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.
A contraction took her and Rachael gripped her sides. It was too soon, but the contractions had been going all afternoon and were becoming close. It seemed the baby was eager to enter this world.
Walking on tiptoes so not to wake the servants, she approached Galaden, who was sleeping in the bedroom where he stayed on visits to her family since she’d healed him. From the light of the moon she could see his silhouette, his beautiful wings folded as he slept; she could hear the steady sounds of his breathing. Close by a donkey brayed and Rachael jumped at the sound, then the next contraction started, fiercer than the last. She bit her bottom lip to stop a groan.
Breathing deeply to calm herself once the contraction stopped, she could smell a hint of morning dew as she came near to Galaden. She slipped off her shift so it fell to the floor with a soft sound. She had offered to the Goddess Astarte for the safe birth of her child when the minor contractions had started that afternoon, but even as she took tentative steps toward Galaden’s bed she prayed for the Goddess’s benefice. Her waters had broken and it would be soon, though she had waited until all the servants had retired for the night before she left her room to go to the angel.
If her father had found out about
her and Galaden he would have been horrified, but she no longer feared her father, not when so much was at stake. Galaden had been insistent that their secret marriage and the coming birth of their child be kept from his father, the king, of whom his fear ran deep. Even her own parents did not know they had married because she knew her father would put a stop to her forbidden relationship. Her family were respected merchants, but no match for a royal prince. She couldn't bear to be parted from Galaden and no one suspected she would lie with the angel prince. But what if the baby looked like the angel? What if he had wings? How could she hide that?
She stood at the edge of his palisade, her contractions coming closer together, too frightened to wake him, too frightened not to. Outside a Carrion bird screeched and Rachael started, her heart going thump, thump, thump.
“Who’s there?” Galaden woke. “Rachael?”
“Please lower your voice or the servants will hear us,” she whispered.
“I'm sorry. You startled me. Why do you come in here without your shift? You must look after your health. Lie with me.” He flicked across the covers and pulled them over her.
She climbed onto the bed and tried to hug him, but her stomach seemed huge. “The baby is coming. My waters have broken.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I'm frightened.”
“It is too early for the baby,” Galaden said, his voice hoarse with emotion.
"Four weeks if my sums are correct, but my contractions are close."
His hands roamed her stomach. "It feels so tight,” he said, his voice melodic with excitement.
"Will anything be different from the birth of a human child?" she asked, her heart pattering with worry.
"I don't know. It is women's business. Male angels do not attend the birthing room. In that I guess we are the same as human males."
“What if something goes wrong?” Tears rolled down her face, over her cheeks and onto the bedding.
"Remember, I have healing powers. I can use my angel energy if something goes wrong. Just a little. It's too powerful to use too often on humans."
Rachael breathed out a long sigh of relief. “I'm so glad you're here. Please hold me.”
He shifted his weight, stroking her hair, kissing her tears, making soothing noises. “Why are you so frightened? You told me you have attended births,” he asked, his voice confused.
“It's not the same. It's my first baby. I can't deliver my own baby and my mother isn't here.”
“Trust me. I promise on my life, I will look after you."
“What do you know about delivering babies?"
"Nothing, but I will not leave your side," he said.
"You are everything to me. I can't imagine my life without you in it,” Rachael cried. She wrapped her arms around him, nestling in to his neck, breathing in the scent of him, then she stiffened and groaned slightly as another contraction built. "I need to stand."
"Let me help you get up." He climbed off his pallet and pulled her to her feet.
When he held her, she saw his eyes glimmer with the light of the moon as he steadied himself beside her. “Grip my shoulders when the pain takes you,” he said.
A spasm-like sensation made her clamp her lips shut to suppress a moan. Her body tensed with the strange, intense feeling building like a powerful cramp.
He put his hand over her shoulders. “Cry out, if you need to, my love."
She bit her bottom lip. "I shouldn't. I don't want to alert the servants until my parents know of this birth when they return tomorrow. They will know how to stop the servants chattering. They will have to help us hide the baby."
"Once they have recovered from the shock," Galaden said with a grim smile. "But if they will not accept the birth and assist you, I will buy you a house."
"My mother will want this child. She has bemoaned that I refused all suitors and that I would not let them force me into marriage. Anyway, I cannot leave my healing practice. You know that."
"You are fortunate that your parents hold you in high regard and have not forced you to marry. I have informed my mother that I have fallen in love with a human. I have asked her to intercede for me so that my father does not punish me."
"Would the punishment be terrible?" she asked, rocking her hips to ease the pain as the next contraction built.
"I am promised to another angel. I will not tell my father that we have already married, only that I wish to do so," he said.
She noticed that he did not answer her question as to punishment, but before she could question it another contraction, fiercer than the others, took her and she had the urge to push. She groaned, loud and deep this time.
