Embrace the Night

Page 101



she found herself in was empty, but she thought it might have once been rather nice.

Holding her skirts away from the floor to keep them clean, she walked toward the next room. She could hear Maurice following her, his footsteps hesitant.

She walked through each room, and then turned to confront Maurice. "There's nothing here. I don't think anyone's lived here for years."

"Don't you feel it?"

"Feel what?"

With a shake of his head, Maurice grabbed Sara's hand and led her down the cellar stairs. As soon as they reached the door, he felt the short hairs rise along the back of his neck.

"Don't tell me you can't feel that?" he exclaimed.

"I'll tell you what I feel," Sara retorted. "I feel silly for listening to you."
"He's behind that door," Maurice said. "I know it."

"That's ridiculous. Gabriel's a wealthy man. What would he be doing here, in this old place?"
Yet even as she spoke the words, she remembered the deserted abbey in London. "Put your hand on the door and tell me what you feel."

Filled with a sudden sense of unease, Sara placed her hand on the door. And in that instant, she knew Maurice was right. Gabriel was behind that portal. She could feel his presence as strongly as she felt Maurice's hand on her shoulder.

But it wasn't a sense of evil that assailed her, but rather a sense of confusion and doubt. Why was he here?

"Gabriel?"
Be gone!

Itwas his voice, loud and clear in her mind. And in that moment, she didn't want to know why he was there, didn't want to know what secrets he was hiding.

"Do you feel it?" Maurice asked.

"No. Let's go."

"What's wrong?" Maurice asked. His fingers closed around the crucifix in his jacket pocket. It was large and costly, made of solid silver. "Why are you in such a hurry to leave?"

"We have a rehearsal this afternoon. I want to have time to eat lunch first. Come along, Maurice, there's nothing scary here."