Saving Grace (3 page)

He lifted me by my
throat;
my feet dangled freely kicking at him. His strong arms threw me; flinging me like a crumbled piece of paper. A circus of black and white spots clouded my vision and a rusty taste filled my mouth as my blood slowly dripped from where I bit my lip when I landed. A deep roll of laughter barked from his beautiful face, "How do I look as that boy toy of yours? Do you find me attractive?" His deep laughter echoed through the room.

Trying to stand, I searched around the room for something, anything to protect myself with.

"You are so entertaining with your thoughts of surviving against me."

A flush of rage ignited across my cheeks. "So why
don't
you just kill
m
e,
instead of talking about it?"

Shane's
image faded.
Gabriel's
face flashed in front of me placing his tremendous hands on each side of my face and leaned them against the wall. Sharp steel-like feathers spread the width of the room behind him. A raw energy hummed from his entire body. His irises blazed a fiery fury of colors. I could see my reflection in them. My eyes were wide but not with fear. With anger and fury.

"Choose me and we will take over the heavens together. Choose me or I will break you until you do,"
he whispered.

I laughed. "Never. I will never choose you.
I'll
be his until the end."

Then he kissed me. He growled and his mouth was on mine.
I slammed my lips shut.
Gabriel's
hands slid around my neck and squeezed. He withdrew his lips from
mine. "Wrong answer."

My body felt too heavy. I felt as if gravity was sending my broken body right through the center of the earth. Pulling me with a feral hunger.

I
couldn't
take a breath without feeling a sharpness deep within my chest. My butterflies were dead and gone, leaving me cold, broken and alone. They were all I had left.

I pried my swollen eyes open. An acidic taste covered my tongue and my throat was scorched dry.
I
couldn't
move.
Thick metal chains looped tightly around my battered body
b
ound
me
to a hard wooden chair
.
I was too weak
even
to cry.

My muscles felt torn and mangled; my skin ablaze with fire. Somewhere a tormented scream ripped through the darkness. I franticly tried to kick my feet out, but only managed to send my chair crashing against the floor. There were more screams, more voices; agonized, tortured and desperate. They were calling my name.

Jacob's
beautiful face emerged from the
darknes
s;
m
y
brother Jacob.
Grace's
brother. My heart burst with fear for him if Gabriel found him there. I tried to tell him to run, but the only sound that came from my lips was a muffled cry. I strained to see the brown irises of his eyes.
Would Gabriel pretend to be him too?

Jake pulled at the chains that held me and my body retched from the feeling of being free from them. It quaked and convulsed with pain.

Just when I thought my soul could take no more, the beautiful image of Shane collapsed to his knees in front of me. His ancient blue eyes looked agonized and stunned. He gently brushed my matted hair from my face and whimpered my name.

My tongue felt too large for the inside of my mouth, but I still tried to talk. There were tears falling down his perfec
t face. "
S
hh
,
baby,
I'm
here now
."

I love
yo
u,
Shane
.

If you are really Shane
.
I love you.

"What was the gift you gave me?"

"
Shh
,
Baby,
it's
okay...
"

"
No...I need to know
it's
you...if after ever
yt
hing...
it's
you
."

Hovering above us stood the archangel Michael. He glared down at me through his ancient blue eyes. "
Shamsiel
, are you positive about your decision? Gabriel might still come after the girl."

Shane gently pulled me into his arms and I trembled in the warmth from his body. He softly ran the tips of his fingers along my jaw as grief and pain darkened his features. "Absolutely,
Michae
l, she's
worth it."

"So be it."

Shane held me closer, placing his lips against my temple. "No matter what happens from here, know that I have always, I will always love you and I will always protect you."

I could feel the last piece of my heart crush to dust under the weight of
his words. My breath came out in rough gasps. "What did you do?" I pleaded.

He inhaled deeply and an eternity seemed to pass between us. His jaw tightened. "If it
weren't
for me
,
you'd
be where
you're
supposed to be. So this is my chance to let you start over. It's over, baby
. Your punishment is over
."

At
first,
I
didn't
get what he meant. I just let him hold me in his arms while I stared into the eyes that
I've
searched thousands of years for.
It
didn't
click until he stood up carrying me and handed me to Michael.

