Embrace the Night

Page 38



her enough. He had no food to give her, only a bottle of aged red wine. He left it on the hearth where she would be sure to see it if she woke, and then, having done all he could, he left her.

On feet that felt as heavy as lead, he made his way down to the catacombs and secured the door. With Sara in the house, he would have to take his sleep with the rest of the dead.

He rose as the sun was going down, the smell of rain heavy in the air. He took the stairs two at a time, ran down the narrow hallway to his room.

Sara lay as he had left her, her blond hair spread like a golden halo around her head.

Murmuring her name, he knelt beside her. Drawing back his cloak, his gaze swept over her from head to foot, and then he let out a long sigh of relief. She was healing. Not as swiftly as he would have, but she was healing. Her skin still looked raw in places, but the blisters were shrinking, drying.

Gently, he covered her once more, and then he closed his eyes as relief washed through him. She would be all right.

"Gabriel?"

He opened his eyes to find her staring up at him, her brow furrowed in bewilderment.
"How do you feel?" he asked.

"Terrible. What happened?" "There was a fire at the orphanage."
"A fire! How did it start?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know if Sister Mary Josepha and the other nuns survived the fire? And the children… ?" She blinked back a tear as she thought of all the sweet dear children she had grown to care for. Had they been burned, as well?

"I don't know, Sara, but I'll find out." "Thank you."

She glanced over his shoulder. "Where are we?" "This is where I… live."

"Here?" She stared at the room, empty save for a large, thronelike chair. There was a faded space on one wall where a large crucifix had once been. She thought it odd that the room's only window was covered by a thick black cloth. "What is this place?"

"It used to be a monastery."