The Beltane Witch (Cloudburst Colorado) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Panic surged, but she focused on Darius’ s face, his expression tight with worry. Why is he worried? Don’t ask questions, just keep walking.
    Sabrina loosened her grip just enough to slide along the prickly ropes, forcing her feet from one worn plank to the next. She kept her gaze locked on Darius’ eyes despite her pounding heart and burning lungs. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she pushed herself onward until she could reach his outstretched fingers.
    Sabrina gritted her teeth and flailed for his hand, desperate to reach him. When his warm fingers closed around her frozen skin, relief flooded through her as he drew her into his embrace.
    “There you go, acushla .” Darius gathered her into the folds of his coat as he wrapped his arms around her. “You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”
    As soon as she touched him, her lungs expanded and blessedly sweet air filled her chest. Her belly burned and her head ached, but everything paled before the wonderful ability to simply inhale. Never taking it for granted again.
    “I couldn’t breathe.” Her voice rasped no louder than a whisper, but any sound made her happy.
    “I know, acushla , but you’re all right now. Come, let’s get to solid ground.”
    Darius shifted his body to escort her the remaining steps to the terminus before the great tree, never releasing her waist. She kept her gaze focused on the hazy branches, but the scents of autumn leaves baking in the sunshine and pumpkin spices filled her nose. As much as she loved spring, the scents of the harvest season gave her comfort, and his natural scents, mixed with the leather he wore, brought the harvest alive.
    Goddess of all, he smells wonderful.
    “Sorry?”
    Crap. Did she say it aloud? “I said it smells wonderful here now that I can breathe.”
    “I’m glad you can . I thought I’d lost you.” Darius’s voice sounded remarkably serious.
    “Lost me? So I was dying?” A sick feeling hit Sabrina’s stomach as she reached the tree, touching its marbled bark. “I was that close?”
    His teal eyes held no humor. “You stopped breathing when you hit your head.”
    Sabrina frowned. “I hit my head?”
    “In the coffee house.”
    She looked around at the misty environs. “Where are we now, then?”
    “At the bridge.”
    A rather obvious answer, but she realized he’d capitalized the first letters: The Bridge. She swallowed hard. “Like the Rainbow Bridge of Norse beliefs?”
    “The very same.”
    Sabrina looked back over her shoulder at the rope bridge disappearing into the mists. “I stood on the other side. I was on Tír na nÓg.”
    “Yes.”
    “Oh, Goddess, my children.” She clutched his shirt.
    “They are well, little witch, and so are you. But we must come back to the conscious world or there will be more trouble than just a little headache.”
    “What headache—”
    Pain bloomed like fireworks, lighting Sabrina’s head and her belly on fire. She gasped with the shock of it, opening her eyes. Worried faces filled her vision as sensation came back. The hard floor seeped cold into her shoulder blades while agony clawed at her stomach. She rolled her head and a sickening, wet sound filled her ears as if she lay in viscous liquid.
    “I’m here, acushla . Focus on me, just me.”
    Darius’ s voice grabbed her attention and she swung her gaze to him. She moaned as the room kept turning without her.
    “Tír na nÓg,” she whispered.
    “I know, acushla . But not yet.” He didn’t smile as his hand rubbed against the pain in her belly. “You’re needed here.”
    Everything hurt and the pain created a morass of sensation swamping her. Sabrina tried to focus on the individual points of agony, but they bled into each other.
    “I hurt.”
    “I know.” Darius’ s voice sounded soothing, but not patronizing.
    “Why?”
    “Do you remember the coffee?”
    Sabrina searched her memories , but she couldn’t find anything about coffee, only the drive to… Where am I