Free Blood Spirit by Gabrielle Bisset Page A

memory of that time as the sorrow that still remained made a lump
form in his throat. Centuries had passed, and yet he had never been able to
forget. How could he ever think he could let himself love like that again?
    Mateo
waited for the birth of his first child on a sunny January day as the sun set
behind the nearby hills, sure God's blessing was to come any minute. Minutes
grew to hours and as the stars shone in the heavens, he raised his eyes in
prayer.
    Just
then, the sweetest sound his ears had ever heard pierced the silence. His
child's cry, loud and strong, rang out through the heavy night air. Mateo stood
still as a stone, overcome by the beauty of such a simple sound.
    His
child's cry.
    As
his heart filled with the joy that they were now three, his feet led the way to
the cottage where his wife and the baby waited for him. He burst in through the
door and stared in awe at the wonder they'd created.
    Eva
lay on the bed, the exhaustion from bringing their child into the world written
all over her face. Sitting next to her, he wiped the damp strands of hair that
stuck to the sides of her face away from her eyes.
    "Mateo,
meet your son."
    In
her arms lay the most perfect thing he'd ever laid eyes on. His son. Beautiful
like his mother, he had her features. Mateo tenderly ran his palm over the
child's cap of dark hair, impressed at how his entire head fit in his hand.
    "He
is beautiful, Eva. Just like his mother."
    A
village woman tapped him on the shoulder. "They need their rest. Your son
was a difficult birth."
    "Eva,
sleep now. We have the rest of our lives with our son." Mateo pressed a
light kiss onto her lips and saw her smile. "I love you."
    His
wife's face grew dark. "We must name him now, Mateo."
    Looking
down at the angel in her arms, he smiled and spoke the only name that seemed
right. "Gabriel."
    Eva
leaned down and kissed their son's head. "Gabriel, this is your father,
the finest, most honorable man in all the world."
    Mateo
kissed her on the lips and the forehead. "And this is your mother, the
finest woman a man could ever hope to bless his side. Sleep now, my
angels."
    As
he left them, he looked back, his heart full of joy. No man had ever been
happier at that moment, he was sure. His mind raced with plans for the future.
He would be the man he had always wanted to be. Sheep herding would be enough
for now, but Eva and Gabriel deserved more. Perhaps it was time to do as his
father had always hoped. Maybe the life of a merchant was not as bad as it had
seemed.
    He
cast his eyes to heaven and silently thanked God for believing he was worthy of
two precious souls in his care.
    But
it wasn't to be.
    Sometime
during the night, those two souls so dear to him left the Earth. When Mateo awoke
to begin his day, the most important people in his life lay still, taken from
him. A sadness like he had never felt before settled into his heart as he
cradled them in his arms. For hours, his tears flowed as he mourned a loss he
could neither understand or accept.
    The
woman who had been everything to him was gone, as was his son, who he had
barely begun to know. He was alone.
    Days
turned to weeks, but he was unable to let go of them. The tiny cottage that had
been their deathbed became a tomb for him, cold and empty as the late winter
sun rose and set outside. Nothing mattered anymore.
    But
the pain remained, his only companion for so long. It ruled him, made him a
slave to suffering. After a time, he thought of nothing else. Even continuing
on with life receded into the background of his mind, replaced by a desperation
so deep that nothing in his world could unseat it.
    How
many times had he held a knife to his heart, wishing he could pierce it to
release the sadness it held so he would finally be free? How many prayers had
he spoken asking God for a reprieve from his lonely existence so rife with
misery and heard nothing in return?
    Finally,
when the pain had become so much a part of him that he was nothing else,