“He’s gone,” James reassured. “I should have known… I’m sorry, Lila. I can sense them, I don’t know why I couldn’t sense that Noah had been possessed.”
“Is he… Is he dead?”
“He is wounded. It’s unclear if it is fatal though.”
“I was scared, James. So scared.”
“I know, and I’m sorry for that, I didn’t acknowledge-” James cut himself off.
I caught his eye and knew straight away something wasn’t right. The lines on his brow were pushed together, and then his face went pale… like death.
I turned into him. “What is it? What’s wrong?” I demanded, pulling him towards me.
He didn’t respond, his face frozen in the look of despair.
“James! You’re scaring me!”
I’d never seen James like this before. He wasn’t the kind of guy to wear his expressions, but the look on him now frightened me. He knew something, and whatever that something was, it wasn’t good.
“I’m so sorry, Lila, truly.”
“For what? What’s happened? Tell me!”
“I didn’t know, Lila. I swear-”
“Know what?”
He hesitated. “This wasn’t meant to happen, I didn’t know until just now what your destiny was… what your sister’s destiny was-”
“My sister?”
My blood ran cold and I felt my stomach drop.
The time before he responded, felt like a hundred years. I wait with bated breath at the horrifying news I was about to be told.
“Your sister is going to die.”
I stood up on my feet and stumbled backwards. The world around me began to spin, I felt a sickness bury within in me. I felt cold… I felt like death.
“Wh…When?” I barely breathed the words.
James didn’t speak and the unease within me began to rise.
“When?” I repeated, breathing quickly and heavily.
Silence.
Anger rose within me as I screamed at James, “When?!!”
“Now.” James’s eyes looked behind me.
I sucked in a breath and turned in fear. I raced towards the edge of the forest where I’d entered. My eyes searched desperately for a sign of Hayley. I hadn’t seen her all night, so I wasn’t even sure if she was at the party.
I ran out further into the party until I finally saw her. She was carefree and happy, as always, standing across the road laughing with Poppy. I moved my legs as fast as I could towards her in desperation. I wasn’t going to let her die.
I reached the side of the road and watched her stumble onto the path of the incoming car, completely unaware it was coming straight towards her, as she giggled at Poppy.
“Hayley!” I screamed until my lungs nearly gave out.
In that moment, it was as if time slowed. I remember very clearly the sound of the screeching tyres, the headlights on the car lighting my face as I ran across the road pushing Hayley with all the strength I had in me.
In that spilt second, I had made a decision. The decision I knew would change everything. I couldn’t just stand by and watch her die. She was my sister… she was everything to me. So I did the only thing that I knew was right. I took her place.
I didn’t feel the impact of the car against my body. I didn’t feel it crush the life right out of me and send me flying into the air until I hit the road, my spine snapping on impact.
I stood over my lifeless body. I watched on in horror as Hayley touched my face, screaming for someone to call for an ambulance. There was so much blood…
“Lila.”
I looked up to see James as an angel. It was only then that I realised I was in The Shadows, only this time it wasn’t because I was dreaming, and it wasn’t because of Noah… It was because I was dead.
“You weren’t meant to take her place. That wasn’t your fate. If I had known you were going to do that… I would have stopped you…I… I can’t heal you, Lila… I can’t heal the dead…”
I looked down at my body, a crowd of crying people circled me, Jacob pounding my chest as he attempted CPR.
It was like something you’d see in the movies; the desperation and heartache etched on every single persons face.
I quietly said, more to myself than James, “I couldn’t stand by and watch her die… I couldn’t live with myself knowing I could have stopped it.”
A high pitch squeal pierced my ears, I covered them to block out the deafening sound. I watched on as a shadow moved against the ground and trees surrounding us until it filled the skies.
James looked at me, no emotion on his face. “I broke the rules.”
I stepped forward, but the shadow pulled against James and he was lifted into the air. The shadow formed into decrepit hands and into faces that screamed against James until they surrounded him. The demons I feared had come for James.
The wings that held high above him burst into flames, ash falling all around me. It was so thick… Feathers that once formed his beautiful wings burned to the ground.
“I will never be sorry for loving you,” James said proudly before looking up at the sky in surrender.
“James!”
