Free Lailah (The Styclar Saga) by Nikki Kelly

through me. I cast my mind back to the events that had unfolded over the last few days.
    Here I was, going about my existence, pulling pints in a quaint little pub in the middle of nowhere, and now? Well, it seemed meeting Jonah had knocked my everyday life over. And Gabriel. I couldn’t believe I had found him—the leading man in all my dreams, my memories, finally in the flesh. And an Angel no less. Although I suppose it made sense; if creatures like Vampires roamed the Earth then pure beings must, too.
    I wondered why Gabriel was here, why he had come in the first place, how it was that we came to know each other, and why he had left me. I desperately needed answers. There was so much I didn’t understand.
    My body stiffened as the thought occurred to me: Can he hear what I’m thinking? I gently raised one eyelid, just enough to peek out and observe Gabriel scrolling through an iPhone. Very modern for an Angel. He didn’t seem to be reading my mind; if he was, he was doing a good job of hiding it.
    I thought you were sleeping?
    The words somehow formed in my consciousness, swirling around my mind. Embarrassed, I flicked my gaze back down. The sounds of the road and the car disappeared into the background and finally ceased altogether. I let the silence engulf me. It was like I was in a tunnel, sealed off from the rest of the world.
    Can you hear my thoughts anytime you want? I concentrated on my question, trying not to conjure anything else that he might be attuned to.
    I’m not entirely sure why we can speak to each other like this in the first place.… Only Angel Pa — His sentence stopped abruptly, but I was still captured in the tunnel. The link hadn’t broken.
    Only Angel what?
    He hesitated before he answered. We obviously have a connection; something special.
    I fluttered my eyes open to try and read his expression. Confusion sat at the center of his dipping eyebrows. I quickly closed them shut again before he saw.
    We can’t read each other’s minds. We’re in sync somehow. I can call to you and you can respond if you are open to it. Or you can block me.
    I have to want to hear you and vice versa? I asked.
    I think so. Not “want” though; I think more willing and able. His response was fast, like he knew the rules of this game.
    Can you see what I see? If I think of a memory or an image, can I invite you in?
    I don’t know.
    Hmm. Maybe he hadn’t played this game before after all.
    I started to picture the memory I’d seen in Gabriel’s presence over the lemonade. The two of us together, having a picnic—a relatively inoffensive image to test the theory on. As I recalled the scene as best I could, I felt Gabriel somehow. I knew right away that he was seeing it too.
    Rather than showing him a picture in my mind like a postcard, I presented him with the memory. The sweet clove scent of the white dianthus and the fresh fragrance of the crisp, green grass surrounding us … We looked so happy. But as the glasses clinked something strange happened.
    I found myself observing the memory from Gabriel’s perspective. I calmed myself for a second. He remembered it too after all; he had been there. I was still watching, but the emotions that rushed through me were not my own; they were his. It was the strangest sensation. I didn’t get any feeling of happiness. I felt a bubbling of dread instead. Did Gabriel not like me? Was he pretending to? Flashes of still images started to devour the scene. They didn’t belong to me.
    Instead, extracts of Gabriel’s memory started falling through. Another being, with feathered wings, glowing. The clips came swiftly tumbling out, one after the other. A crystal. It sparkled, dazzling me. A barn, with a pool of blood running toward an entrance.
    The last picture startled me and I could feel Gabriel pulling away, trying to let go. But I wanted to see inside, to relive the scene the way he had. I held on to the memory as the blood trickled, gathering into a small pool.