Free Her Sinful Angel by Felicity Heaton Page A

cut through them, and now that she was squinting, she could almost make out a shadowy empty land on the other side.
    Cold crept through her veins, bringing with it a sense that something was staring back at her from that darkness, and she backed off, each step quicker than the last.
    She didn’t stop.
    As soon as she was a few metres away from the shadows, she turned and hurried back along the path. Each step sent pain bolting up her legs from the sore soles of her feet, but she kept walking, almost jogging along the path. She wanted to reach the river again. The sensation of being watched grew stronger and she threw a glance over her shoulder, afraid that she would see something behind her.
    Her eyes widened.
    In fact, she hadn’t seen any sign of life in the entire time she had been in the woods and the valley. There were no birds and no animals. No fish in the river.
    She was alone here.
    Her panic increased, her heart thundering against her ribs as she reached the river and ran across the arched wooden bridge.
    The shadows gave way to sunlight, easing her fears.
    The grass cushioned and cooled her feet, stealing away some of the pain.
    Nina slowed and breathed hard, chastising herself for letting her solitude panic her. She switched to cursing herself when she realised where she had been running.
    She hadn’t been running towards the light.
    She looked up at the castle ahead of her.
    She had been running towards Lucifer.
    As if he would protect her from the monsters in her mind.
    Nina laughed aloud at that and shook her head. She had gone insane. It was the only reasonable explanation for everything.
    Rather than heading back to the castle, she walked the curve of the hill towards the start of the long grass and sat down.
    Lucifer had promised she would be safe here and she did feel safe. Her gaze slid back towards the bridge to the woods below her to her right and she shuddered before shoving away the fear that tried to claw its way back into her heart. She was alone in this place. No one could set foot in it but her.
    It was just fear and fatigue playing tricks on her.
    She leaned back and lay on the grass, her arms spread at her sides and her eyes on the sky above her. Pale fluffy white clouds scudded across the azure canvas, catching her focus. She followed them one by one, until she fell into a sort of trance, lazing in the sunshine and letting the world drift by as she relaxed.
    The sense of peace returned and with it came the calm she needed. She embraced it this time, using it to keep all the questions at bay so she could steal all the pleasure she could from this moment.
    Minutes ran into each other until she lost track of time and her thoughts turned back to Lucifer.
    Did he own the castle? She wanted to believe that he lived there by choice, but she couldn’t make herself swallow that lie.
    He had said that he couldn’t leave it, and she hadn’t believed him until he had pressed his hand to the invisible barrier that kept him caged within the walls of the fortress.
    Like a prisoner.
    One who longed to taste the freedom she could eat to her heart’s content in this strange valley.
    Nina slowly lifted her left arm above her head, so the sleeve of her blouse fell back to reveal her watch. The second hand ticked in a steady rhythm, the sound cutting through the silence. How long had she been in the valley? It felt like hours, but nothing seemed to have changed.
    She sat up and frowned at the position of the sun.
    It hovered above the mountains.
    In exactly the same place it had been when she had entered the valley.
    Nina checked the shadows, sure she must be wrong, but their lengths and angles were all the same too.
    Did time not move in this valley? She would have thought herself insane to ask that question just hours ago, but now anything seemed possible. But the water flowed and the clouds drifted. It was only the time of day that didn’t change.
    “Food is being prepared for you.”
    Nina jumped and