Rhea jumped in response to the first touch of his fingertips against her arm. Her eyes flew open and she sat straight up
“Where am I?”
“You’re asleep,” came the man’s deep voiced reply.
Rhea quickly glanced about her surroundings. White billows blocked her view on all sides. She felt as though she floated on a cloud.
She held her hand out before her. Her fingers look fuzzy, as though her vision weren’t quite clear. She turned it over, brought it a little closer to her face, then gently placed it down next to her hip. Her palm contacted smooth satin.
Rhea’s gaze dropped to the strange surface upon which she sat. She pressed downward with her palm. Ashen puffs of smoke swirled up into the air and the surface gave, letting her hand sink into a shimmering pool of silk.
She jerked her arm back, quickly looked her hand over, then dropped it into her lap. “Am I dreaming?”
Another brush against her shoulder caused her to yelp in alarm. She whipped around, but no one was there, just another poof of iridescent vapor that roiled toward her, then faded out until it dissipated into the hazy background.
“Show yourself!”
A wave of heat washed over her face as his masculine chuckle warmed the air. “Are you sure you’re ready for that, Rhea?”
Rhea struggled to her feet, fumbling and veering as the surface beneath her bounced and rolled. She felt like she was inside once of those gigantic moonwalks at the carnival, much like the ones she used to love as a kid.
Only, this was no amusement park. There were no rides, no balloons, no booths of greasy foods fit to clog your veins with cholesterol galore. No, this was an unearthly place, harboring something strange and inhuman. And Rhea didn’t much like it.
Not knowing what else to do, but unwilling to wait until the thing that brought her here tired of his game, Rhea started to walk. She’d only made it a step or two when the swaying surface beneath her feet welled up into a big wave and tossed her backward. She cried out in alarm before landing on a pallet of downy pillows. More puffs of ashy smoke escaped into the air above her.
Rhea scrambled to her hands and knees. “What do you want?” Her breath hitched in her chest as fear gripped her innards.
A chilling silence surrounded her.
“What do you want?” she repeated, trying to sound braver than she felt.
She felt movement through her hair. Finger’s started at the base of her skull and slowly slid up her scalp to the crown, then slipped free. Rhea held her breath.
“The question is, what do you want, Rhea?” His voice was next to her ear. She felt the sweep of his breath upon her cheek.
Rhea spun around, but he was gone once again in another puff. Glittering sparkles briefly hung in the air where his form had been, the only proof that someone or something had recently fled. She reached out to catch some of the shimmering dust within her palm.
Ever so slowly, she opened her hand. As though the twinkling particles were alive, they spilled over the edges of her fingertips and crept up her arm, leaving a tingling trail in their wake.
Rhea squealed and tried to shake them free. But like a marching army of militant ants, they continued to swarm her skin until she felt their invasive tickle on every inch of her body. As the strangely enticing sensation moved down to the juncture of her thighs, Rhea panicked.
“Stop it!”
The feeling instantly ceased and the sparkles disappeared. His amused laughter filled the air once again. Taunting. Teasing.
“Why did you bring me here if you’re merely going to hide behind a shroud of smoke and play these childish games? Guardian? Is that who you are? Or do you have another name?”
The hand tangled in her hair once again, only there was no tenderness in the way it yanked her head back. Rhea screamed, more in shock than pain. Then she slung her fist upward and back.
Her knuckles slipped through the mist like a knife through melted butter, contacting nothing but air. When he seized her wrist to prevent any more blows, Rhea let out a terrified yelp. Helpless, she could do no more than lay there, imprisoned within an invisible, yet steely grasp.
“You wouldn’t like me in this state, Rhea.” His voice was suddenly angry, harsh. Too frightened to look upon the thing that held her, Rhea squeezed her eyes shut as the shimmering particles returned and slowly began to take shape.
She felt his mouth hover above her neck. A sweep of heat. Then a quick searing sting that was gone almost as soon as it started. Rhea inhaled sharply.
“What...do you…want?” she choked out.
He released her wrist and his fingers loosened in her hair. “Only to give you what you need.”
I hope you enjoyed this small excerpt.
If you'd like to read more, just click on the link to Chapter 1.
