Her Demon Prince (Forbidden Fantasy) (22 page)

Agrat's eyes
glowed red and she saw flicks of fire in the irises. Once she would have been
terrified. Once she would have backed away, but she knew he would never hurt
her, that he loved her far beyond all others, that he was considering her
words. "I failed you."

"No. You
could never do that, but you are fighting against age-old beings in a time
period not your own. Until Daniel came along, you had no back up. I only feel
safe when you're with me. Please try and stop your eyes glowing. It's unnerving
for me when your eyeballs turn to fire even though you don't mean to be."

"Do not be
afraid of me," he said but his eyes stopped glowing.

"I want you
to take me to my apartment and stay with me while I get changed. Don't leave my
side. Do you remember where the paramedic took Rachael?"

"New York
Trauma hospital," he said.

"Right. I'm
going to call the hospital and find out how Rachael is doing the moment we get
to my apartment."

"Then I
will kill Galaden," Agrat said.

Phoebe sucked in
a long, thoughtful breath. "It may not be so easy. Daniel is with Cassiel
and Galaden and don't forget, Galaden raised them both. From the short time
Daniel was here and you were unconscious, I could tell that Daniel adores
Cassiel. Loves him like an older brother. If you go to kill Galaden, you'll
have to go through Cassiel. He still cares for his father even if they're at
odds. What if Daniel defends Cass? Will you kill our son?"

Chapter 15

Rachael felt Galaden's
presence pulling her from her sleep. She could hear him calling her but she
couldn't respond, couldn't even open her eyes to acknowledge him. Yet her soul
stirred, just as it always did when he was near. Their sense of connection went
bone deep. Was she still in Phoebe's apartment? She could hear the constant
beep, beep, beep of a machine that didn't sound familiar. The air smelled of
antiseptic and she became aware of the buzz of people talking in the distance.

She felt
Galaden's hands cupping her face. The sweet smell of morning dew filled the air
replacing the antiseptic odor as his soft feathers brushed her cheek.

"Rachael?
My love, come back to me," Galaden said.

She tried to
raise her hand to touch him but it lay there beside her leaden, yet her psychic
acuity had returned. She could sense Galaden's dismay along with his adoration
of her and she wanted to reach out to him.

"You gave
me the gift of your life-force and I used it to save my life. I wish to return
the little of your sweet essence I have left, but it may not be enough. I will
gift you with my own life-force to make you strong."

A slight tingle
vibrated on her cheeks and something warm and happy seemed to enter her body.
She moaned as the sensation spread from his hands throughout her. She
recognized her own essence returning, her strength and her love of life enclosed
within it.

"She is
awakening, Father." Rachael heard the happiness in the young, melodic
voice and although she didn't recognize it, a yearning to see the owner of the
voice twinged in her body.

"Try
holding her hand. Use your healing powers on her like you did on me after you
knocked me out," said another male voice, more gravelly and deep.

"You set my
wings on fire, Daniel. Anyway, this has to be done slowly.
Rachael's
in a mortal body.
She can't take healing energy fast like you do."

A warm hand took
one of hers, the sensation different from Galaden's, the palm sending in a
gentle, pulsing message that spread through her. There was love in the touch,
so generous, so beautiful that she tightened her fingers around the hand as if
it were a safety net.

"Open your
eyes, Rachael," Galaden said.

Slowly, she
focused on telling her eyelids to open and kept repeating the mantra until they
finally did so.

"My
darling," Galaden said.

She stared up
into the angel's face. "Galaden," she whispered, the words no more
than a croak.

"I'm so
sorry," he said, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips.

The depth of
misery in his gaze was deeper than she'd ever seen. "Don't be." She
put her hand to his face and stroked his cheek, knowing that whatever happened
she would be there for him.

"Rachael?
How are you feeling?" another melodic voice called.

She turned.
Confused, Rachael didn't recognize the man holding her other hand, yet she felt
she should because in some way, he seemed familiar. She blinked and opened her
eyes again. Then she saw the wings. Was she in heaven? He was an angel, similar
to her beloved, Galaden, but shorter with the most incredible azure-colored
wings, which didn't reach the floor like Galaden's, but had bright silver tips.
She opened her lips to ask him who he was, but no words came out. Behind him
stood another man who looked like Agrat but who had lighter coloring and,
unlike the snarling countenance of the demon, he wore a large smile on his
face.

