Entralled Read Free Page A

useless. Engaged didn't mean family. She wasn't even
listed as Caden's next of kin. Not yet. Why hadn't they married
sooner?
    "He's being treated. He has a very bad fever, they're trying to
bring it down," said Matthew. "We'd only be in the way."
    Abigail didn't hear the rest as she dashed down the corridor to
Caden's room. Caden was lying in the bed, leather restraints on his
wrists and ankles. He was naked except for a pair of white boxer
shorts.
    There was a large bucket of iced water on the floor and two nurses
were sponging him down. He struggled against the restraints and she
wasn't sure whether his hair was wet from the water or from sweat.
    A doctor was busy taking notes and not even looking at Caden. As if
Caden was nothing more than a chore. As if he didn't even care.
    "Help him!" demanded Abigail and the doctor peered at her
over the rim of his glasses.
    "Who are you?" he asked imperiously.
    "Detective Abigail Harte. We're engaged. He's my partner." And my everything .
    "Pardon?" asked the doctor and Abigail realised she'd said
that last bit out loud.
    "What's wrong with him?" asked Abigail, calmer now.
    "I'm sorry, we just don't know," replied the doctor,
referring once again to his notes. Abigail felt like ripping the
clipboard from his hands and throwing it across the room. She just
felt so helpless, so useless. Surely there must be something she
could do? She wished now she'd trained as a doctor instead of a
detective.
    Suddenly the door to Caden's room was thrust open, revealing Matthew
in a struggle with a rather thin man. The man's hair was sticking up,
as though he had just been dragged through a bush. His eyes were
wild, darting about the room until they came to rest on Abigail.
    "You," she gasped. "You were there."
    "Yes. We both know what ails him," replied the stranger. On
the bed, Caden groaned and shrieked a word that chilled Abigail to
the bone.
    "CELESTE!"

    *
    It took some fast talking on Abigail's apart to convince Matthew that
she would be perfectly safe taking this strange man home to her
apartment.
    "Did you ever tell me your name?" asked Abigail. "I'm
sorry. I can't remember it."
    "It is Tom," said the man, staring with awe at her light
switch. He waved a hand towards it but refrained from touching it.
"What magic is this? That light obeys your will? Are you a god?"
    "No, it's electricity. Like lightning."
    "You can control lightning? Then surely you must be a god!"
    "Please, Tom, just drop it. I am not a god. I only want to help
him. What's wrong with him and how can I fix it."
    "You cannot. You know what ails him and you know that you are
not the means to save him. He burns for Celeste. There is no other
cure."
    "There must be! Why else are you here?"
    "Linden sent me to fetch you."
    "Then he knows of a cure?"
    "There is only one cure and you will not like it."
    "Tell me!" roared Abigail and backed hom against the wall.
He was so thin that one hand was enough. She dropped her hand,
ashamed. "I'm sorry."
    "I understand. He means everything to you, yes? That is why you
will not want to hear me. It will break your heart."
    "But it will cure Caden?" she dared not hope. Tom nodded.
    "The only cure for the fever is for Celeste to claim him as her
own. He must lie with her."
    Abigail felt icy fingers dance up and down her spine.
    "If Caden sleeps with Celeste, he will be cured?"
    "Yes. He will be cured."
    "But what? I hear a but in there."
    "If he lies with Celeste, he will no longer be part of your
world. He will be part of theirs and you will never see him again."
    "And if he doesn't sleep with her?"
    "Then the fevers will get more frequent, more intense until his
body can take no more and he will die."
    It was a choice but not a choice. Do nothing and watch Caden die
slowly before her eyes or take him to Celeste and lose him forever?
Neither choice had much appeal, and which would Caden want? Was he
really in love with Celeste or was it just a spell? And if it was a
spell, where could she find