Braving Fate (The Mythean Arcana 1)

“Stop running,” he said. “I’m here to help you.”

She whimpered and began to struggle. He glowered at her, beautiful in a terrifying way. A dangerous way. She twisted in the iron cage of his arms.

Trapped. She didn’t stand a chance against his power. With her rage gone and fear overwhelming her, the strength seeped out of her muscles. Though she pressed weakly against the hard planes of his chest, she knew she wasn’t going anywhere.

Out of tricks.

He strode toward an inconspicuous black car in the small parking lot next to the park. He yanked the passenger side door open, almost growling as he did so, but placed her gently on the seat.

“Where are you taking me?” She cowered in the seat next to him. She was beyond caring that she was acting like a terrified mouse, cringing from a broom. He hadn’t blindfolded her, which meant he wasn’t planning to let her live. She had no control over what he could do to her, and it terrified her.

He started the car without answering. The quiet streets of one of Edinburgh’s outlying neighborhoods flew by, a black and white blur illuminated by the moon. She desperately tried to remember the turns they were taking and the street names, but the lefts and rights had long since begun to collide in her mind. He drove so quickly, with a cold control that made her nervous and even less likely to remember where they were going.

“To the university.”

She flinched at the dark timbre of his voice, and he scowled. Apparently he didn’t like that she was afraid of him. Too bad.

“What do you mean? The University of Edinburgh? Why would you take me

there?” This had to be some kind of joke. They had left the city and the University of Edinburgh miles behind, and were now in the rolling countryside surrounding the city. A dark copse of trees, looking like something out of a Halloween tale, passed on their left.

“No’ that university.” He jerked the steering wheel left, and she sucked in a breath as the car turned smoothly off the road and headed straight for an enormous oak only a few feet ahead of them, its twisted branches reaching for the dark sky. She opened her mouth to scream, but before she could utter a sound, the car passed smoothly through the tree.

“What?” she squeaked. The trees around her began to disappear.

“This university.” A towering wrought iron gate appeared. Two large gargoyles clutched gas lanterns at the entrance, and he slowed the car to a crawl as the gate parted to admit them.

She expected to hear it creak ominously and spiders to drop down from the pinnacles at the top, but it swung open noiselessly. Wait, had one of the stone statues grinned evilly at her?

There was nothing ahead of her but a manicured lawn dotted with large oaks. After a moment, a collection of enormous buildings came into view. The elaborate stonework that decorated most of the buildings suggested that they were old, and that this was no normal university.

She laughed bitterly. As if elaborate stonework was all that indicated this wasn’t a normal university. Disappearing trees and a gate that could keep out an army suggested something wasn’t quite right.

They approached a stone courtyard surrounded on all sides by ivy-covered buildings. The sculptures and stonework that decorated the eaves and windows stood out in stark relief. Creatures of myth crouched, frozen in stone. Twisted and curving decorations filled the spaces in between. Were they Pictish? Viking? Celtic? They looked like a bit of each.

Though it was dark, several beings rushed around the courtyard—all of whom looked very human, thank God, intent upon reaching their destinations. If only she could get their attention, but if they were part of this crazy place, would they even care that she was being abducted?

Her captor parked beneath the single huge tree in the middle of the courtyard. Its twisted roots pushed up through the cobbled ground and looked as if they had been doing so for centuries.

“Doona even think of calling to them for help.” Her abductor glanced at her, knowledge of her plans in his dark eyes.

“I—I wasn’t going to.”

“Sure you weren’t.” He reached over and unbuckled her seatbelt. She scrambled away from him and out of the car, hanging onto the door for support. He strode around the back of the car.

“Come on,” he said gruffly when he reached her. He grasped her arm, as if he knew somehow that her brain had shut down from too much foreign and impossible information, and led her toward a building at the back of the courtyard. Its mullioned windows gleamed in the light of Oliver Twistian lamps while elaborate gray stone carvings of scenes from history covered the facade.

If she squinted, she thought she could make out Caesar, Vercingetorix, William Wallace, and dozens more. At the very top of the building, directly above the large double doors that marked the entrance, a female warrior stood, draped in ancient garb. She looked familiar, but Diana couldn’t place her. Something wasn’t quite right about her, though. She was whisked inside before she could figure it out, and she tried not to let her mouth drop at the sight before her.

“Where are we?” The foyer was enormous, with a strange false sunlight streaming through the glass dome above and gleaming softly on the parquet floor. There was no way this room could be so big given the size of the building she’d just walked into, but after being attacked by actual monsters earlier, she had bigger problems to worry about than a trick of the light.

He didn’t answer, but led her through a doorway and down a wide corridor. She caught a glimpse of a cavernous library on her right and almost craned her head to see more of it. Bookshelves rose two stories high and books were piled upon tables and chairs.

“Where are you taking me? Who are you?” To her relief, her voice didn’t shake nearly as much, as if the books had imparted some of their strength to her.

“You’ll see soon enough.” He opened a door at the end of the corridor and nudged her inside, shutting it behind her.

CHAPTER FOUR