There was a single white taxi parked at the far end of the rank. Julia waved her hand in the air signalling it. When it didn't move she assumed the driver was asleep.

As she walked toward the car a wave of soul crushing sorrow hit her like a freight train. "Argh, not again." With a shuddering breath; she tried to fight back the waking nightmare that wanted to consume her.

The metallic blue Mercedes that had passed her earlier screeched by her and skidded to a stop, bringing her out of her thoughts. All four doors flew open and four men dressed in clothes that were a similar style to the dark faerie she'd met on the bridge, leapt out.

A hand reached for hers, it clamped down, caging her hand in an iron grip and forcing her into a dead run. She was about to dig her heels in and put up a fight when she saw the man's raven hair. She let the breath she'd been holding and smiled. Thankful that the stranger on the bridge had come back to help her, Julia's feet automatically moved in time with his.

The wind rushed past her ears and her stomach dropped, as they zoomed around corner after corner. Julia decided she could trust him a little more; she let her guard down and enjoyed the bizarre roller coaster ride she was on. A huge grin split Julia's face, her chest felt as light as a feather and she couldn't stop laughing. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had this much fun. More, more, more, she wanted to cry out as blurry buildings whiz by her at an inhuman speed until the impending threat was nothing more than a mere shadow.

When the two of them finally stopped, her heart fluttered from the thrill of what she'd just experienced. Julia hunched over in a fit of giggles and tried to gain her bearings.

"That was so awesome," she said out of breath, holding her side with her free hand, "can we do it again?"

She took a few more deep breaths trying to calm down, looked at the stranger's sneakers and then frowned. That's not right, she thought. Her gaze ascended and saw dark denim jeans instead of leather trousers. Neither is that, her inner voice said louder. She slowly peered upwards praying to see the flaxen vest. Bright emerald green assaulted her eyes. Her chest tightened as all the blood rushed out of her face. She tilted her head up and met an expression of utter contempt and murderous rage directed at her.

Julia dropped the young man's hand and jumped back to create a buffer zone. She felt as though she were standing next to nitro glycerine, ready to explode at any second. Julia's stomach fluttered, her shaky hands tried to smooth down her frazzled hair, not quite believing he was the second dark fae she'd encountered tonight.

Julia wrapped her arms around her waist. Her long fingers reached for the hem of her shirt and began to fidget with She opened and closed her mouth a few times not sure what to say. He was gorgeous just like the stranger on the bridge. What's more they looked similar, so much so they could've been brothers.

A thought took shape and a glimmer of hope flickered in Julia's mind. "Okay, you made your point, Ren, you can come on out now," Julia said looking around. This was just the sort of stunt Ren would pull to teach her a lesson about how dangerous Paris was. "This isn't funny anymore, Ren."

When her best friend didn't jump out and greet her, Julia looked at the Adonis and raised her eyebrows, in a silent question, at him.

The Adonis's cold platinum coloured eyes looked past Julia like she wasn't even there and said, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

His sharp words were as sharp as the angles on his face. Julia cringed as they bit into her. She couldn't believe how rude he was being. It wasn't like she had needed him to rescue her, Julia told herself.

Julia squared her shoulders, trying to make herself look tougher than she was. "Excuse you. What's wrong with you?" she snapped back. "You're the one who grabbed me and dragged me gods know where. I don't even know you."

His expression turned arctic, and he took a step closer, towering over her, invading her personal space. "You need to leave right now. Go back to whatever backwater woods you crawled out of and never come back."

For a second Julia couldn't stop herself from admiring how stunning he was and in that moment something in the depths of her mind started to click. Some part of her recognised him, but it evaporated as his insulting words sunk in. Julia's tattered pride turned her face scarlet. What an unbelievable jerk! She thought, too angry to even register the familiarity she felt.

Not wanting to back down, she narrowed her eyes, "how dare you speak to me that way?" Julia shouted, throwing her arms up in the air. "I could've taken care of myself; I'm not some damsel in distress."

