Linda O. Johnston by The Glass Slipper

Author:The Glass Slipper
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-06-04T14:04:29+00:00

* * *

Chapter Fourteen

Paige refused to leave. “This can’t be it,” she insisted. Swallowing her distaste for the decrepit state of the mansion, she grabbed Niko’s hand and dragged him from room to room. Through dark, hot hallways they followed their flashlight beams, sweeping sheets of cottony cobwebs out of their way. Paige could hardly breathe as the disturbed dust clogged the air. They entered rooms where furniture, smelling of birds’ nests and rodent-droppings, sagged and rotted. They climbed stone stairways covered in carpets so threadbare that they consisted of matted patches of threads. Only their footsteps sounded in the stillness of the huge, empty house.

They discovered several more archways, but none was decorated with the design on Niko’s ring. “Give it up, Paige,” he finally said as they peered into the last bedroom on the second floor. “I never give up.”

“I know.” His tone was so tender that Paige looked at him, startled. He regarded her with those marvelous deep, dark eyes. They sparkled with something that, if she hadn’t known better, she’d have identified as admiration.

She swallowed, her gaze as trapped as if she’d been a panicky deer pinned by headlights on a dark country road. Biting her lower lip, she cleared her throat, then coughed into her hand. “Dust,” she explained, though it had been strictly a measure of salvation. It gave her an excuse to look away.

“Ready to leave?” His voice was gentle.

She nodded slowly, furious at the feeling of defeat. “This can’t be all.” She pulled the swan pendant from where it dangled atop her T-shirt. Niko took her free hand and led her, flashlight in hand, toward the stairway that would take them back downstairs.

“It’s all that’s left,” Niko contradicted her. “I won’t believe it.”

“You’ve no reason to believe otherwise.”

“The legends,” Paige persisted. “Your people believe Les Fabuleux existed. Still exist. And you have to believe in your people.”

Niko said nothing more until they’d returned to the rear courtyard. Then he took Paige by the elbow and swung her around so he could look her in the eye once more. “Legends are simply that,” he said sternly. “Stones. Lies that people want to believe in so badly that they do. Just like all other kinds of superstitions—unbelievable and unreal.”

Flinching, Paige looked over his shoulder. The last time Niko had expressed incredulity at the incredible, Millicent had retaliated. She couldn’t have followed them all the way here, could she? But she’d followed Paige to Dargentia. Would they be bothered with a blizzard of butterflies here?

Fortunately, nothing happened. Still, Paige didn’t relax her shoulders until she settled herself in the seat of the Fiat. Niko shut the car door behind her. She felt gritty and covered with cobwebs, almost ashamed to ride in even the most mundane of Niko’s cars. But he didn’t hesitate before climbing in himself, and his jeans and T-shirt were as filthy as hers.

She watched him as he turned the key in the ignition and put the car into gear. He sat tall and erect in his seat, staring straight ahead.

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.