He started off at what seemed a leisurely pace for him. His stride was long and I struggled to keep up on the uneven ground. I really had to concentrate on where I was stepping. It would do no good to twist an ankle.
“Wait up!” I yelled out.
Danny stopped and turned to see how far behind I was.
“About a kilometre away there’s a ravine. The scent seems to lead there. We can slow down from here.”
About time! I thought, but only nodded and trudged on.
The terrain was getting rockier and the trees began to thin out slightly. Dust motes floated lazily in the air, glistening like diamonds as the sun shone through the canopy. I imagined all kinds of faerie folk dancing around the trees, playing hide and seek. Certainly not monsters stalking the shadows.
The ravine loomed up ahead.
“We’ll need to jump,” Danny said. “I’ll go first.”
Danny ran the few metres to the edge of the ravine and jumped gracefully over to the other side. I scrambled to catch up and lost my footing at the edge. Danny reached out to grab my arm, but I was already falling down into the ravine. I came to a stop, quite abruptly, on a rocky outcrop that may once have been at the bottom of a waterfall — a cracking noise as my head hit a rock echoed within the ravine. Pain flared behind my eyes, blinding my senses.
“Hang on,” Danny called out.
I wasn’t going anywhere. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t think, I could barely breathe.
I felt Danny’s presence rather than seeing him. The pain was so great I couldn’t open my eyes. Or were they open and I was blind?
“It hurts,” I whispered.
“I don’t understand,” Danny mumbled. “Why are you bleeding? Why aren’t you healing?”
“The pain!” I screamed through clenched teeth. “Do something!”
I managed to open my eyes and was glad to know I was not blind. Everything was very blurry, but I could see. Danny ran a hand through his hair as he assessed my broken body.
“Keep still,” he said. “I can help.”
Danny cupped his hands upside down and held them over my bleeding forehead, palms down. I thought I saw them glow as he concentrated and channelled his energy. Nothing else happened.
“I don’t understand. Why can’t I heal you?”
“I’m going to pass out,” I mumbled, and my world went black.
“Wake up, Helena. You can’t go to sleep.” Danny tapped the side of my face lightly. “Wake up.”
“I’m awake,” I murmured, though wished I wasn’t.
“Helena, I’m going to cause you some pain, and for that I’m truly sorry. I need to get you back to the cottage.”
Danny carefully placed one arm under my knees and the other arm under my back. He lifted me gently, fluidly, and clasping me closely to his chest took the four steps necessary to transport us back to the cottage. We arrived directly in the bedroom, which was the closest thing I could call to a room of my own.
Danny lowered me to the bed and I felt him stiffen as I cried out in pain. He cupped his hands again and tried once more to heal me, to no avail.
“Let me try something else.”
His hands, still cupped, drifted slowly over my body without making contact. We heard cracking and grinding noises. Danny looked at me and smiled, relieved.
“Broken bones I can heal, it seems, but not the gash in your forehead. I’ll have to clean that up the same way mortals do.”
Danny looked at the bedside table and a bowl of warm water, towels, antiseptic and bandages miraculously appeared. It seemed he didn’t feel the need for theatrics. Perhaps it was simply because I wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate it in my present condition.
Where angels tread miracles occur, I thought.
“This will hurt.”
He dipped one of the towels into the bowl and wrung out the excess water before gingerly cleaning the dirt out of my wound. He took his time, trying not to hurt me any more than was necessary, all the while talking to me about anything he could think of.
“When I first saw man take to the sky in a machine shaped like a bird, I knew that the times were changing. It’s only a matter of time before our worlds collide and mortals realise that the stuff of dreams and nightmares is real.
“You know, when I think back to Noah and his ark, it was quite a hilarious sight to see all those animals lining up to be saved, predators and prey. Of course, not all of the animals were saved. Some were too savage to cooperate even if it meant the survival of their species. I’ll bet you’ve never heard of skryvens and drasnos — two very nasty species. Between them, they were responsible for causing the extinction of three other species.”
Not unlike man, I thought.
“What did those things look like?” I asked, my head pounding.
“Nothing special. Skryvens were about the size of a brown bear and had three rows of razor sharp teeth. Like a chameleon, they could blend into their surroundings, which made it very difficult for their prey to see them. Drasnos had hook-shaped claws, with a barb on the end — very similar to what fishermen use — on all six of their paws. They were very lean and built for speed, the same colour as the grasses in a savannah. They had the uncanny ability to feel which way their prey was headed. Both species were brutally savage and hunted for pleasure as often as not.”
Danny hadn’t actually described what they’d looked like. Instead he’d given me an overview of their natural weapons and abilities. It didn’t matter. I wasn’t really interested. I just appreciated the distraction.
“They sound like they’d have made good pets,” I laughed weakly.
“Maybe for monsters, not mortals,” Danny replied seriously.
“Could I maybe have some painkillers for my head, please? It’s like having a headache on steroids.”
“I don’t think that’s a wise idea. Given you can’t keep food or water down mortal medications wouldn’t work. You’d be in more pain bringing it up than the drugs managed to dull.”
