Awakening Read Online Free PDF

was doing
nothing to help him.
    I rushed forward, my hands going to
his wound and causing him to moan. His face was ashen, but his eyes
flickered open for just a moment. He could feel pain, which meant
he was still alive.
    I closed my eyes and took a deep
breath. “Goddess divine. Mother of the earth. Thee, who brings
forth all life, hear my plea. Help me.” I repeated the mantra over
and over in my mind.
    Nothing happened.
    I could do this--I could heal him. I
took a deep breath and concentrated. I waited for the familiar
feeling of healing power to come into my body. A power I had been
born with and trained to use. I waited. I took another deep breath,
and another. Nothing happened.
    You can’t do this. You
can’t help anyone anymore. The words
whispered across my mind. I knew they were true. There was too much
fear, too much anger coursing through my mind and body. I couldn’t
find the serenity I needed in order to heal. You can’t help him . The words
screamed inside me, but I pushed them back. I wouldn’t let him die.
No one else would die.
    I focused and said the words out loud,
with more determination this time, my voice pleading with Mother
Earth to help me. Over and over I said the words and, as I did, my
mind reached out for the energy that used to come so easily to me,
energy that swirled around in the ether sea. And still I was
powerless. He was dying. There was no one to help him but
me.
    The words turned from a plea into a
sob, and as I sobbed, a small tingle of energy finally flowed
through my feet. It crawled its way slowly up my legs, through my
body and into my fingertips.
    Thank the goddess. I pushed
my fingers deep into his wound. I didn’t say the next word. Instead
it seemed to resound from the very depths of me. Heal. As the word grew
louder in my mind, as it took root in my body, the small bit of
energy I had summoned flowed through me and into Luke. Time stood
still, and for a long moment nothing existed but the sound of my
shallow breathing.
    I felt something graze my cheek. I
opened my eyes and realized I was lying on the ground. Luke kneeled
over me, one hand held against his side. I could see blood making
its way through his fingers.
    “ Are you okay?” He
asked.
    I realized the rain had stopped. I
pushed myself off the ground.
    Darla was by his side, tears streaming
down her face.
    “ I thought you were no
longer a healer.” He took away his hand and looked down at his
side.
    He was bleeding, but not like before.
I had stopped the gushing river of blood. He wouldn’t bleed to
death in front of me.
    Relief filled my body. I resisted the
urge to slump back in exhaustion. “I’m not. You’re still
bleeding.”
    “ Yeah, but I’m alive and
kicking, and that’s only because of you.” His voice sounded
weak.
    “ What happened?” I
whispered.
    “ The woman, she had a
knife,” he said, a grim expression on his face.
    I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“The woman stabbed you? But you were trying to save
her.”
    “ Life gives you curve balls
sometimes.” He stood up and reached down and helped me to my feet.
“We better get out of here before those guys decide to come back.
Darla, stop crying, I’m okay.”
    But he wasn’t, and he slumped forward
again as he moved. Darla reached out and slid her body under his
arm. His weight was too much for her. I scrambled around to his
other side and lifted his arm around my shoulder.
    We staggered out of the alley and to
the front entrance of the shop.
    “ Anyone think to bring
keys?” Not bothering to wait for a response, Luke pushed himself
away from us and supported himself against the door. He leaned over
and picked up a nearby rock and broke a panel of glass. He reached
in and unlocked it. I waited for him to move, but he slumped to the
ground.
    Darla and I, as if on cue, moved to
either side of him and propped him up. Darla pushed the door open,
and we made our way inside. I kicked the door shut behind me, but
the broken