Wings on Fire ~ Falling (Book 1)

Chapter 16

Even though I doubted if I would ever calm down enough to sleep again after Serafina's unpleasant visit, I must have managed to doze off because I had some wild dreams. Within the confines of my mind, I faced a fire-breathing dragon and a red-faced demon in a fire and brimstone version of hell.

I awoke with a start, breathing heavily and feeling frightened that my nightmare might have been some sort of horrifying premonition. Bolting upright, my eyes bulging in fear, I panted and looked around my hospital room, trying to convince myself that it hadn't been real.

As if I had summoned him, Daniel appeared at my side. "It's okay. You're okay." He soothed me by caressing my forearm down to my fingertips and back up again. His touch left a trail of tingling nerve endings in its wake.

Probably the only thing that could have calmed me down after that terrifying nightmare was Daniel's comforting touch. My heart was still hammering in my chest when I tried to speak. "I don't want us to go to hell." The words sounded croaky, but he must have managed to understand my meaning.

"You're not going to hell, Sweetheart. Why would you think that?" It wasn't lost on me that he said 'You' aren't going there, even though I had said that I didn't want 'us' to go there.

"You will be punished for being here with me," I reminded him sadly, finally finding my voice, but still speaking quietly. "Is that what you will face?" I asked, even though he couldn't know what I had dreamed about.

"No, I'll be just fine," he promised, but after Serafina's warning, I didn't believe him.

"You have to go and turn yourself in," I pleaded with him. "Maybe your punishment will be light if you admit what you did and don't ever see me again."

"You worry too much," he smiled down at me. "I know how to take care of myself. I've been doing it for a very long time." He reminded me of his longevity, before teasingly calling me "Mom."

"I'm not your mother," I snapped, annoyed that he didn't seem concerned about his own safety and wellbeing.

"Thank goodness," he quipped. "If you were, I couldn't do this." He leaned down to brush his lips lightly across my forehead.

Warmth spread just under my skin where his lips grazed it. I closed my eyes and savored what needed to be my last touch from this glorious angel.

Opening my eyes and summoning every bit of strength I could muster, I said firmly, "I want you to leave me alone and not come back."

Daniel sat down in the chair beside my bed. His eyes were filled with panic. "You want me to leave you?" Disbelief and fear tinged his words.

Unsure of the steadiness of my voice, I nodded, holding back the burning tears.

"What if I don't want to leave you?" He asked, logically. "What if I want to stay by your side and never leave you again?" His voice lowered to barely a whisper. "What if I can't leave you?"

"You have to," I said sternly. "This isn't right for either of us." I didn't believe for a second that Daniel wasn't the most wonderful and perfectly right male in the world for me, but I knew that I wasn't good for him.

He didn't seem to be budging from his chair, so I knew that I needed to be more convincing. "You need to be with someone gorgeous and brilliant and amazing... someone like you... someone like Serafina." I felt like ripping my own throat out for even suggesting that he be with that hateful creature, but I knew that she made more sense for him than I did.

"Serafina?!?" He spat the word out as if his being with the dazzling female angel––the only being I had ever encountered who came close to matching his radiance––was preposterous. "She is just my friend. Why would you even say that?"

I wanted to shout at him to open his eyes. It seemed inconceivable that he couldn't see how perfect she was for him and how despicably lacking I was. It buoyed my confidence that he seemed to be blind to my many flaws, but I knew that I couldn't have him. It was better to break things off cleanly now with Daniel before my heart became even more entrenched in its love for him––if that was even possible.

My guess was that Daniel didn't have any idea about Serafina's romantic feelings for him, which had become glaringly obvious to me. If he knew how she felt, why would he have her in the friend zone and be pursuing me? As much as I hated to help her out, I knew that this needed to be done.

"The lovely Serafina came to visit me today," I admitted to him.

"Is that so?" He crossed his outstretched legs at the ankles, leaning back as if settling in for a story. "And what did she have to say?" He prompted me.

Jumping in with both feet, I said, "She told me that she loves you." The lie flowed off my tongue easily. Even though she hadn't said that sentiment out loud, her warning words and actions had made her romantic feelings for Daniel perfectly clear. I knew that if Daniel was aware of how she felt that he would run away from me in search of her. It was the last thing I wanted, even though I knew it was what would be best for all of us.

Daniel folded his hands over his chest as he pondered my revelation about his best friend's secret desire for him. I was amazed that he hadn't already bolted from my room in search of her. When he finally spoke, he shocked me by saying, "Well, that's too bad, because I'm in love with you."

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