Read Online Deeper Than Midnight by Lara Adrián - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lara Adrián
Tags: Paranormal
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belt, anxious now, and more than ready to be free of the uncomfortable restraints that Hunter had insisted she wear for the duration of the drive. She leaned forward, peering out the dark-tinted passenger window. Her breath left her on a hitching sigh as she looked past the heavy wrought-iron entry gate and perimeter fence, neither of which had been there when she was last home.
Was it merely a sign of dangerous times for all of the city, or had her disappearance made her indomitable father feel so vulnerable that he would wall himself and the rest of his family behind a prison of their own? Whatever the cause, guilt and sadness clenched her heart to see the ugly barrier surrounding such once-peaceful grounds.
Beyond the fortresslike entrance sat the stately red brick manor whose many curtained windows glowed with soft light at the end of the long, cobblestone drive. The tall oak trees flanking the driveway had matured and thickened in her absence, their naked winter boughs reaching across to one another high over the pavement like a canopy of sheltering arms. Ahead, halfway up the wide lawn that spread out in front of the large Greek Revival house, the limestone fountain and wishing pool where she and her younger adopted sister, Charlotte, used to play in the heat of the summer as little girls had at some time been replaced with decorative boulders and a collection of burlap-shrouded topiary.
How vast the grounds had seemed when she was a child living here. How magical this private, special world had seemed to her back then.
How terribly she had taken it all for granted just a few years later, as a young headstrong woman who couldn’t seem to get far enough away fast enough.
Now she wanted back inside with a need that was nothing short of desperate.
Corinne brought her fingers up to her mouth, a small sob catching in the back of her throat. “I can’t believe I’m actually here. I can’t believe I’m home.”
Impulse had her grabbing for the door handle, ignoring the low growl of her stoic companion beside her in the driver’s seat. Corinne climbed out of the vehicle and walked a few paces up the private drive toward the iron gate. A gust of cold wind blew across the snowy landscape in front of her, chilling her face and making her burrow a bit deeper into her thick wool coat.
At her back, she felt a sudden heat emanating toward her and knew that Hunter was there now. She hadn’t even heard him get out of the car to follow her, he moved so stealthily. His voice behind her was low and deep. “You should remain in the car until you are safely delivered to the door.”
Corinne stepped away from him and walked up to touch the tall black bars of the closed gate. “Do you know how long I’ve been gone?” she murmured. Hunter didn’t answer, just stood in silence behind her. She closed her fingers around the cold iron, exhaling a short puff of steam on her quiet, humorless laugh. “This past summer, it would have been seventy-five years. Can you imagine? That’s how much of my life was stolen from me. My family up there in that house … they all think I’m dead.”
It hurt her to think of the pain her parents and siblings had gone through with her disappearance. For some time after she’d been taken, Corinne had worried how her family was coping. For so long after her abduction, she’d clung to the hope that they would search for her—that they would never stop searching until she was found, especially her father. After all, Victor Bishop was a powerful man in Breed society. Even back then, he’d been wealthy and well connected. He’d had every means at his disposal, so why hadn’t he torn apart his city and every one between here and her prison until his daughter was found and brought home?
It was a question that had gnawed at her every hour of her captivity. What she hadn’t known then was that her abductor had gone to sick lengths to convince her family and all who knew her that she was no
Was it merely a sign of dangerous times for all of the city, or had her disappearance made her indomitable father feel so vulnerable that he would wall himself and the rest of his family behind a prison of their own? Whatever the cause, guilt and sadness clenched her heart to see the ugly barrier surrounding such once-peaceful grounds.
Beyond the fortresslike entrance sat the stately red brick manor whose many curtained windows glowed with soft light at the end of the long, cobblestone drive. The tall oak trees flanking the driveway had matured and thickened in her absence, their naked winter boughs reaching across to one another high over the pavement like a canopy of sheltering arms. Ahead, halfway up the wide lawn that spread out in front of the large Greek Revival house, the limestone fountain and wishing pool where she and her younger adopted sister, Charlotte, used to play in the heat of the summer as little girls had at some time been replaced with decorative boulders and a collection of burlap-shrouded topiary.
How vast the grounds had seemed when she was a child living here. How magical this private, special world had seemed to her back then.
How terribly she had taken it all for granted just a few years later, as a young headstrong woman who couldn’t seem to get far enough away fast enough.
Now she wanted back inside with a need that was nothing short of desperate.
Corinne brought her fingers up to her mouth, a small sob catching in the back of her throat. “I can’t believe I’m actually here. I can’t believe I’m home.”
Impulse had her grabbing for the door handle, ignoring the low growl of her stoic companion beside her in the driver’s seat. Corinne climbed out of the vehicle and walked a few paces up the private drive toward the iron gate. A gust of cold wind blew across the snowy landscape in front of her, chilling her face and making her burrow a bit deeper into her thick wool coat.
At her back, she felt a sudden heat emanating toward her and knew that Hunter was there now. She hadn’t even heard him get out of the car to follow her, he moved so stealthily. His voice behind her was low and deep. “You should remain in the car until you are safely delivered to the door.”
Corinne stepped away from him and walked up to touch the tall black bars of the closed gate. “Do you know how long I’ve been gone?” she murmured. Hunter didn’t answer, just stood in silence behind her. She closed her fingers around the cold iron, exhaling a short puff of steam on her quiet, humorless laugh. “This past summer, it would have been seventy-five years. Can you imagine? That’s how much of my life was stolen from me. My family up there in that house … they all think I’m dead.”
It hurt her to think of the pain her parents and siblings had gone through with her disappearance. For some time after she’d been taken, Corinne had worried how her family was coping. For so long after her abduction, she’d clung to the hope that they would search for her—that they would never stop searching until she was found, especially her father. After all, Victor Bishop was a powerful man in Breed society. Even back then, he’d been wealthy and well connected. He’d had every means at his disposal, so why hadn’t he torn apart his city and every one between here and her prison until his daughter was found and brought home?
It was a question that had gnawed at her every hour of her captivity. What she hadn’t known then was that her abductor had gone to sick lengths to convince her family and all who knew her that she was no
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