Chapter 10 THE KING OF ALL THINGS

“No! Please don’t!” Daniel leaped from his bed before his eyes were even open, and he couldn’t remember how he got to Rosemary’s side when he reached her. Everything was a blur of panicked screams and his heart pounding in his ears as he threw his arms around her in the dark corner of her room in which she cornered herself.

“Just a dream.” Her back was wet under his fingers when Daniel slid his hand to her head and cradled her against his shoulder.

Her body heat made her scent hang in the air like the flowers in the meadow on a hot day, and Daniel wished he picked some for her the last time he was there. Every time he went riding across it, he’d catch a whiff of her in the breeze, and it brought amity to his cold, black heart. “Shh.”

She trembled against Daniel’s chest as he held her so tight that she could hardly breathe, and he pressed his lips against her forehead while he rocked her back and forth. “It’s alright. I’m here. No one will ever hurt you again, I swear.”