Extraits

I blinked my eyes open and frowned. Where am I?

Sitting up, I glanced around the room I was in, then tilted my head. Am I in a cabin?

As I took everything in, a sudden memory hit. I was six and my parents took me to a ski resort over Christmas where we stayed in a cabin with a fireplace and a tiny kitchen and a big, blue, fluffy couch, and a huge Christmas tree in the corner… exactly like this one. Am I dreaming?

I stood and looked around with a frown. That cabin had been one of the last places I’d gone with my family. I’d always loved it there and wished I could go back, but I’d never wanted to go alone.

As I did a complete three-sixty, right when I faced the same place I’d started at, I jumped. There was a man. In black. Standing in front of the couch with his back to me. What the heck? Where had he come from? He hadn’t been there a second ago.

When he remained standing there for a few seconds, I quietly said, “Hello?”

The man startled and whipped his head around with wide eyes. He looked me up and down, then settled on my face as his brow furrowed and he whispered in a shocked voice, “What are you doing here?”

I blinked in surprise. “What am I doing here? Dude, this is my dream vacation cabin. What the hell are you doing here?” I had no idea why I was being so blunt in my dream, but since I knew it was a dream, I didn’t really care what this fake man thought of me… even if he was pretty damn gorgeous.

He took a tentative step toward me and whispered, “Grady?”

“Uh… yeah? How do you know my name?” Stupid question, I knew, but I couldn’t help but ask.

He didn’t answer, he only stared for a long, drawn out moment. “You’re really here, aren’t you?”

“What are you talking about? This is my dream, weird dream guy, of course I’m here.”

A slow smile spread on his rugged face. “Alaric Bloodgood.”

“What?”

“My name. It’s Alaric. In case you were wondering.”

When Grady brought me to his home over three months ago, I was excited to finally be in a different place. I’d been stuck in the last house for over three decades, and they were so boring to watch. They were a nice family, and I was surprisingly sad when Gina, the last family member left, had died a few months back. After spending so much time being forced to watch that family, I’d grown attached to them. For more than thirty years, they’d been my family, mine and Tiberius’s.

The house prior to that one had been filled with terrible people. Abusive people. Pure evil. I’d wanted so badly to reach out and help Emily whenever her father hurt her, but nothing I did would get past the witch’s spell on the globe. I’d been forced to sit back and watch. It was useless. I was useless.

After Emily had… after she’d been hurt beyond repair, I’d stopped trying. I’d been forced to watch the light go out of her eyes while I stood on my side of the glass unable to help. My magic had failed me time and time again over the last two hundred years. It was beyond frustrating, but it was the reality I’d been forced into, and at this point, I was used to feeling worthless.

But sometimes when I watched Grady, I wished I was outside of my prison. The first few years I’d been trapped here, I’d spent my days and nights wishing for release, but I’d long ago come to terms with my life stuck inside the glass—a part of the world, and yet, not. But Grady stirred something inside of me, making me wish for things I knew there was no hope for, things I shouldn’t even think about since it would only make it hurt worse in the end. Yet, I couldn’t help but wish…

Like right now while his boyfriend was yelling and being cruel and making Grady feel like he was nothing. I wanted to reach out and zap that guy with my magic. Or at the very least, with my fist.