Of Light and Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page B

faster, storming ahead of her.
    Charlotte frowned as her conscience began kicking her. She stopped and sighed, folding her arms across her chest again. She called after him. “But maybe we could hang out some other time. You know, when you can’t see my chest through my clothes?”
    He stopped, a crooked smile spreading across his face. So smug, and somehow, charming. “Sounds like a plan.” He chuckled. “Can I at least give you a ride you home, then?”
    “I don’t know—”
    “I promise it will be faster than walking.” He gestured to a large, brown mare grazing just outside where the dense thicket of trees ended.
    Before Charlotte had the chance to refuse, Aiden was tugging her by the hand toward the horse. He mounted easily, held out his strong forearm to her, offering to pull her up. She looked at him and then at the horse uneasily.
    “I promise she’s safe.” He smiled and patted the horse’s rump behind him.
    “Don't look. Turn around!” Charlotte demanded.
    Aiden rolled his eyes and turned his face, his hand still extended to her. She reluctantly took it, and he yanked her up behind him in one, easy motion.
    “Hold on tight.” He grabbed at the reins, and the horse began trotting. Charlotte lurched forward, unsteady, and wrapped her arms around Aiden’s waist. “Are you all right back there?”
    “Shut up.”
    He dug the back of his boots in to the horse’s rear, and they picked up speed. It seemed to fly more swiftly than any other horse possibly could, bursting onto the country road like a bullet.
    Wind rushed through Charlotte’s hair, whipping her curls dry, tangling them. Getting those knots to come out was not something she was looking forward to doing later.
    Aiden’s stomach muscles tensed beneath her fingers as he leaned forward, making the horse move impossibly faster beneath them. Hooves kicked up dirt as the sun and wind dried their clothes. They raced past the farmer’s fields and the hills with the wildflowers. The speed, paired with the heat of the waning summer was like a drug, and Charlotte burst out laughing.
    “What is it?” Aiden called out to her.
    “I just can’t believe you found me that way!”
    When they reached the large iron gate which marked the entrance into the Bohemian Occult, the horse slowed to a trot. The sun had disappeared behind clumps of gray clouds gathering again, creating a gloomy veil around the false graveyard. Charlotte stayed with her arms wrapped tightly around Aiden, her skin prickling.
    “You really shouldn’t sneak out anymore. Edwin told me the Regime is keeping a closer eye on the borders,” Charlotte warned.
    Aiden chuckled. “You’re breaking a more important law by living here. Don’t you think?”
    He was right. No human was ever supposed to know about the hidden cities. It was amazing for her to think about the fact, in all of her years of living here, she had not yet been caught—even though she crossed the borders so many nights. Something was very odd about that. Technically, Valek could be killed for smuggling and rebellion. But Charlotte and Aiden used to go to her clearing in the woods all the time together when they were younger, when things were less complicated. But rumors of Occult people being arrested for crossing the borders were surfacing all over now, and Aiden rarely left anymore.
    The two were silent, with the exception of the horse’s hooves crunching in the leaves. There was an eerie, watchful feeling among the tombstones and even though they both knew the graves weren’t real, Charlotte tightened her grip around the Elf.
    Aiden chuckled again. “What? Are you afraid?”
    She wrinkled her nose. “Of what?” She sneered. “Monsters?”
    They both laughed nervously. The silence circled them, as Aiden’s gears seemed to crank in his mind.
    “Does Valek realize he is risking both of your necks every time he sends you to the outside for him?”
    Charlotte was surprised by his bold change of subject.