I ran for him but it was too late. The demons gripped hold of him tightly and he didn’t resist. He was hurtled into the black skies above before my eyes and I could do nothing but watch.
“James!” I cried out, but it was too late… he was gone.
To be continued…
ANGELS OF MOIRAI (Book Two)
Their story continues in book two of the Angels of Moirai series…
When Lila wakes from an induced coma, her memories of the last four weeks are gone. With no memory of James, she has no choice but to continue on with her life.
Healing from her injuries is easy, but healing from her past proves to be more difficult. No matter how hard she tries to move on with her life, she is plagued by a feeling of loss.
Deep within The Shadows, James remains a captive. No longer an Angel of Moirai and burdened with Lila’s death, he slips further into the darkness that consumes him. His own fate seems sealed, that is, until a vision overcomes him, one that shows him something he didn’t think possible… Lila was alive.
Torn between living her life in the here and now, Lila faces her biggest challenge. Will she accept the fate given to her, or will she fight; fight for a love she has no memory of, and in turn, unearth secrets that lead her to a battle only an angel could survive.
PLAYLIST
Every novel I write, I let readers know of the playlist that inspired me while I spent endless hours writing.
Keaton Henson stole my heart for this novel... x
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I have always been a hopeless romantic. At the early age of fifteen, I met my now husband, Darby. Together with our two daughters, Evelyn and Harper, we live in the beautiful state of Queensland, Australia.
I write because I love it, believe me, I would never do anything I didn’t want to do! ;)
I love all things related to the sun, sand, and surf. I’m a country girl at heart, but a soft spot for the beautiful oceans surrounding my gorgeous city.
To keep up to date with my author journey, and to discover more of my work, head to:
www.nicolesalmond.blogspot.com
You can also find me on Twitter, Goodreads & Facebook!
BLACKBIRD
A novel by Nicole Salmond
A serious car accident leaves bad boy, Nate Williams, seriously injured and lucky to be alive. Upon his journey to learn to walk again, he meets Claire, a physiotherapist in the last year of University. He’s instantly attracted to her, but Claire is no ordinary girl. She’s resistant to his charms and good looks, which only intrigues him more.
Claire is reluctant, to say the least, when Nate comes back into her life again as one of her patients for her clinical placement. A self-absorbed, tattooed, womaniser, he is the last person on earth she wanted, or expected to see again. Nate may not remember her, or the kiss
they once shared, but she certainly does. The next five weeks were going to be anything but easy.
Blackbird is a story of self-discovery and the formation of an unexpected friendship between two people who learn that life and love is anything but planned.
FOREVER YOURS
A novel by Nicole Salmond
Forever Yours is a journey about love and loss, two people from different walks of life united in unexpected circumstances.
Life for Tristan was never dull, his celebrity status giving him more than he could ever have imagined, but his fame came at a price. His life was played out in the spotlight every day, and no matter how idolised and wanted he was, he couldn’t help but feel the torment of his loneliness.
Stella was a no fuss kind of girl. She liked her boring life, her predictable future. She prided herself on her simplicity, no complications, no promises, and definitely no relationships.
A chance encounter leaves Tristan and Stella questioning everything they once knew. Feelings Stella had buried long ago, were now all too real, and now she was faced with a decision, a decision that forces her to face the painful secrets of her past, and the secrets that changed her life forever.
ONE GOOD REASON
A novel by Nicole Salmond
After years of feeling numb to the world, Ava is finally ready to move on with her life. A spontaneous trip to Thailand with her best friend, Olivia, goes horribly wrong when Ava is kidnapped and held against her will in a secluded house deep within the Thailand forest. Her only contact is with the Thai men that kidnapped her and the mysterious Australian man who insists she has information that he needs; information he will do anything to secure.
Hayden knew from the moment he first met Ava that the assignment wasn’t as black and white as he had expected it to be. He’d been sent to Thailand to retrieve the information from a suspect linked to a known terrorist- Ava being that suspect. But Ava isn’t like any of the other suspects he’d dealt with before, and as every day passes, he continues to grow suspicious that there is more to the story than he is being led to believe.
When Ava and Hayden are faced with the real possibility that the reason for her kidnapping goes beyond what either of them could have ever imagined, they must move past their differences and find a way to work together, if they want any hope and chance of survival.
Angels of Moirai (Book One) Page 20
