The Knight of Her Dreams (Dragons and Dreamphasers) Read Online Free PDF Page A

wishing for a person I’ve only dreamed of! her mind
mocked her.   As if a star can really create someone out of thin air.
    A bright flash of light illuminated the window,
startling her.  Lightning! she thought instinctively, hurriedly drawing
the curtains closed.  Soon afterwards, she did a doubletake.  That can’t be
lightning, she mused.  No thunder followed, nor had any storm been
mentioned in the evening’s weather forecast.  Obviously, her imagination had
simply hallucinated.
    Yet even so, she felt oddly disturbed, cautiously
moving the curtain aside to glance once more at the now quiet and serene stars
above—all present and normal as ever—and wondered if someone up there was
playing tricks on her.
    A lot of people seemed to down here, so why not
from heaven above too!
    Her fear receding, Julianna saw an unfamiliar
star, which seemed like it was right outside her window.  The ever-twinkling
star soon intrigued her to the point that she couldn’t take her eyes from it,
pressing her hand against the window.  And since she’d made it a habit of
naming bright stars that stood out, she smiled, with a whispered name to
remember it by...
    “Dominick.”
    As if hearing her, the star seemed to twinkle
brighter with acknowledgment, but Julianna was too tired to take notice.  Half-shutting
the curtain, she climbed into bed, picking up her latest romance novel.
    After reading about ten pages, the novel began to
remind her of what she was missing in her life.  Something always made worse
during cold nights like this one.  Finally, she dropped the book and turned
over on her side, tears of loneliness filling her eyes.
    “I suppose the only Dominick I’ll ever find is
one I dream of,” she said with a sigh.  Brushing a hand against her eyes to
clear them, Julianna slowly felt sleep tugging at her.  Sniffing one last time
as her breathing became more even, she whispered semiconsciously, “Oh,
Dominick, if only you were real and you could take this pain away.”
    One hand slid down the pillow as her features
relaxed completely in slumber.
    For a few minutes, all was quiet in the
darkness.  Then abruptly, a bright light shone as the newly named star appeared
beside Julianna’s sleeping form.
    While asleep, she had absolutely no awareness of
its presence, as it now blinked chaotically beside her.  Nor had she noticed
when it dimmed its light earlier to float through the glass window of her room.
    Dimming its light again, as if not to wake her,
the star now hovered over where the book had fallen—cover side up—and then
slowly floated back to Julianna.
    Blinking brightly again, she still remained lost
in slumber.  As if satisfied, the star blinked thrice more in rapid succession.
    Just before it abruptly winked out of view.

Chapter Two
     
    Where the
hell am I? wondered Julianna.
    It appeared to
be a ballroom.
    An odd ballroom with walls of mirrors.
    All the people surrounding her were attired in
clothes and gowns out of the early nineteenth century.  Glancing down at her
own attire, she found herself similarly dressed in a long gown of creamy white
with lace frills, which complemented her reddish-brown hair that fell loosely
about her shoulders.  It almost looked like something out of a romance novel,
leaving her perplexed at how she’d gotten here.
    Not wanting to appear unsociable, she nodded to
several unfamiliar people, wishing that she wasn’t quite so alone and
friendless in this strange place.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw
someone laughing while casting his eye in her direction.  The man in question
was laughing with two gentlemen beside him.
    Turning to a well-dressed gentleman beside her,
she tapped his shoulder and asked, “Who is that?”
    The man gave her a casual glance, and then looked
ahead to where she pointed.  “Are you referring to the man in black, my dear?”
    She was about to nod, but before she could get a
closer look, the stranger suddenly darted away, whisking