A Night Borrowed

Well, a while back, I did promise a sneak peek at A Night Borrowed... or, rather, what little I have so far. Well, I'm finally coming through on that promise. I'll warn you, though, that I am not really feeling this so far... and, if you've read Night Cries, a small amount of time has passed between the end of Night Cries and the beginning of this book. Anyway, without further comment, here is the snippet:

It was the perfect place for witchcraft. So, why it surprised me that I was
staring slack-jawed at the scowling visage of a man who had died in my arms more
than a year ago was beyond my comprehension. In fact, most everything but his
face was incomprehensible to me at the moment. I had held him as he died,
begging him not to leave me. The ghost of that loss haunted me constantly since
then, especially when….

My hand clamped tight over my mouth as I continued to
stare. Oh, dear God, I thought. He doesn’t know!

He strode purposefully through the leaf-strewn yard, deftly weaving his way around the bodies of William’s sleeping soldiers. He poked each man as he passed, apparently demanding some sort of information from each one, and, not getting the answer he sought, moved on to the next.

I was frozen in place. I couldn’t feel my feet; I would surely fall if I attempted to move. The shock of his appearance had not yet worn off, though, at least, my brain had thawed enough to begin to put together a few coherent thoughts. Why was he here? How was he here?

And then, our eyes met. The dawning of recognition lit in his eyes. His scowl lifted, and he broke into a run toward me, leaping over the bodies of the men who slept in his path. Startled, I backed up, tripping over the laundry vat behind me, and landing in the cold, dirty water. I struggled to extract myself from the predicament,
taking my eyes from his only for a moment.

His strong hands – as warm as I remembered – lifted me from the water and set me gently on my feet. His hands were on my arms then, and he pulled me roughly to him. His nose touched mine, and I looked up.

"You did this to me, and you are going to fix it."