Free Embers (The Wings of War Book 1) by Karen Ann Hopkins Page A

uncommon for some of us.”
                                “Can they be killed?” 
                                “Of course they can!  Don’t be lulled into believing that you’re immortal.  The angels are the ones that never die.  We have man’s weaknesses.”
    She stood up and stretched before she picked up her plate.  I rose and helped her carry the dishes to the sink, but I needed to know more.
                                I started to open my mouth but she stopped me.  “I know you have questions, but honestly I can’t answer them all in one night.  There is time for me to tell you everything, but now you need to sleep.”  She poured another cup of tea and handed it to me.  “This will help you fall asleep.  Drink it down while I show you to the bedroom.” 
    Maybe I was an idiot, but I wanted to trust her.  I still had doubts about her agenda, but taking a leap of faith seemed the best option at the moment.  The priest had told me to trust Fate and so far, things had worked out all right. 
    I took the tea and drank it down.  The woodsy, bitter taste was difficult to swallow at first, but by the last drop, I was immune.  And the stuff worked fast.  I was already yawning as I followed Aunt Ila to the back of the cabin with Angus close on my heel.
    Without having to ask, Aunt Ila guided me into the bathroom and left me alone.  I took only a couple of minutes to splash water on my face and to relieve myself. 
                                When I came out, my eyes were dropping shut on their own accord.  Aunt Ila stood next to a bed pushed up against the wall.  It was beneath a window and the cool evening air drifted in.  She pulled the blankets down and motioned me into the bed.  It was as if I was five again and Mom was tucking me in.  With exhaustion sweeping over me, I wasn’t about to argue.   
                                “Good night, my dear.  Sleep well, for tomorrow will be a busy day.”  She touched my cheek.  It felt as if a butterfly was caressing my skin.  Then she bent down and kissed my forehead. 
                  “Good night,” I murmured.
    After she left, the bed creaked when Angus climbed up and settled down beside me.  He was so big that part of him was on top of my legs.  As usual, my dog had limited me to being squished up on a narrow strip of bed.  I didn’t really mind though.  On such a weird night, I was glad for the company.
    Even with everything Aunt Ila had told me, I wasn’t thinking about Watchers or even Angels when the blackness of unconsciousness came over me. 
    My mind raced down the gravel road, passing the Sycamore trees and the tall, dried grass.  The dark trees of the forest were still hiding their secrets in shadows, only now they resembled giants with bent, lumpy backs.  An owl soared quietly across the dim sky.  It looked down with unblinking glowing, yellow eyes. 
    The further from the cabin I got, the more my heart raced, until I finally saw it; and then my heart stopped beating all together.   The air became cold and heavy.  I tried to turn around and go back, but I couldn’t move my legs. 
    The wall loomed over me as I drifted into a fitful sleep full of nightmares. 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Jude 1:9 
    Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the
    body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation,
    but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
     
    Ember ~ Ten
    T he leaves crunched beneath my bare feet and I cringed at the sound of it.  My heart pounded frantically at the noise that seemed to echo loudly through the dark, misty forest.  The edges of my vision were faded and everything I saw had the hollow feel of an illusion.
    I was in the dream world.
    I had visited here before.  Sometimes it had been an open