Fallen Angel (10 page)

Chapter Seven

Fuelled by fury, Nathaniel
rocketed upwards at cosmic speed. Knowing Devlin wouldn’t give up
without a fight, he wished he’d worn stretch pants instead of a
robe, and he couldn’t
believe
he hadn’t worn his sword, but
every second counted and there was no time to go back.

As he zoomed through the
atmosphere, he wondered why he’d been so careless. He should’ve
been prepared for Devlin to be so underhanded that he’d take
Eloise’s soul while she was under anaesthetic, especially after
he’d threatened to kidnap her. Eloise was the sweetest and most
precious ward he’d ever had and he didn’t know what he’d do if
anything happened to her. He just prayed he was heading in the
right direction. If not, who knows where Devlin would take
her.

Propelling himself
higher, he darted around the stars and shot towards the Heavens. He
had to get to Eloise before Devlin bargained with Lucifer, that’s
if he hadn’t already.

Once Devlin’s cloud came
into view, Nathaniel slowed his pace, then as softly as he could,
he swooped beneath it. Gazing up, he could clearly see Devlin next
to Eloise on his bed, but worse, his arm was around her shoulders
and he was stroking her face. With rage zapping his core, Nathaniel
balled his fingers into fists. He wanted to crush Devlin’s head
with his bare hands and scorch his wings off forever, but there was
no time for that. He had to get Eloise back to her body, and fast.
Stretching his arms up, he burst through the cloud and grabbed her
by the waist, then holding her tight, he back-kicked Devlin with
all of his strength, sending him tumbling backwards into the dark
night sky.

Eloise writhed and
thrashed in his arms as she tried to free herself. “What are you
doing? Let go of me.”

Gripping her tighter,
Nathaniel flew off into the night. “It’s okay, settle down. I won’t
hurt you.”

“
Oh, my God!”
she squealed, peeking below. “Please don’t drop me! I’m scared of
heights.”

“
Don’t worry.
I won’t let you fall.” As he held her to his chest, he realised
with shock that she was totally naked, and for the first time in
his whole existence he felt the stirrings of something he’d never
known. With his loss of focus, they began plummeting towards Earth
at full speed.

Eloise clung to his neck
and screamed in his ear, bringing his mind back to
attention.

In a flash, he adjusted
his wings and shot upwards. He couldn’t understand it. He’d held
thousands of souls throughout the centuries, yet none had disturbed
him like that before.

Eloise trembled in his
arms and stared at him. “Holy Crap! You’re the bad angel, aren’t
you?”

Nathaniel threw his head
back and laughed. He was so ecstatic he’d managed to save her, he
didn’t care if she believed Devlin’s lies, but he wanted to put her
mind at ease. “Of course I’m not.”

“
Take me
back,” she yelled. “I’m scared of heights and I don’t believe
you.”

“
I wish you’d
stop screeching in my ear like that.” He flew to a nearby cloud and
put her down, then he whipped his robe off.

She crouched into a ball
with her hands over her breasts. “What are you doing?”

There was a full moon and
now that he was facing her, he could clearly see she was terrified
of him. Ashamed of himself, he grabbed her hand and pulled her up.
“It’s all right, Eloise. Don’t worry, I’m not a bad angel and I’m
not going to hurt you. I’m just giving you my gown.” As he tugged
it over her head, their eyes locked for a moment and he froze. Even
as a spirit she was beautiful.

After quickly adjusted
the robe, she looked him up and down and smirked.

He glanced down at the
skimpy piece of silk he was wearing around his hips and silently
cringed. Then he lifted her back into his arms to hide his
embarrassment as well as his nakedness.

Holding onto his
shoulders, she gazed into his eyes. “Have I died and gone to Heaven
or am I in Hell with a demon?”

“
Neither,” he
said, zooming off into the night again. He’d never felt so
energised in his entire existence and he didn’t know what to make
of it, but as he zipped under the moon, she clung on tighter and
rested her head against his bare chest.

“
I’m still
scared,” she said. “So don’t drop me.”

“
It’s all
right, Eloise, I would never drop you.”

She glanced up at him
again. “This is just crazy. I must be having a nightmare. Who are
you and how do you know my name?”

“
I’ll tell
you soon, but hold on because I’m about to descend.”

“
Oh, please
don’t go fast again,” she pleaded, gripping onto his
bicep.

Instead of plummeting
again, he sailed on a breeze, then swerved to the right. “Don’t
panic, you’re safe with me.”

As she squealed into his
chest, he zigzagged around the twinkling stars and pointed to a
meteor storm. “Look, Eloise. You have to see this.”

She gazed up and gasped,
“Wow! That’s so beautiful. What is it?”

He flew to a nearby cloud
and put her gently down. “It’s actually a shooting star, but you’re
seeing it close up.” With his arm around her shoulder, they watched
as shiny pieces of stardust fell from the sky like raindrops from
Heaven.

Laughing, she reached out
to touch them, but they were too far away. She smiled up at him,
her eyes luminous. “I don’t know who you are, but I must be having
a beautiful dream. I’ve never seen
anything
like this
before.

He knew he should take
her back to the hospital, but first, he wanted to give her
something to protect her from Lucifer. She’d obviously lost her
crucifix. Picking her up with one arm, he raised the other above
his head and rocketed upwards. As Eloise held onto him, he grabbed
one of the particles, then swooped down, plummeting below the mist
and heading back to Earth.

She waved her right arm
up and down. “I’m a bird.”

Nathaniel smiled. She
looked more like an angel than a bird, especially the way her hair
was blowing around her face.

When they descended
beneath the clouds, the vast oceans and city lights came into view.
Eloise threw her arms around his neck. “Holy crap. Now I can see
how high up we are, I’m
really
scared. Oh, please, don’t let
me fall.”

