Dark Angel Read Online Free Page B

come close to Ynys Nos.”
    “Ynys Nos?” The words sounded mystical to me, bearing images of Druid priests and ancient rituals.
    “Welsh for Dark Island. You, Catherine, are the real first contact we have had with the outside world in many years.”
    My blood chilled at his words. “But…how then can I find passage to Liverpool? Is the island connected through some overland pass to the mainland?”
    He shook his head but said no more.
    I huffed in frustration. “I will need your assistance in making arrangements to remove to Liverpool as soon as possible, however it may be done. I have responsibilities that simply cannot wait. I can secure transportation to London from there.”
    He lifted his gaze to mine. “Leaving will be quite impossible. I am sorry to be the bearer of hard news, but I regret to inform you that your stay on Ynys Nos will be a permanent one.”
    I sat upright in shock. “ What? ”
    The glow from the fire flickered over him, casting his face in alternating bands of shadow and light. My mind refused to absorb his words. His eerie eyes did not blink. He looked like demon and angel, and I did not know which he might turn out to be.
    “No one ever leaves the Dark Island, Catherine. You are trapped, as surely as the rest of us, and will never see home again.”

Chapter Three
    Trapped .
    The word echoed in the cavernous room, and I could only stare at him. My fingers went lax with shock, and the sheets slipped from my grasp.
    Then I remembered the terrified words of the Merry Widow’s captain.
    Only the dead or dying see that island. Only those who set sail and never return home see that island.
    And an even more horrifying thought:
    What will become of the children?
    The dinner I had consumed earlier threatened to rise. I swallowed hard. “What do you mean by trapped, Gerard? If there is a way onto this island, then surely there is a way off? ”
    He leaned close. “You must resolve yourself. How you made it past the reefs is a mystery to me. Do you remember anything at all about your ordeal?”
    Bodies tumbling past mine in the water… and another image: a child’s cold, dead eyes, staring up at me in blank accusation… No. That was wrong. Eliza had not been there…
    His hand settled over mine. My mind was so disturbed, I did not even think to pull away. This close, I could smell his unique scent, reminding me of the moments he carried me on the beach, of his warm skin against my cold cheek, of the feeling of utter safety I had in his arms. I wanted that feeling back, but was too ashamed of my weakness to admit it.
    Perhaps I did not have to. Perhaps he sensed it, and that is why he stroked my hand with his thumb in a slow, rhythmic caress.
    I closed my eyes, guiltily, greedily absorbing the sensation. “There was a terrible storm,” I whispered.
    “Yes.” He spoke softly, too, as if not to disturb my recollections.
    “It destroyed our ship. So many were drowned. Just thirty of us made it to the lifeboats. Only we lost one, and then the one I was in rose—too high—and came down as though a giant’s hand lifted it and turned it over. I heard a crack, and the boat split into pieces.”
    His thumb stilled. “Go on.”
    “The—the captain, the other passengers…so much water, and the terrible cold…I could not breathe, I could not tell the direction to go in—” I clenched my hand inside his, remembering my struggle. “I came up once, but then something struck me on the head and I felt as though my skirts were caught and something pulled my legs down…perhaps one of the other passengers in a panic clinging to me?”
    “Perhaps,” he agreed.
    I hitched my shoulders, fighting to remember even while my fear of remembering tried to prevent it. “And I sank and everything became black. I thought it might be all right, really, because I would see—see again those I had loved, and perhaps death was not so terrible after all.”
    “Catherine…” He said my name in an anguished