Free The Ascended by Tiffany King Page B

word into his ever expanding human lingo base. "Yes, you have been gifted with the power to contact any angelic being in the Heavenly Realm."
    "Any?"
    "Yes."
    "Wow that's insane," I said, squatting down on my heels. "Where were you when I sent you the message?" I asked.
    "I was in the presence of The Light."
    "Whoa, that's crazy. Did The Light give you permission to heal him?" I asked curiously.
    "No, those decisions are mine alone."
    "Then why didn't you heal the others after Victor's last attack," I asked reproachfully.
    "I cannot heal a demon attack Krista. If so, I would have done so many years ago," he said with more passion than I had ever heard him use.
    His passion and strange exhibition of emotion rendered me speechless. I leaned back on my hands, reclining backwards as I digested his words. He had always carried himself so regally and standoffish that it was unnerving to think that he had once lost someone he had cared about.
    "Who?" I asked bluntly after several minutes passed.
    He turned to look at me with penetrating blue eyes that bore through me. Just when I thought he was going to ignore my question, he finally sighed heavily. "One of your kind. She is someone who once belonged to another. It is wrong for me to exhibit feelings for her."
    "Why? Is she still with the other person?"
    "No, that bond was broken many earth cycles ago. It is wrong because I was not created to feel human emotions."
    "That's crazy. You're supposed to exist all these years without ever feeling something for someone else?" I asked indigently, mad at the injustice of it.
    "It is my place Krista."
    "Place smace," I grumbled. "So, what happened to the Guide you were in love with?" I continued, not wanting him to stray far from the subject at hand.
    "How do you know it is love?" He asked earnestly, seeking an answer that even with his infinite wisdom seemed to elude him.
    "Because of the way you talk about her. Usually, you're so stiff—no offense, but for the briefest of moments, you seemed almost normal," I gently teased.
    "I cannot be certain that what I feel for her is love. I was not created to recognize such feelings."
    "Do you think of her at least once an earth day?"
    He nodded slightly.
    "More than once a day?" I persisted.
    Once again he nodded in acknowledgement.
    "Do you yearn to be near her?" I continued.
    This time his nod was more pronounced.
    "Wow Haniel, does she know how you feel?"
    "I have not spoken to her in the Heavenly Realm since her light joined us."
    "What?" I asked astonished. "She's in heaven? For how long?"
    "Over sixteen earth years," he said, looking at me expectantly.
    I gasped. Is he saying what I think he is? I thought.
    "You mean she was one of Victor's victims?" I asked, realizing he was talking about one of our moms. How heartbreaking for Haniel, to be in love with someone who was linked with another.
    "Her Link was severed," he said, picking my thoughts from my head. "Her soul is now free to choose."
    "Her Link was cut?" I asked, digesting his words and their true meaning. I knew my link with Mark had been cut also, but I had never considered the fact that my soul was now free to pick someone else. The thought made me slightly nauseous.
    "Yes, Victor broke her heart before he silenced her earth life."
    "Oh my God, it was Mark's mom?" I said with sudden tears welling up in my eyes.
    He nodded his head, not bothering to answer.
    "Holy Crow Bear Haniel, you love Mark's mom," I said relishing the words. Just because my love life was in shambles didn't mean I wasn't still a diehard romantic. "Does she know?"
    "I am unsure of love. How would one know such things?" He asked, clearly confused. His uncharacteristic vulnerability touched me like nothing else had in a long time.
    I reached over and grasped his hands and was taken aback, reading a mix of swirling emotions that were obviously foreign to an Archangel. "You could tell her." I said earnestly. "Is she in some part of Heaven that you're not allowed to