Page 10 of Light

The warmth at the center of her chest gave a little jump, heating her breastbone. As before, her senses came alive, all her nerve endings sizzling, the ember in her chest straining forward.

“Good evening,” she said a little breathlessly.

He was staring at her chest as if he could see the pulsing ember there.

He looked up. Their eyes met, and she marveled momentarily at the swirling depths of darkness in his before he moved, stepping effortlessly through her wards. He pressed her back against the wall, and her senses short-circuited as he crowded into her space, their bodies nearly touching.

“Someone is in your home,” he whispered against her ear. “Stay here.”

He backed up, giving her space, and she caught her breath, her heart galloping in her chest. She looked up, leaning her head back to gaze at the fierce cut of his jaw as his teeth ground together. A tiny thrill of terror shot through her; she couldn’t tell if it was at the proximity of the man towering over her or his words.

His eyes were scanning the darkness beyond her, and she turned her head, searching for a danger that might be more threatening than the man who had just charged into her home.

“Don’t move.” As he said it, he vanished.

His words jarred her back into the present and she sucked in a breath, realizing she’d been holding it. A noise on the second floor startled her into action.

Searching desperately for a weapon and finding none, she dashed into the kitchen, grabbed her largest knife, and held it to her breast, sucking in sharp breaths as she listened for another sound.

Another loud bang sounded just overhead. Tightening her grip on the knife’s handle, she raced up the stairs and slid to a halt in the hall. The dark outline of a hulking man was hunched over something on the floor.

Adalaide lunged forward, stabbing the blade into the tender place at his side where she knew it would inflict the most damage.

A guttural howl erupted from him as he reached for the blade handle and wrenched it out, tossing the knife to the floor.

Adalaide backed up, cold fear sliding down her spine as he stood. She spared a moment’s glance at the glimmer of gold slicking the blade before the dark outline of her would-be attacker blocked the only light coming from a window at the other end of the hall.

She let out a small whimper as he turned and backed up another step. Her foot met air as she realized she’d backed up to the stairs too late. Rational thought left her as the world moved in slow motion, and she tipped backward, her whole body bending toward the ground.

As the room tilted, the man’s face came into full view: it was the man who had rushed into her home. To save her? She couldn’t be sure of his intentions, and now she would never know.

He lunged forward as the world caught up with her.

She was wrapped in warm arms, her head cradled gently against a broad chest, and a feeling of contented rightness stole through her entire being. In her whole life, no one had ever held her this way. Certainly not a man. A strange man. Alone with her. In her home.

The realization hit her the same moment it must have dawned on him, and she scrambled back as he released her, setting her on her feet.

She tipped her head back and stared up at the man who had saved her twice now, noticing the faintest glow along his silhouette.

“What… What are you?”

His full, dark lips parted in a smile. “I believe I am your soulmate.”

Chapter 11

Gabriel

He hadn’t actually meant to say it. The words had just come out. He watched her staring at him blankly, shock or terror or some other emotion playing over her face, but he didn’t know her well enough yet to discern it.

“I beg your pardon. What did you say?” she asked.

His mouth felt dry, and the space in his chest where only a fraction of his soul now lived was warm, pulsing so fast that he imagined it was the feeling humans had when their hearts beat erratically.

“I believe you and I share a soul.” There, he’d said it again. It was as if the words wanted to be set free.

She blinked a few more times. “I believe I need tea. Would you join me in the drawing room?”

He followed as she turned, going down those nearly fatal stairs. It was a reminder of humans’ frailty and fleeting existence on Earth.

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