Chapter 146

[SAMANTHA’s Point of View],

I filled my lungs with the musky and fresh scent of the forest trees, and a deep sigh escaped from my lips the second a cold, soft breeze brushed my bare skin. My husband took half an hour to recover. As we dragged ourselves out of the cave, we realized time had stopped when we entered the place—like we had gone into a strange dimension, and the glowing butterfly I saw when I went to the cave was still there, fluttering around in front of it. I knew it because of the position of the huge, silver moon.

“What happened?” Dominic asked, his brows deep in a frown. “It should be around noon.”

“I don’t know exactly,” I answered softly as I looked around. “But it seems like time stops inside that place. Like it’s being protected by something dark and ancient. I just don’t know why it allowed us inside.”