Familiar Strangers Read Free

her. His prize would have been her father’s money and land. She was a convenient means to an end. Nothing more.
    She cursed, using up her precious store of oxygen. Black dots danced before her eyes and her head burned with a strange heat.
    No, she pleaded silently. Please, not this way.
    Too late. She felt the weakening of her legs and arms. She had nothing left inside to fight with. The dots grew and merged until they filled her vision.
    A white light appeared out of the rain, prompting her to move closer. The glow intensified until it eclipsed the darkness, sheltering her within a cocoon of safety and warmth. Like being placed in a protective bubble, her face no longer ached from the force of his blows, the burning in her lungs for life-giving oxygen now ebbed and the pain from her heart floated out on the wings of the wind.
    Although she knew Colin’s words to be false and his heart closed, she had given herself to him. Even now, in light of his deceit, she couldn’t reclaim her heart and soul, for they had been given truly and without strings.
    Colin.
    Before the light completely surrounded her, Norah made one last conscious vow. “This is not over. Find me Colin, no matter the distance or time, find me. My love will guide you. Remember all we have shared. I’ll carry the pain of your betrayal and lies beyond my death. Upon my blood this I vow.” Gasping for air that did not come, she surrendered to the light.
    Rupert felt the power and life draining from her body as he tightened the ribbon around her throat. There was an erotic fascination when he felt her struggles stop, caused by her life force abandoning the shell of her body. He could hear the hag chanting back in the woods. This is what he’d planned. If he couldn’t have Norah’s body, he would settle for stealing her soul.
    What started as a tingle at his fingers quickly spread to his arms and chest. Yes, this is what he needed. Power and energy shocked his system and made him crave more from her. The transition was almost complete. Her soul had been almost totally immersed within the darkness of him.
    Abruptly, the night was shattered by a crash of lighting over his head. The harsh white illuminated the night, the center seeming to enclose Norah in a shielding cocoon.
    Rupert screeched in anger, feeling her life force ripped from him. He was losing her. It shouldn’t have been possible to lose what he’d already gained. “No!” he screamed into the night. “Damn you to an eternity in hell, Norah! You won’t win this. Your soul will be mine.”
    Another burst of lighting cracked overhead, splitting the tree directly behind him. The wind picked up speed and strength, and rain poured from the sky. The heart of the storm seemed to force itself upon him.
    He could remain here no longer. What power he had tried to steal from the woman lying dead in his arms was no longer his to take. Somehow she had managed to thwart him from beyond death.
    The bond between the two lovers still existed.
    Rising slowly to his feet, Rupert cautiously looked around. It was impossible to see anything beyond a few feet because of the pounding rain. He wanted to make sure there would be no witness on the morrow.
    Walking away, he spared no second glance at Norah’s body. He’d failed to take what he had killed her for, but swore it would not end here. “I shall find you one day, my lady. Then I will take the very essence of your being and make it mine. Till that day, may you and your cursed lover forever remain beyond one another’s reach.”
    He was swallowed into the darkness, never noticing the rain abating and winds calming the further he walked away. The landscape was now filled with great sadness. Not a branch moved or a leaf fluttered, as if the world mourned more than just the passing of a woman, but the death of innocence itself.

Chapter Two
    Present Day
    There it was again. The female laughter trickled from somewhere to his right. For the past ten minutes, Galen