Sanctuary . Amy Blankenship

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СКАЧАТЬ the draft and it flew off over the city toward Angeles National Forest.

      Envy remembered reading somewhere that owls were a sign of wisdom and she hoped it was a sign that she was doing the right thing.

      *****

      Aurora held tighter onto her small sword and looked back up the side of the building searching for any sign of Samuel. She couldn’t believe she’d been careless enough to let him sneak up on her like that. It had been an incredible stroke of luck that she’d gotten away from the roof of the skyscraper in one piece.

      As she fell, she’d resigned herself to the fact that this was really going to hurt but an unusual savior had helped her out. On that particular skyscraper were statues of hawks that luckily protruded out from the sides. She’d been able to grab hold of one in mid-fall and swing herself beneath it so she was hidden from Samuel’s sight when he looked down the edge of the building.

      It felt like she had been holding on for eternity when the sense of his aura finally started to fade. After she was sure Samuel had gone, she pulled herself up and was able to crawl on top of the hawk’s head.

      Tired and out of breath, Aurora leaned back against the wall of the building to rest for a moment. It took her a few minutes to catch her breath but any breather from Samuel's obsession with her was more than welcome. In her mind, she knew why he kept coming after her… lust, plain and simple.

      She wouldn’t deny that Samuel was desirable but that was the allure of the more powerful demons. They were beautiful to look at until you saw what was beneath their exterior. Samuel was more beautiful than most demons, but in a lot of ways he was much darker than them on the inside.

      She’d been avoiding him as well as she could and it looked like she’d finally lost him again… at least for now. Being anywhere near him left a queasy feeling in her stomach and Aurora didn’t know how much longer she could keep fighting him before giving in to what she was used too.

      She hated him but at the same time almost craved what he offered… what she had accepted after so long with him. Being on her own was exciting… but it was mixed with an equal amount of fear.

      She felt something for Samuel… had enjoyed his body and for brief moments even enjoyed his company. In the other dimension, she’d escaped him countless times only to be cornered by demons that were not a part of his army. She’d come so close to being killed and a tiny part of her had welcomed the thought of freedom… any way she could get it.

      Samuel had always shown up just in time to save her… played the hero several times. She wasn’t a fool though. He hadn’t rescued her because he loved her and he’d always punished her quite brutally for running away. She’d been his property… his to be cruel to… his to make love to. Now that she had her weapon back maybe she had a chance of breaking away from him completely.

      Looking down at the blade in her hand, Aurora sighed heavily. She’d discovered the weapon at a young age. She’d been an orphan and for the longest time had thought her name was Street Rat. It had been a demon that first called her by her real name… right before he tried to kill her. While defending herself, she’d felt the blade just appear in her hand… she’d won that fight.

      She never learned how the demon had known her name but in the end it didn’t really matter if it was her name or not. It was a far cry better than Street Rat.

      After that, the blade had been her protector until she’d been pulled into the rift. She had spent the last few thousand years in a demon controlled realm and under Samuel's rule. The weapon had never appeared to save her within the rift… no matter how much trouble she’d gotten into. She sighed wishing there was someone she could talk to about it… ask the questions that needed answering.

      The blade suddenly shone brightly as it was absorbed once more back into her body. Since the blade seemed to think she was safe, then she probably was. Aurora felt relief ease her tense muscles and decided it was time to get down from this building before someone saw her.

      She looked down over the edge of the massive concrete hawk and inhaled as the wind rushed upwards lifting her hair around her face. She was still so far from the ground and she wasn’t about to dive off for two reasons. Reason number one… she’d probably hurt herself and two, the main reason, she didn’t want anyone to see her.

      She’d thought about dying while in the rift but she had a chance at freedom now… she no longer wanted to die, so diving face first from a skyscraper was not a choice.

      Climbing out onto the wing of the hawk, she looked down at a balcony several stories below and judged the distance. Aurora gripped the edge of the wing and swung herself toward the balcony enjoying the feeling of freefalling. Landing in a silent crouch, she gazed into the window and froze.

      Between the part in the curtains, she saw movement and leaned closer to get a better look. Her lips parted when she saw a woman in a short silky nightgown smile coyly at a man sitting on the sofa across the room from her. The lady eased the silk from her shoulders, letting it hang down over her arms… exposing very little covering underneath.

      Aurora moved her gaze to the man seeing his eyes darken with passion. He stood up and removed his shirt, tossing it over his shoulder before stalking toward the woman like a cat slowly moving in on its prey. The woman smiled again and let the silk fall the rest of the way to the floor… exposing all she had to offer.

      The man closed in and took the woman in his arms. They shared a passionate kiss before the man reached down and took hold of her, lifting her up. Her long legs wrapped around his waist and when he adjusted her slightly, the woman tossed her head back exposing her throat.

      Aurora’s breath quickened when the man’s lips descended on the offered flesh making the woman in his arms shiver. He turned and walked them into another room, closing the door behind them and blocking her from seeing anything more. Aurora felt the small sad smile that caressed her lips and for a moment wished she was human.

      She swung around and leaned against the building, slowly sliding down the wall until she was sitting with her knees drawn up in front of her.

      She’d spent her childhood hiding what she was… trying to pretend she was human. Her one wish had always been that she was human. If she had been, she wouldn’t have found the hell she did at Samuel’s hands and she’d have been free to love anyone she chose.

      It had been a boy her own age that informed her of what she really was. His name was Skye. To the humans, he’d only looked about seven years old… the same as her, but she’d known the truth. He’d been her best friend for a long time and the only company that either one could trust.

      They would just smile when the humans mistook them for siblings, their coloring was almost the same and by human standards they were considered beautiful.

      Skye had told her stories about the Fallen… and the demons the Fallen had inadvertently created. He should know… he was one of those creations but it didn’t bother him. He once told her that he enjoyed looking like a Fallen because it was better to be an angel than a demon. He’d also warned her about the fears humans had and that if they ever discovered what she really was… they would try to kill her.

      For years she and Skye had stuck together, moving from village to village every few years before the humans could catch on to the fact that they weren’t aging like normal children.

      She still remembered the last time she’d seen Skye. He’d smiled at her before walking into the forest with several of the village men who СКАЧАТЬ