Silver at Midnight: A Paranormal Romance Urban Fantasy (The Keepers of Knowledge Series Book 5) by Bridgette O'Hare (reading books for 4 year olds txt) 📗

worries, though. I have exciting news!” I turned back only to realize the man in front of me was not Cian McCallister, but a rather impressive facsimile.

Doppelgänger Cian.

And that’s when everything went black.

Twenty-Four

The smell of smoke danced in my head. Gravity fought against me as I tried to open my eyes. Not that it mattered, everything was dark as I tried to rouse myself from the haze. The last thing I remembered . . . a cold, clammy sensation as something noxious overwhelmed me. Toxic magic. That S.O.B. hit me with toxic magic. And I was stupid enough to open the door for him.

When a faint stream of light shone in the distance, I focused and forced my eyes open. Only something wasn’t right. I was sitting against a tree staring at the old church I’d seen twice before in my dreams. I pushed to my feet and made my way to the now familiar door. It took a little more effort to shove it open than expected. Wasn’t I supposed to be stronger in dreams? Maybe the toxic magic had weakened me by some means.

Just as on both previous visits, I trailed my fingers along the symbols on the wall. The traces of magic were a welcome sensation, reenergizing me as I walked. When I arrived at the end of the hall, the door to the familiar room was shut tight. No matter how hard I pushed, it wouldn’t open. I turned and made my way back down toward the entrance and ventured off into the only other direction available.

Halfway down the hallway, I heard voices. Another few steps and I recognized one: Ruman, from my previous time in this dreamworld. When I reached the open door, I stepped in front of the opening and saw him speaking with a man of tremendous presence. Though the man was equal to Ruman in stature, something about him filled the room with a sense of authority and strength.

I cleared my throat to announce my arrival and both heads turned instantly and with precision in my direction. A steel, gray gaze met mine, and I was at once intimidated, but when he smiled the feeling vanished. I darted my attention to Ruman. “Hi.” I raised a hand and waved sheepishly.

Ruman’s expression tightened, his forehead scrunched. “Aisling, I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Kinda figured not. The door was locked. I thought it best not t’ try and kick my way in.”

Steel Eyed Man pressed his mouth hard together and stifled a laugh. Ruman shot him a look.

“Darius, this is Aisling O’Cléirigh,” Ruman said to the man.

“Ah. The feisty Dreamwalker you told me about?” Steel Eyed Man—Darius—replied.

If your heart can stop beating in a dream, mine had just done exactly that.

Ruman’s focus came back to me. “Aisling, are you alright? You appear to be a little flushed.”

“Umm. Aye. I think so. Well, I’m really not so sure, now that ya ask,” I responded.

“Please explain,” Ruman stated.

“I think I was kidnapped,” I said bluntly to Ruman. Then turned to Darius. “And why did ya call me a Dreamwalker?”

“Hold on to that,” Ruman interrupted. “What do you mean you’ve been kidnapped?”

“Sounds to me like you two have a few things to get sorted. Aisling, it was a pleasure to have met you. I am certain you’ll get the kidnapping situation under control.” Darius gave me a confident wink and directed his attention to Ruman. “I have to meet Aedan when he arrives, so we will talk more soon.”

Ruman offered a nod to Darius who then eased past me and exited the room.

“Okay, you have my full attention. Come, we can talk on the way to the library,” Ruman suggested.

“The library?”

“Yes, the room you are familiar with. That is where we house highly sensitive reference materials and documents. Now, tell me what you remember and maybe I can gather enough information to deduce why you are here.”

“Okay, but first. He mentioned a Dreamwalker, and I translated a parchment from The Kanna Tribe that said something about heavenly bloodlines, three Dreamwalkers, and choosing dark or light.”

“Interesting. Well, just make sure you choose wisely when the time comes,” he said nonchalantly and began walking down the dark corridor, leaving me behind. “Let’s get back to you being kidnapped, shall we. That’s the priority.”

I hurried to catch up and refocused. “Umm . . . okay. I was going through some Keeper journals and discovered that my pendant was able t’ do that thing like it did with the book here in your library.”

“Do you mean that it revealed what was hidden? The words appeared on the page?” he clarified.

“Aye! That!”

His pace slowed as we reached the turn into the next hall. “Very well. Continue.”

“Well, I got excited and wanted t’ show Uncle Lach and Cian—”

Ruman interrupted. “Cian?”

“Aye. We have the same goal. Stop The Saiad. We’ve been trying t’ track down the Kanna Stone together. And he’s helped me research the Silver Moon situation and the Tartaros Blade,” I rambled as we reached the door to the library.

Ruman placed a hand on the door and easily pushed it open.

“I swear it was locked,” I stated.

“It was. But some doors can only be opened by certain people. You’d do well to remember that.”

I followed him into the dimly lit library and over to the corner near his blue velvet chair. He pulled a hefty, leather-bound book from a shelf and carried it to the long table in the center of the room. “Come.” He motioned for me to join him and pointed to a chair at the table. “Please continue. What happened next?”

I thought for a moment, recalling where I had left off. “Oh, aye. I got excited that the pendant had revealed the words in the journal. And as I was preparing t’ leave the cottage, a car pulled up. I thought it was Cian. When I opened the door, it looked like Cian, but I noticed a moment too late that it wasn’t him.”

Ruman’s head angled slightly,