Page 69 of The Book Reader
I smile as I place my hand onto the horse, feeling how soft and warm his skin feels—softer than any horse I’ve ever touched. “How does he know it’s me?”
Galean smiles before leaning forward to kiss my cheek. “Just like me, he can feel your soul.”
I smile and run my hand over Shadow’s neck, then around to his front so I can see his eyes—red fire swirling in them, just like Rex. “Hey, boy.” He turns his head to me, almost knocking me over, and makes a cute little growl sound that makes me laugh. He feels so familiar. “I’ve never ridden a horse before, Gaelan. What if I fall off?” I feel nervous all of a sudden; I’m not good with heights, and this horse is a giant.
“He won’t let you, Ari. Trust me.” He holds his hand out and I take it.
“I just don’t trust how clumsy I am.” I laugh lightly and then squeal when Gaelan picks me up and places me on the horse.
“It’ll be fine. Now, swing your leg over.”
I do as he says and straddle Shadow; it’s more comfortable than I thought it would be. Shadow raises up on his hind legs, making me yelp. I don’t know if they measure horses the same here—with hands—but he’s a lot taller when I’m sitting on him. I reach for the rain and realize that there isn’t any. “Erm, Gaelan? What do I hold on to?” I ask nervously.
“His mane, my love.” He walks off and climbs onto another hell-horse. “Don’t worry about hurting him, baby. Just hold on, they move fast.” Gaelan leans down and rubs the neck of the beauty he is on, “This is Midnight, his mate.”
Midnight makes a funny, rumbling growl as a way of hello, I guess. Butterflies have filled my stomach; I'm too nervous to do more than smile.
Before I have a chance to even think, Gaelan clicks his tongue, causing Shadow to rear up and take off running…fast. I scream and grip onto his hair; the worry about hurting him has gone, but the concern that I’m going to fall off and break my neck is burning through me. My eyes are clamped shut, so I have no idea where we’re going or if Gaelan is with me. For all I know, Shadow could have taken off without him. The sound of horses’ hooves is loud, and I can smell the smoke again; it seems to be getting stronger the faster we go.
“Rose?” I hear Gaelan shout. “Open your eyes.” I shake my head. “Trust me, baby.”
I slowly open one eye, followed by the other one, and gasp. Everything is moving quickly past me—like a movie that’s moving fast, but I’m in slow motion—it’s like I’m in my own bubble of safety on Shadow’s back. I look over to see Gaelan grinning at me. “You are safe.”
I nod at him and run my fingers through Shadow’s mane, gripping it loosely. I smile and relax a little, still aware of the potential for falling off. Excitement starts to bubble in my stomach, and after a bit longer, I find myself enjoying the ride.
Shadow starts to slow down his gallop when we get to a woodland area. Gaelan is walking next to me on Midnight. I can’t help but marvel at this man sometimes, looking at him now… so at home on his horse, just like this is his everyday life. I’m falling for this man—there, I admit it—the feelings are not scaring me as much as I thought they would. It almost feels natural. I know my soul is meant for him, I just didn’t think I would feel like this so soon.
The horse comes to a stop, and Gaelan jumps down before coming over to me. Helping me climb off, he takes my hands and leads me into the woods.
“Are you going to have your wicked way with me against a tree, Gaelan?” I laugh, and he looks down at me, his eyes flashing bright blue.
“Yes.” He says it so simply that it makes me flush. “But after I show you something.”
He leads me farther into the tree line. The faint sound of water trickles in the background. The woodland is bright green, the trees so tall I can’t see the tops of them. There are no animals that I can see, but the feeling of being watched rushes through me, making me shiver. Up ahead, I see a small wooden cabinet sitting next to a flowing river. Gaelan lets go of my hands, and I keep walking forward, almost as if it’s calling to me.
I run my hand over one of the tree trunks and pause when I feel something carved into it. I turn to look and see the letters “G” and “M” in a heart. My fingers trace over it and smile, feeling love wash over me.
“Love.”
“So peaceful here.”
“He is ours.”
“Gaelan, I miss you.”
The voices in my head are echoes, as if I’ve said those words before, and I did —in my past lives. I move past this tree andnotice that more of the trees have things carved into them; some have initials, some have symbols, and others have curved pictures.
“Gaelan, what is this place?” I ask him to look up and see him watching me intently.
“This is our place,” he replies as he walks over to me, looking down at the symbol carved into the tree. “This was a spell; it stopped working after you left. All the spells carved into these trees stopped working after you left.”
“From my book?” I reach out my hand and touch one of the symbols; it’s in the shape of a lightning bolt but has a circle around it. My fingers tingle, and it flashes gold under my touch. “Gaelan? Did you see that?” The gold flashes again and gets warmer under my hand.
“No, Ari, I’ve never been able to see your magic, no one can, not unless you let them.”
Frowning, I look up at him. “What do you mean?”
“You used to ask me all the time if I could see your spells. I never understood what you meant until one day you let me see them. You cast a spell, and the gold that burst from your hands was so beautiful.”
