Page 20 of Rekindled Prophecy

Her field of vision shrank into a tight tunnel. Deprived of oxygen, she’d soon black out. A fire burned in her chest. What she needed was enough momentum to fling them both into the murky pond.

Using the few precious seconds she may have left in this world, Greylyn centered herself to gather all her strength. Calling on her own inner light, she lumbered forward as an untapped well of energy burst open. One final push propelled her over the rocks and into the frigid, aphotic water. The instant her body broke the lily-pad-covered surface, the pressure on her throat released, followed by a shattering pain as her head struck a protruding rock. The relief was great, but she still could not take a breath to refill her lungs. The icy water shocked her senses like a defibrillator to her chest.

She was part angel, but her body was still human and would need oxygen soon. As if a vivid reminder of that fact, the fire in her chest flared. Her body convulsed with the necessity to open her mouth and gulp air but doing so would only flood her lungs with murky water.

Clinging to a slimy rock ledge just underneath the surface, her eyes peered up to see what the shadow was doing. All it had to do was wait for her to re-emerge, or simply let her drown. The black form hovered just at the edge of the pond, swaying as if blown by a turbulent breeze. It planned to wait her out.

Panic set in as seconds dragged into minutes. Silently she chided herself for not thinking through this particular course of action. The water? She chose the ice-cold, algae-infested water. Splendid idea! And yet, what else could she have done? Why had she not turned on the porch light when she came back to her room?

A lot of questions, and no good answers. Everything was in complete darkness. She had been so distracted by the playback reel in her head of Kael and his dreamy eyes, and his firm derriere, she had not sensed the inevitable danger of the pitch-black night, nor had she felt the shadow’s presence until it was too late.

Looks like Kael will be the death of me.

Her vision narrowed further as she contemplated something she had seen on a cartoon once – the character used the stem of a lily pad to breathe while in the water. Somehow, she doubted that would work. All she needed was a one well-positioned ray of light and she could make a break for safety.

Another shadow appeared beside the creature. This one had more substance to it. Probably Kael checking on his pet, making sure it finished her off. Funny, she had always thought he would delight in being the one to finally succeed in killing her. Having a flunky do the job seemed a copout.

The inky blackness filled her vision completely. Her grip on the rocks slipped. Just before succumbing to the abyss something grabbed her hands and hauled her to the surface with brute force. Startled koi swam past. Strong muscular arms pulled her up and over the edge of the rocks lining the pond to lay her gently down in the grass.

After gulping in as much of the heavy, humid air as her lungs would hold, she pushed herself up to a sitting position with trembling arms. Covered in algae, with a stray lily pad wrapped around her leg, her eyes darted around for any sign of the shadow. It was nowhere to be found. Satisfied it had disappeared, she glared up at Kael.

He knelt beside her with what looked like a genuine expression of concern. She had seen that look before but would not allow herself to be fooled.

Silence spread like a virus. Not even the frogs croaked. She waited for him to spring his trap since she was in the perfect weakened position for him to take advantage. If he had been biding his time, waiting for his moment…this was it! The shadow had nearly drowned her. Now he could finish the job.

“Wish you had told me you liked moonlit swims, darling. I would’ve broughtmyswimsuit,” he chuckled. “Second thought, skinny dipping would be more fun.”

Ah, there is the smartass demon I know all too well.

“Seriously, though, could you please explain to me what you were thinking jumping into the koi pond to get rid of the shadow? It could’ve waited all night for you to re-emerge while you would’ve drowned in the meantime.” After a pause, he asked, “So why didn’t you simply swim away? With your speed, you could’ve stood a chance by climbing out the other side and running for the main house.”

Gulping in more fresh air, she stared down at herself and unraveled the lily pad from her leg before answering…truthfully.

“I don’t know how to swim.”

Kael grabbed her chin, forcing her to look into his deep eyes. His voice filled with laughter and bewilderment. “You’ve been walking this Earth for 450 years and you still can’t swim?”

Offended, she retorted, “Well, I’ve kinda been busy doing other things.”

“You mean to tell me that you simply couldn’t find the time to take a lesson or two at the local YMCA or something? Really? That’s just so…you.”

Her first impulse was to push herself up and stomp away. Too bad her knees buckled as she took her first step. She fell back, right into the strong upper body of her rescuer.

“Steady there, love,” his amused voice whispered into her ear.

A minute ago, she was chilled to the bone from the pond, now a bolt of extreme heat scorched every place her body touched his. Unable to move, Greylyn’s mind went foggy again. Kael stood up, carrying her body along with his own. His arms turned her around so they were face to face. Well, sort of…he was quite taller than her and had to hunch over to peer into her eyes.

She allowed him to guide her over to a wooden bench where they both sat down. Still, she could not look away. It was as if he held her in a trance. Perhaps he did. At the moment, she would have given anything to be able to discern what lay behind those swirling topaz pools. Had he just saved her or was this part of his game?

They sat on the bench, silent. Seemed like it could have been for seconds, or for hours. Their eyes remained locked until he moved to shrug off his shirt. Then her gaze fell to his smooth, ripped pectoral muscles and abs.

The tips of her fingers twitched as she fought the urge to reach up and trace the outline of his pectoral muscles, the smooth skin marred by a single scar running from just below his jugular notch to a point below his sternum. Without thinking, she raised her hand, on the verge of touching the jagged line. Kael dabbed at the blood dripping down her forehead with the shirt. She had completely forgotten she hit her head on the side of the pond. A blow to the head of that magnitude would have caused a human to lose consciousness, resulting in, at best, a bad concussion.

That’s why I am acting so strangely. Must be a concussion.

But Greylyn knew better. She did not get concussions, and the gash in her forehead would heal by morning. There would be no evidence of the incident when she saw Maureen for breakfast.

As it was, she was certain the dizzy sensation she experienced was more from Kael’s closeness than from the head injury. Not exactly a reassuring revelation.

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