His nostrils flared as he dogged her flailing limbs. "How dare I? How dare I! How stupid are you for coming here of all places?" he roared, making her flinch. "You have no clue the trouble you've started, do you?"

The Adonis shook his head and walked off, leaving Julia clueless as to what he was talking about. What the hell! He has no right getting pissed off. All she wanted to do was deck him and storm off, but she had no idea where they were or how to get back to the hotel.

"Hey! You can't just leave me here. I have no idea where we are," Julia said desperation lacing her voice.

He shrugged his shoulders and continued to walk off. "Not my problem."

"Stupid obnoxious dark fae," she muttered under her breath, and then shouted, "no wonder no one likes your kind. You're all a bunch of heartless soul-sucking monsters."

"Thanks for leaving me back there, Alex." A new voice called out from behind her, halting the Adonis in his tracks. Julia turned to find another boy moving toward her. "You're welcome by the way. I took care of those guys while you were off flirting with this lovely girl."

The boy walked up to Julia, chuckled and smiled at her. He had silver irises like the boy named Alex, but his seemed warm and gentle.

The new boy's friendly expression caught Julia off guard and her annoyance with Alex evaporated. Cautious, she stared back at the boy and thought, Is it raining dark fae or something?

The boy's smile grew, and he ran his hand through his wavy brown hair. As she watched him an unnerving calm swept over Julia heightening her senses, making her more attuned to her subconscious feelings.

She scrunched up her forehead and looked at him even harder. Just like Alex and the stranger she met on the bridge, this boy seemed so familiar. Yet she couldn't, for the life of her, place how she knew him. His olive skin, strong jawline and striking beauty all shouted out to her. It was the worst case of déjà vu she'd ever had and it gave her a headache.

Alex turned and scowled. "Damien, you're delusional if you think I was flirting with that," he pointed at Julia, "exasperating idiot."

Julia ground her teeth, clenched her hands so tight her nails bit into her skin and lifted her chin high in the air like she was looking down on him. "The only idiot I see here is you Tinkerbell. I never asked for your help."

Damien laughed at the arguing pair before asking Alex to stop acting like a jerk.

Alex shoved his hands in his pockets frustrated and annoyed. "Yeah, whatever. You deal with her; she's not my problem."

Alex's audacity floored her and Julia had to scrape her jaw off the ground. "I'm not the problem here. You're the one who dragged me off the street, you freak!"

Damien arched an eyebrow at Alex, shook his head and sighed. "I'm sorry about Alex. The boy has no manners these days. Please let me take you back to your hotel." He was the epitome of charm and friendliness as he placed one arm around her waist and looked straight into her eyes. "Oh, and I'm sorry about this." He pulled something out of his pocket and blew it into her face while enunciating a single word: "Sleep."

Julia spluttered, inhaling the fine powder. The magical properties worked with swift efficiency, wrapping around her limbs and pulling her conscious into a dream.

"No. . . Please. . . I don't," her voice cracked with fear as she tried in vain not to go back to sleep. The magic was too powerful and garbled the rest of her pleas.

Julia felt Damien scoop her heavy body up in his arms. "Shhh," his voice was soothing like a hot cup of cocoa on a cold day, "there's nothing to be frightened of. Just let go and dream about something pleasant."

You don't understand! If I have to relive that dream again I'm going to lose my mind, she tried to scream but found herself mute.

Her body went limp, and the world slipped into oblivion as the magic pulled her back into the same nightmare she'd had earlier that night. Julia wanted to claw and kick her way out of its hold but it was pointless. The Jaws of the dream tore right through her consciousness as it transported her right in the middle of a long corridor.

Julia's legs took long determined strides swiftly carrying her to the end of the candlelit passageway. Her own fear replaced with someone else's hurt, anger and desperate longing. As the last remaining bit of Julia's awareness ebbed, the name the dark faerie on the bridge said surfaced; Béa. Recognition and understanding about what was happening to her were a hair's-breadth away. Julia reached out to grab hold of it but the dream consumed her and erased everything.

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Thanks for reading and please don't forget to vote it helps get my books noticed.

love ya.

JJ