Free The Angel of Death (The Soul Summoner Book 3) by Elicia Hyder Page A

sure you’ve wondered the same.”
    Kathy wiped tears away with a cloth handkerchief as they both nodded.
    The pastor looked out over the crowd. “We’ve all asked this question, haven’t we?”
    A few people answered out loud in agreement while others bobbed their heads.
    He shrugged his shoulders. “I honestly don’t know why. No other memorial I have ever preached has stirred my doubt as this one has.”
    I withered with disappointment in my chair.
    He held up his Bible. “But I know a few other things.” He pointed to the casket. “I know Ashley’s not here.”
    “That’s true,” I whispered to no one in particular.
    The pastor tapped his chest. “This body—this temporal, decaying, grayer-every-day body—is just a container.” He lifted the Bible again. “And if I believe what this book tells me, then I know to be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord! This life is only the beginning. Jesus told his disciples, ‘ Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me .’” He looked around the group. “Ashley hasn’t been missing all these years.” He pointed up. “She’s been at the Father’s house.”
    Kathy dabbed at her eyes again, and her husband rubbed her back. Chuck reached up and squeezed her shoulder.
    The preacher approached the family. “While I can’t give you a reason why this happened, I can assure you this wasn’t God’s will. However, if we allow Him to be in this grief with us, He will use even this to do His good work. He promises us that. We won’t see it for a while because right now our vision is obscured through the darkened glass of this world. But someday, when we stand face-to-face with Him in eternity, we will see clearly. We will see how even this evil, which was meant to destroy us, He used for good.” He held his hands out. “Let us pray.”
    When he finished, a man with a guitar sang Amazing Grace, and Ashley’s childhood friend read a poem. After a final prayer, each family member placed a single red rose on the lid of the casket. I held Nathan’s hand during his turn.
    When we were close to Ashley—close to the angels—I realized why they were there. Peace stirred in my soul, and they were the source. The angels weren’t there for Ashley’s bones. They stood guard for us.
    We waited till the casket sank into the ground, then Kathy was ready to leave. The drive back to the house was even quieter than the drive to the cemetery had been. I stared out the window, watching small snowflakes drift to the ground, and thought about what the preacher had said again.
    Typically, Bible verses frustrated me the same way poetry always had. All the words seemed to be a step beyond my comprehension level. Like there was a great message in there, but I was too dumb to get it.
    The pastor that day, however, actually made sense. Maybe a positive ripple effect from all the crap we endure in this life will be unveiled in the next. It was a nice thought, whether or not it was true.
    Nathan’s hand touched my arm, drawing me back into the solemnity of the car. He didn’t speak or look at me, but I understood his need for reassurance that the world was still real. I had felt the same when my mother died. Like a world without my mother in it, simply couldn’t exist.
    I wished my power to heal included the ability to mend broken hearts. Unfortunately, the divine didn’t seem to work that way. The body I could touch; the soul I could only see.
    The snow had stopped by the time we reached the McNamaras’ home. Kathy’s eyes were red and swollen, and she walked into the house and to her room without a word. James stopped with us at the stairwell and hugged his son. The other cars pulled into the driveway as I followed Nathan up the stairs.  
    When we reached his room, he walked