Page 117 of Once Upon A Haunted Castle
The weight of the old woman pulled hard against Senara, threatening to drag her over the edge as well. Far, far below Edana’s swinging legs were the sprawling expanse of the cobblestoned courtyard and the ruined vase and flowers. Four stories below.
Certain death to any who fell.
A gust of ice-cold wind flew at Senara’s back from the hallway door behind her and blew her cloak around her in great billowing folds. Edana screamed and tried fruitlessly to pull herself up.
Chills rose over Senara’s flesh in a reaction she was far too familiar with.
Balthasar.
And then he appeared beside her. It wasn’t the slow fade of his previous visits or the cast of his glowing eyes showing with more precision than did the rest of him. Nay, he appeared as if he were a man of true flesh and blood.
Edana’s eyes widened and she gave a sharp intake of breath.
Senara’s heart leapt and a soft, unintelligible cry emerged from her throat.
Balthasar’s eyes glowed with more rage, more vengeance than she’d ever seen. Prickles of fear raced over her skin, scraping over her like the cold edge of a blade.
He reached for her neck and something clicked at her throat.
The weight of Edana pulling at Senara’s cloak went slack and the old woman fell back into nothing with the cloak still clutched in her grasp. The clasp, which had been unfastened, flapped uselessly with the speed of her fall.
She screamed Balthasar’s name the entire way down, the cry so shrill, so haunting, Senara knew she would never stop hearing it for the rest of her life.
Balthasar looked directly into Senara’s eyes. The glow was gone from his stare and replaced by something kind and soft.
A sense of peace washed over her, bathing her in a calm which slowed her heart and brought a gentle warmth to her soul. He bowed his head in reverence and disappeared from view.
“Senara?”
She spun around to see Gavin racing through the doorway toward her. Her heart didn’t slam with uncertainty, not with the fierce note of desperation gleaming in his eyes.
“Are ye all right?” Concern narrowed his tender gaze.
She nodded, unable to speak for the tightness in her throat.
He stared toward the window, the color of his face somewhat diminished. “Was that him?”
“Aye,” Senara whispered. “That was Balthasar, but I dinna think we’ll be seeing him again.” The certainty of her words filled her with the same tangible emotion as did the peace he’d given her soul. “He has been avenged.”
*
Gavin clutched Senarain his arms as if he might lose her, for surely he almost had.
He’d arrived at Castle of Park just as Edana had dangled through the window. When he’d seen Senara leaning forward under the burden of his aunt, his heart had lodged itself in his throat.
In all the years he’d taken the stairs at Castle of Park, never had he cleared all four floors with such haste.
Shouts of alarm rose up from below the window where the servants were rushing to Edana’s aid. He hadn’t seen her fall, yet knew there would be no saving her. He had lived up to his father’s wish and protected her as best he could. She was the cause of his absence and, in the end, she was the cause of her own demise.
And in death, he would still see her protected, with a proper burial in consecrated ground.
The image of the monk with dark hair and gray eyes came into Gavin’s mind, as did the way he faded from view as if dissolving into the very air around them.
“He saved ye,” Gavin said. Relief tickled his chest where tension had gripped him only seconds before.
He’d almost lost her.
His beautiful Senara, who enriched his life with her confident joy. He reveled in the warmth of her body against his, the sweet sunshine scent of her hair, grateful to be touching her once more.
