Page 26 of The Refuge

Behind her, Catrìona heard the roar of a harsh voice and the panting of a huge beast. On she ran as screams erupted around her.

Suddenly she was grabbed and wrenched to the ground. A brutal hand clenched her arm, dragging her over the sand and pebbles. She fought to break free, kicking out with her feet but was held fast in a powerful grip.

In a tongue she did not recognize, the savage beast shouted and lifted her over the side of a ship, thrusting her to the hard wooden deck.

Sobbing, she scurried away, but the beast leaped over the side of the hull and stalked toward her. Grabbing her, he bound her hands, bruising her tender skin. She cried out and tried to crawl away but was hauled back.

A dark shadow loomed above her.

“Nay!” she cried out, sobbing.

“Cat! Cat, wake up!”

From deep in the dream, Catrìona’s mind cleared of mist as Fia shook her awake. Opening her eyes, she stared unblinking into the darkness, her heart pounding in her chest. Soaked in sweat, she panted out breaths as if she were suffocating. “What—?”

“’Twas only a dream, Cat,” said Fia, drawing Catrìona into her arms.

“Oh, God, Fia. This one was so real,” she gasped.

“You are all right now,” her cousin crooned softly, gently brushing the wet strands of hair from Catrìona’s face. “’Tis over.”

She clung to her cousin, a tether to what was real. “In the dream,” she murmured, as she regained her senses and her heart settled in her chest, “I was one of the captured.”

Silence hung in the air, then Fia said, “You only imagine what it must have been like for Deidre and the others.”

“Aye,” Catrìona said, thinking it must be so. “’Twas horrible.”