CHAPTER
27
Half-awake. Asleep. Haunted by disturbing nightmares. I struggled to wake, but it felt like my eyelids were glued shut. I surrendered again to blessed sleep. I don’t know how much time passed until I finally opened my eyes. What was that wavering light in my bedroom? Groggy and weak, I pushed myself to a sitting position, confused. Nothing looked familiar. Was I still dreaming? Slowly, very slowly, it began to pierce my foggy brain that I was not at home. Ropes of fear tightened around my heart as my gaze traveled around the shadowy room. Flickering candles tucked back in three arched alcoves explained the erratic light. Besides the candles, two dim wrought-iron fixtures mounted high against roughly-textured rock walls provided barely enough illumination for me to
