In one cobra-like move, Balthazar rammed the blade into Marcellious’ gut.
Marcellious sagged to the ground, appearing lifeless. Blood seeped from the wound in his abdomen, covering the earth with crimson.
Oh, God! Balthazar killed Marcellious.
“You’d better run, Olivia, as fast as you can,” Balthazar hissed. “Run for your lives, ladies, before I kill Emily and end your precious life, Olivia.”
I yanked Emily to her feet, and we did the only thing we could do:runlike hell.
Roman
I didn’t know where I was, but I found myself running through a field in my dreams, many children by my side, Olivia laughing behind us. Her hair was as dark as a raven’s. She was the same Olivia but different.
It was a beautiful image, the warmest kind of dream, the kind I’d like to hang onto forever. Gold and blue flowers spread across the horizon as we ran. Unfettered happiness filled my soul as I raced toward home with my family.
But when we came over the crest of the hill, we were met with the thunder of galloping horses and war cries from enemy lungs. As the horses and warriors galloped toward us, a sea of blood cascaded over the hills, powering toward us like a gigantic tidal wave. Balthazar rode the waves, his fist raised high, victorious over so much carnage and loss. Each act of violence increased his power and his dominion over us all.
With Balthazar howling with glee, the crimson sea slammed into me, Olivia, and our children, tearing us apart.
Flailing in the viscous liquid, I saw the faces of so many of my loved ones. My beloved mother… Amara… Marcus… Emily… Olivia and our unborn child.
My heart shattered into fragments, detonated by grief too horrible to bear. I woke up sobbing, my face buried in the bedding.
I felt something strange and I stilled.
The pillow beneath my head was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. It was soft, cushioning my skull like a cloud, and the cloth covering smelled like lavender. My mouth tasted strange, almost like I’d been chewing on bullets all night. I lifted my hand and felt a stab of pain. Yet, my body was swathed in white bandages, and my skin was clean.
I jerked to sit and stared at my surroundings. A jolt of fright shot through my limbs at this room’s various strange items.
What is this place? Where am I?
Swinging my legs from the too-soft bed, I got to my feet. I picked up something small, black, and slender resting on the wooden stand beside the bed. It felt smooth and shone as if polished, but it was too lightweight to be any material I’d ever known. In fact, it seemed to be so flimsy I could crush it with my bare hand.
Colorful raised circles with odd symbols covered the surface. I ran my thumb over the small, hard orbs, pressing them.
A large rectangular item hanging on the wall burst into a display of colorful images—rolling green hills leading to an ocean.
Next, images of a man and a woman appeared, walking hand in hand.
“Oh, Vanessa,” the man said. “I can’t live without you. You must leave Antoine at once!”
The man turned to the scantily clad woman and kissed her.
“Who are you?” I demanded, but the couple appeared not to have heard me. “I insist on knowing who you are!”
Ignoring me, the man fell to his knees, taking the woman with him, and they both collapsed onto the sand. Waves rushed along the shore, splashing over their bodies. They were barely dressed, and it looked like they would soon be engaged in an inappropriate act of copulation.
Still clutching the smooth device, I scrambled backward, wincing at the pain from my many wounds.
How was this couple trapped inside a large rectangle, and the waves didn’t rush into this room?
“I demand that you tell me your names! And put some clothes on. I don’t know you, yet you’re engaging in a private act before me.”
The couple focused on each other, kissing and fondling one another shamelessly.
My cheeks reddened, and yet I was strangely aroused by their intimate display. Thoughts of longing tugged at my heart. Where, oh, where was my beautiful wife?
I pressed one of the colorful buttons on the device in my hand, and the scene changed before me.
