Page 36 of Into The Light

“I have a surprise for you. Follow me.”

He set down the little horse carving and walked past me out of the room. I couldn’t help but stare at the muscular lines that came and went on his ass with every step. The breeches hid nothing, and I was certain I could chip a tooth on that thing.

I followed him out through the house and down through the garden to the horse stable below. I stuttered to a stop when I came over the hill and saw them. White twinkle lights draped between the trees glowed against the black sky. My mouth fell open as I saw row after row of twinkle lights crisscrossing the sky, twisting from tree to tree and continuing into the woods farther than I could see.

“Oh, my god,” I sputtered out. The beauty of it gripped me and held me tight.

Aiden didn’t respond. He turned the corner to the barn. Mark stood in front of the stone entrance to the barn aisle holding a white horse in one hand and a black in the other. He grinned so wide I worried his teeth might fall out.

“What... what is this?”

“Allow me to take you for a ride?” Aiden asked, turning now to look at the astonishment I struggled to conceal.

“Yeah... yes. Yes, of course,” I mumbled back. In addition to the twinkle lights, candles in white bags flickered in pairs, creating a path that wound under the lights down a trail into the forest. All of it together created a romantic atmosphere, causing the surrounding air to light up in a warm, golden glow. “What is all this? How did this get here?”

Mark huffed an exhausted breath. “Helicopter ride, cleaned out stores, and one—”

Aiden stopped Mark with a look. Mark cleared his throat and straightened up like those soldiers who stood in front of Buckingham Palace.

“You told Mark you missed riding. Since you don’t have my night vision and I can’t ride in the sunlight, I thought this might be a good compromise. Mark got the supplies, I hung them up.”

He hung them up? Himself?

“You did all this? For me?” It felt like someone had shoved a sock in my mouth. All my saliva dissipated at the thought of him out here stringing lights and lighting candles... for me.

“One of the perks of vampirism is my speed, as you’ve seen. This would have taken Mark weeks. No sense in missing out on this beautiful night waiting for Mark to break his neck climbing trees all week.”

Aiden’s newfound smirk turned into something that resembled a full-blown smile.

“The white mare is yours. Her name is Belmira. She’s a Lusitano. Born and bred in Portugal, I had her shipped here two years ago. Beautiful, isn’t she?”

Beautiful didn’t cover it. Gleaming white with a mane curled down past her broad chest, her forelock was so thick it covered her face, one I could imagine was elegant and refined. A long, thick tail glimmered in the candlelight. The summer camp horses I rode every year at Camp Mondocky were nothing compared to the mare pawing before me.

“This is Alfonso, my mount. He’s been with me for eight years, haven’t you boy?” He stroked the black gelding’s neck. “Shall we?”

My head nodded but my arid mouth refused to talk. Aiden took Belmira from Mark and led her over to me. Before I could slide my foot in the stirrup, Aiden lifted me as if I weighed nothing, and in the blink of an eye I sat in the saddle.

The quick movement caused me to gasp. My stomach dropped like I had plummeted down the arc of a roller coaster. It settled back to its usual resting place as I centered myself in the saddle.

“Thank you,” I sputtered. Aiden nodded and flashed to the top of Alfonso. The fact it didn’t startle the gelding was a testament to the time they had spent together.

“Have fun!” Mark’s eyes twinkled like the little white lights suspended above.

Biting my lower lip, I glanced back at him as Belmira stepped in line behind Aiden and Alfonso. She followed them between the glowing lights on the ground. Mark waved and then crossed his arms and watched us disappear into the woods. A knot formed in my stomach when he disappeared from sight. He had become my security blanket, and I already felt insecure alone in the woods with Aiden without him.

Belmira followed them through no cue of mine and we wound beneath the lights down the worn wooded trail. The surrounding silence felt as heavy as the cool, summer air only broken by the snapping of twigs as the horses made their way deeper into the woods. I struggled for something to say, which was odd because rambling in the face of awkward silence was my usual go-to. Another trait I inherited from my mother. I fought the urge to go off on a tangent.

“Do you ride a lot?” I asked, keeping it short.

“Almost every night. It is one of my favorite activities. I can see in the dark and Alfonso is very surefooted.”

“You can see in the dark? Like night goggles?”

Aiden chuckled. “I’ve never tried them so I can’t attest to the comparison, but yes, I can see as clearly in the dark as I can in the light.”

“What other special abilities do you have?”

“Well, mind reading is not one of them, so you’re safe there,” he joked, and it set me at ease.