Keeper of Crows (Keeper of Crows #1)(39)

“Carmen?” a far-away voice whispered. It sounded like Gabriel. “Don’t give up. You must breathe.”

My chest felt heavy, like a boulder was crushing me.

I couldn’t lift my arms.

Beeping.

Female and male voices shouting things I couldn’t understand.

I felt a thumb swipe my hair. “Breathe,” he whispered. “You have to take a breath.”

Finally, my chest expanded. “Good girl.” Another swipe across my hair. “Keep breathing. You’ll be fine in a few minutes. I got here in time.”

Soft, warm lips pressed against my temple. A thumb caressed my hair.





17





When I woke, I felt like a semi had crashed into me, I stayed plastered to the grill of the giant truck for fifty or so miles, and then slid onto the pavement where all eighteen tires rolled over my body. Thump. Thump. Thump… I hurt everywhere.

“Don’t move,” Keeper grumped. Keeper was in a bad mood and so was I. Then he smirked. “I thought I was ‘archangel’ now.”

“You’re whatever my mind can conjure at the moment. Deal with it.” I was lying on my back, staring at the light gray clouds in the darker gray sky, watching the feathers gently rain down from the heavens. If the veil was so close, how were the birds able to fly up there?

“They’re magical,” he teased.

“Is that a smile I hear?” I hadn’t seen his teeth in far too long, not since he graced Pamela with the mega-watt pearly whites. But I kept my gaze on the sky because if I saw that sight, I’d melt into a puddle of goo. My body wouldn’t be able to hold its form. I was sure of it.

“Gabriel should be back soon. He sent word that he’s on his way.”

“Does he always have to check in with you? Is that a Keeper power trip, or is he just being polite?”

Michael chuckled. Damn that sound.

“I heard him when I was sleeping.”

“Heard who?” I could almost feel Michael tense at my words.

“Gabriel. He kept telling me to breathe and said he’d gotten there in time, or something like that. Was he here?”

Michael was quiet, so I finally turned my head to look at him. Every muscle in his body was rigid. “No.”

“What is it?”

“Gabriel has some explaining to do.” He pushed up off the rock he was perched on and began to pace again, muttering beautiful, angelic curses, or so it sounded.

Gabriel, true to his word, stepped down from the sky. He looked like he belonged to it, or it to him. I wasn’t sure which.

He smiled broadly when he saw me blink. “You’re awake.”

“Sort of,” I deadpanned.

“You’re alive.”

“That’s arguable,” was my reply.

He crouched down beside me. He was wearing khakis and a polo shirt, the top two buttons undone. The fabric was bright yellow and his skin shone like he’d been near the equator for a few weeks, basking in the sun’s rays and daring skin cancer to mess with his hotness. His eyes flashed royal purple. Apparently, Gabriel liked compliments.

“She heard you,” Michael said, as Gabriel watched him walk back and forth along the rocks on the river bank. The sounds of the water crashing on and around the rocks was somehow comforting.

“Heard me what?” Gabriel asked, his smile falling away.

“You were telling her to breathe. What exactly happened to her?”

Gabriel stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets. I wanted to sit up and be a part of the conversation, but I needed help to do so. I attempted to lift my head, but found it was far too heavy. I’d need lots of help.

Michael came toward me and gathered me in his arms, sat on a rock, and helped me sit up. On his lap. I should be tired much more often.

He smiled for a moment.

Gabriel didn’t. His facial features hardened. “The shudder you felt yesterday, Carmen, was your father crossing the divide. I followed him to work and at first it seemed like business as usual, so I let my guard down. He took the opportunity while I wasn’t watching and made his move. I didn’t locate him fast enough, and he found you in the hospital.”

Michael’s grip on me tightened. “What did he do?”

Gabriel looked ashamed when he told me, “He turned off your IV and the ventilator, but when he saw me at the door, he disappeared. I thought he’d crossed again, but—”

“He did. We felt the shudder from here,” Michael told him. “He’s getting desperate. If he ends her earthly life, she’ll be stuck here for a time. He obviously doesn’t know she can’t leave. That’s both a blessing and a curse, but he won’t stop. He wants her and he’ll stop at nothing until he has her. He’s waiting for us to slip up, to make a mistake so he can take her away.”

“My mother,” I gasped, squirming. Michael held me still. “He’s going to go after her. He knows I love her more than almost anything in the world.”

“You found her mother?” Gabriel asked, eyes wide. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It wasn’t the time,” Michael said cryptically.

“We need to seek her out and bring her here where she can be safe,” Gabriel asserted.