Broken Slumber: A Darkhills Romance

by Elizabeth Greene

  Broken Slumber

  A Darkhills Romance

  Elizabeth Greene

  Copyright © 2021 Elizabeth Greene

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  ISBN: 9798748633147

  Cover design by: Elizabeth Greene

  For Michael

  x

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgement

  About The Author

  Books By This Author

  Chapter One

  Etienne

  Another day, another hunt.

  Etienne dropped the limp body of the deer onto the rocky outcrop before circling around once more. He supposed he only had a handful more hunts before he would stop for the winter season. He didn’t need to hunt during the cold months, he could source enough food elsewhere, so he always chose to leave what slim pickings there would be for the wild animals that had no other option.

  He beat his vast wings and hovered in the air as he manoeuvred his heavy body into position. Lowering himself down onto the mountain edge, his claws dug into the rock and anchored him there while he neatly folded in his wings.

  A strong wind blew around him and he braced against the onslaught. Crawling forward, he gathered up his kill gently with his smaller front teeth and carried it into the entrance of his cave. He cursed the protruding stalactites that hung down from the roof as he ducked his head low to avoid them.

  Once inside, Etienne shook his body to remove as much of the moisture that clung to his scales. The heavy fog and mist outside had made his hunt both more difficult and more of a discomfort. He supposed he should be glad for the challenge, it made life more interesting, but it was only a fleeting distraction from the monotony.

  With a sigh, Etienne summoned his human form. His dragon morphing and turning in on itself in a brief flash of violet light until the creature was nestled deep within his consciousness and Etienne stood as a man.

  His exposed skin prickled into goosebumps, the clamminess that still clung to his body cooling instantly as the chilling wind curled its way inside the cave.

  He looked down at the carcass of the dead animal at his feet and resigned himself to enduring the cold a little while longer. He bent down and gathered up the deer, carrying it over to a large, flat stone that served as his butchers' table.

  Etienne partially shifted and flicked out one gleaming obsidian talon, then set to work skinning and gutting the animal. It was a messy task, especially the gutting part, and he preferred to get the task done before adorning himself with the necessary attire for his human form to survive the harsh weather conditions of his mountain home.

  He made quick work of preparing the kill, slicing through the flesh and bone until the meat lay in neat portions upon the slab, ready to be deposited in his cold store. He hung up the skin on a long length of rope that he had stretched along the back wall of his cave. It would dry and then he could use the hide to furnish his human quarters, providing warmth and comfort for his more fragile form.

  If he was honest, he didn’t need it. He had thousands of them already lining the floor and bed and wall space of his home. But he was a dragon and hoarding was just what he did. Besides, he convinced himself, it would be a waste if he merely discarded the furs.

  He gathered up the meat, that still felt warm against his skin as he carried it through the concealed entrance at the back of his cave. His feet scuffed against small broken pieces of rock as he trudged down the narrow tunnel. He would have to sweep again. It was something to do, he supposed.

  He pushed aside the heavy furs that acted as a door to his home and strode through into the inner cavern. The first thing he noticed was that the fire was low. He looked to the flames and with his mind, he called them higher, commanding the heat there to intensify. The fire flickered and began dancing merrily to his call. He needed to warm his bathing stones that sat at the base of the fire and a few glowing embers would simply not suffice.

  He pulled aside another long length of fur and stepped into a corridor of stone, his one descended downward, taking him deeper into the cold heart of the mountain. His body shivered involuntarily. He hated the cold. As a dragon, it didn’t both him so much, his hide thick with scales as it was, but as a man, it was unpleasant and one of the main reasons why he preferred being in his animal form.

  He finally reached the small area that served as his food store. He had carved it out of the stone himself and had created multiple small plateaus in the walls to act as shelves for all his various items. For a dragon who was intending on entering The Long Sleep, he certainly had a lot of food stored up.

  If he ever managed to convince his dragon to sleep, Etienne grunted his annoyance.

  The stubborn beast was refusing to submit. For some reason, he and his animal were not on the same page. Etienne was tired and had reached his limit of the depressing and pathetic world in which he had lived for the past few thousand years. His dragon on the other hand was holding out for something.

  If something worthwhile was going to happen, Etienne wished it would hurry up, wanting it over and done with so he could finally close his eyes and shut himself off for the next millennia.

  Etienne arranged the venison with the other frozen piles of meat and turned on his heel. He’d had enough of the cold and was ready to wash his body of the blood and gore that had been smeared across his skin from butchering his kill.

