Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
She hurried, wanting to get done and back to her husband quickly, missing him already. She was almost done when a mist suddenly rolled in gathering around her ankles. She knew how fast a mist could gather and leave one unable to see anything around them and she turned to hurry back to the cottage.
A wall of mist greeted her. She could see nothing. Something was amiss, seriously amiss. She had to get to the cottage, to Kaelan. She took another step and the mist cleared leaving the shimmering shape of a woman, slim with long blonde hair, and a lovely face, though it was not easy to see with the way her ethereal form shimmered.
Surprisingly, Bria felt no threat from her, but she did sense distress, and she immediately sought to comfort her. “Let me help you?”
The figure floated away from her, though pointed at her and it took a moment for Bria to realize what she was pointing at. It was her chest where the pendant lay.
Bria slipped the leather cord from around her neck and held the pendant out to her. “Is this what upsets you?”
The woman reached out, her misty hand reaching for it and it passing right through the pendant.
Bria took hold of the pendant. “Place your hand on mine and feel it.”
The woman rested her hand on Bria’s and closed her eyes for a moment. The pain struck Bria hard and fast, stealing her breath. Never had she felt such heartbreak. It tore through until she thought she would perish from it. Then darkness began to surround her, growing darker and heavier, and she heard a whisper.
“Keep it safe for the one who will claim it.”
Before the darkness completely consumed her, she thought she heard someone shout her name.
“Bria!”
Then everything went dark.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
A Night That Frights
And Delights
Kaelan lay awake staring at the ceiling. The bed finally warmed and he expected his wife to be in it with him by now. She had promised she would only be a moment. That moment had stretched far too long.
He wasn’t one to dismiss his concern when it came to his wife and the passion he had seen sparking in her eyes, he knew she would not dally. With his unease growing, he threw the covers aside and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.
The chill of the room barely registered as he hurried to slip his shirt over his head, the garment hanging to his thighs.
He crossed quickly to the door, and the moment he stepped outside, his concern sharpened.
Heavy mist drifted between the cottages and trees, swallowing the night.
“Bria?” he called out.
No answer came.
His pulse quickened as he called out again, “Bria!”
Still nothing.
He stepped farther from the cottage, his gaze sweeping the area. He sniffed the air trying to pick up her scent, but the heavy mist made that impossible. Then he heard it. A strange sound. He hurried to follow it, worried it might be his wife moaning, hurt from a fall.
Thankfully, the mist shifted around him as he crossed the clearing. Gradually, it began to thin, the moonlight filtering through in pale ribbons. It allowed him to follow the sound more easily and he soon came upon Fiora passed out and snoring louder than he expected from one so tiny.
She was covered in leaves and pine needles, and his first thought was his wife. Only Bria would stop in the middle of the night to make certain a drunken fairy did not freeze.
But where was Bria? He grew more worried, not spotting her as his gaze swept the clearing.
He sniffed the air again and thought he caught a whiff of her.
The mist continued to dissipate and that was when he saw her. His heart nearly stopped.
“Bria!”
She lay motionless several yards away. Kaelan reached her in moments. He dropped to one knee beside her and glanced over her. No wounds, no blood, and no other scent on her. And she was breathing. Relief struck first, but fear remained.
He gathered her in his arms. “Bria.”
He got no response.
Without another thought, he lifted her, keeping her tight against his chest to chase the chill from her and carried her swiftly back toward the cottage.
The door burst open beneath the force of his shoulder, and he crossed the room in three strides after he kicked the door closed. He laid her gently on the bed, then pulled her boots off, tossing them aside.
His heart pounded as his hands moved over her quickly, searching for an injury he may have missed. Finding none, only deepened his concern, and he hurried the warm blankets over her, then sat on the bed beside her.
“Bria, wake up,” he ordered sharply as if it were enough to wake her.
It wasn’t.
He tapped her cheek with the flat of his hand. “Wake up, wife.”