except instead of water, life force passes from a living organism through you into another. When you put your hands on Moses, you channeled the life force from the chickens, through you, into Moses.”
She considered this. It made sense. It was why the chickens had died when she had brought Moses back to life.
“What happened to the Nephilim who lived on Atlantis?” she asked.
Asher’s expression changed, and he hesitated.
“Something bad?” she asked.
After a moment, he told her. “It’s said, although there’s no way of knowing for sure, that Atlantis was destroyed for having become too technologically advanced.”
Israfel stopped questioning him. It appeared the race to which she belonged was indeed doomed.
* * * *
It was full summer, the morning sticky and hot, and Israfel sat in the kitchen, picking at her breakfast when a bird flew into one of the kitchen windows, startling her. She slid from her chair and hurried out onto the gallery to find the poor thing lying on its back, unmoving. Its wings were partially extended, its head resting at an unnatural angle. A smear of blood on the window told her the bird had probably broken its neck. Pity for it welled up in her, but she did nothing, remembering her conversation with Asher, and fearing what might happen if she tried to help it. She was about to go back inside to find Asher when he stepped onto the porch.
She looked up at him. “It flew into the window.”
He stared at her a long moment. “You want to help it.”
“I want to...but...”
“You’re afraid of what might happen,” he finished for her.
“Yes.”
He considered for a moment and then said, “Try, if you feel the need to. I’d like to know for sure whether my theory about your ability is correct. I’ll stay with you. If anything starts to go wrong we’ll stop.”
Israfel turned to Asher. All she had, she owed to him. He always knew exactly what she needed and, in that moment, she looked upon him as her father. Unlike Mamma, he never made her feel the least bit strange or unwanted, nor had he ever reacted to her with anything but kindness.
“You’ll stay here with me?”
“Yes.”
Without saying anything else, she sat on the ground next to the bird. Asher crouched beside her as she cupped the dead bird’s head in one hand, using the other to gently stroke its breast. A short time later, the bird began to twitch in her hand. Israfel heard the sharp intake of breath beside her, but did not turn around, because the bird came alive in her hand, flapping its wings awkwardly. Only then did she turn to Asher, elated. Asher was on his hands and knees, trying to crawl away from her. Immediately, her joy at having brought the bird back to life transformed into fear. The bird, which moments ago had been dead, flew off. Asher continued dragging himself down the steps into the garden, clutching at his chest. Israfel saw from his pallor that something was very wrong. She screamed for Madison and Jackson, who came running outside a moment later. In their efforts to help Asher, they did not see what happened next. But Israfel saw. She stared in dismay as birds began to fall from the many trees in the garden surrounding them, dropping dead onto the shrubbery and flowerbeds below.
Asher regained some of his color and got shakily to his feet with help from Madison and Jackson.
“What on earth happened?” Madison asked him.
“I’m not sure,” he said when he breathed normally again. “But I’m better now. Everything’s all right.”
Israfel stared at him with tears in her eyes. She had hurt Asher, almost killed him from the look of things.
“Come inside and lie down,” said Jackson.
“Yes. Will you help me, Israfel?” He extended his hand to her.
She took his hand and went with him to the large drawing room at the back of the house, waiting while he settled onto a chaise lounge. Tears she could not stop spilled onto her cheeks when he called her to him.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Don’t be.” He whispered, so the others wouldn’t hear. “I knew what would happen. I just needed to see it for myself.”
She held his hand tightly. “I’ll never do it again. Never.”
Asher smiled wanly at her. “Never is a long time. The day might come when you’ll have need of this ability. But until then, perhaps we should keep this particular talent of yours between the two of us.”
She hugged him hard then and felt a surge of pure relief when he hugged her back, letting her know he still loved her, that nothing had changed.
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
