The Heiress of Winterwood - By Sarah Ladd Page 0,87
and returned to the bed.
Above them the pacing continued. Thud. Thud. Thud. Amelia waited until she was certain Jane had fallen asleep before she climbed back into bed. Her eyes drooped with exhaustion, and she squeezed them shut. Oh, God, if you really care for me, where are you?
And in the quiet of the room, a response, subtle and low, balanced in the quiet places between sleep and a dream.
“My child, I am with you wherever you go.”
Amelia tossed. She turned. Someone was chasing her.
She bolted down a darkened corridor in her nightdress, her bare feet slapping against cold stone. The footsteps were gaining on her.
Faster and faster she ran. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks, and her lungs burned with lack of oxygen. How much longer could she keep this pace?
A menacing, angry voice kept calling her name.
“Amelia. Amelia!”
From the narrow window in the stone wall, a flash of blinding lightning pierced the darkness. A simultaneous clap of thunder boomed with such intensity the ground beneath her trembled. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came. Again and again she tried, but no sound, not even a whimper, passed her dry, cracked lips.
Lightning flashed again, and this time her lungs filled with air. She released a bloodcurdling scream before falling to the ground.
The footsteps drew closer. They came faster. Pulse racing, she glanced over her shoulder. By the light of a subsequent lightning bolt she could see it. A dark shadow, a mass, crept closer. Closer.
She tried to get up, but her nightdress caught on something. Desperate, she felt around in the darkness to free it but felt nothing besides limp fabric. She scrambled to her feet and attempted to rip the nightdress free, but whatever gripped it was pulling back, just as hard, just as determined. The shadow drew closer, closer . . .
“Amelia.”
The mass was upon her. Its unbearable heat engulfed her.
Unable to free her dress, she succumbed to the instinct to fight. She swung at the mass. She kicked her legs. She writhed and twisted. It would not overcome her.
“Amelia, wake up.”
The mass grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her. Again she screamed. Pain pressed her head, and fear squeezed her heart.
The voice grew louder. Her kicks grew stronger.
“Amelia, wake up! You are dreaming!”
A solid shake snapped her eyes open, and she bolted upright. Perspiration trickled down her neck and back. She gulped for air and dug her nails into the wool blanket.
When something touched her back, she jumped and cried out, then blinked as she looked around.
She was not in a dark corridor, but a room at the Eagledale Inn.
A black mass had not grabbed her. It was Jane touching her arm.
Nobody had chased her. The footsteps were not footsteps at all, but a knock at her door.
And Lucy was still missing.
“For mercy’s sake, child, are you awake?” Jane’s voice rose, and Amelia, still lost in the haze between reason and dream, jerked away from her friend’s touch.
The knocking at the door grew more insistent. The knob jiggled. “Are you all right?”
Captain Sterling. Her Captain Sterling. He’d protect her, keep her safe.
She jumped to her feet and ran to the door. “Yes, yes.” She fiddled with the lock. Still bewildered with sleep, she struggled with sluggish fingers to pull back the metal bolt. When it finally gave way, she flung the door open.
His startling gray eyes met hers. His gaze fell to her nightdress. “What on earth is going on in here?”
Suddenly conscious of her thin attire, she pushed the door closed, leaving only a crack to peer out through. “It was a frightening dream, Graham. Nothing more.”
She did not realize she had addressed him by his Christian name until she saw the surprise on his face. He cleared his throat. “I heard you from my room. I thought something was wrong.” He tugged unconsciously at his untucked shirt. “Last night I instructed the coachman to return to Darbury and hired a post chaise for the rest of the journey to Liverpool. I was concerned for your horses, and the post chaise will get us there faster.”
Her mind slowly cleared, and Amelia nodded. With each nod the pounding in her head intensified, though the black mass slowly shrunk to the background of her mind. She stared at the broad expanse of his chest. How would it feel to be in the protection of his embrace? She caught the scent of sandalwood, he was so close.