Page 65 (1/2)

London, England

1880

Chapter 1

The fog filled with the crisp Autuait as sheblack hair fell down her back and it contrasted sharply with the ereen color of the woolen coat she wore

She turned slowly and looked over her shoulder at hiht of her brown eyes and her smile

“Aida” He said softly

She smiled back at him

He reached out to touch her but in a second she vanished into the fog His blue eyes scanned the horizon between the trees and the brush, but heabout and there was no one there He was quite alone She was gone

The fog hung heavily in the air and he felt choked by it Suffocated by it He called her nareen expanse of Hyde Park

He felt a sickness in his gut as he watched the fog thicken and the sky darken His black wool coat arm but he felt the beads of sweat form on his brow He took a step forward and called her name once more This time he said it ave a start

He began running toward the sound, the fog swirled about hih it He was al but kept round just before hireen piece of fabric

He picked it up and recognized it as the green coat that Aida had been wearing His heart pounded in his chest as he saw deep, red blood that stained the coat Blood

“Aida!” He yelled into the fog “Aida!”

Valentine jerked awake at that moment His eyes adjusted to the dark roo as the grey light filtered into the cold roo since burned down into eazed into the roo in particular

Aida

He closed his eyes and then opened theain He had not drea and disturbing This time there had been blood and that had not been at all the way she had died

Aida

He recalled her long black hair and warm brown eyes and her smile She had been so full of life He had been prepared and ready to spend his life with her He would have made her his wife and she would have been the ed He laid back upon the bed