PROLOGUE

 

 

“Are you alright?”

He heard the voice, but was blind to anything else.

Eyelids that felt encrusted with cement struggled to open. Vertigo set in and his mind careened down a tunnel laced with images of a dark, icy road scarred by the reflection of taillights. The rear lights loomed closer, no longer crimson smears, but distinct forms in the shape of cat eyes. Beneath his boot, the brake pedal lost its tension and a sickening sense of weightlessness ensued.

Headfirst, he plummeted down that illusory tunnel. There was no bright light—only the echoes of squealing tires and a blackness that would consume his soul.

Are you alright?

Perhaps his soul had not been consumed. There was the voice again. Or was it from the other side?

Without any fanfare, his eyes opened.

An angel hovered over him.

Radiance from the streetlight framed her in an ethereal glow, with silky cinnamon hair and willowy white arms. That same light eclipsed her features as he tried to blink and bring her back into clarity.

“Are you alright?” The deity repeated.

Figuratively speaking, he was. After all, he had expected fire and brimstone when he died, not this divine creature. Perhaps someone up there had a sense of humor.

“Don’t move—I’m calling for help.”

That command wasn’t a problem. He couldn’t budge an inch. There was pain, but it was distant, like a nebulous form in a remote galaxy. Vaguely, he was aware of black twitching tree limbs heavy with frost as they snapped against each other, their staccato rhythm lulling him towards oblivion.

No. His angel said she was leaving. He had to bring her back. The darkness was just too bleak an alternative.

“Wait.”

She reappeared and overwhelmed him with her compassionate smile.

“I’m not going to leave you.” Her whisper was kind, as he felt delicate fingers touch his own.

So warm was the texture against his frozen hands.

With newfound tenacity he held onto that link until his angel faded into the shadows and the tunnel consumed him.