  He was already looking forward to when the dragon would finally stop hunting for the season. Being covered in the remains of dead animals was not something he relished. Despite intending to sleep, Etienne’s dragon had been relentless in its hunts lately. As a result, he was stronger and more powerful than he had been in centuries. Etienne first believed his animal was preparing its body for entering hibernation, but considering the animal refused to cooperate on that score, he had given up trying to understand why it was insisting on being in prime condition.

  With a huff, Etienne strode back into his living quarters, he shifted partially, and his upper body became covered in oil-slick coloured scales. He shoved his hand into the white-hot fire and gathered the scalding stones into his arms. He could feel the gentle warmth of them against his armoured body as he carried them through another tunnel towards where his grotto was. The natural water spring that ran through his mountain, gathered in a pool in the intimate cavern. Etienne dumped the hot stones into the pool, each one making a violent hiss as it sizzled its way down to the bottom of the shallow water.

  He stretched his body and sent his scales away, leaving his skin bare and naked once more. He watched as steam bega
n to rise from the water, filling the room with warm, heavy air. He looked to the sconces he had hammered into the rock and with a deep breath he blew out a small steady plume of fire towards the torches there. They took instantly and filled the room with a gentle amber glow.

  Etienne walked forward and climbed into the hot and soothing water, taking a moment to completely submerge himself. Silence encompassed him as he lay beneath the surface. The quiet was like a warm and comforting embrace and Etienne wondered if this was how The Long Sleep would feel.

  He was so tired of his existence. The world was not as it once was. Humankind had spread like a wildfire, consuming everything in its path. He had nothing against humans, they belonged in this world just the same as every other living creature, they played a part in the balance of life. But the species had become relentless, greedy and selfish. No longer just taking what they needed but stealing from others. Waging wars over petty power struggles and ideologies, causing devastation unlike any generation he had lived through before. The more the growth of mankind continued, the more his own kind hid from the world. All paranormal creatures were living hidden from the rest of civilisation. Fear driving them into the shadows making them mere myths and fairy tales.

  There was no place for giant, fire-breathing beasts that protect the skies any longer. Humankind had conquered the clouds and continued straight upwards with their greedy sights set on the heavens above.

  Etienne breached the surface of the water and stretched his arms out over the edge of the stone, leaning his head back so he could stare at the way the stalactites glistened. He had fought for hundreds of years to find his place in the ever-changing world but eventually, he had grown tired of trying. Now he spent most of his time in his dragon form patrolling his territory. He liked these mountains, he found solace amongst the natural world. But even the other shifter species had begun to expand and grow their settlement, seeking more and more from the land.

  He just felt so detached from all the change happening around him. What was more, he didn’t want any part in it. There was nothing there for him, so he was ready to check out.

  If only he could convince his dragon to let him sleep.

  With a resigned sigh, Etienne rose from the warm water and pulled out the hot stones. He’d place them back in the fire pit ready for when he’d next need them. As much as he liked to hope he would finally slip into a restful, deep slumber, he was less than convinced it would happen.

  Didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try.

  He carried the stones back and dropped each carefully into the fire calling his scales to cover his body for protection from the flames. He looked to the pile of furs laid out over his bed and contemplated it for a moment. The comfort and warmth would be welcome against his human form but if he were to fall into The Long Sleep, he would need the protection and durability of his vast and armoured dragon.

  He pulled a soft towel out from a wooden chest at the base of his bed and ran it over his broad chest and muscled body.

  Pointless amounts of muscle. He grumbled internally, directing his annoyance at his dragon.

  He was used to being leaner. He wasn’t sure he liked carrying the extra weight around. If he were going into battle, as in the old times, then he would tolerate his dragon’s need to pile on the pounds of muscle. However, his tired and monotonous existence being what it was, made his current physique redundant. Yet his beast’s instincts had never led him astray before. He was preparing for something. Etienne just wished he knew what.

  He scrubbed the towel roughly over his hair before hanging it over a rack near the fire to dry. Bracing himself for the cold chill of the cave, he strode out of the entrance tunnel and upon reaching the vast open space, shifted in another blinding flash of light. His dragon disliked shifting in the low space, it didn’t give him room to spread his wings and stretch.

  His forked tongue scented the air and immediately began licking at the blood and gore left behind after butchering the deer. Etienne let out a low rumble of approval as he swiped the entrails into his mouth and curled up upon the hard floor. He had eaten another deer whole while out hunting earlier, but clearly, his dragon wasn’t about to refuse the opportunity for a snack before bedtime.

  Time to sleep, Etienne told himself. He closed his eyes and willed himself to succumb to the pull of a dragon’s deep slumber, hopeful that when he next awoke, the world would have changed, and he would be rid of the emptiness in his soul.

