Embrace the Night

Page 214



She opened her eyes and he was there, standing in the doorway across the room. He was tall and dark, like an image from one of her nightmares, and she wondered why she wasn't afraid, or at least surprised. And then she knew. She had been waiting for this moment ever since she ran out of the mansion a week ago.

"What are you doing here?"

His dark gray eyes seemed to burn into her own. "I've come for you." "What do you mean?"

"Can't you guess?"

She clutched the blanket tighter, her eyes widening in fearful understanding. Slowly, she shook her head, refusing to believe what she saw in his eyes.

And then he was lifting her off the sofa, though she had no recollection of seeing him move.

His arms were hard and unyielding as he carried her out of the house, blanket and all. And then they were moving through the night with blinding speed. Tears stung her eyes. Stores and houses and people blurred together in a mass of color.

And suddenly they were at the mansion, in the parlor, and she was sitting in the chair in front of the fireplace with no recollection of how she'd gotten there.

She saw Gabriel glance over his shoulder; there was a soft whooshing sound, and a fire appeared in the hearth.

Magic, she thought. It was some kind of magic.

"Look at me," he said, and his voice seemed to echo off the walls of the room, of her mind, her heart.
Hands clasped to keep them from shaking, she met his gaze.

"I've thought of nothing but you this past week," he said, not sounding very happy about it. "Only you."
"I… I've thought of you, too."

"Have you?"

Did she detect a note of hope in his voice? "Yes."
"Do you dream, Sarah?"

"Of course. Everyone dreams."

"Not everyone," he murmured. "Tell me of your dreams."

"Is that why you brought me here?" she asked, her voice tinged with sarcasm. "To listen to my dreams?"