Page 82 of Midnight Enchantment

It didn’t matter, she thought, as she gained her feet and tiptoed out of the attic. Nothing mattered but her love for him and his for her. Her parents had overcome numerous obstacles and survived. Why couldn’t they?

Raedan slept until just after three in the afternoon. Rising, he pulled on a pair of black jeans, a long-sleeved navy-blue shirt, gloves, and a pair of boots, donned his sunglasses and left the house.

He transported himself to the nearest town and dined on a pretty, dark-haired young woman before returning to the rental house. He found Lily, Mason, and Ava gathered in the living room, munching on a plate of chocolate chip cookies and washing them down with glasses of milk.

“There you are!” Lily exclaimed. “I went upstairs to wake you a few minutes ago and you were gone.”

Raedan glanced briefly at the cookie plate. “I went out in search of a snack of my own.”

“I should have known,” Lily said with a smirk.

“Well, now that we’re all here,” Ava said, “we should get going.”

As he had before, Raedan gathered the three witches around him and transported them to the upper reaches of the Carpathian Mountains with its virgin forests and lofty peaks. He caught the scents of wildlife—red deer and wild cats, the stink of a long-dead carcass buried under a pile of dry leaves.

From this height, he could look out across the valleys below, lush and green at this time of year. A narrow swath of blue indicated a river far off to the north. A small herd of sheep grazed along the banks. The cliffs, the peaks, and the mountainsides were lush with wildflowers and plants, many of them medicinal. He had heard that traditional Transylvanian villagers still used the old mountain remedies.

It reminded him of an old Carpathian legend surrounding the polovraga plant that was said to date back to the Dacians. The ancient, elusive plant was purported to have the power to heal any sickness. Believers still came from all over the world to search for it.

Redan took a deep breath and let it out in a long slow sigh. Even after so many centuries away, it smelled like home.

Chapter Thirty-Three

The dragon stirred as his senses warned him that his territory had been invaded by humans from below. It had been over a century since anyone had dared to invade his domain. His lair was littered with the scorched, dry bones of those humans who had been foolish enough to travel here.

Moving to the mouth of the cave, he spread his massive wings. Perhaps it was time to show these puny humans the folly of encroaching on land where they were not wanted or welcome.

He lifted his head as the wind shifted and he caught a scent he had missed before.

The ancient, near-forgotten scent of demon blood.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Lily paused to take a deep breath. They had been wandering the narrow, twisting trails of the mountain for hours, searching for the dragon’s lair, but to no avail. Small critters had scurried out of their path. Once, she had seen a stag lurking in the shadows. Another time she had seen a brown bear off in the distance. It had stared at her for a long moment before turning and lumbering away.

And now the sun was setting in a blaze of crimson and ochre and pink. A cool breeze blew out of the east, chilling the air around them.

Ahead of her, Raedan stopped and glanced over his shoulder. “Are you all right?”

“Just a little out of breath,” she said. “We’re awfully high up.”

“We can rest if you like,” he said.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Ava said, coming up behind Lily. “We’ve been walking for hours.”

“How do you know we’re going in the right direction?” Mason asked.

“I do not know for sure,” Raedan admitted. “But when I was a child, all the stories I heard said the dragon lived somewhere in this part of the mountains.”

“Well,” Ava said, sinking down on a fallen log, “that’s good enough for me.”

Mason sat beside her. “I don’t sense anything.”

“I don’t either,” Ava said. “And yet … ”

“What?” Lily asked.

“I have the feeling we’re being watched.”

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