  Chapter Two

  Brianna

  Her feet pounded across the forest floor, clumsily snapping twigs and slipping on wet leaves as she ran. It was so dark; Brianna could barely make out which path to take next. If she was even on any sort of path. She had no idea in what direction or how long she had been running but she just knew, deep down in her gut, that she needed to move.

  The air was thick with fog that seemed to cling to her skin and hair, her clothes were damp against her body and her feet were numb from the cold, wet ground.

  Her breath came in short, harsh pants as she clutched her side in pain. She was not built for cross country running. Hell, she wasn’t built for anything athletic, yet her feet kept moving forward.

  She stumbled on for a few more minutes until the pain became too intense to ignore. She tripped over a tree root just as she reached a gigantic pine. She braced her hands against the solid, damp surface and gulped in desperate lungsful of thin air. No matter how deep a breath she tried to pull in, it never felt like enough. Her heart thudded frantically in her chest and she focused on the rough bark of the tree in front of her face.

  Breathe, Brianna, breathe, she told herself as she willed her body to calm.

  But she couldn’t relax. She was out in the woods, running in the dark and she had no idea why. She didn’t even know where she was, what forest this was. She was a city girl; a dark and wet forest was not her usual habitat.

  Brianna slowly turned and leaned her back up against the tree, scanning the area with her eyes, desperately trying to make out her surroundings. She looked upwards into the canopy above and groaned out another despairing breath, the fog was so thick she couldn’t even see past the lowest branch.

  She didn’t even know how she got there. Fear gripped her firmly. She had no recollection of the past few days. She wracked her brains for something, any clue that might tell her why she was in the woods and why she felt compelled, even now, to keep moving. She closed her eyes and ran a mental health check over her body. Her muscles ached, she was cold all over, down to her bones and she had a sharp pain in her side brought on by her exertion, but other than that she was fine.

  The last thing she remembered was going to bed in her apartment after a late night. She had fired off another filler article on the latest autumn fashion trends to her editor, only to get a snarky response, demanding she turn in something more substantial, or she’d be dropped. She had gone to bed feeling despondent, but she had planned for the next day. She was going to follow up on something, with someone. She screwed her eyes shut as she searched her mind for the answers, but nothing came.

  Why? Why couldn’t she remember?

  Had she been drugged? Had she met up with this mystery person and been roofied? Brianna cast another mental check over herself. She felt fine. Nothing untoward appeared to have happened to her body. But that didn’t mean nothing had happened.

  Brianna rubbed at her temples and willed herself to find something in her mind, anything since she went to sleep that night. All she found was black. Constant, impenetrable darkness.

  She let out an agonised cry of frustration. All she knew was she was running away from something. She felt the fear still fresh in her gut, the need to get far away from whatever it was, drummed powerfully through her veins. She might not remember what it was she was running from, but she could apply enough common sense to know that she should probably keep going.

  Brianna stayed against the tree for only a couple of minutes longer, catching her breath. The pain in her side
had subsided and her body was starting the shake from the cold. She would keep going, just maybe a bit slower this time. Her legs protested as she pushed off from the tree and picked a direction based on the number of larger trees along that path. She couldn’t see far, but it was vaguely in the opposite direction that she had come from, so on that basis, she started walking forward.

  It was better to keep going, even if she didn’t know where she was or what she was running from. If she stayed still, she would most likely die of hypothermia, if not from anything more sinister.

  She shoved that fear down. She had enough anxiety flooding her system without speculating what could be out in those woods.

  Just don’t think about it, Brianna, just keep putting one foot in front of the other.

  She continued her dark and meandering path, stepping around trees and fallen branches as she came across them. In her head she started humming a little tune to try to distract herself from the niggling feeling of hopelessness, only to stop, clamping a hand over her mouth. She didn’t want to alert anyone to her presence, her footsteps were loud enough, she cursed her inability to step lightly and continued walking in silence.

  Brianna’s efforts to tiptoe over twigs and branches were redundant, no matter how hard she tried, she was less than stealthy.

  Ruling out her ability to stay quiet, she broke into a light jog, she wouldn’t be able to keep it up all night but if she interspersed her jogs with walking, Brianna hoped she would get to some form of civilization sooner, then she could seek help.

  A piercing scream tore through the trees and Brianna froze. Her heart hammered in her chest again and panic flooded her system.

  Another terrifying high-pitched scream rang out and Brianna felt it all the way through her body. It wasn’t a human scream. But she didn’t know what kind of animal it belonged to. She’d heard foxes at night from her apartment in the city and it didn’t sound like a fox. It was more raw, and angry and it made her blood run cold.