Read Online Praefatio: A Novel by Georgia McBride - Free Book Online Page B

wrong angel; I didn’t know any Fallen. What more could she possibly say? She sighed, as she always did right before she hit you with the old one, two.
    “Good Goooddd, there’s more?” slipped out before I could retract it. My teeth chattered as chills shook me every few seconds.
    “Grace, do you understand what I’m saying?” She didn’t wait for a reply. “Your mother chose to Fall, taking you into herself so you could be born of human and angel. Now, you are a most unique and powerful being, unscarred by the evil that is nephilim—the offspring of angels and humans.”
    “So, I’m not a nephilim?”
    “You are the result of His will, not that of angels and humans. Yours is a divine purpose.” Mom beamed as if she had something to do with it personally. God, that woman would take credit for anything!
    I shuddered, remembering the Sunday school lesson on angels who had children with humans. The angels were punished.
    “Okay, so say all of this is true. What happened? Why am I in the hospital? How did my ribs get broken?” I should have asked about Remi, Gavin, and Dead Dad . But I figured first things first.
    A long laughed escaped her narrow throat. The sparkle in her eyes was clear. Was she proud of me? How could she be? My gown was soaked through with sweat. I was barely able to withstand my own sorry weight. I couldn’t possibly be this angel she spoke of.
    “Tomorrow is your seventeenth birthday. Tonight around midnight, you will feel the most awful pain you have ever felt. Your ribs will be broken, all the way up to your neck, as your body prepares for wings,” she announced as if she were predicting a lottery win.
    “So I’ll be able to fly?” My voice seemed higher than usual. “Wait a minute. Aren’t angels supposed to fight demons? ” I waited, breathing a little faster now, not sure if from fear, adrenaline, or both.
    She lowered her gaze as she did her voice, then took my shaky, sweaty hand. “It is not my particular charge to wrestle demons, though you may not have a choice.” Her face became pensive, almost melancholy. “Unfortunately, you will also wrestle your own kind, humans and angels.” She stared at me for what seemed like forever, trying to gauge my reaction. She removed her hand from mine.
    “I wish you’d told me sooner.”
    “I’m sorry, Grace. The rest must be witnessed through the eyes of an angel. It is not for humans to see or understand. And it was never up to me to tell you sooner than now. Rest. Sleep. You are going to need it.” She smiled as she turned on her heel, stretched out her wings, and lifted into the air, gliding over the garden with ease.
    I smiled wryly at her. Mom: always the showoff! I felt a hushed peace come over me.
    I could no longer hear the sound of the breeze or the birds singing. The beep of the monitor and hum of electricity flowing through the wires of the machines attached to me drowned it out. Drip. Drip. Drip. Do normal people hear that kind of stuff?
    The pain in my back, sides, and neck was unbearable. More morphine. Almost as soon as I thought it, the nurse was at the door, and I was back in my bed.
    “Miss Miller, I’m leaving for the night and wanted to make sure that you were … ”
    The way she paused made me curious. I hadn’t pressed the call button or asked for more medication, only thought it while staring at the name on her ID badge. I decided to try something.
    Can I get another … ?
    Nurse Cipher reached into the bottom drawer of the nightstand on the right side of my bed, pulled out a blanket, and covered me, just as I desired.
    So, if I think it, I can make it happen?
    She smiled, tucking the blanket in at the bottom of the bed.
    I could think it and make it happen. Sweet! But what if I don’t want her to know my thoughts ? I concentrated hard, to block her from my mind. I’m sure my veins were bulging out of my neck. I imagined a wall, thick, tall, and unbreakable between the two of us. So, Nurse Cipher, can