Read Christmas in Transylvania for Free Online

the spectacle.
    Faith was staring googly-­eyed . . . a one-­eyed google, that is . . . at the immense kitchen. But he had no time to pause for her to get a good look. Quickly, he entered the closed stairway and made his way upward. Her weight was slight and no burden to carry. In fact, he kind of liked the way she wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her face on his shoulder, seeming to trust him.
    He heard voices on the second floor, but he didn’t pause to see who was about. Instead, he took the remaining steps at warp speed and soon entered his bedroom at this end of the wide hallway on the third floor. Setting Faith on her feet, he said in a teasing note that came from God only knew where, “Honey, we’re home.”
    She turned in a slow circle, soaking everything in.
    The room wasn’t small . . . none of them were in this castle. About twenty by thirty. It had a double bed with one of Alex’s many quilt purchases on it. This one was vividly colored in a pattern she’d told him was called God’s Pinwheel. There was a desk, a bureau, a small, flat-­screen TV in a sitting area with a fat, upholstered chair with a floor lamp next to it for reading, two large, many-­paned windows, one of which had a padded seat in front of it. The walls were plain white plaster, and the only thing adorning them was a crucifix above the bed and on the other side, a framed print of a summer landscape . . . a farm, ironically. That’s probably why he had picked this particular room.
    The furnishings weren’t historically correct for a hundred-­year-­old castle, but Alex had enough to do restoring the first floor to the way it had been. Comfort was the key in the bedrooms. Thus far.
    â€œThis is beautiful,” Faith said on a sigh, taking off her hat, and scarf, and coat.
    Her expectations must be low for her to consider this beautiful. Adequate would be a better description.
    She shivered suddenly, although it was fairly warm in the room, a new heating system having been installed in the castle several months ago. For a small fortune, Vikar was quick to tell one and all. You could heat a small village for the same amount, Vikar contended.
    But her shivering recalled to Karl that he needed to tend to Faith’s injuries, whatever they might be.
    â€œThere’s a bathroom across the hall,” he told her.
    She nodded, but didn’t seem to be in need of the facilities at the moment. She was checking out the paperback novels arranged between two bookends on the desk. Mostly thrillers.
    This was awkward.
    â€œFaith, I need to examine you for . . . injuries.”
    That caught her attention. “Are you a doctor?”
    â€œNo, but I have some medical training.” He’d been a medic at one point, as well as a sniper, in the Army. And he’d served as an aide to Sigurd on some missions. Sigurd, one of the seven Sigurdsson brothers, was in fact a physician.
    â€œI think I’m all right. I’d just like to lie down for a while if you don’t mind.”
    â€œThat’s a good idea. You lie down, let me assess your condition, then you can take a nap.”
    â€œNo way am I lying on that pretty quilt with these dirty clothes.”
    â€œHuh?” She didn’t look dirty to him. In fact, her sweatshirt and jeans looked old and faded but clean.
    â€œI was scrubbing the bathroom floor when you arrived,” she confessed, her face turning pink, as if that was something to be embarrassed about. She put a hand to her flat stomach, a gesture that he’d noticed she did a lot.
    â€œDid that bastard kick you in the stomach or punch you there?” he snarled.
    His rough voice startled her, he could tell, and he told himself to be extra careful with her in future. He didn’t want her to think she’d picked up another violent man. Not that Karl wasn’t violent when need be. But not with women. Unless they