Angel In Moonlight

Lita knew she was going to die. Shivers wracked her frozen body, and her teeth clacked together uncontrollably. Ice-cold wind pierced her clothing, the flimsy material of her dress offering no protection from its harsh attack.

Something, somewhere had gone horribly wrong. Whenever Lita had questioned Stephan about his dimension, he'd spoken of beautiful twilights over water and waves crashing onto sandy beaches. When she'd asked him where he would go if he could ignore his Shadow Walker duties, he'd talked about tropical islands where the sun shone all the time. So she'd chosen an island as her final destination on this dimension.

This place was not at all how Stephan had described an island.

Everything was miserably frigid and covered in an icy substance. If her travel bag hadn't included her toothbrush and other non-clothing essentials, she would have dropped it in a trashcan somewhere because none of the clothing she'd packed stood a chance against the chill.

Lights beckoned in the windows of the buildings towering over her. Although her feet were numb--her soft leather slippers completely soaked through--she forced herself to keep moving forward, hoping that she might find somebody who could help her, someone who could explain how Manhattan Island could be so cold.

A loud blaring noise caught her off guard and a bright yellow vehicle sped past, drenching her in dirty ice water. She looked down, not surprised to see small bits of ice clinging to her hair, and her nipples frozen peaks stabbing through the front of her dress. For just one moment she wanted to sit down and give up, or tread back into the trees where she'd arrived and beg the Controllers to let her return to Polgara.

But even though she'd never been so wretchedly cold, something about this world enigmatically called out to her, even through such misery. She turned down another street. If she didn't find some kind of shelter soon, she'd likely turn into an ice sculpture.

Another vehicle like the one from earlier stopped in front of her and a heavily bundled woman, arms full of bags and brightly colored boxes, emerged from its depths. One of her precariously placed parcels slid off the pile and into the ice on the ground. The woman didn't seem to notice as she headed toward a building.

Lita bent to retrieve the fallen item, her frozen fingers fumbling to grasp the small, cheerfully wrapped package. "Wait. You dropped something."

The woman pushed the door open with her foot, and threw a glance back over her shoulder. "Whoa, thanks. You startled me. I didn't see anyone over my pile of goodies. Give me a sec to set these down and I'll grab it from you." The woman disappeared inside.

Lita stepped closer to the open door. Heat poured from inside and another involuntary shudder wracked her small frame. She closed her eyes and tried to soak in as much of the warmth as possible, reminding herself that if she ever got the opportunity to go to another dimension again, she would take the time to do some solid research.

Without any warning, strong arms surrounded her and she was lifted off her feet and pulled into the thawing heat of the building. She tried to grab hold of something to anchor her, instead dropping the package and her small bag of belongings. Lita opened her eyes to see a booted foot kicking the door shut, closing out the cold.

In the back of her mind an unfamiliar instinct kicked in, that she should fight, run, hide, that she should be scared. But her empathic abilities kicked in as well and she knew without a doubt that this man was not someone she needed to fear.

Pressed against his body, Lita welcomed his warmth into her. She fought the urge to nuzzle deeper into the pleasurable heat. Looking down at the large arms surrounding her, she felt the strange compulsion to cover them with her hands, to see what they looked like together. As though he'd read her mind, he took her hands in his and began rubbing the life back into her fingers with a touch so gentle and caring, it nearly took her breath away.

She tilted her head back, wanting to see the face of the man whose touch echoed throughout every inch of her body. But all she could see were his eyes, such a dark blue they were almost black, staring down at her, calling her to him. Lita became lost. There were layers of life in his eyes. Something lost, and something desperate to be reclaimed.