Chapter 5

Everything was happening so fast.

First, with my eyes shut, I didn't know where or who I was anymore. I couldn't recall my name or the way I looked. There was nothing about me or my life in my mind. There was just emptiness. Then, I saw brightness that blinded me the moment I opened my eyes. Suddenly, I had a distant memory of losing my balance and falling into some light, yet I couldn't remember if that really happened. I saw more flashes from unrealistic events I had no recollection of and felt really scared. What is happening to me?

Having quickly closed my eyes, I realised I was falling but didn't really know if I was standing, lying or sitting. I just existed. I felt I was surrounded by something that was pulling my clothes and pinching my limbs. Just like earlier… I knew I felt the same itching on my skin earlier. But when did I feel that?

Before I could realise, everything stopped and went silent. Too afraid to open my eyes, I took a deep breath and smelt something nice and sweet. The wonderful crisp fragrance was all around me, filling my nose and making me calm. Concentrated on the smell, I barely noticed that my feet touched the ground and the itching on my skin was gone. So that's it?, I thought and felt somehow disappointed.

Slowly cracking my eyes open, I was prepared to see the brightness again. Fortunately, it wasn't as strong as earlier. True, I had to squint past the light and touch my forehead with a hand to protect my eyes from it, but at least I was able to identify some obscure shapes in front of me. Please, don't be aliens, I thought, lowering my hand as the light seemed to be weakening. Anything but aliens.

Two seconds later, the brightness was finally gone and I realised what the obscure shapes really were. "Holy shit," I said loudly.

A group of approximately ten people were staring at me with expressions ranging from shock and disbelief to even anger and rage. With my eyes wide open, I noticed they were all inhumanly beautiful and dressed in weird medieval clothes; some were holding weapons that looked like swords and some had dark wings.

With a racing heart, I quickly turned around, unexpectedly remembering everything that had happened tonight – the eclipse, them, standing in front of my home and the strange flash in my garden. Though I was expecting to see a passage leading back to my home, there wasn't anything. The light I saw previously was gone and I was now gaping at a beige stone wall. I gasped. I knew it was impossible. It had to be impossible. "Wake up," I told myself. "Wake up, it's just a dream." But the wall was still ahead of me.

Oh God, I thought, coming to realise the unimaginable truth. This is all real. Stiffened with fear, I managed to turn around. And only then did I see him.

The darkest, the most dangerous and the most handsome man I had ever seen in my life was leaning against the edge of a table. I slightly opened my mouth and was gazing at him with astonishment. The stranger was surrounded by dark shadows that were moving and dancing around him, blending into his black clothes. His crushing blue eyes were slowly moving up my body, making me blush and shiver at the same time. I involuntarily fixed my eyes on his full mouth and felt an overwhelming need to kiss him. Good God.

I knew I should have been terrified of him. I knew I should have taken my eyes off his hot two days' stubble and looked elsewhere. I knew I shouldn't have been gazing at his muscular arms which were crossed on his chest. And I knew I shouldn't have been excited like hell just by the mere sight of him. But I did all of the above-mentioned things. And I liked it.

I exhaled quite loudly when the stranger's eyes finally reached my face and we looked at each other. Although there was a fifteen-feet distance between the two of us, I couldn't help but notice the smirk that appeared on his lips. He knew I was checking him out for the last minute and that I found him very attractive. Well, who wouldn't?

All of a sudden, I detected a move from the corner of my eye. Forced to take my gaze off the dark-haired cutie, I turned my head and saw a more mature version of him that was standing ahead of the group. My eyes popped.

To be honest, I had completely forgotten about everything that was surrounding me. I was so absorbed with the cutie to my left that I hadn't been paying much attention to rest of my surroundings. I knew I was in an enormous bright room that had no windows and lots of chandeliers – because that was easy to spot – but hadn't noticed any details. Not to mention other people who were there with me.

The older version of the handsome stranger had the same dark hair and bluish eyes, yet I noted he was a bit shorter and was beaming with even more dangerous and darker power that really frightened me. Well, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that the older one was the perfect embodiment of darkness and evil. He was too dressed in black but had an extraordinary crown as if made of dark feathers. Wait a minute… I was sure I had seen it somewhere, but I couldn't–

"Who are you?" he asked with a strong Scottish accent.

I swallowed hard. "I–"

"Don't make me repeat my question, love." The more mature version raised a brow, not taking his gaze off me.

I couldn't stand the way he looked at me, so my eyes darted to the dark-haired cutie that was still leaning against the table and observing me with a smirk. They looked alike. Like father and son. I frowned. As crazy as that might have sounded, they both seemed familiar to me. I was sure I had seen them before, yet I couldn't remember where exactly that might have been.

My eyes shifted back to the one with the feather-like crown and I noticed that he stood near a tall guy with dark wings and a blonde-hair woman. They were both dressed in leather armour and were eyeing me suspiciously.

Black hair. Blue eyes. Dark wings. Incredibly beautiful.

A crazy idea dawned on me. But before I considered its pros and cons, I heard myself saying aloud, "Good God. You are Rhysand."