Winter's Dream (The Hemlock Bay Series) Read Online Free PDF

“Pretty good,” he mused. “But I think I made it a little curlier.”
    A mirror across from the bed showed a young woman with long, bright curls. I put my hand up to my head and when she did the same I gasped. Soft, silken strands flowed from my scalp. Watching my reflection, I gathered my hair up and pulled it over my shoulder, noting it was just a bit longer and curlier. The color was back to the shiny copper it had been when I was visiting him every night. With a sigh I put it back over my shoulder and looked him in the eyes through the mirror. “It’s beautiful. Now undo it.”
    “Undo it?” he repeated, spinning me back to face him.
    “I’m pretty sure people would notice. How am I supposed to explain that?”
    “You’re not,” he said, rubbing his palm over my cheek.
    “What are you doing?” I gasped, trying pull my face back but I couldn’t break from his iron grasp. “I am not going to kiss you.”
    A little flare of pain flashed in his eyes. “I know that. I’m just fixing how you look.”
    Anger seared through me again and I broke his grasp. “Fixing how I look? Like you did before? Because I’m so ugly you have to touch my face up just to be able to look at me?” Tears sprang up in the corners of my eyes, infuriating me. I was not going to cry again.
    “That is not what happened last time,” he said, holding a hand over his heart. “I thought you understood that. I didn’t make those changes, they happened because you were coming over here. We look like this as a way to warn off humans.” I took in his sharp features, his too big luminescent eyes and admitted to myself his good looks were more than attractive, they were alarming. Jordan continued explaining while I drooled over him. “It protects them. How frightened were you when you saw my face in that room? That’s why I’m changing your face to look more like ours now, to scare people away.”
    I hesitated at his reasonable explanation. Well, as reasonable as a jinn could give. “Um, having every one run from me screaming would not be helpful.”
    He tilted his head, inspecting my cheekbones. “It’s subtle, just to keep the other people from bothering you.”
    I looked at him in surprise. “Wait, you’re taking me back?”
    He flushed a little. “Well, I’m not, I don’t know how. My uncle forbade me from learning. And ripping holes in reality isn’t exactly the best way to travel between worlds but it just happened when I realized …” He saw my confusion and halted his rambling explanation. “Yes, you are going back.”
    “Why?” Where was my hot-tempered Jordan who had to control everything?
    He sighed and squared his shoulders. “I told you. I play by your rules now.” His voice cracked just a little. “I know you hate me now but I promise I will make it up to you. We will be together again. The right way this time.”
    That broke through my anger and fear but not in a good way. “Jordan,” I said sadly. “I don’t hate you.” His brilliant smile pierced my heart. “But we are not going to be together again.”
    His smile didn’t dim. “I’ll change your mind.”
    I unconsciously rubbed my wrists, wondering if it could be changed after everything he had done.
    Jordan’s eyes widened a little as he caught a glance of the delicate scars left around my wrists after he burned off the bracelets. “Let me fix that,” he said, reaching for my hand.
    “No,” I said, snatching it back. “I want them to stay.” I needed them to stay, as a reminder.
    He seemed to take it as something else and darted in to kiss my cheek. “You’ll see,” he murmured in my ear and then he was out the door.
    Confused, I waited in the empty room for a minute. “Hello?” I finally called out. “How am I supposed to get back?”
    David strode in the door and my guts turned cold. He somehow seemed even bigger, his scarred face scarier. One crystal bright blue eye flashed next to a dull milky one.
    “He’ll take you back