Free Few Are Angels by Inger Iversen Page B

nothing but splinters in its wake. I feel a sense of calm wash over Hélène, not completely curing her fear, but still giving her a bit of peace. I wonder why she doesn’t run or scream for help when they burst into the room. She stands there and cries, and I know she isn’t crying because of her impending capture and death, but for the man she knows will not return to her.
    ***
    When I awoke, my head was pounding, and my face was wet with tears. The feeling of despair hadn’t completely left me, but I was able to gather myself enough to make it to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror and nearly collapsed from shock. My green eyes looked as if they swam in a river of blood, and I was paler than I’d ever been. I peeked out of the bathroom and listened for movement downstairs. I could hear Lea and Sarah stirring in the kitchen downstairs, and I hoped that Sarah wouldn’t feel the need to come to my room.
    I returned to the bathroom and splashed hot water on my face in an attempt to bring back some color to my cheeks. I looked like a ghost—a sick ghost on her last legs. The vision had taken so much from me, and the only reason I could think of was that I held on to it tighter instead of letting go as I felt it slipping away. I hadn’t seen Kale in the vision, but I had a feeling that something horrible had happened to him and that it was my fault. Guilt pulled at my guts and tore through my stomach, causing me to heave into the toilet. My head felt as if it was going to explode from the pressure that built behind my eyes, and I fell to the floor.
    Sarah called that she and Lea were leaving. The front door shut, and I heard her car head down the road. Hopefully, Eric had already left because I wouldn’t have the strength to explain if he found me on the floor. It was warm in the room, but my body shook violently, and I couldn’t control it. My tears spilled as I lay there, trying to gain some sort of control long enough to get my pills from the medicine cabinet. I had sworn that I would never take them unless forced, but in that moment, I wanted nothing more than to choke down the entire bottle and sleep until the pain was gone.
    I heard a loud noise that seemed to shake the whole house. I couldn’t tell where it came from, and I didn’t care. Feet pounded the steps, and I knew by the sound that only one person was coming. The person burst into the room down the hall. I should have been afraid, but as the noise grew closer, the pain in my head felt as though it was ripping me to pieces. I silently begged myself to get up and get the pills, but it was too late.
    As he stood over me, I tried to move away from him, but my back hit the bathtub. With that sudden movement, I had used all of the energy I had left. My hands fell limp to the floor.
    “My pills,” I whispered. I could no longer hear myself speak, nor could I see the intruder, but I felt his hands as he lifted me. My last conscious thought was that Eric had found me, and I was going back to Ocean Trace. Then, a familiar scent of winter frost and Dove soap sent waves of calm through me.

Chapter 11
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    “It saddens me to see what you have become. Your power is fueled by your rage and hate. You have become like the very ones you once thought to protect us from, and now they come for us. May god protect us.” — Illiana Laurent
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    The snow was deep, and the air so cold that he felt the wind’s sharp teeth pierce his skin. In the distance, someone was burning wood. The scent was strong and familiar. It reminded him of his home so long ago with Illiana and Agnes. He couldn't afford to be disrupted by their memory. At one point, his actions had been for their survival. The need for bloodshed and vengeance once weighed heavy on his mind. He hadn’t intended to become the monster they’d claimed him to be, but now he prided himself on the names they called him. His personal favorite was the Dark Prince. He was not royalty, but his name would never be