I sighed. He was probably right. Perhaps I could sleep for a few hours. The pain might have lessened when I woke up. I closed my eyes.
“Don’t go to sleep,” Danny warned me. “I don’t know how your body will react if you have a concussion.”
I reached up to gently massage my temples and winced when I touched the right side of my head. Danny pulled my hands away and laid them on my abdomen.
“You need a delicate touch for such a tender area,” he said. He lightly placed the tips of his fingers on either side of my head and began to gently massage.
“That’s really nice, but if you keep doing it I’m going to fall asleep.”
He let his fingers slide down the side of my face to my chin before pulling them away.
“I need to do some research. Amongst other things, we need to find out why you can’t heal yourself. I understand the broken bones. Until you come into your full strength you can still break reasonably easily, but you should be able to speed up the healing process. Once you’re at your peak it will take a lot to break you. Even if you do break, the healing process will be almost instantaneous. As to the gash in your forehead… this is something new and unknown to me, perhaps related to the pumping of your heart.”
“If I stay here I’ll fall asleep. I understand why I can’t come with you, but I need something to keep me occupied while you’re gone that doesn’t require me to concentrate. I think if I have to focus on something my head will explode.”
Danny rubbed his chin, his eyes thoughtful yet far away.
“Got it!” he smiled, clicking his fingers. “You can go for a wander in the garden.”
“What garden? There’s only grass and trees outside.”
“Not anymore,” he grinned. “Come and I’ll show you.”
He held his hand out to help steady me as we walked to the front door. The door opened before we reached it and I couldn’t see the grass for the garden. Flowers, shrubs, fruit trees and berry bushes of all types and de
scription, most of which didn’t flower at the same time, yet were flowering for me.
“Wow, how did you do that?”
“Angel, remember,” he said.
I knelt to smell the freesias, one of my favourite flowers. While many of the freesias were brightly coloured and lightly scented, refracta alba, with its creamy pale yellow colouring, was my absolute favourite, its perfume divine. It reminded me of spring — days getting longer and warmer, the harshness of winter over.
Danny knelt next to me. He gave my arm a gentle, reassuring squeeze, his lips lightly brushing my temple.
“Enjoy! I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He stood and walked away. Instead of watching him leave I immersed myself in the delights of the garden he had created for me, and me alone. No one had ever done anything so beautiful for me before. I was overwhelmed by the generosity of the gift he seemed to think nothing of — a trifling thing for an angel, a big thing for a girl who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks.
I meandered slowly through the garden, stopping to smell various flowers or marvel at the vivid colours and delicate petals. I crushed berries between my fingers to release their sweet mouth-watering fragrance. My mouth didn’t actually water, but my nose enjoyed their scent all the same.
I sighed, coming to the realisation I’d probably never eat food again. All the comfort foods I’d enjoyed, both sweet and savoury, that I could never have again. If everything tasted metallic or like cardboard I wouldn’t even be able to savour the flavour — like wine connoisseurs — then spit it out. I knew I would miss these small pleasures.
I enjoyed the garden, though my head throbbed incessantly. It was as if Danny had sifted through my memories for every flower or berry I liked. It was then I remembered that I had no secrets from him. He knew everything about me, so it was little wonder he knew what would please me, and what would not.
I sat in a small bed of wild daisies and made a daisy chain, something I hadn’t done since I was a child, in more innocent times. I chose daisies with good thick stems that were reasonably long and carefully pried a hole, just big enough to thread another daisy stem through, about halfway down. To complete the chain I threaded the stem of the final flower through a hole at the top of the stem of the first flower. I rested it on my head and started on a second chain.
By the time Danny returned — to find me sitting in the garden — I’d completed the second chain. I stood to greet him, laid the second chain on his head and gently kissed him on the cheek.
He looked at me with surprise and lightly touched his cheek — where I had kissed him — then felt the daisy chain on his head. His eyes sparkled and he smiled. I hadn’t realised before how striking his features were when he smiled — rugged, yet truly angelic.
“Thank you,” he said, “for both the kiss and the crown. I’ve never been given such gifts before.”
I laughed, then winced as my head throbbed. “You mean you’ve never been given gifts by someone like me before. And it’s no crown, only a simple daisy chain.”
“No, truly, I have never received such gifts.”
“You’re telling me you’ve never been kissed, even on the cheek?” I whispered in disbelief.
Danny nodded. “What need do angels have of mortal trappings and desires? We do not procreate and we have but to think of something and it is ours.”
My heart ached to match my head. My life to date had not been Pleasantville, but at least I had experienced life. To be a soldier, a drone and not know or long for anything else seemed a horrific way to live.
“Come with me,” I said, offering him my hand.
The front door of the cottage didn’t open automatically. Danny wasn’t sure what I wanted to do or where we were going. I opened the door and led him to the bathroom. It was the only room in the cottage that had a mirror. I stood him in front of the mirror and saw the look of delight on his face as he adjusted the daisy chain to sit properly on his head.
“Sure beats a crown of thorns, don’t you think?” I said, smiling at his reflection.
