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tucking me in. “Are you still up for watching the game
with me Thursday night?”
    “ I’d never miss a
kickoff.”
    With that he kissed me good-night and
left me alone with my thoughts. Sleep evaded me – which wasn’t
completely horrible since John tucked me in hours before I normally
went to bed. My mind kept drifting to the vision of my demise. I’d
be an old woman when death would take me from this life – and I
wasn’t wishing it away – but my soul burned for the reason why the
young man would kill me. The regret in his eyes before he killed me
made my chest hurt. It was clear he didn’t want my death, so how
could he go through with it? It’d take a lifetime for the answer to
unravel, but my intuition screamed that it was
imperative.
    It was well into the night before my
eyes finally became heavy. As slowly as sleep took me, I woke
suddenly.
    I was free-falling. As I collided with
the ground, it felt like my body was being ripped into pieces. My
skin seemed to melt away from my bones as they crushed under
unexplainable pressure. I retched and gagged, fighting the urge to
expel everything in my stomach. I held my head as my skull was
being crunched. A blast exploded in my ears.
    Just as I quickly as I was torn apart,
my body pieced itself back together. I screamed into the night sky
with the first breath I could take. Gasping for air, I tried to
relax, which was exactly the opposite of what my body wanted. My
muscles tightened and relaxed like they weren’t sure how to
properly respond. I kneeled on my hands and knees, struggling to
breathe.
    A tear escaped my eye and ran down my
cheek while I trembled on the ground. Horror erupted within me, but
my fear brought on the tears – had I just died? It was only then
that I realized someone had their hands placed tentatively on my
back.
    “ Just breathe,” Jace
whispered.
    I choked on the air. I couldn’t. My
lungs wouldn’t work properly. Sensing my distress, he began to
sing. It was in the language I didn’t understand, but my anxiety
lessened.
    When breathing became natural again,
my awareness of my surroundings heightened. A moonless night
revealed little of my surroundings. Few shadows played in the
twilight. A light breeze twirled my hair around itself. The air was
cooler than it should have been. I shivered. My shorts and thin
cotton shirt weren’t much help. Crushed flower petals cushioned my
knees and palms. Their refreshing scent complimented the appealing
aroma of the young man behind me.
    Jace worked knots from my back as I
straightened up into a kneeling position. Anticipating my
movements, he moved upright with me and situated himself snuggly
behind me. His hips molded perfectly against my backside. I told
myself that if I wasn’t so confused and shaken, I would push him
away and demand answers.
    I closed my eyes, concentrating on the
aromas around me: burnt wood, flowers, grain… and a hint of Jace’s
smoky scent hung in the air as well. His hot breath hit my neck
when he whispered my name while I simultaneously heard the name
he’d spoken the night we first met. Deino.
    My surroundings didn’t make sense,
given that I’d fallen asleep in my bed only to wake outside. I had
to be sleeping; it was the only logical answer.
    “ Don’t fight me, not here,”
Jace demanded.
    Staying as still as
possible, I counted to ten. This place didn’t feel real; it
couldn’t be real. It had to be some kind of nightmare with a
twisted happy ending. Jace confused me; if I was completely honest,
I’d admit I was - he scared me. My subconscious was working over
time to come up with a dream based on my minor attraction to him.
    He whispered my name and slipped his
hands lower on my back; a warm rush flowed over me, soothing me
from the outside in. I fought the good feeling it
brought.
    “ Stop fighting me,” he
commanded.
    His demand suggested that he’d
man-handle me until I behaved like he wanted. However, his firm
hands trembled when I turned to