Page 29 of Eternal Craving

“He seems sweet.” I forced a smile, seeing Felipe in him.

Her gaze narrowed. “What do you want?”

“I’ve come to get you out.”

She shook her head. “Don’t hurt us.”

“Never!” I glanced at the door.

She stared at the officer’s jacket that had slipped off the chair and lay crumpled on the floor. “Guards,” she yelled.

“Whatever Felipe’s told you about me is a lie.”

“Get out!”

“I’ve come to take you home.”

“I am home,” she screamed.

The door burst open, but I didn’t wait to see who entered.

Panic caused my throat to tighten as I peered out of the window and down at a drop that would kill me. I leaped up onto the ledge and leaned out, grabbing hold of a handful of vines.

And then I jumped.

Dangling, I pulled myself along. I slipped and struggled to hold on as the twisting vines tore into my palms. Clutching at an open window, I hauled myself up and clambered inside the room.

Descending the central staircase too quickly, I tripped and tumbled down the marble steps. My right shoulder bashed against the iron banister, and a searing pain shot down my arm. Three guards closed in on me, their swords pointed.

I scrambled through the front door just as I felt something cold and sharp slice into my left ear. A burning sensation was followed by a gush of warm liquid streaming down my neck. Unable to catch my breath, I descended the steps four at a time, startling a flock of crows. They flew up and around me, flapping their black feathered wings in my face as I dashed into the center of the courtyard.

I was going to die. Diehere.

Far from home.

I fell to my knees, consumed with a dark rapture as I felt myself bleeding out, my eyesight blurring. Refusing to surrender, I staggered to my feet.

A horse-drawn carriage swerved, missing me by a hair, and I felt myself being grabbed and dragged violently into thecareening vehicle, my limbs shaken, my body thrust this way and that.

Unbearable.

Dreaming, I wandered through a mausoleum of silence – her face, impossibly radiant, too flawless to belong to this world. She hovered just beyond reach like a vision carved from moonlight and longing. As sleep pulled me deeper into nothingness, I trembled in the stillness – stillness like I’d never known.

Carved oak bedposts came into focus.

“You’re safe now,” whispered a husky female voice.

“Alicia?” Not recognizing my surroundings, I froze. I was lying on a bed with no idea how long I’d been there. Several flickering candles threw shadows over thick, drawn drapes and plush furniture. A female’s silhouette loomed in the corner.

Blinking as if waking from a fever, I beheld her, arrayed not in silks but dressed as a nobleman, a doublet clinging to her shapely form, hose laced with quiet defiance. Her long raven hair spilled down her back like ink on parchment. Her beauty surpassed the reach of any vision my mind dared to summon.

With fumbling fingers, I explored the material used as a bandage, wrapped around my head, covering my left ear.

Felipe… Either him or one of his men had attacked me.

I’m alive, at least.

As she stepped into the light, shadows danced across her, revealing those familiar, striking turquoise eyes that lit up when she smiled.