Mallory Rush - [Outlawsand Heroes 02] by Dead or Alive

room, Noble tried to ignore her pleas that were so distressed, so absolutely human, he felt more threatened than ever. He made his way quickly down the corridor and a flight of stairs. His surroundings should have been askew, wavering and insubstantial, not possessing the solidity of a hardwood floor that supported his racing feet.
    And why wasn't her voice calling after him a haunting echo instead of a desperate cry of his name as he found himself in what appeared to be a parlor not so unlike his own.
    With his eyes darting around the room, Noble saw several strange items illuminated by a lamp. He didn't bother to investigate. Instead, he hurried toward the curtains. Jerking them back, he prepared to plummet headfirst through the enormous window, praying the jolt would awaken him and he'd be in his own parlor, not this house of horrors he was desperate to escape.
    Just before he lunged, two bright lights appeared. They looked like monstrous eyes glowing in the dark, streaking in his direction. And attached to those eyes was a lumbering carcass he could liken only to a roaring dragon.
    A nightmare within, a nightmare without. Noble threw himself to the side, away from the window, as if dodging a bullet.
    How gladly he would take it. At least bullets were real.
    His hip collided with a huge black box. Rounding the newest anomaly in this otherworldly place, Noble pointed his gun at it.
    Cautiously, he scanned an assortment of buttons. He reached for the flat black button marked on.
    "Noble, no!"
    He ignored her imaginary voice and slapped aside her phantom grip trying to stay his hand.
    Noble pressed the button. The big black box lit up and he saw the impossible. A woman with nothing on except for the briefest of attire covering her breasts, her maidenhood.
    Her voice spilled out with anger and fear, as if she were speaking to him, not the menacing man who was also inside the box leering at her.
    "Sail your ship wherever you like, you bastard. Just don't ever try to drop your anchor in this port again." And then the man shoved her to what appeared to be white sand. With an evil smile he said, "such a shame you found out the reason I ever dropped it in the first place. Sorry, babe, but you know too much. You're dead."
    Appalled by what he witnessed, Noble took aim at the bastard who began to strangle the helpless woman.
    "No!" Lori shouted as Noble shot the despicable man.
    Glass and sparks flew out where the people had been, popping and hissing noises replacing their voices.
    And then, silence. Absolute silence. Except for the pounding beat of his heart, filling his ears and all but drowning out the wheeze of Lori's labored panting.
    Even with the distance of several yards between them, he could see her shaking.
    Her voice trembled even more as she said, very slowly, "please, Noble. Put... down... the gun."
    He threw it across the room and advanced on her with a menace equal to hers.
    Clamping her shoulders, he glared at her with a rage he clung to. Rage was familiar; this fear he felt, fear of the unknown, was not familiar, and he loathed it.
    "Who are you?" he demanded.
    "Like I said, I—I'm Lori. Lori Morgan."
    "Demon or angel?" When her mouth moved but no words emerged, he shook her. "This is hell, isn't it?"
    "No! No, you're not in hell. You're in Juneau."
    "Close enough." He ridiculed her sad attempt at humor with a harsh bark of laughter. And then he shook her again while he dug his fingers into what felt to be flesh, soft and real and more dream than nightmare. Lowering his face until his nose nearly met hers, he said, "you will tell me the truth. Am I dead? Or am I only dreaming that I am?"
    "You—you're not dead. But... you were. See, it's like this. You went to sleep and then you woke up. Say, about a hundred years later?"
    Impossible. Giving himself up to the delirium or dream or death or whatever this perverse thing was, Noble played along with her.
    "And just who should I have to thank for my journey into this