Bound by the Mist (Mists of Eria) Read Online Free PDF Page B

accurately describe filled his chest. He wanted to hug her, kiss her. He wanted to push her away as an abomination that shouldn’t exist in his world. Shock, relief, fear, anger, and happiness were all jumbled into those elusive sensations. Relian stopped short, taken aback by that last emotion.
    Happiness? He, being neither blind nor stupid, could reason through all the others, even the relief. His fate somehow entwined with hers. To what degree and for how long, he didn’t know. His dreams definitely hinted, no, screamed of an intimate relationship. It didn’t mean he had to like it, though. He frowned. No, he didn’t like it at all. She drew him as a moth to a shining beacon.
    But she was a human . A sneer curled his lip. How could he desire one of those? They were crass, bold, and loud. Unrefined, or so the tales went.
    Just then, the slight movement of her hand and a small sigh from her lips caught his attention. He stilled for a moment before melting back into the fog and waited. Soon they would meet.
    ***
    Cal groggily grabbed for a blanket that wasn’t there. Her eyes shot open. She wished she hadn’t bothered, because what she saw didn’t reassure her in the least.
    As she slowly rose to her feet, her legs trembled under her. A thick mist or fog surrounded her, and it...twinkled.
    She studied the mist with false calm and decided the effect was like that of flickering fireflies. The oddly beautiful but disturbing fog stretched out in all directions as far as she could see. There were no walls, floor, or ceiling, at least that she could find. As she didn’t plunge through the bottom, though, the mist had to be quite solid.
    As she swung her hand into a particularly dense patch, her fingers cut right through it. She scowled at the offending mist. Dare she say it? The mist felt and acted like...well...normal fog, except for where it served as a floor. Could this be the same one she’d seen throughout the years?
    Pinching her cheek, she winced. Nope, she was awake, though she couldn’t be too sure of anything else. Cal dropped her hand back to her side, while she looked around. Her brain felt fuzzy. Where was she? There had to be a door out of here. She couldn’t miss her theory class, because she really needed a good grade.
    The disjointed thoughts rushed through her head, almost startling her out of her stupor. She stifled a hysterical giggle. None of this was very logical, but it was all she could manage.
    All too soon, reality crashed down, hard. Panic followed behind like a close friend. If there had been walls, they would’ve been closing in on her, crushing and suffocating her. Oh, god. Oh, god.
    “My lady, who are you, and what are we doing here?”An elegant sounding voice icily cut into Cal’s thoughts, disrupting her comforting mantra and returning her to the mist.
    The voice, it was...it sounded....
    She froze before she jerked around. In spite of the mist, she instantly recognized that noble face and bearing. That hair, there was no mistaking it.
    Arctic air infiltrated her veins, and she felt her features go slack.
    Thinking to clear her eyes, she rubbed them. The reason for all her therapy still stood in front of her,the very same one from her dreams, from the glen. Her throat strangled any words that tried to form. But he’d demanded an answer from her, along with her name. Even though old tales concerning the power of names blared in her head, she couldn’t resist his pull.
    “I...Cal Warner.” She hesitated and floundered for something else to add until she decided he could offer up the same information. After all, if his knowing her name put her at a disadvantage, she would do her best to level the playing field. “And you, your name, I mean?”
    “I am Relian, of the Erian Elves.”
    That was undeniably the voice from her dreams. There’d always been a definite accent to the voice, but she’d never the wherewithal to place its origin.
    “Elves?” She laughed nervously, placing a