Heir to the Underworld (Suffer a Witch to Reign Book 1) by D.H. Dawson

Author:D.H. Dawson [Dawson, D.H.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2021-03-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Carmen

My hand in Cristian’s feels like it’s weighed down by a sturdy anchor. I stare up at the boundary nervously before we pass through. He keeps me grounded, focused, and a little less afraid of what this day will bring in a strange new realm. I don’t like the idea that I need someone to hold my hand for me to feel safer, but it’s part of Cristian’s job to protect me, so I ignore it. I step up to the boundary, closer than I’ve ever been, and pass through.

As I walk through the barrier, something stops me cold. I freeze and my body goes numb. I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes out. My vision goes black until something eerily familiar comes into view. The figure of my nightmares walks toward me.

‘Is this a dream?’ My voice is hoarse and shaky.

The figure’s angular-planed face moves as he shakes his head. ‘No. You and I share a connection. Through magic, I can reach you any time, like the day the Knights breached your realm.’ His voice is low, almost meditative.

‘What do you want? Why am I seeing you now?’ This figure seems only to want to taunt me, but how? How can I be connected to this person?

For the first time, he moves so that his whole face is cast into firelight, and I can see every line. His features are smooth, his eyes and mouth unlined, though I would still guess he was my father’s age. He has a full head of black hair, braided down the back of his head, a little past the top of his spine. His brows are dark and bushy, beard full but neat. He doesn’t look evil, not by appearance, but by energy. ‘You know who I am?’

‘Some dark figment of my imagination,’ I spit out. ‘Let me go. Release me of this vision.’

‘It’s true, I hold you here, but not for the nefarious reasons you may expect. Carmen, I am warning you. Do not use your magic in this foreign realm.’ He comes closer to me, and I can see how dark his eyes are—shining and black, infinite pools of darkness. ‘You and your witch friends will suffer immeasurably if you are caught using magic of any kind, do you understand?’

My mouth goes dry. ‘Why would you give me such a warning?’

He says nothing. He reaches out and grasps my shoulder. I cannot move, nor flinch from his strange touch. I would have thought his grip would be cold, but his hand is warm through the fabric of my cloak. His gaze meets mine, level and dark.

It ends as quickly as it began, and I stumble through the barrier, hands on my knees to catch my breath. I end up choking and coughing out smoke I’d barely noticed in the vision.

‘Carmen?’ Cristian kneels to better look up into my face. ‘Are you okay?’

I open my mouth to ask, ‘Did you see him?’ But snap it shut. Of course he didn’t, and what a dangerous, stupid thing to say.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.