I tore myself away from the angel and landed on my knees; shattered. The screams roared through my lips, "NO! No! It
doesn't
end this way! You
can't
leave me!"

My heart broke a thousand times more as I watched my angel turn his back and walk away.

Things became hazy and
thick
. A
dark blackness enveloped around me, tucking me in warm and tight. I heard hushed voices floating from somewhere above me but my eyes were
too
heavy to open
,
so I pulled myself in tightly and waited in the shadowy corners of the dark room.

At
times,
I could distantly feel warm fingers send
ing
trail
s of heat along my skin and
hushed whispers begged me to open my eyes. But I was too broken to comply.
I wanted to stay in the darkness, to let it take over and consume me.

Eventuall
y,
the darkness of the small room slowly faded into the bright sterile walls of a stark white hospital room. A room drenched in the pungent smells of ammonia and vomit where
Grace's
body had been healing.
My body
. I was Grace now and no longer a lost soul.

The only physical pain I could feel was the achy stiffness from laying still.
Oh yeah, and the freaking pain of the gaping
hole
where my heart was ripped from my chest
. No,
let's
not forget that.

Crisp white blankets were tucked tightly under my body and my hospital gown
lay
limply off my shoulders. The way the bones of my shoulders jutted out of my skin was surreal to me.
How long have I been here?

A small television screen, hanging by a flexible metal arm, played an old black and white movie.
Cream-colored
curtains stretched across the ceiling blocking my view of the hallway. Curled into a ball on one of the chairs was
Lea's
sleeping form.
My best
friend's
head leaned awkwardly to the side and through her open
lips
,
low snores could be heard
. A
Cosmopolitan
magazine was tented like a hat on the top of her sleeping head. In spite of my
situation,
I barked out a laugh.

Lea jumped at the sound and the magazine fell, glossy perfumed pages flew everywhere.

"Holy shit!
Hoo
...
leee
shit!
You're
awake.
You're
awak
e,
right? Holy shit!
Gra
y
,
is it really you
? Holy, holy...please tell me it's you and not somebody else in there! Holy shit!" She just kept repeating the same thing over and over as tears streamed down her face. "Holy shit! Stay right there! I
gotta
get the nurse.
Don't
go anywhere!"

Where in the world did she think
I'd
be going?

Lea was jumping around like a high school cheerleader on crack when the doctors came in.
"Miss, you are going to need to calm yourself down while I give my patient a small examination," the doctor snapped.

Lea's
eyes were as wide as our salad plates. "Calm down? Holy shit! Holy shit!
She's
awake! How am I supposed to calm down?" Lea pointed her hand at me.

"Um, Lea you look like
you're
about to have a heart
attac
k.
Maybe
you need this hospital bed more than I do," I croaked.

"Holy shit!" she bawled. "
And
she's
freaking cracking her wise-ass jokes!"

Two nurses gently shoved
L
ea out of the room
. At
first,
she got all snarky and defensive. But one of the nurses was upwards of three hundred pounds and looked like a
linebacker
. Lea seemed to calculate her chances of tackling her and thought better of it.
See, miracles do exist
.

As the doctors asked me questions and examined
me,
I could hear Lea in the hallway ranting and screaming that I was finally awake. I pictured her g
etting a hold of the hospital
PA system to alert the entire building. Crap, if given a chance
,
she'd
probably announce it over the National Broadcasting System.

I zoned out as the doctor
s droned on and on about extensive tests, medical induced coma, brain activity, blood transfusions, life support, memory loss, confused thoughts,
blah, blah, blah
. I wanted Lea to come back in to see what the hell happened when I was gone.
Or, just what happened period
.

She bolted in when the doctor
s left.
"How long have I been here?"

She hesitated for a brief moment and started fumbling with the sleeves of her
shirt, "A little over four weeks."

I hung my face in my hands. The IV needle that was in my right hand pulled tight
ly
against my skin as I moved. Nausea
wr
acked
my insides and my head
was spinning
. "What happened?" There were long dark holes in my life where I thought memories should have been.
What the hell?