Page 37 of Rekindled Prophecy

Damn! Was that the wolf? Again?

She scanned the deserted highway. Nothing. Shrugging the incident off, Greylyn edged the car back onto the road. A little more slowly this time in case more animals were waiting for their kamikaze runs.

Moments later, she was lost in her own thoughts. Still too many questions. Still not enough answers. Well, at least Kelly and the child were thoroughly protected…for the time being.

Sofia had said that she could feel the energy and power exuding from the unborn baby, even months ago, when Kelly just found out she was pregnant. That certainly coincided with what Greylyn felt when she first met the young woman. Wouldn’t that indicate something more powerful going on with this little one? The psychicalso said that she felt or saw a similar, but not as powerful, aura from Kelly herself. Something had made her first child a target for evil. Perhaps the point was to drive Kelly to forsake good for evil by taking away the one thing she so desperately wanted – children.

But then why would the unborn baby have such a strong aura himself? Would all of Kelly’s children be as strong as this one? Was there something in her bloodline that led to this situation?

Greylyn had heard of ancient bloodlines of prophets or saints carrying into modern times. Persons from those bloodlines were blessed above others with special gifts, all for the betterment of man and the glory of God. Perhaps this was the case. If so, Kelly was oblivious to it.

The dawn sky edged on full morning. Greylyn called Thomas to report on the evening’s events and ask him to continue researching. Of course, he was sleeping so she left a message.

Her brain was too muddled to figure out this mystery right now. The past twenty-four hours played out in jumbled video clips in her mind. She was so distracted by her thoughts that she nearly missed her exit off the main highway. Swerving over to the right to make the turn, the tires skidded. The return trip had been made in record time. She did not even remember the drive. Only a couple more minutes to Gaelic Haven.

Please let everyone still be asleep when I get there.

All she wanted was to get a steaming shower and curl up in the comfy, queen-size bed. It would be a long day tomorrow, but Greylyn still had to make sure Kael, or any other evil creature, did no harm. She wanted confirmation that Kelly and her child were indeed safe now after the revived protection spell.

Just as a small ray of early morning sun peeked between the slate-gray clouds, the shadowy outline of Gaelic Haven came into view. There were no lights on in either building. Breathing a sigh of relief, she tiptoed from the car to the Carriage House and opened the foyer door without so much as a creak.

“Didn’t realize you were such a partier, Greylyn. If I had known you wanted to party all night, I could’ve joined you.”

She froze in place. Despite the sarcasm, there was an underlying tension behind his words, more clipped than usual. Greylyn did not know what to make of it and was too tired to care. Ignoring him, she reached for the door to her room.

The shadow at the top of the stairs pounced like a preying tiger to stand between her and the door. The little light that was available in the foyer from a small tabletop lantern reflected the gold in his eyes. No matter how she tried, there was no looking away.

How could she be this exhausted and still be so affected by his closeness?

Without warning, his hand came up to her face. She flinched. Instead of striking as she expected, his hand caressed the place just below her eye where she had been sliced earlier. His fingers softly moved over the now dried and crusted blood. Her skin warmed, as if she had stepped too close to a bonfire.

His eyes strayed back to her own. The pupils enlarged, registering alarm and something else she could not place. In a strained, gruff voice, he whispered through clenched teeth, “Who or what did this to you?”

It was difficult to think, much less speak, with Kael this close to her. His hand, still cupping her face, paralyzed her. Silently, in her head, she repeated, “This is the enemy. This is the enemy,” in an effort to free herself from his hypnotic gaze. It did not work.

The best she could manage was to say, “What’s the big deal? Worried that someone else might kill me before you’ve had your chance?”

She had wanted to sound sarcastic. Instead, her words came out more like a breathy whisper that ended with a pitiful squeak.

He leaned in closer, a mere inch or two from her face, his eyes locked on her own. “I don’t want to kill you, Greylyn. I would never allow anyone else to hurt you either. Haven’t you figured that out by now?”

The raw emotion in his voice brooked no argument. She could not comprehend how a dark guardian could even utter those words with a straight face. They were mortal enemies, but something deep inside her wanted to believe him. Needed to believe him. No, that would be too dangerous.

Mustering all her inner strength, she broke their eye contact. “Kael, it’s been a long night…” she started to sidestep around him to open the door. He could not get into her room due to the warding spells she had placed upon her arrival at the inn. Inside, she would be safe from him. Safe from what exactly, she did not have a clue. Safe from harm or safe from the longing desire she felt whenever he was near. At the moment, they were way too close. If she did not distance herself from him, Greylyn feared she would lose her resolve.

She reached for the doorknob and turned away from him.

He hissed, “What is that?” He grabbed her upper arm to keep her from escaping.

Following his stare, Greylyn looked down to see a large, crimson red stain along the side of her shirt.

Oh yeah, that…

She remembered the piercing pain as something stabbed her while she made a mad dash to Sofia’s apartment building. It had returned with a vengeance as she drove back along the interstate, but Kael’s presence had made her forget the pain, the exhaustion, everything.

A strong hand pinned her firmly against the wall while the other yanked her shirt up. Cursing under his breath, he took her arm to lead her upstairs.

She wrenched free of his grip and rushed to get past him to her room.