Dark Awakening Read Free Page B

the image of the angel falling from the sky. She saw Sariel, the angel she had felt as a presence in her life for as long as she could remember. She saw the black winged angel—a fallen one—and she felt the touch of angelic hands as they roamed over her body.
    Definitely certifiable. And what was more, she had completely forgotten about Mary. Some best friend she was. While she was secretly cavorting in the bushes with a so-called angel, Mary was what? Dying? Good God, she could not be dying—not alone. Nadira had sworn that Mary would not see the end, alone in the dark.
    Turning the key in the ignition, Nadira started up the Sunfire and shifted it into drive. It was pouring so hard now that her windshield wipers could barely keep up with the torrents of water running down the glass. Listening to the rain as it pelted against the windows, Nadira stepped on the gas, the gravel spitting out beneath the wheels as the car fishtailed over the loose stones. Straightening the steering wheel, she headed for the park entrance.
    Through the swaying wipers and the rivulets of rain, she could barely see anything. Suddenly there was a man standing in the beams of her headlights. He was a giant of a man who stood with his legs braced and his head partially bowed. He wore a pair of faded jeans and a long black leather trench coat that was sopping wet. Beneath the trench, his white tank top was stained red.
    Shit. Slamming on the brakes, the car skidded to a halt, inches from the man. Slowly, he raised his head and looked up through a veil of wet loose curls that shone blue-black in the light of her high beams. His eyes, she noted, were ice blue and they were looking straight at her, as if he could see her through the rain and the swishing wiper blades.
    Holy shit! She studied the height of him, the shiny, long dark coat, thought she saw some wispy shadow behind him. Wings? The guy from the bridge, she realised, sucking in her breath. Shit! She reached for the door lock and pushed it down. The lock slides clicked into place.
    Blood continued to shadow on the white cotton of his shirt, increasing in diameter, darkening despite the rainwater. The flickering silhouette of wings unfurled in the darkness.
    No, not an angel. Angels didn't bleed. Did they? No. It was just some guy who'd gotten bounced. Bad drug deal, she told herself. Definitely not an angel.
    He studied her, making no attempt to walk to her car door. After what felt like minutes, but was probably only seconds, he straightened to his full height and stumbled away, clutching his side. With a sigh of relief, she let her foot off the brake and moved it on to the gas pedal, but her conscience suddenly wouldn't let her press it.
    You can't just leave him. You cannot pull away and abandon him in the rain when he's wounded like that.
    It was the nurse in her, she told herself. She couldn't leave anyone at the side of the road bleeding. She just couldn't. It didn't matter that she had quit the profession over two years ago because she'd been burned out and sickened by what she'd seen coming through the trauma room in the ER. Despite the burnout, and the antipathy she had felt, she'd never left a patient alone—not innocent bystander caught in a drive-by, nor the shooter; or the overdosed junkie who she'd seen over and over despite numerous resuscitations, and hours of counselling, not to mention the methadone program.
    Yeah, she had lost her faith, lost her belief in the goodness of humanity. She still hadn't found it, despite spending the last two years, ‘searching’ for what she wanted in life. And what the hell had it gotten her? No money, a pile of unpaid bills, and three slices of bread and two eggs left in the fridge—all supposed to last her three more days, till her bonds came due and she could transfer them into her account. Yeah, she hadn't found anything but failure these past two years, and yeah, he was probably some druggie that had gotten popped because he owed his