The wide lane leading from the stable yard and into the pastures beyond the immediate estate was well trodden and written into his memory.
As he came upon the last post before the pasture, he readied for his flight into the gloaming. Drawing the crisp night air into his lungs, he kicked Gehenna into action, letting out a whoop of elation as the large black horse streaked into the gathering night.
Chapter Seven
Head-splitting howling and whooshing battered Haven as she tried screaming.
Nothing came out.
Pressing her hands to her ears, she blinked, hoping the darkness swirling around her was the result of consuming bad carnival food.
She shouldn’t have had those fucking fish tacos!
The blackness sucking on her moved like a whirlpool in great oceans of night. Turning her head from one side to the other, she tried distinguishing up, down, backward, or forward.
Damn it!
An unknown force was propelling her through the void.
Pulling her legs into her chest, she wrapped her arms around her knees and let her gym bag hang loose from her wrist—the damn thing got sucked into the whirling hellscape with her.
Grunting, she winced. Her eardrums pounded like someone was prodding them with a ten-foot chopstick.
Floating through the abyss, she squeezed her eyes shut against a flood of burning tears, and she shuddered as slimy hands of fear clutched at her heart. Terror welled, oozing, pushing against her lungs, and she gasped for air. Fightingagainst the urge to panic, she threw her head back and breathed deep…in, out, in, out.
Suddenly, the whooshing ceased, and the swirling blackness lightened to a pearlescent purple—still as death, deep, and terrifying.
The force propelling her through the void released her, and with a yelp of surprise, she plummeted, freefalling into cool air, and landing hard.
She laid there--wherever there was--desperate to focus, to make it make sense, to draw in breaths that weren’t tinged with terror and paralyzing confusion.
She was standing in the parking lot, then she was falling…and now she was…where?
And how the hell had she gotten to wherever the hell she was?
What the absolute fuck happened?
Shaking her head slowly, she tried to dislodge the numbness, to dissipate the buzzing between her ears.
She had no idea what thehellhappened or what was going to happen, but she knew that lying there wasn’t going to get her answers.
With the wind knocked out of her, finding the strength to rise to her feet was difficult. Under her hands, the ground was moist and grassy.
After a few moments, she could breathe, but nausea slapped her when she inhaled the strong odor of…shit. Holding her hand to her nose and mouth, she stumbled but gained her feet.
Slowly, she lifted her head.
Holy shit.
Definitely not a parking lot in Philly.
Her gaze met a large open area under a sky lit with stars—not a single flicker of unnatural light to dull the view.
She blinked, then blinked again at the sight of wooly figures dotting the vista.
She wasn’t in 4H but she knew a fucking sheep when she saw one.
What the hell?
