Page 12 of Guided by the Stars (Creating Destiny #1)

Adriane

When Destiny Intervenes

One second Nora was here, and the next she’s gone!

These two guys grabbed her and they just vanished right in front of my eyes.

My breath is coming out in ragged puffs and my eyes darting around, but where could she have gone?

I move forward to where she was and wave my hand around where she disappeared and nothing.

My heart races and my pulse pounds loudly in my ears.

I’m looking left to right, hoping my eyes are playing tricks on me.

“Nora!” I yell out. I take a step back and bump into someone, I rake my trembling fingers through my hair. My hands are shaking and I can’t seem to get my bearings. Do I have a fever? “Is this a dream?” I say out loud, because what else could it be?

“Why would you say that?” says a voice as smooth as silk, and I glance up. A brown-haired, muscular, tattooed guy, with these honey brown eyes is the owner of the voice .

Another towering man steps out from behind the imposing first one. Scary guy has tattoos on his neck and peeking out of the collar of his shirt. His blue-black hair reminds me of a raven’s wing. His icicle eyes catch my attention. The way he is looking at me makes my heart pound.

This has to be a dream. I mean, no way are these two guys real.

Thinking back, the guys that grabbed Nora were fantastic looking too.

My mind races back to Nora. I need to find her.

My gaze darts towards the hot guy with icicle eyes who gets closer to me, and I step back right into the brown-haired guy’s chest.

Fuck, I just cornered myself.

Icicle Eyes outstretches his hand and waves it around, causing a ripple to go through the air, clearing as quickly as it appears.

Ok, what the hell was with the hand waving?

It’s misty and cold around me. Icicle Eyes grabs my arm with force and pulls me towards the coldness. “Lets go, Jax.” The brown-haired guy is right behind me, so I couldn’t even fight him off if I wanted to.

Cold wraps around me and fear pierces my heart because this shouldn’t be possible. I’m not sure where the hell Nora is or where the hell I’m going to end up.

As soon as everything materializes around me again, I’m shoved away and fall to my knees. A sharp slice of pain shoots up my thighs and my breath catches in my throat. The black-haired guy stands in front of me glaring down at me.

What the fuck!?

I stand up and punch him right in his nose as hard as I can, putting all my weight behind it. Still, his head doesn’t move much, and the pain radiates up my arm, but I don’t let it show .

A bolt of laughter rumbles behind me, and it’s Jax who is laughing. “Cuff her! Now!” Icicle Eyes’ voice booms, echoing around the cave.

“That is all you, bro,” Jax says. Taking in my surroundings, I’m in a dark cave where a light green misty fog covers the area and torches line the walls.

Before I know what is happening, Jax has me in a vice grip and tall, dark, and handsome is smiling cruelly at me as he grabs my hands and places them in cuffs.

I kick at him and he laughs at my feeble attempt. “The sooner we get to the palace, the sooner I’m free of all this hassle,” Icicle Eyes says.

“Where am I? Where is Nora? What the hell are you two freaks of nature?!” I shout glaring at them both. Somewhere in the back of my mind I know this isn’t a dream. “Where the fuck did you get these cuffs?”

Icicle Eyes walks around behind me and shoves me. “Welcome to the Underworld, sweetheart. Now get moving.” A full laugh escapes my throat because I must be getting punked, right? I mean the Underworld ?

“You’re fucking kidding, right? Like Greek mythology or whatever?

Is this what you all do to have a laugh at the tourists?

” I ask, because if it is, they win, hands-down, for being so creepy and convincing.

I look around because Nora must be in on the joke too, why else would she have been snatched?

I glance behind me, noticing a small opening where light is spilling through. It has to lead to the outside, although I know I’ll never make it if I try to run. If I can keep track of my surroundings, maybe I can make it back and escape.

“Not sure what you’re talking about, but this isn’t a joke.

That was a good punch, but you just made an enemy of the one person who could make your life easier.

Now go, before I throw you over my buddy’s shoulder,” Icicle Eyes says, his tone cold.

“As for the cuffs, I made them. So get fucking moving.”

I listen to him and get to walking. I can keep better track of my own movements and concentrate on things that will help me get out of here.

The only way to go is down a path ahead of me.

I start to walk the path lined with torches.

It is doing little to keep the cold at bay.

Skulls and bones are all around the wall, as if we have stepped into the Catacombs of Paris.

Chills shoot down my spine, and I do my best to not get too close to the walls.

The two guys are behind me as we come up to a ferry, where a hooded figure stands with an oar in one hand and the other held out.

There are many other people crowding around me, all trying to get to him.

“Hey,” I say, reaching out to touch him, my curiosity getting the better of me.

As my hand nears his shoulder I can feel the cold radiating off of him.

The man is surrounded by a bluish glow. The glow around him is so icy that it hurts my hand.

I jerk it back quickly and massage it until warmth returns.

“Don’t waste your time, they’re souls of the dead,” the brown-haired guy says.

Shocked, I peer around, zeroing in on the souls placing something in the skeletal hand of the Ferryman.

I recall this from a lecture of Bill’s once, he spoke of the ferryman who helps the souls cross.

This must be Charon, not a man at all, but something else entirely.

His eyes are the most strikingly horrible feature he has, they glow red under the hood, and a scream bubbles up in my throat.

I brace myself to run, my legs are ready, my heart rate picks up, and adrenaline courses through my body.

The only problem is the two guys standing like pillars at my back.

There are plenty of souls that don’t cross, they are fighting amongst themselves. Those must be the ones that can’t pay. “ No payment, no crossing,” he says in a gravelly voice. Bill’s lecture left so much more to be imagined. My palms are sweaty and I can’t focus on any one thing.

I inch myself back, hitting a hard chest. Icicle Eyes’ arm stretches out, displaying his stupid black leather biker jacket.

Jax places a coin into the skeletal hand.

Charon raises his head to look at us and bright crimson eyes stare back at me.

Someone shoves me again and I get on the boat.

I try to maintain my distance from all of the souls on board, including my two adult-nappers.

They end up following closely behind me anyway.

Once I’m far enough away, I look down into the water.

It’s black, pitch black. There isn’t even a reflection.

My stomach drops and the hair is standing up on my arms. I bump into Jax’s arm and he steadies me, keeping his hand on the small of my back.

I stay close to him because even though I want to run, I don’t want to fall off the boat.

The ferry moves and I inch myself closer into Jax’s arms. Everything is so dark.

An emerald mist rolls off the water and the further we go, the colder it gets.

I look back to where we got on the boat, at the many souls standing there who can’t pay, and I wonder what will happen to them.

I have the fleeting feeling that I should jump into the water and take my chances.

Glancing over into the water once more, I begin to faintly make out strange things floating underneath, twisting into strange shapes.

I can’t even make out what they are and decide it’s a risk I’m not willing to take at this point.

I can feel these two jerks staring at me.

I keep my gaze away from them and school my face so that I don’t give away my emotions.

Even though fear is running through my body, I don’t plan to give up.