"This is not something we can hide forever, though the baby will not cry if it takes after the manner of angel children. Its tone will be musical," he said, moving behind her and rubbing her back. "For tonight, we will keep the baby in my quarters. The servants dare not enter here without my permission. As soon as you have recovered I will visit my lady mother again and plead for her help in appeasing my father. I want to bring you to court. I want you by my side, always."
Tales of the king's fierce treatment of subjects who had defied him had reached her ears. Although the king was respected and his wisdom revered, his punishment for those he considered to be traitors was legendary. What if Galaden's mother could not convince the king that she was a suitable match? She gripped him. "Promise me you won't tell your parents about the baby."
"My parents would never harm a child. They are not monsters."
"Please." Rachael lived by her intuition and though she did not wish to offend Galaden, she wanted her baby to stay with her parents if anything happened to her. Her mother adored babies.
"I vow not to tell my parents about the baby until you allow it, now stop worrying and focus on this birth."
Her baby would be safe. In that moment the love she felt for Galaden swelled and she gripped his shoulders, readying herself for the next contraction. “The baby is moving out. I need a birthing stool."
Galaden moved his hands to her stomach. “Can you lie on the pallet?”
“I cannot. I must squat. The baby is coming. Sit in front of me. Hold me,” she panted.
He squatted and she rested her arms on his, her hands clutching his shoulders. "Is the pain terrible?" he asked, his voice full of concern.
“I cannot bear it, but I must.” She felt his arms tighten protectively around her waist as the pain became so intense she could no longer speak. Instead she bore down, feeling the movement of the baby inside her channel.
He leaned down staring between her legs. “I can see the head,” he said, his voice so thrilled, it sounded like song.
A deep moan left her lips and she pushed hard. Looking down she could see the head between her legs, the sight so strange, yet miraculous.
He put his hands between her legs, waiting for the child to come; gently pulling the baby from her body when it was ready.
Rachael collapsed onto her back gasping. "What is it?"
"We have a son." He stood and cradled the baby. On looking around him, he whipped the covers off his palisade and wrapped them around her as her whole body began to tremble with the effect of the birth.
The baby let out a bell-like sound as Galaden wiped his body with a cloth and handed him to Rachael.
Tears came to her eyes. "He is so tiny. He's white-blond like you. Oh and look, he has opened his eyes. His eyes are like blue jewels." She turned him over and looked at the little crumpled feathers.
"Wings," Galaden said proudly, gently extending and examining them.
"They're the most beautiful blue. Like the ocean when the sun shines on it."
Galaden stared at her, his eyes wide with wonder. "I've rarely seen such a wondrous color among my kind."
"Look, Galaden. His wings have silver tips like yours."
"Small, but true." He sat behind her, holding her to him and caressing her with tender kisses on her cheeks while she relaxed against his body and savored the warmth of his touch. The baby
snuffled and she put him to her breast, marveling at the sensation when he started to suck.
"What shall we call him?" she asked.
"Cassiel. May he protect and serve those he loves," Galaden said, his voice solemn as he stared down into his son's face.
Rachael couldn't stop admiring him, his perfect tiny body, his hands and feet and the angelic coloring he'd clearly inherited from Galaden. "Cassiel? It's lovely. Protect and serve." She nodded. "I would include heal, for someone with his inheritance should know healing," she added.
"You have made me so happy. You are a balm upon my heart. Know that when I leave you to plead my case, I give you my heart, to the grave and beyond.”
A shudder passed over her. It seemed a strange choice of words for an immortal.
Several moons later while Rachael suckled Cassiel, she heard her mother’s cry, the tone urgent and shrill. The ground started to tremble beneath her feet and she detached the angel baby from her breast. A musical note left his lips in protest.
"Mistress?" The servant looked out the window, her eyes wide with fear.
"Something is wrong." Rachael stood, strode over to her servant and shoved the baby at her. "Take Cassiel, wrap him well. Hurry! Go and hide away in the forest well away from the house. Wear your cloak and head covering. Hide Cassiel under it so no one sees you with a baby. Leave by the back."
"Yes, Mistress." With shaking hands, the girl took the baby and did as she was asked.
Stomach plummeting with dread, Rachel pulled on her own robe and head covering. Only her parents and the house servants knew about the birth, but such a miracle as the arrival of a baby, fathered by an angel, was difficult to hide. Her parents were still recovering from the shock of it. They adored Cassiel with his crystal-blue eyes and musical voice and remained in awe of Galaden even though he had told them of the marriage and how much he honored their daughter. Her wonderful angel husband would never be accepted as an ordinary member of the family, though Galaden insisted that it was the love and simplicity of her family that he enjoyed the most.
Her Demon Prince (Forbidden Fantasy) Page 20