Free The Angel of the Lighthouse by Lydia Fane

demon into their quiet lighthouse.
    Jack, seeming happy that he had cheered her up, nodded politely, and headed off.
    The sun was starting to warm her now, and she felt her eyes growing heavy. She slid down to the grass and leaned back against the fence. She breathed deeply, her lungs filling with cool clear air, tinged with the peculiar scent of sheep.
    Skye hadn’t though she was ready for sleep, but almost of their own accord, her eyes closed and she drifted off.
     
    ***
     
    It was bitingly, blisteringly cold. She hovered in a white wasteland, vision obscured by the thickly falling flakes of snow. Everything seemed muffled, and whichever way she turned, the world was lifeless.
    A blaring horn shattered the silence as the falling snow was abruptly swept aside by a massive truck. It careened over a rise, skewing dangerously over the slippery ground. Ice cracked.
    Behind the truck came two motorbikes and a jeep, engines roaring into the red as they tried to keep up with the behemoth. Shots whined and crackled through the air, pinging off the metal of the truck. Ice creaked.
    Time seemed to slow. The truck slid from the marked path, and a loud crack boomed over the wasteland. Almost immediately, the truck tipped over onto its side as water gushed over it. Glistening viscous fluid oozed from holes in the tank, mixing with the water, before a bright flash of flame erupted.
    The explosion blasted Skye awake and onto her feet, swaying dangerously. All she could see was that surging ball of flame, annihilating anything and anyone caught within. A name caught on her tongue.
    “Taurus!”
    Strong arms pulled her in tight, warmth driving away the memory of the ice. The explosion behind her eyes was dying now, fading away along with the dream. For something that had felt so real, it was now quickly turning insubstantial and barely remembered.
    “You’re safe,” Aries whispered in her ear, and she felt something unravel inside her.
    She leaned into his strength, taking comfort in his protection. She didn’t know what it was about Aries, but he made her feel safe, and cherished. Perhaps it was only because he was an angel and cared for all humanity, but his eyes were filled with care every time he looked at her. It was a care that she had never seen in the eyes of Lewis, a depth of feeling that she had never felt in any of her few ex-boyfriends.
    “Why did you call that name?” he asked.
    Wrapped in protection, Skye thought back, trying to remember.
    “I was dreaming,” she said. “There was an accident – an explosion. And somehow I knew that someone called Taurus was right in the middle.”
    She looked up as the arms around her tensed.
    “Taurus?” he whispered.
    Skye felt a little uncomfortable. “Maybe I just drew the name out of my subconscious, with you being Aries.”
    “Maybe,” he said. “But perhaps not. With everything that has happened, I am not inclined to trust coincidence.”
    “You realise you talk more formally when you’re talking about your angel life,” Skye noted.
    Aries blinked, and Skye could see him running their conversation through his head.
    “So I do.” he laughed, and Skye felt the mood shift. “I hadn’t noticed.”
    “I like it,” Skye said almost shyly, before drawing the subject back to where it was. “Can you tell me why that name means so much to you?”
    “I said that I’d answer all your questions with honesty,” Aries said, but Skye didn’t think he was annoyed. “Come with me.”
    Aries led her towards the lighthouse. It was not a graceful or elegant building, but its form suited its function. There was not much to the interior, single large rooms around the rising staircase. As she followed him up the stairs, she peeked into the rooms she could see. They looked to be storage rooms, and possibly an office.
    As her calves began to burn, the staircase came to an end. A ladder reached upwards, and Aries was already halfway up it, reaching up to push open the trapdoor