Chapter 3
The stranger’s bright blue eyes lit up, and a crooked smile slipped onto his lips. The stranger turned to completely face me and bowed his head. “You do me a great honor, Miss Holt.”
I waved my hand to brush away his compliment. “It’s no problem. Just follow me and we’ll be there in a few minutes, unless you want to find a taxi.”
He raised those stunning eyes to the sky above us. “I would rather walk and enjoy this wonderful night. That is, if you would not mind.”
“No, and I wouldn’t mind getting out of this alley,” I mused as I hurried up to him, being careful to skirt the remains of the broken knife. It was a hideous reminder of the worst that could have happened.
“Lead, and I shall follow.”
I guided him up the alley and out into the open road.
The park was in the opposite direction from my apartment, but I just couldn’t leave the poor guy out here to wander into more trouble.
The closer we came to the park, the more the lights worked and the trash vanished.
The city knew when it had to look good for the tourists.
“Have you been in the city for long?” I asked my tourist companion.
“Only a day.”
“You should stick with the busy roads from now on.”
“I rarely stay in one spot for very long.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “You do a lot of business traveling?”
“You might say that,” he mused as he studied the long road down which we walked. “I so rarely allow myself to enjoy the surroundings, but I found myself compelled to admire the view of your lovely city.”
I snorted. “I’d like to think the city has better views than that alley.”
He smiled down at me, quite a feat considering our height differences. “So I can now see.”
I blushed under his intense gaze and whipped my face forward. A familiar clearing among the city’s tall buildings caught my attention. “There’s the park over there.”
The buildings on our left dribbled away into low buildings that eventually stopped at the car lot for the park.
The hour and darkness meant there weren’t any cars there, so we had an easy time strolling up to the paved path that circuited the grassy grounds.
The scent of the river wafted over us, and I took in a deep breath as we stopped at the pavement.
“I guess you’ll be fine enough from here,” I commented.
The stranger turned to face me. “I would be grateful if you would continue to be my guide to the river. I have rarely had such an exquisite partner as I have in you.”
I leaned to one side to look past him. The shimmering waters of the river were only a hundred yards away. What harm could it do?
“Alright, and I’ll take you to the dock,” I offered.
He bowed his head. “I would find that most agreeable.”
We continued together down the winding paved path.
Trees cast their long, weak shadows over us as we made our way toward the lapping waters of the river.
A white-sand beach provided the barrier between green grass and dark water.
The dock I’d mentioned jutted out from that beach and a hundred feet out into the wide river, creating a figure of an uppercase ‘t.’ Huge pylons supported the wide planks and flanked us on either side as we made our way down the boardwalk.
The view at the end was magnificent. The river stretched out of sight to our left and right, a glimmering mirror that reflected the sparkling stars.
Both sides of the river were dotted with the soft lights of homes and the offices of workaholics.
Not a sound could be heard except the soft lapping of the waves against the white sand.
I took in a deep breath and let it out. “Nice view, isn’t it?”
“Very much so,” he replied.
There was something in his words that made me look up, and I discovered he was staring at me. I shrank beneath such attention and brushed my finger over my nose just in case there was something there I didn’t know about. “What?”
“I was merely admiring the woman who was so kind to me,” he mused as he turned to face me. He reached into his pocket and drew out a small object. “And I wish to reward her with this.”
He held out his fisted hand and uncurled his fingers, revealing a small, golden locket. I leaned in and studied the glimmering object. The face was etched with a scene of an unfamiliar city with tall skyscrapers and some kind of bell tower in the center.
A tiny symbol was etched on the wall of the bell tower. It looked like a four-pointed star with long upper and lower portions, and shorter side arms. The star appeared to be made out of rectangles, which gave it an artificial appearance.
I drew back and shook my head. “I couldn’t. It looks really old.”
“Very, very old,” he confirmed as he stretched out his hand closer to me. “But I wish for you to have it as my thanks. Please.”
I bit my lower lip and reluctantly reached out with my cupped hands.
He set the locket in my upturned palms. The metal felt warm to the touch.
I drew it to me and examined the beautiful craftsmanship that etched that wondrous scene.
The hinges on the left were well-oiled and made from a fine, sturdy metal covered in gold.
A small button on the right side caught my attention.
“Allow me.”
I blinked at him. “What?”
“To put it around your neck,” he rephrased as he grasped the golden chain.
I reluctantly tilted my head down, and he slipped the chain over and onto my neck. I straightened and cupped the glittering metal in one hand.
“The button on the side opens the front face,” the stranger told me.
I pressed the button and unleashed the whirlwind.
A fury of dust sprang out from the locket and swirled around us.
I stumbled back, my vision clouded with dirt, and my mind filled with panic.
My heel dipped over the edge of the dock, and I would have tumbled backwards into the cold water if a hand hadn’t caught my wrist. I was pulled away from the precipice and against the soft chest of the stranger.
We stood together in the middle of a tempest with the dust swirling in a tight circle. I still clutched the open locket as I looked up into the pensive, apologetic face of the stranger.
“Forgive me, Miss Holt, for what I have done, but I can see no other way to save myself.”
My heart skipped a beat as my eyes flitted over the sandstorm. “W-what’s happening?”
He brushed his free hand over my hair, and his eyes were full of pity. “Fate awaits you on a different plain.”
The sand spun faster and faster, to a dizzying speed. Our safe area inside the frenzy lessened as the maelstrom shrank. I tried to yank myself from the stranger’s grasp, but he held tightly to me. His words cut through the whirlwind as I shut my eyes against the storm.
“Find me.”
The duststorm struck us, rending my clothes and lashing the strands of my hair against my face.
The force of the storm tore me from the stranger’s grasp and flung me into the wretched wilderness that was its body.
My feet left the ground, and I spun in dizzying circles.
I flailed about searching for a handhold, desperate even for the hand of the stranger.
What I found was a hard landing.
I was dropped onto my stomach, and the air was knocked out of my lungs with a hard wheeze.
The world spun around me, and things didn’t improve with my vision.
I lifted my head and blinked twice to prove I wasn’t hallucinating.
There really was a forest standing in front of me where a river had once been.
I climbed onto my arms and gaped at the scenery. Large, old trees surrounded me, their leaves and limbs casting light shadows on the ground. A bright sun hung in the sky, which was dotted with a few wispy clouds. The scent of moldering forest permeated my nostrils.
What there wasn’t was any sign of civilization or the stranger. Every which way I twisted my head, there were trees and brush as far as I could see.
My turning caused the sun to reflect off something against my chest. I dropped my gaze there and beheld the locket the man had given me. Anger and irritation swamped my senses, and I wrapped my hand around the thing to yank it off.
Find me.
I froze as those words reverberated in my mind. The little glistening treasure was all I had of the man who had stolen me away and dropped me, well, wherever I was. I pursed my lips and tucked the locket into my shirt. All my thoughts turned to finding that evil man.
While he couldn’t be found, there was something else with me. Bushes rattled thirty yards off and to my right. I stiffened as something emerged from them.
The creature was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.
It stood on four long, spindly legs that ended in dagger-like points.
Those limbs supported a somewhat flat and rounded torso, like an almond in shape, with the sharp tip at the back.
The body and legs were covered in thin, short black hairs up to the fat neck.
The head was attached to that neck, a hideous, elongated skull with a narrow snout.
Glowing yellow eyes stuck out of its head above four rows of sharp teeth.
It opened its gaping maw wide enough to fit my whole head.
And from the terrible growl that emanated deep within its throat, I had no doubt that’s what it intended to do. I definitely wasn’t in Kansas anymore. I was now in the Olympic sprinting competition.