I held onto the blonde and looked down to see the gray and black horses were riderless and the white hatted guy, who lost his fancy hat in the wind (by the way) was dismounting.
“Cora! Get her away from the window. Close it tight! Hurry!” he shouted up to us before he darted into the house.
“Now, Cora!” Aggie chirped before his little body was swept away by the power of the wind.
“Aggie!” I yelled, reaching out to him as his little body reeled away. As I watched him go, I knew at once there was no hope to save Aggie so I had to save the blonde. “Come on! Get inside!” I shouted over the wind and thunder, the strobes of lightning flashing eerie on her hair and skin. “Hurry!” I yelled, pushing her inside, “Now!”
I shoved her inside and was stepping over the threshold at the same time reaching for the French doors when I heard it. Over all the noise of the sudden storm, I heard a cackle. An evil, bone-chilling cackle.
I turned and looked over my shoulder into the air outside the balcony and at what I saw I screamed bloody murder at the top of my lungs.
Chapter Two
Love Match
We were racing through the forest, me and Noctorno on his velvet black steed.
And I knew I was not dreaming.
I knew this because I could feel the horse’s power pounding beneath me. I could feel Noctorno’s strong arm clamped around my waist. I could feel the heat and solidness of his body. I could feel the branches whipping at my face, my hair, my body. I could feel the driving, relentless rain beating into my flesh.
I could also hear the ongoing thunder, see the continued lightning, hear the horse’s hooves thudding against the forest floor.
And none of this was pleasant.
And all of it was lasting a long, long time.
I didn’t know where I was. I had no idea how I’d gotten here. I just knew I was there. This was not a dream. This was real.
And it was a nightmare.
Lastly, I was fah-ree-king terrified.
“Duck!” Noctorno barked in my ear but he didn’t give me the chance to duck. His muscular chest pressed into my back, pushing me down and I heard a branch whip over our heads.
He lifted up, taking me with him but I closed my eyes.
And I saw that… that… thing sweeping away the blonde again.
I opened my eyes and bit my lip hard in an attempt not to cry.
One of those things almost got me. If Noctorno hadn’t made it to the bedroom and caught me about the waist, pulling me back at the same time yanking a blade out of his belt and slashing at it causing blue sparks to fly out of it rather than blood, I would be gone like the blonde.
Gone over the side of the balustrade even though the gray hatted man (otherwise known as Orlando) tried to hold onto her as Noctorno was busy struggling against my attacker.
But she didn’t fall to the cobbles. She flew through the air, held by one of those things.
And then she disappeared.
Poof!
The white hatted man, the man known as Dashiell, was too late and he stood on the balcony and shouted his heart wrenching fury but Noctorno didn’t watch. He battled the monster that had hold of me until it yelped and slithered away so fast it was almost like it wasn’t ever there.
“Safety!” Orlando shouted at Noctorno, already running out of the room, pulling Dashiell with him. “Get her to safety. The curse is upon us and no matter how you feel about her, Tor, they want her too!”
“Gods, man, I know!” Noctorno shouted back and carried me bodily out of the room after them, down the hall, down the stairs and out the front door where he threw me up on his horse, swung up behind me and away we went.
But I couldn’t think of that. It was too horrific. It was too frightening.