Page 77 of Once Upon a Midnight Dreary
His shoulders slumped, defeated.Then he dropped the rumpled paper back onto the book.He kneeled next to her chair, reaching for her hands and taking them in his.He squeezed them tight, then kissed her fingertips.Soft and light.
“No, Victoria.”The words were soft, pleading.“I forbid it.”
Her heart tightened in her chest.“We have to at least try.It’s the only way.”
As she said it, the house groaned and sighed in agreement.It, too, knew it was time to banish the spirit that stalked through the halls of Ravenfell.
“I would rather endure Lenore’s wrath for a hundred more years than watch you take her place.I don’t want to lose you.Not like that.”
His words gutted her.It was enough of a profession of love.She tugged her hands from his and placed them on his cheeks, turning his face up to meet hers.In his eyes, she saw the fear burning there and something else.Something he wasn’t ready to acknowledge but deeply felt.
Love.
He loved her.
And he feared if he allowed her to go through with the ritual a second time, he would lose her to the spirit world like Lenore.Or, worse, she’d free him and become tethered herself to the manor.
“You won’t,” she said.
The words sounded more sure than she felt.Her stomach had clenched into a tight knot at the thought of what she had to do, what was at stake.
“You don’t know that,” he said, his eyes still imploring her.
“I don’t,” she agreed.“But I have you.And you’ll promise me that if anything goes wrong, you’ll do what is necessary to keep me from becoming like her.”
Even as she said it, her voice soft, the candles flickered as though a violent wind had torn through the room.She dropped her hands into her lap and gazed about the room.He got to his feet, his hands clenched at his sides, ready to fight back.
But it was difficult to fight something unseen.
“Victoria—”
“Promise me,” she insisted.
She wasn’t certain he’d agree.His body was rigid, his muscles tense.His expression unreadable.Fatigue lined his face.Dark shadows smudged under his eyes.He brushed the back of his hand across her cheek.
“I promise.”
A sudden swish of air hissed along the corridor outside the door, sharp enough to snuff a breath.Both their heads snapped toward the sound.
The shadows rippled—moving against the grain of the candlelight.Something rushed past the doorway, swift and shapeless, dragging with it a child’s broken whimper.
Lily.
The flames shuddered violently, bending low as though bowing to some unseen force.The air grew colder, heavy with the metallic tang of dread.The house shifted, creaking with an unnatural sound.
He shot to his feet.She gasped, the sound snagging in her throat, and stumbled upright, her pulse a frantic drumbeat in her ears.
“Something is happening,” she said.“The house…”
“Yes,” he agreed.“I thought we’d have more time to plan.”
The walls shuddered around them.And that low laugh echoed through the abandoned halls upstairs.
“But we don’t, do we?”
She flipped the large book closed and picked it up.They exchanged a look, both knowing the time had arrived.Gabriel gripped her by the arm and helped her hobble toward the door.
It was now or never.
