Honoria Ravena Read Online Free PDF Page B

two-point-five kids shoved into the minivan.
    I’d never liked children and never wanted them.
    A nurse burst through the door. “Visiting hours are over, young man. It’s time for her medication anyway. She needs rest.” Her smile was directed at me. “Though it is nice to see you’re awake.”
    Jason kissed me on the forehead as the nurse left the room, presumably to get my medication.
    I handed Jason his jacket, and he turned to leave. “Why did you bring your coat anyway? It must be a hundred degrees outside.”
    He paused at the doorway but didn’t face me. “Hospitals are always cold,” he murmured, almost too quiet for me to hear. Lord knows we’d been in plenty of hospitals both as visitors and patients. He tapped the doorframe once with his knuckle as if he wanted to say more before he slipped out of sight.
    I slid down in bed and stared at the ceiling. My eyelids drooped. Sleep called to me. At least here, I could get a little rest.
     
    ***
     
    I stood on a stone terrace overlooking the ocean. I watched the waves crash against the cliff below. The sweet fragrance of night-blooming jasmine filled the air.
    Thunder echoed around me. The scent of rain was clean and fresh as the clouds rolled in overhead.
    I was wrapped in a white toga, an elegant brooch holding it in place at my shoulder. My hands went to my hair. It was coiled in some fancy way, a few delicate ringlets brushing my shoulders.
    The storm broke, and rain splashed onto the slabs of stone. The cold drops hit my skin, goose bumps rose, but I made no move to go inside.
    “Regan,” the wind seemed to whisper. “Come to me.”
    I spun around. Zarek stood in the doorway of the large villa, highlighted by the glow of candles. Even though the planes of his face were cast in shadow, I knew it was him.
    “Come to me. Let me keep you warm.”
    I shivered and took a step toward him, but I jerked to a stop. I had the overwhelming sense that if I went to him, I would lose something. I wasn’t sure what, but I had to resist him.
    “Come to me, Regan. It’s cold out there. And in weather like this, it isn’t safe.”
    The ground trembled at his words, as if to prove his point.
    His eyes glowed in the darkness as we locked gazes. “Only death waits for you if you part from me. Come back to me.”
    As I stared, a little thrill of fear went down my spine. He was lying. He was death.
    I spun around, breaking the eye contact. I gripped the rail of the terrace, losing control. A part of me wanted to run to him, take what he offered. But no way.
    The ocean roiled beneath me. It turned the deep red of blood as it slammed against the cliff. The ground under me quaked violently. Pieces of the cliff broke away and tumbled into the sea of red below.
    I backed away from the railing just before it crumbled and fell into the waves. The wind whipped around me, tearing at my toga. I spun and shouted to Zarek over the wind, “You can sink this whole house, and I still won’t come to you.”
    His growl of rage sounded over the storm. The ground disintegrated beneath my feet, and I plummeted toward the red ocean.
    I jerked awake, sitting straight up in bed. I was drenched in sweat. A headache throbbed in my temples to the beat of my pulse.
    First the dream at the beach, then this nightmare. I hit the nurse call button. It was time to get the fuck out of this hospital and get some answers.
     
    ***
     
    I got dressed in spite of the protests of the nurses and my doctor. I was anxious to get out the hospital. Part of me wondered if Zarek could find me here, since he’d obviously been in my dreams. I couldn’t wait for him to just show up. There were too many innocent bystanders. And before I encountered him again, I had to have information, or I was bound to lose another fight.
    I’d made it past the front desk when I realized I had no transportation. I sighed and turned around to go use the telephone to call my brother when the nurse came rushing up to me.
    “You