As she shivered with
fear, he squeezed her tighter to his chest. “Hey, I’m an angel.
Don’t you trust me?”

She gripped his shoulders
and gazing into his eyes. “I don’t know what to
believe.”

Nathaniel quickly looked
away. Being so close to her was giving him strange pleasurable
vibrations and they were causing him to lose focus. Shaking his
head, he forced himself to pay more attention to where they were
going. As he flew towards the beach, Eloise peeked over her arm.
“Oh, my God, there’s Creed Valley. You’re taking me
home.”

“
Not
exactly,” he said, but before he had a chance to finish what he was
saying, she gave him a quick kiss on the mouth. Stunned at her
actions, he blinked as a jolt of electricity shot from his lips to
his toes. Her face was so close to his and her eyes were
mesmerising him, sending his mind into a spin.

“
Watch out,”
she screamed, grabbing onto his hair. “We’re going to
drown.”

When he snapped back to
reality, he was shocked to see they were plummeting at full speed
towards the Tasman Sea. Alarmed at his own carelessness, he
propelled himself upwards, only seconds before they hit the ocean.
Jesus Christ!
What was she doing to him? At this rate, God
would burn
his
wings off before ever getting to Devlin’s.
Shaking his head, he glanced sideways at her, but she was too busy
staring down at the water to notice his reprimand. When they
reached the lookout, he fluttered gently down and landed on the
cliff top. “There you go. Now you’re safe,” he said, furling his
wings behind his back and putting her on the ground. “Though you’re
lucky we didn’t fall into the sea after what you just did to
me.”

Her brows bunched into a
frown. “What do you mean? You’re the one who was navigating, not
me. I’m not an angel.”

He smirked. “Aren’t you?”
He was tempted to tell her she was the descendant of one after what
she just did to him, but he couldn’t do that.

She squinted at him.
“Look, why have you brought me here? You’re obviously not human and
I was supposed to be in the hospital. I feel like I’m wide awake,
so I can’t be dreaming.
Please
, you have to tell me the
truth. I’m dead, aren’t I?”

He brushed a stray curl
from her forehead. “It’s all right, Eloise. You’re not dead. You’re
just having a dream and I’m a figment of your imagination.” He
hated lying to her, but if he told her the truth, it would put her
life in danger.

Folding her arms, she
looked him up and down. “I
so
didn’t imagine you.” Then she
bit her lip. “But I guess you
are
the sort of boy I’d dream
about.”

“
Oh, I’m a
boy, am I?” Before she could answer him, he grabbed her right wrist
and opened her fingers, then he placed the silver rock in her hand.
“I want you to always keep this for good luck and
protection.”

As she stared in awe at
the glittering crucifix-shaped stone in her hand, her mouth dropped
wide open. “Oh, my goodness. It’s the most beautiful gift I’ve ever
been given.”

“
If you get
your father to drill a hole in it, you could wear it around your
neck like the crucifix you lost.”

She looked up at him.
“How do you know about my necklace?”

Uh-oh, he’d slipped up.
Thinking quickly, he said, “Because you dreamed me up, so I think
and say whatever you want me to.”

She raised a brow.
“That’s bullshit because if I really did dream you up, you wouldn’t
have rejected my kiss.”

He blinked twice. “I
didn’t reject your kiss. I’m an angel and angels don’t kiss. Surely
you know that from your bible classes.”

“
Whatever,”
she said, holding the crucifix tightly in her hand. “I can take
rejection. You don’t have to make excuses.”

Holy Heaven, now what had
he done? He quickly crossed himself. How could he have let her get
a crush on him? He certainly hadn’t encouraged it, had he? He
frowned, knowing he’d better get her back to the hospital before
she got him banished to Earth forever.

Feeling guilty for
wasting precious time, he scooped her into his arms and flew
towards the hospital.

“
Where are
you taking me?” she said, snaking her arms around his neck and
gazing into his eyes again.

Nathaniel scowled. He
wished she wouldn’t look at him like that. She was awakening
something in his soul he never knew existed, but what? Heavens
above, is
this
what happened to Devlin? He gave her a stern
look. “I’m taking you back to the hospital because your dream is
ending.”

She pouted. “But it’s my
dream and I don’t want it to end.”

“
You have no
choice. It’s dangerous to astral travel for too long.” He wanted to
tell her it was also dangerous for him to be with her like this,
but that would just encourage her.

She tugged on his curls.
“But you still haven’t told me your name.”

He grinned. “You dreamed
me up, so I don’t know my name.”

“
Well if I
did, I should’ve made you ugly.”

Smirking, he sailed
through an open window on the fourth floor of the hospital and
headed straight to her recovery room. When he saw a medic
desperately working on her physical body, Nathaniel flipped her
spirit in his arms so she couldn’t see what was happening. Then
hovering above the hospital bed, he spoke softly to her. “Your
dream is ending now, Eloise, and you’ll wake up soon.”

She shook her head. “No,
please don’t leave me. I don’t want to wake up yet. You haven’t
told me who you are or why you snatched me away from that other
angel.”

Nathaniel scowled. “What
did he tell you?”

“
He said his
name was Devlin and that he was my guardian angel. Then he said he
loved me and he’d always protect me.”

“
Listen,
Devlin’s
not
your guardian angel, Eloise, but I am. You have
to believe me. Please, tell me you’ll never listen to him? He’s a
bad angel.”

When the doctors began to
panic, Nathaniel knew he had to let her go. But as he readied
himself to send her soul back into her body, she reached up and
kissed his mouth again, sending a surge of electricity right to his
core. As his whole being vibrated, he dropped her onto the hospital
bed.