Daughter of Stars and Nightmares (The Eternal Bond Saga book 1)

Down the rabbit hole

There was a single white taxi parked at the far end of the rank. Julia waved her hand in the air signalling it. When it didn't move she assumed the driver was asleep.

As she walked toward the car a wave of soul crushing sorrow hit her like a freight train. "Argh, not again." With a shuddering breath; she tried to fight back the waking nightmare that wanted to consume her.

The metallic blue Mercedes that had passed her earlier screeched by her and skidded to a stop, bringing her out of her thoughts. All four doors flew open and four men dressed in clothes that were a similar style to the dark faerie she'd met on the bridge, leapt out.

A hand reached for hers, it clamped down, caging her hand in an iron grip and forcing her into a dead run. She was about to dig her heels in and put up a fight when she saw the man's raven hair. She let the breath she'd been holding and smiled. Thankful that the stranger on the bridge had come back to help her, Julia's feet automatically moved in time with his.

The wind rushed past her ears and her stomach dropped, as they zoomed around corner after corner. Julia decided she could trust him a little more; she let her guard down and enjoyed the bizarre roller coaster ride she was on. A huge grin split Julia's face, her chest felt as light as a feather and she couldn't stop laughing. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had this much fun. More, more, more, she wanted to cry out as blurry buildings whiz by her at an inhuman speed until the impending threat was nothing more than a mere shadow.

When the two of them finally stopped, her heart fluttered from the thrill of what she'd just experienced. Julia hunched over in a fit of giggles and tried to gain her bearings.

"That was so awesome," she said out of breath, holding her side with her free hand, "can we do it again?"

She took a few more deep breaths trying to calm down, looked at the stranger's sneakers and then frowned. That's not right, she thought. Her gaze ascended and saw dark denim jeans instead of leather trousers. Neither is that, her inner voice said louder. She slowly peered upwards praying to see the flaxen vest. Bright emerald green assaulted her eyes. Her chest tightened as all the blood rushed out of her face. She tilted her head up and met an expression of utter contempt and murderous rage directed at her.

Julia dropped the young man's hand and jumped back to create a buffer zone. She felt as though she were standing next to nitro glycerine, ready to explode at any second. Julia's stomach fluttered, her shaky hands tried to smooth down her frazzled hair, not quite believing he was the second dark fae she'd encountered tonight.

Julia wrapped her arms around her waist. Her long fingers reached for the hem of her shirt and began to fidget with She opened and closed her mouth a few times not sure what to say. He was gorgeous just like the stranger on the bridge. What's more they looked similar, so much so they could've been brothers.

A thought took shape and a glimmer of hope flickered in Julia's mind. "Okay, you made your point, Ren, you can come on out now," Julia said looking around. This was just the sort of stunt Ren would pull to teach her a lesson about how dangerous Paris was. "This isn't funny anymore, Ren."

When her best friend didn't jump out and greet her, Julia looked at the Adonis and raised her eyebrows, in a silent question, at him.

The Adonis's cold platinum coloured eyes looked past Julia like she wasn't even there and said, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

His sharp words were as sharp as the angles on his face. Julia cringed as they bit into her. She couldn't believe how rude he was being. It wasn't like she had needed him to rescue her, Julia told herself.