Until Next Time The Angel Chronicles Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

floor waiting for his son to be born—were all Liz could remember hearing. But the celebration never came. When the midwife went on her way, Liz’s mother failed to make another sound.
    “ The Lord wanted them both,” her father had whispered. “He needs the good ones to be angels for him up above.”
    Liz had watched him kiss the hand of the woman he’d loved. But it was only a short time later when Liz heard him down below cursing the same Lord he’d just defended.
    Liz walked to the bed and sat beside her mother, releasing a scream so loud that the angels in Heaven should’ve fallen through the clouds. She’d hated them at that moment; every single one of them, who felt that they needed her mother more than she did.
    Her scream had been so deafening, that Liz never even heard the gunshot that took her father’s life.
    Liz shook her head and sat back up. Even after all these years, the memory was still too painful to relive. Besides, she should spend her time being grateful, not angry. The townspeople had taken it upon themselves to help her. After that horrible night, they fed her and kept her safe. Her friends and neighbors provided all the love she ever needed. Yet even though she’d be eighteen in a few months, her hatred for those so-called ‘angels’ had grown with each passing year.
    Then, the blackouts started. Liz couldn’t remember how old she was when she’d first fainted dead away, but the spells had grown in number over the years. Night after night, Liz had found herself begging the angels that she hated to take her away—to let her join her mother and father. She’d apologized again and again for her anger and promised to make amends if they would just allow her entrance into their world. But…they hadn’t listened.
    As time passed, Faith had walked into her life becoming the friend who would mend her broken dreams. Faith became a runaway at fifteen. She never spoke about where she came from. Four years ago, she’d simply appeared at the door and asked to stay. Liz remembered not having a second thought about the request, and over the last couple of years these two damaged girls formed a friendship that ensured their survival.
    At the beginning, the blackouts had scared Faith. Liz had remained calm, telling her the episodes were her punishment for the hatred she’d shown to the angels. But she never told Faith about the bruises that appeared on her skin in the night, or the blood that stained her pillow after one of her strange spells. But this occurrence, Liz thought, was the strangest of them all. After today’s episode she felt lighter somehow, like the weight on her soul had been magically removed. Perhaps the angels had finally forgiven her for her angry words.
    “Are we open for business, lass?” Sean shouted from down below.
    Faith’s laughter broke through Liz’s haunted thoughts. Breaking out of her stupor, she reached up and pulled a dress from the shelf, fastened a crisp white apron around her small waist, and placed a matching ribbon in her hair. Taming her mass of soft red curls, she pulled her hair away from her face, and pinched her cheeks to replace some of the lost color. Drying her tears, Liz started down the ladder.
    “Good evenin’ to you, Sean,” Liz said as she went to give the old man a kiss.
    “My, but this is the prettiest place in all of Ireland, child.” Sean grinned. “What better place for an old man to come and rest his tired bones.”
    Liz walked behind the bar to pour her neighbor a drink. “Are you hungry, Sean?”
    Setting his large body on the stool, Sean added a wink to his relaxed sigh. “Just dry, Elizabeth. The fields were as mean as an unmarried harlot today. A few of these and I’ll be ready to be just as mean to her.”
    The front door opened and other villagers began their happy trek into their favorite establishment.
    Faith laughed. “Come in and take a seat, friends. The work is over for the week. The ale is cold, the bread is