Free When Death Loved an Angel by Cheree Alsop Page B

in her swaying. She looked down at her infant as though wondering if such a simple thing could help. She walked over to the couch and set her son in the middle, then unwrapped his blankets. Instead of just wrapping them around him, she followed the instructions Nyra whispered in her ear.
    She pulled the corner of the blanket up so that it tucked against the baby’s feet, then nestled the blanket under the baby’s shoulder. She took the left corner and tucked it under the baby’s right side, and did the same to the right corner, wrapping it around the baby’s back. The result was a swaddled baby, his arms and legs gently nestled within the folds of the blanket.
    She picked him up and began rocking again. Within a few minutes, the infant was sound asleep.
    The mother stared down at her baby in awe. Gratitude shone on her face as she dried her tears. She held Tanner close and kissed him on his rosy cheek. “I love you,” she whispered softly.
    Nyra walked back outside feeling grateful that she was able to help someone else. It had been so long since she felt such promptings, and never before had she felt them for someone other than Gregan while she was his angel. It wasn’t much, but the fact that she had been able to help two young mothers made her smile all the way back to the hospital.

Chapter Fifteen
    DEATH
     
    Death couldn’t help himself. As soon as he opened his eyes, he made his way to the hospital instead of following the new list on his arm. Gregan and Julia’s names burned above the others, but he ignored them. He couldn’t stay away from her. Being around Nyra was like drinking a sweet nectar that filled him with light and hope, things that were very painfully lacking in his life.
    Death didn’t have time for such things, and he tried to remind himself of that very fact, but his feet ignored him, insubstantial though they were. He passed through the hospital door and made his way to Gregan’s room.
    “Shouldn’t you be destroying lives or whatever it is you do?”
    Death fought back a smile that would have looked very out of place amid his shadows and the chill of his cold gray eyes. “Shouldn’t you be singing with a choir somewhere?”
    She gasped, then glared at him. “You’re in a good mood.”
    He shook his head. “Death is never in a good mood.”
    “Do you talk about yourself in third person often?” she pressed, trying to distract him from Gregan.
    “I don’t actually talk to people often. You’re the-” he realized what she was doing and paused. A dark chuckle broke from him that sent chills down her arms. “Egging me on to keep my attention from Gregan isn’t going to help him any.”
    She stepped in front of him, blocking Death’s path to the bed. He stared at Nyra, amazed at her courage. “You’re being foolish.”
    “You don’t have to do this,” she challenged.
    “Yes, I do,” he said. On impulse, he pushed his arm from the shadows, showing her the names written upon it.
    Her eyes widened as she looked at the names etched in black along his pale skin. Gregan and Julia’s names stood in bold contrast to the others. Nyra reached out a hand. Death drew his arm back.
    “Is that the name of the woman you didn’t take?” she asked quietly. “The one under Gregan’s?”
    He nodded, his gaze clouded in darkness. “The names get darker every day that I leave them alive.”
    “Does it hurt?” she asked in a voice above a whisper.
    It did hurt. Gregan’s ached and Julia’s was a dull throb that was stronger than the day before. Death nodded without answering.
    “And the other names?” Nyra asked, her voice timid as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer.
    “They’re my job for the day. The list has to be fulfilled,” Death answered in an emotionless voice.
    She watched him, her eyebrows pinched together and emotions swirling in her eyes that Death couldn’t read. One surfaced, startling him with stark clarity. Pity. She pitied him.
    He took a step