"This is
Cassiel, the son you bore me in your past life," Galaden said.

Confusion
clouded Rachael. "I had a child?"
And an angel
child at that.
The thought was surreal and grasping it was like trying
to gather cobwebs. She put her hand on her heart. A son. Her son. And she
didn't know him. To her eyes, he was chiseled and perfect like Galaden, yet
there was something lighter in countenance about him.

"Behind him
stands Daniel, the son of the demon prince and the princess, Phoebe, though I
raised him as my own."

"You raised
Agrat's son. How good you are." She thought of the terrifying demon
who
she'd tried to contain in Phoebe's studio. No wonder
Daniel's face was content.

The angel
swallowed, his face tight with emotion. "You would be proud of Cassiel and
of his power of healing, proud of Daniel and the happiness he carries. I hope
you would be proud of me for raising two good men. In this, I did not let you
down."

"You never
let me down. You're everything to me," she whispered.

Daniel flashed
Cassiel a smile.

"Father,
she is weak," Cassiel said. "Do not burden her with too much
information."

Her brows drew
together as she looked around her, struggling to understand where she was and
what had happened as she took in the white walls and beeping machines.
"Where am I?"

"You're in
a human healing center. As soon as I am able I will remove you but you need
more life-force energy," Galaden said.

"You mean a
hospital," Rachael said, taking in the drip and the heart monitor near the
bed.

Galaden took his
hand from hers and pressed them over her heart. "Your body was preparing
to move to the afterlife. I will gift you my angel energy."

"Slowly,
Father. Angel energy is strong and you have isolated yourself for
centuries," Cassiel cautioned.

Footsteps
clattered down the corridor and a nurse entered the room, walked over and stood
by her side. "You're awake. How are you feeling?" she asked, not
appearing to notice the angels and the elemental demon.

Rachael wondered
how the nurse managed to fit where Daniel and Cassiel had been standing but
when she looked for them, they seemed to have faded. She could just make out
the shape of Cassiel's wings in the background. She blinked. She looked over to
Galaden who smiled at her, but he put his finger to his lips as if to signal to
her not to say anything about him. Rachael wished her head didn't hurt so much.
"Thirsty. My head aches. I can hardly stay awake." And I have angels
around me.

The nurse poured
her a glass of water and offered it to her lips.

She drank
gratefully. When she finished she rested back on the pillow.

The nurse put
the glass down on the bedside table. "Do you know who you are?"

"Rachael
Ryan," she answered.

"Rachael,
you were found in a coma. An ambulance brought you to New York Trauma hospital.
We've been very concerned about you. Your CT scan didn't show anything unusual
but we couldn't wake you. Do you have any idea what happened to you?" The
nurse picked up Rachael's hand and took her pulse, followed by her blood
pressure.

"I'm not
sure." Rachael said, realizing that the nurse would be transferring her to
the psych ward if she tried to explain about Galaden who stood on her left-hand
side. It was clear that the nurse couldn't see him.

"I'm going
to page your neurologist. He'll be delighted you're awake. You have him
puzzled," she said as she walked out of the room.

Galaden put his
hands over her heart, the moment the nurse left. "You cannot stay in this
place. The dead walk the corridors waiting to collect the souls of the living.
When they gather, the living have no more than two weeks. I will not let your ancestors
take you to where I cannot reach you. I will transfer some of my own life-force
now to you so you have the strength to leave with me."

Rachael covered
his hands with hers. They felt hard, the skin rough under her palms.
"Galaden, what's happening? Your hands feel strange." She looked
down. "Their color is different."

Galaden pulled
his hands from under hers and clenched his fingers into fists so she couldn't
examine them. His eyes were wide with misery, his mouth tight and pinched.

"Father?
Are you turning?" Cassiel asked, an ache in his voice.

"Is it the
curse?" Daniel added, leaning forward to look at Galaden's hands, his brow
furrowed.

"How long
do you have?" Cassiel asked.

"Silence!"
Galaden said
,
his wings flared wide and closed. Silver
glitter floated in the air.

Rachael saw
Daniel's mouth snap shut and the look of angst on Cassiel's face.

"But,
Father. Please. We must discuss this." The cry in Cassiel's voice filled
the room.

