Page 51 of Once Upon a Midnight Clear

A mischievous glint danced in his eyes as he playfully flashed a grin. “Magic,” was his only reply.

He looked straight ahead, squinting in the darkness as if that would help him see better. They were coming to the end of the path and he turned left and halted. Ella stopped next to him and peered toward the crude staircase carved in the side of the mountain, her heart beating at a rapid pace.

“He was right,” he breathed, as if he wasn’t sure Gustav had told them the truth.

“You doubted him?” she asked.

“It’s not that I doubted him…” he paused, running a hand over his chin. “It’s just that…”

“You doubted him,” she finished.

“I may have doubted him a little. It’s just that I don’t know how he knew this was here.”

She tipped her head back to look up at the staircase that seemed to be enveloped by the shadowy darkness.

“This will lead us to her fortress?” she asked.

He looked back at her, but it was hard to see his expression in the gloom. His eyes were nothing more than black orbs. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

Chapter 18

Ellastartedtoclimbthe steps first, Nicholas behind her. The steps were just wide enough for her foot and steep. It wasn’t long before her legs started to burn from the exertion. She kept her attention focused on the next stair in front of her and then the next and the next so she wouldn’t think about how far up they were going.

“How are you doing?” he asked, with a grunt.

“Great,” she said, trying to sound as if she meant it.

He chuckled.

“How about you?”

Here the steps widened and became more straight up than at an angle of a regular staircase. She reached up, looking for a handhold to hoist herself up.

“I’m great, too,” he said, though he didn’t sound like he believed it.

She made the grave error of looking up. Her stomach clenched at the sight above her. The staircase seemed to go on forever. She paused, her arms and legs shaking. The wind whipped through them the higher they went.

“I’m not sure about this, Nicholas,” she said, her voice strained with fear.

“You can do this,” he said, reassuring her.

For the moment, she was paralyzed with anxiety.

“Just take it one step at a time,” he said.

She reached for the next handhold, grabbed onto the edge of the stair, then pulled herself up.

“That’s it,” he said, cheering her on from below.

Then she made the mistake of looking down. The ground was far below, the wind whipping through them. She sucked in a sharp breath as she realized it was just as far to go down as it was to continue going up.

“Don’t look at the ground, Ella,” he said.

“I can’t do this.” Her voice was nothing but a roughened whisper.

“Youcan. Ella, look at me.” He moved upward a step, closing the short gap between them. His face was right on her heels. “Look at me, Ella.”

Her attention drifted from the ground to his upturned face and met his glittering blue, soulful eyes. There was comfort there.

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