Awakening

Chapter 17

“Carla?” Called a light, musical voice from the doorway. I absolutely refused to move.

I was currently lying in the most comfortable bed I had ever had the pleasure of sleeping in. The softest, fluffiest blankets I’d ever seen held me in a warm cocoon. I had had the most restful night’s sleep of my entire life. There were no dreams about killer angels, scary demons, or even about past friends that I still missed terribly. It would be safe to say that I slept like a rock, but that might have had something to do with the copious amounts of alcohol I had consumed. To say that I was a bit less than excited to leave the bed was a bit of an understatement. Especially since the previous night’s entertainments seemed to be wreaking havoc on my head. I could already feel a headache coming on. Light scratching at the door caused one of my lids to peek open.

“Carla?” The voice called out again. I immediately knew it was Azrael. Stubbornly, I continued to ignore her.

Eventually, the door cracked open. I attempted to remain as still as possible, which wasn’t all that difficult considering moving was the last thing I wanted to do. Hopefully I could convince her that I was still asleep and she would leave me alone so I could go back to doing exactly that. I used to do the same thing to my parents when I was younger, and though there were times they figured me out, more often than not I was always able to fool them. Keeping my breathing even I listened as the door opened fully, light streaming in.

“Carla, are you awake?” Azrael asked quietly. When I didn’t answer she whispered, “I’ve got breakfast waiting for you.” I was tempted to smile at her light attempt at bribery but I held it back. A few more moments went by before I heard her start to close the door.

With a triumphant smile I pulled the blankets up snuggly under my chin. I could go back to sleep and take full advantage of sleeping in a place that was not a motel room. The door was almost closed completely, assuring me of another few hours of sleep, when another voice that was decidedly not light or musical drifted through to my ears.

“Is she coming down?” Ryker asked.

Normally, the sound of his voice would have been a good thing. It would have made me happy to see him, not to mention that I loved the deep timbre of his voice, but not now. A frown formed on my lips. I already knew that my extra, blissful hours of sleeping were not going to happen.

“She’s still asleep,” Azrael said simply.

“Of course she’s still sleeping. Did you wake her up?” he asked with a tinge of exasperation.

“I tried. I called her name but she must be a heavy sleeper. She didn’t move at all. Maybe she didn’t hear me.”

There were only three beats of silence but it was all it took. Heaving a sigh I pulled the covers up over my head, as if they could shield me from what I knew was only seconds away from happening.

“Oh trust me, she heard you,” Ryker said easily. And with that I heard the door push open. The blanket was wrapped tightly around me but it did little to stifle the feeling of Ryker being in the room. I could feel his pointed gaze on me, as warm as the blankets that were covering me.