I’m starting to feel like I’m in a history book.
And he knows my name.
“Okay, well, that’s great. Nice meeting you, goodbye!” In a panic, I spin and step on my stun gun. A sharp pain goes up my leg, and the last thing I remember is hitting the ground and leaves falling on my face.