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

Into the woods

Alex saw the harpy fly off into the woods, because it was carrying Julia the harpy could not fly very high. Alex quickly slit his hand open. As the blood poured out, it crystallised into a crimson cinquedea. He ran into the woods after them; knowing he only had one chance to save her.

He saw an opening in the trees, stopping; he aimed the blood blade waiting for the precise moment when the harpy flew into view. Alex threw his arm forward and released the cinquedea like a super-powered javelin thrower. The blade sliced clean through the air at hyper-speed straight toward its target and punched an enormous hole straight through the harpy's wing. The creature let out a high-pitched screech and went down, plummeting through the trees before landing on the ground.

He shot off at breakneck speed after them. When he reached the harpy, its wing was lying limp the ground covered in thick black oozing blood. The creature was clearly in pain yet it continued dragging Julia through the woods. Her dress kept catching on the debris from the forest floor and was in tatters. She started to stir from her drug induced sleep.

Alex formed another blood blade. It was a thing of beauty; the sword was an elegant version of a full Tang sword. The blade was curved and there were clean transitions from one curved section to the others forming a dance down to the deadly tip. The sleek curves of the blade made it look like master Elven artisans had forged it. He ran up to the harpy and stabbed it through the heart. Black blood spurting out from its body, it hissed out a death rattle at him as it went down.

Alex scooped Julia up in his arms and ran through the woods until he reached the wrought-iron fence that encircled the vast property. Pausing, he held her tighter against his strong chest and jumped over the fence in one fluid motion as graceful as a dancer. When he landed, he looked up at the road and saw four black cars pulling into the driveway. Thinking it best to stay away from the road he continued to run through the woods until he was deep in the forest.

Spotting a huge fallen redwood he stopped and sat down on it to check Julia over. Blood stains covered the delicate fabric, where her skin had been cut open when she and the harpy fell out of the sky. Luckily her skin had healed.

Her eyes fluttered opened as she came back to consciousness. Alex sucked in a sharp breath shocked to see the change in her eye colour. They were the same icy silver as his. Their piercing beauty shot straight through his frozen heart and warmed it.

He fought against the hold she had over him, as he looked away from her beauty. Needing to distract himself Alex ran his thumb across her soft lips. Pulling the top half back, he ran the pad of his thumb across her upper gums. He was checking for the little nodules right above the canine teeth that held the dark fae fangs when they were retracted. When he didn't feel any he relaxed.

Julia's eyes focused on Alex, she smiled at him and asked, "What are you doing?"

"I was just making sure you're okay. What on Earth happened back at the party?" He carefully changed the subject; it wasn't the time to tell her what she was. When he and the others came to Havenswood Rosalie had demanded one thing of them. She had made it very clear that it was her right to tell Julia the truth and not theirs.

Julia looked around; Alex could see the wave of panic hit her as she sat up. "Wait. How come we're in the middle of the woods? What is going on?"

He helped her up and gave her a kind smile. "First why don't you tell me what you remember; and then I'll fill in the rest."

Back at Party

Véronique slinked back toward the house; not bothering to help Kuro and the twins who were running around trying to find Julia. She had kicked back by the sidelines and watched Ren and the warlock battling it out outside, before she checked out the hallway where the fight originated. Véronique strolled through the huge hole in the wall and smirked. She couldn't believe how quickly the evening's events had turned to chaos. It sure made coming worth it, she thought.