"Discuss?"
Galaden said, appalled, as if the concept was foreign to him. "Angels do
not discuss. Angels obey their maker."

"There must
be some way to stop this," Cassiel said passionately.

Galaden's eyes
flashed with anger. "Enough!" His look was so cold it could flay
skin, yet Cassiel stared straight back at him, his crystal-blue eyes fierce
with challenge.

Daniel put his
arm around Cassiel and she saw him squeeze his shoulder in support.

When Rachael
turned her head and looked into Galaden's eyes he seemed so distant, almost
unreachable. His skin, normally clear, had taken on a waxy hue, the pupils in
his eyes were pinpricks and the intense blue of his irises had dulled.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
"My love?"
she said, holding out her hand to him, calling this remote angel back to her
warmth,
back
to her.

His expression
softened when he looked at her. "Do not concern yourself with my troubles.
I wish only to concentrate on returning your
life-force
.
It has been centuries since I've needed to take life-force energy from another
being and I am not skilled anymore. I'm sorry I hurt you."

"You always
apologize and I'll always forgive," she said, gently. "One day you'll
learn you don't need to apologize to me." She couldn't imagine loving
anyone more than her angel.

Silver tears
rimmed Galaden's eyes. "You do not understand what I am, what I have to
do, how I am driven to obey my maker."

"I'll love
you no matter what. I'll always love you," she said.

"Perhaps it
will not be so," Galaden said, glancing down at his feet.

"I believe
in you," Rachael said.

"I am not
worthy," he said and his voice cracked.

Cassiel took
Rachael's other hand in his and leaned in close. "We need to recharge you
or you will not heal. Your human body is fragile and we must strengthen it so
it can hold your soul."

Rachael nodded
and closed her eyes as she felt a force flow through her from Galaden, but
something else came with it, an unpleasant sensation heavy with sadness and
black with despair. She gasped and opened her eyes. Her heart thudded and she
sank back, back, back, the edges of her eyesight blackened.

"Father,
stop! I can feel your energy going into her. It's too dense.
Too
dark.
You've brought back the energy of the wasteland dimensions. Her
body won't be able to stand it."

Galaden snatched
his hands away from her chest. "No!" He stared at the palms of his
hands. "I don't know what I carry. The blackness is always with me."

A deep groan
left Rachael's lips as the dark mist seemed to swirl inside her, choking her,
dragging her into blackness. "Help me," she whispered.

"This must
be done slowly using light energy from heaven," Cassiel said.

"I have no
such access to that source, my son," Galaden cried. "Do something. I
can't let her die."

"Bro,
what's going down? Her face is going grey," Daniel said.

Her heart
thudded and beat so slowly she thought it would stop. Whatever Galaden had put
into her was so dark, so hollow; it seemed to suck any happiness from her
being. Wherever he had traveled since their last life together had been a
hideous place and he had brought that energy back with him.

"Cassiel.
Please save your mother. I beg you," Galaden pleaded, his proud face
bleak, his crystal-blue eyes cloudy with misery.

"I'm
trying, Father, but I think I'm losing her. You gave her your essence, but what
came after is so dark, I don't know if her humanity can bear it," Cassiel
said. "Daniel and I spent years searching for you in the wasteland
dimensions after your kingdom fell. The suicides
who
refused to move on turned to wraiths. This is the horror that has attached to
your energy signature, this is what has seeped into Rachael."

The blackness
seemed to swirl through her, centered in her heart area and carried on her
blood. Memories from their life together flooded her mind like dreams, while
her heart thudded, each beat slower than the last until Galaden, Cassiel and
Daniel faded into nothingness.

House of the Healer 945 BC

Rachael stood trembling at the
door of Galaden’s rooms, off the healing center, the stone floor cold under her
feet. She was a month from her time but she wanted him to hold her because she
was certain the baby was coming. Her shift pulled at her stomach as she walked
toward Galaden. She was amazed that her mother hadn't noticed her pregnancy
when it seemed so obvious to her, yet her unsuspecting mother had merely
commented that she was putting on flesh. She knew her parents trusted her
deeply. It would never occur to them that their healer daughter would fall in
love with
the angel prince, nor
he with her. Her
mother had gone to visit her sister in a nearby town two moons ago, when Rachael
was six months gone, and she had not the heart to stop
her
nor
her father who had offered to escort her mother.