BREAKING SHADOWS (Shadows Book 1)

Chapter 6

It had taken me hours to fall asleep. All I could think about was the tricky, low-life bastard who called himself an angel. But, then what did I expect of an angel? When I got my hands on him, I was going to kill him, slowly and enjoy every minute of it.

I awoke to a moonlit room and the sound of someone whispering my name. A hand touched my arm and I jolted upright, my heart racing in my chest. And there stood an angel at the side of my bed. One hand braced on the metal bedstead, the apex of his wings peering over his broad shoulders. Anyone else would have balked at the sight. An angel of death come to carry them on their last journey.

"You snore," the moon light highlighted the curling of his lip.

"You bastard," I swore and launched myself at him. I flew through the air, fists formed ready to pummel his chest.

Rafe took hold of them, and too easily forced me backwards onto the bed, pinning my arms above my head. He followed with a knee sinking into the mattress but didn't cage his body over mine. I was breathless, my chest heaving in anger.

He stared down at me, "Can you tell me what this is all about?" The soothing notes made everything worse.

I kept my voice low, careful not to wake Gran or Arden. "I read the scroll you arsehole. A resurrection spell? A bloody resurrection spell? Do you know how many of our laws that breaks? And you made me bind us to it so I'm damned if I do it and damned if I don't."

"Listen here, little witch."

"I told you to stop calling me that. It makes me sound less."

Rafe's forehead furrowed. "Less than what?"

I bit my lip, drawing his eyes to it. But I was not going to give him an answer.

He realised that quickly. "You made the bargain. You sealed me within the pentagram. I bet you were willing to promise me just about anything so I wouldn't take the soul. You are stuck with me, so you'd better get used to it. I fulfilled my end of the bargain and now it's your turn. Now, are you going to behave if I release you?"

"I don't like you."

"I can live with that. In fact, I'd prefer it." He eased off me, releasing his grip completely when he realised I wasn't going to punch him in the face.

I scrambled backwards on the bed, tugging down on the hem of my pyjama shorts which had ridden up. He watched me draw my knees up to my chest and hook my arms over. There was silence in my bedroom for much too long, until I couldn't stand it any longer. "So who do you want to bring back to life?"

Rafe sighed and perched himself on the edge of my bed with his back to me. Magnificent dark wings drooped either side. From any other distance, it was easy to dismiss the colour of them as black, but up close, I could see they were grey. Various shades, pewter and slate and graphite and dove. They were beautiful and I wanted to touch them, to feel if they were as soft as they looked.

I clenched my fingers together.

"A woman," he said quietly. "The woman I love."

A strange discomfort stirred in my stomach. "You know it's never been done, right? As far as I know, a person has not risen from the dead, not by witch magic anyway."

"Therein lies your task. If the ritual had been straightforward, I would not have needed to enlist your help in completing it. But that's not the reason I came here tonight. I managed to have a look around Pagnall. Not because you asked, but because I was in the area and there's something I think you should see."