Fall From Grace by Ciara Knight Read Free Book Online Page A

trailing behind with her father in tow. Her father almost
twice his size, yet Boon managed to carry him. The more she tried
to avoid the sight of her father’s face the more she looked at it.
Punishment, reminder of what she had done. The same smells and
sights reminded her of the car crash that claimed her mother. She
hadn’t been able to do anything to save her. Now she’d be forced to
watch her father die, by her own hand. Why was life always so full
of pain?
    Boon lowered her father down to the couch,
and Gaby knelt beside him holding his hand with care. She ran her
thumb down the edge and skin peeled off as if he’d spent too much
time in the sun. “D-daddy, I’m so s-sorry.”
    “I’m better, I can heal him now.” Alexander
kissed her forehead and moved her to the side.
    Could he really? Scrunched down, legs pulled
to her chest, she pressed her chin to her knees and watched. Dear God, please. Let him live.
    Squatting next to her father, Alexander
reached up and placed two hands on his arm. A navy glow pulsed
around his hands. Black flakes fell from her father’s arm, fire
engine red skin formed then faded to bright pink, finally to his
natural olive tone.
    She let out a slow breath and her ribs
relaxed. A dull throb remained in her abdominal muscles.
    Alexander fell back to the floor. “Alex,
please, keep trying.”
    Her father groaned.
    “Daddy, can you hear me?”
    No response.
    Boon pressed a hand to her shoulder. “Give
him a minute.”
    She couldn’t lose her father now. He’d just
come home. “I’m sorry. I hate that I’m putting you through this
when you’re so weak, but Alex, he’s all I’ve got left.”
    His pupils dilated in the dim light, his
brows furrowed. “You have me.”
    “I…I just meant—”
    “It’s okay.” Alexander pushed up, pressed
his hands to her father’s face, and clenched his jaw.
    This time the light pulsed twice, and he
fell to the floor.
    Gaby placed his head in her lap and stroked
his hair. “You need to rest. I shouldn’t’ve asked. Rest.” She tried
to mask her concern for her father, allowing Alexander to rest, but
the words choked out between sobs.
    Alexander pushed up from her lap only to
fall back again. “Help me up. I can do this.”
    “No, there’s got to be another way. I can’t
sacrifice you to save my father.”
    “I won’t sacrifice your father to save
myself.” His words only a whisper.
    “I can’t lose either of you. There’s got to
be another way.” Gaby struggled to think of something, anything she
could do. What good were these angelic powers if she couldn’t heal
her own father?
    Alexander pulled her hand to his lips and
kissed her palm before squeezing it against his chest. “There…is…no
other…way.”
    ****
    Although Alexander could lift a two thousand
pound truck without so much as a strained muscle, he couldn’t lift
his head from Gaby’s lap. He looked through watering eyes at her
wrinkled brow and pursed lips. Even in grief she was the most
beautiful creature he’d ever seen. Her pale blue eyes, the color of
the cloudless sky, were worry-filled. His body relaxed as her nails
grazed his scalp, and the hair on his arms stood at attention.
    Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes,
he refocused his energy, unable to look at the sadness in her eyes
a moment longer. With one last blast of power, maybe he could heal
her father, even if it meant shutting down all the power necessary
to maintain his human form. Even if he died, it would be better
than failing Gaby.
    “Help me up. I’m ready.”
    “No, Alex, please, give yourself more time.”
Her voice caressed his soul even through her sobs.
    “I’ll be fine.” He sat up and faced her.
Cupping her cheeks, he leaned in and kissed her. If he could only
have more time, more kisses. No, even a thousand kisses wouldn’t be
enough.
    He pulled away and faced Bruce. “I love you,
Gaby. Never forget that.”
    “You better love her or I’d have something
to say about