Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
There was a slight frown on her lush lips and a little wrinkle between her eyebrows, as though she was having a bad dream. After a moment, she began murmuring in her sleep.
“No…no, please! Don’t touch me…don’t take me there!”
Wraith frowned sympathetically. Poor little female—she really was having a bad time. He wished he could wake her, but he was powerless to do anything but watch.
He wanted to see the glowing runes on her forehead, but she had moved so her hair was covering her face. However, after a few moments of muttering to herself, she turned on her back and he was able to see the burning red runes.
Wraith’s frown deepened as he studied them. It wasn’t just what the runes said—it was the evil intent he could feel coming from them. He put out a hand, letting it hover over her forehead to absorb some of the energy. A feeling of malevolence so strong it nearly burned him came from the curse! It was mixed with an oily feeling of greedy lust—a gluttonous hunger to devour the cursed one and digest her for eternity while she writhed in unspeakable pain in the darkness of the Pit.
Wraith drew back his hand, rubbing it against his armor as though he’d touched something unclean—impure. This was no ordinary curse! And the creature who had marked Hanna was no ordinary demon. There was power in the burning letters scratched into her forehead—a stamp of ownership it would be hard to refute if the Dark Entity came for her.
Wraith shook his head—he wondered if her aunt had any idea how deadly the curse Hanna carried was. If so, she ought to be more concerned for her kin. Hanna’s life and indeed her immortal soul were in dire danger and it seemed like no one had realized that fact.
He wished desperately that he could warn her. He didn’t want to see such a lovely Elite dragged to the underworld and tormented for all eternity! She seemed so sweet and innocent—she didn’t deserve such a terrible fate.
At this point her dream seemed to get worse because she began thrashing in the bed and crying out in a louder voice.
“No…No, please! Don’t touch me! Leave me alone!”
Instinctively, Wraith leaned down to shake her awake and end her torment. He forgot he couldn’t touch her—or anything else for that matter—as he placed his hand on her shoulder and called her name.
“Hanna? Hanna, wake up! It’s a dream—only a dream.”
At that point, several things happened simultaneously.
First, Wraith realized that he could actually feel her under his hand. Her flesh was solid and so was his when he touched her—yes, he was actually touching her! He could feel the warmth of her body and the softness of her skin. It was like a miracle!
Second, Hanna’s eyes flew open and she stared up at him with stark terror on her lovely face.
“Who…what…what are you doing in my room?” she gasped, finally getting the words out. “And who are you? How did you get in here?”
“I’m sorry!” Wraith held up both hands in a gesture of peace. “I didn’t mean to startle you, Hanna. You were having a bad dream.”
“How do you know my name?” she demanded. “How dare you come in here?” Not waiting for an answer, she reached for the thin golden wire circlet on her bedside table with shaking fingers. “Get out of here—get out now or I’m calling my uncle—he’s on the High Council!”
Wraith could see that he’d made a grave mistake—in trying to ease her anxiety by waking her from the nightmare, he’d made it ten times worse. She was frightened of him now and who could blame her? Of course she was scared—being woken from a sound sleep to find a strange warrior she didn’t know standing over her would certainly be frightening.
“I’m sorry—please forgive me for scaring you,” he said shortly. “I’ll go now—maybe we can talk later.”
And before she could say anything else, he drifted quickly through the wall of her bed chamber and away from her.
As he went, he couldn’t help thinking what a mess he’d made of things! For the first time in over a hundred solar cycles a woman could actually see him and what did he do? He frightened her nearly to death!
“Stupid, Wraith,” he muttered to himself. “Really fucking stupid!”
But though he was angry with himself, another part of him was still in shock. Not only could she see him—she could feel him too—and he could feel her. For a brief moment he had almost been corporeal again.
His hand still tingled with the warmth and softness of her skin and he had no idea what to do next—he only knew he had to find another way to talk to her and get to know her—to touch her again.
Not only that, he had to have her—Hanna was the first person in over a hundred years that he could touch and already he hungered for her.