Another beam cracked, with the sound echoing into the distance. The bridge tilted to the left and I grabbled for a better grip. I stumbled to keep my balance, leaning hard to the right as my hands gripped tightly to the loose railing.
It was only a matter of time now.
“Annabelle!”
My head shot up and I saw him. “Carter.”
He took a step towards me, but the movement sent the bridge into a violent sway. He stepped back and stared at the bridge in panic. “Don’t move!”
“No!” I yelled. “You can’t do anything for me. Stay away from the bridge.”
“You’re going to be okay.”
It was a pleasant thought and I reveled in the conviction in his voice, but there was nothing he could do to stop this bridge from collapsing.
The last support beam snapped beneath me, sending the bridge toppling to the side.
“Carter!”
I took one last look into his hazel brown eyes and then closed mine and let loose of the railing. I felt my body free falling through the air, the breeze whipping my hair up and over my face, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about the fall, or plummeting to my death, I only cared about the image in my mind of his gorgeous brown hair, his strong facial features, and his warm hazel eyes.
At least his was the last face I saw before falling to my death.
But I wasn’t falling anymore. I had stopped.
I didn’t feel dead. I wasn’t sure how death should feel, but this couldn’t be it.
I opened my eyes and they immediately found his, and just like before, the irises glowed a fierce red.
I was so entranced that it took me moments to realize he was cradling me in his arms, but that couldn’t be. He was at the edge of the cliff seconds before I fell, and even if he could get to the bottom of the creek, there was no way he could’ve saved me from that fall.
He lowered me to my feet, but before I knew it another beam fell from the half remaining structure above us. It was coming directly at us, so large and devastatingly destructive that I didn’t bother trying to outrun it and neither did he.
Instead, he reached his arm above his head and caught the beam in his hand, tossing it to the side as though it was nothing more than a piece of firewood.
I stumbled back, my mouth gapping as I took in the wreckage. Pieces of broken wood that once made up the bridge floated downstream, bopping up and down as they slide over protruding rocks.
“You’re fine,” he said in a calm, unshaken voice.
I ran my fingers through my hair. “How… how did you catch me? How did you catch that?” I pointed to the massive beam of wood to my right.
I stepped closer to him, taking his face in my hands as I gazed into his eyes.
“Your eyes,” I whispered.
He blinked and when they reopened they were back to their regular hazel color with exquisite sapphire rings around the inner iris.
“You don’t have to hide from me,” I said softly.
I closed my eyes and let my lips find his. They were soft and warm, sending a tingling sensation through my body. I felt his arms close around me as his hands found the small of my back. I slid my hands up his bare arms and over his shoulders.
I could feel the energy passing between us as his body grew warmer and his hold tighter, and then a sudden change swept over us as he pulled away.
I stepped closer, trying to close the space he had created between us. “It’s okay.”
“No,” he said and then disappeared like a blur through the woods leaving a gust of air sweeping across the creek.
That couldn’t have just happened. No. None of this is possible: the eyes, the strength, and the speed were all too… supernatural. This can’t be real!
It was a long walk home and I spend every second of it`1 reliving the moment at the creek. I relived the fall and the kiss and the disappearing act, but no matter how many times I ran through it in my head I ended at the same conclusion. I had gone mad.
I should tell my uncle. He should know that I’ve gone crazy. Maybe he can find a way to fix me.
“No!” I shouted aloud. “I know what I saw!”
I was within blocks from my house when I turned on my heels and headed to the town square, making it there in good time, though I wouldn’t expect Carter to think so. I reached the book store and to my dismay it was closed. It occurred to me then that I had no idea where Carter lived, a piece of information that would be highly useful at the moment.
I sat down on the bench across the street from the bookstore and waited, but as the minutes began to approach the hour I doubted he was coming back. I stood to leave just as a green Jeep pulled into the parking lot next to Rosie’s diner.
“Alec!” I called as I jogged across the street.
He frowned. “Nothing’s on the third floor, Annabelle. Give it a break.”
Sometimes Alec made the easiest target. He was always so focused on one thing that he never took the time to consider everything else going on around him. It was like shooting sitting ducks and I almost felt guilty about it. Almost.
I raised my hands above my head, defeated. “Okay, okay, I’ll drop it.”
He nodded, standing tall. “Good.”
“I just feel so badly about the way I acted, especially to Carter.” I sighed. “I wanted to apologize, but the bookstore’s closed.”
He glanced over at the bookstore, something I didn’t understand because the sign was too far away to read, but maybe he was looking for the car.
“Why don’t you check his house?”
I smiled. “That’s a good idea… it’s just that I don’t know where he lives.”
“Give me your phone. I can punch the address into your GPS.”
I quickly took out my phone and handed it over.
He typed in the address and handed it back. “It’s a bit of a drive.”
I sighed.
One step forward and two steps back. I couldn’t make it to the blinking red dot without a car.
I slipped my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. “I’ll figure something out. Thanks.”
“No problem.”
We parted ways, me wandering aimlessly around the square while I devised a plan. I would need a mode of transportation and I had an idea where to find one.
Burnwood - The Dragon Arum Page 19