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.The conversation of his minions faded, leaving only the sound of excited breaths.The weekly dues had already been collected and now the assembled dilettantes waited breathlessly for the secret rites to progress and the planned debaucheries of the evening to begin.Raising his arms above his head, he repeated the words of Orpheus.His minions joined him…“Now you have died and now you have come into being.O thrice happy one, on this same day.Tell Perse phone that Orpheus has released you.”He had died, and now he was being reborn into a power that would shape the world, and inside his pocket, he felt the pendant vibrant with excitement.He would take back what was his.He would create a new world, and never again would he die.CHAPTER EIGHTAlone in the forest, I turned in circles, realizing at last that I was lost.An owl hooted in the distance, and the full moon hung low over the trees, which were bereft of leaves.The path was thick with mud, the wind cold and harsh, howling through the grove.I was in Death’s world now.Summoned by an unknown force—a need so pressing and compelling in the deepest part of night.That force had been Death, beckoning me silently, pulling at my body until I obeyed his unspoken command.He was an ever-present entity in my mind, my memory—and I fear for my soul.How could I forget him, the way he whirled me around the dance floor? How could I forget his kiss? I couldn’t.My body couldn’t.My body ached for more—it longed for Death and his dark embrace.How sweetly Death had enslaved me.How quickly he had lured me here, to his domain, where most mere mortals feared to tread.With Death’s kiss I had been consumed.I was consumed now, awaiting his arrival.Even if I desired to run from him, I could not, for my feet would not move, my dancing slippers caked with mud, glued me to the spot.The earth surrounding me was dark, quiet.Between the veil of the living and the dead, the mortals slumbered as midnight drew near, and I awaited my fate along with all the other souls whom Death would claim this night.Death would come for me tonight.I knew that.I felt his presence as it clung to the grove.I smelled him, a scent now so familiar to me.I should be weeping, fearing the inevitable, but as I waited for Death my heart began to race, my body, which had been cold, was now warming at just the thought of feeling Death pulling me into his intoxicating embrace.When would Death come for me?The wind gusted once more—violently, sending a rustle of leaves swirling, circling, like whirling dervishes.They brushed against my face, clung to my hair, and I raised my arms to fling them away.And then as suddenly as the vicious wind came, it stilled, and my arms fell away, and there, at the opposite end of the path which I stood upon was a white horse—riderless.It stomped and snorted, tossing its head up and down, as its giant hoof pawed at the ground.And then with one final snort, it began to run—to me.Where was Death? Would he not save me? Would he not gather me in his arms and protect me?He had kissed me once—so kindly, so tenderly, that I knew there was warmth in him.He was not cold and callous, but quiet.Reserved.Yet inside him, I glimpsed a soul, something I never dared dream Death would possess.But it was there, in his kiss, in the way his arms wrapped around me and embraced me.Where was he now? How could he lure me here, only to sacrifice me to the bounding hooves and the horse that was intent upon trampling me?Unable to do anything but stare in horror at the beast who would run me down, I stood frozen, the warmth leaving my body, as cold dread filled me.The moment of my doom was here, and I was alone.Death had tricked me.He tempted me into his forest, even though I knew that good girls should not be tempted.But Death was beautiful, his hands soft, his mouth against mine even softer.No mere mortal could refuse such beauty—the promise of such sublime pleasure.I had wanted that dance.The kiss, and the embrace that was certain to follow.I had wanted Death.How foolish I was to believe in him.What a fool I was, for I had shoved aside my morality for one night with Death, and he deceived me.Abandoned me.And now, because I was sinful in thought and action, I was going to die.This very night, in Death’s forest beneath the crushing hooves of Death’s mount.The earth thundered, and the sound of the horse’s powerful hooves echoed in my ears.My last thought as I felt the heat of the horse, the mist from his muzzle as it bore down upon me, was of Death, and how beautiful he was.How, if given the chance once more, I would still choose that dance.That kiss.In those last seconds, I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable, and then it happened.Time stood still as the horse’s heaving snorts shattered through the thundering ground.He was upon me, and I was thrown up, and the pain…it did not come as I thought it would.I was floating, and when I finally found the bravery to open my eyes, I saw that Death had claimed me, swooped me up in his arms and he was carrying me away.Death, how beautiful he was.How welcoming…I clasped his cheeks in my hands and opened my mouth to his.His pale eyes, those mesmerizing blue eyes with sea-green flecks, watched me.I shivered in awareness, understood that look.There was no going back.“Wherever you are,” he whispered as he lowered his head to claim my mouth.“I will find you…”The ringing of bells pierced the dream, and Isabella came awake with a start.The bells were the chimes of the library clock, the hour midnight.She was not alone.She sensed that.And when she opened her eyes, she discovered she was sitting bolt upright on the chaise longue.Her gaze flew to the right, to the wall behind where she sat, only to see that she truly was not alone.As the twelfth bell of midnight sounded, Isabella saw in the reflection of the mirror, the man in her dreams—Death.It was not Death, but Black.She wanted to scream, but the sound would not come out.It was midnight, the moment when darkness was at its height and light at its lowest ebb.The exact moment when the mortal realm was linked to the other worlds [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]