“You shouldn’t talk like that,” he lectured me, “but yes, it does. Who would’ve thought something as simple as this could make an angel smile?”
He took the chain off his head and set it down in the hand basin. He leant closer and breathed on each of the flowers in turn.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
When he’d finished breathing on the last flower he picked up the chain and held it out for me to inspect. The entire chain had been crystallised. Talk about cold breath!
“Go on, touch it,” he encouraged me. “It’s hard as rock and won’t break.”
I tapped a fingernail on the white petals and they chimed like a crystal glass being rapped with a fork or knife to call people to attention.
“It’s beautiful.”
He inclined his head slightly and pushed the crystal chain towards me.
“For you mademoiselle.”
“But it’s yours,” I whispered. “I made it for you.”
“A trade,” he said and took the chain from my head, turning it into crystal as well. “I shall keep yours as a memento of our friendship.”
I could live with that.
Danny took my hand and pulled me to the bedroom. My heart sank. For all his talk of being my friend and not having mortal desires it had now come to this — payment was due.
“I want to try something.”
I cringed at his words.
“The normal rules don’t seem to apply to you, and from what I’ve been able to piece together angel’s blood shouldn’t be lethal to you. Do you trust me?”
I was a big girl now. I knew nothing was given freely. I could live through whatever was demanded of me, although once it was over I would leave, never to see this angel again. He was just like the rest — mortal or angel, men were all the same.
“Yes,” I whispered.
“Lay down,” he said.
I lay on my back and clasped my hands on my abdomen. When Danny removed the bandage from my head I wondered what he was doing. Did he get off on seeing me wounded? Did it make me seem more helpless? Is that it — he wants me helpless? I shivered.
“It’s okay. I’ll try my best not to hurt you, but I can’t guarantee what will happen. As far as I know this has never been attempted before.”
Are all angels virgins? I thought, and shivered again.
When I saw the glint of steel in his hand I attempted to sit up and scramble away. Danny placed one hand on my shoulder, in an effort to stop me from running away.
“You said you trusted me,” he reminded me.
I’d been trapped by my own stupidity.
“Go ahead and get it over and done with,” I said through gritted teeth.
The blade flashed above me and I saw Danny slice his left palm. I could smell his blood as soon as the knife pierced his skin. It was sweet, like nectar, and I found my mouth salivating, part of me craving for a taste.
Control yourself, I thought. He’s not food.
Danny let the blood from his palm drip onto the gash in my forehead. It burned, oh how it burned!
I clenched my jaw and could feel the veins in my neck standing out from the effort. I would not scream. I was stronger than that.
Danny’s palm had healed before the burning sensation in my forehead faded away. Perspiration had formed on my brow and Danny wiped it away with a towel he produced from thin air.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
When the burning stopped I noticed my head was no longer throbbing.
“Pretty good, actually,” I replied, touching my forehead gingerly.
“No other pain or nausea?”
“No, none.”
“Incredible,” Danny said, shaking his head. “You truly are an enigma. Angel’s blood is a very potent poison, yet your body reacted as though it were a healing elixir… just as I’d hoped.”
“Does that mean I’m no vampire or monster, that I’m more ange
l than anything else?” I asked hopefully. I wanted to be an angel, though one who enjoyed life’s little pleasures.
He shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe.”
“Danny,” I said hesitantly. “I owe you an apology. I thought —”
He held up his hand. “Don’t say it. I know your thoughts as well as you do. I know how you feel about men. There’s no need to apologise for something that is intrinsic within your nature. It is so ingrained in you that it would take a miracle to wipe the slate clean. Those sorts of miracles I cannot perform. I’m sorry that I cannot ease your constant pain.”
I snorted. “I’m not in constant pain!”
“Please yourself,” Danny replied. “You may be able to fool yourself, but you can’t fool someone who has lived your life vicariously.”
“Please!” I rolled my eyes. “For someone who doesn’t have any mortal desires you sure seem to know a lot about them.”
Danny laughed. “You’re right, and once again I must apologise.”
“Well, at least we can be sure of one thing,” I said.
“Oh, and what’s that?”
“Your blood is worth bottling, literally. I mean how handy would it be for me to have angel’s blood on hand to heal myself whenever I split my head open?”
The look on Danny’s face was priceless. “I don’t plan on letting you get hurt again, and if you do, I’ll heal you, just as I did today. Bottling an angel’s blood is a bad idea.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Can you imagine if it fell into the wrong hands? A poison for which there is no cure?”
An angel blood bank was out of the question then.
7. Out for Revenge
I yawned. It came from nowhere, out of the blue.
“Get some rest,” Danny said. “I heard a rumour that there was some demonic activity not far from here, and I’d like to take the time to check it out. Like monsters, demons prefer the cover of night — the terror it instils in mortals. It might seem more inconspicuous to slink through the night, but just like angels they can see perfectly well no matter the conditions.”
Danny left the room and I pulled the blankets over me, closing my eyes. Sleep found me quickly.
Angel's Kiss Page 6
