A Gathering of Angels by Cate Dean Page B

Simon. “Hello, Eric.”
    He didn’t have a chance to answer; Annie pushed him aside and stared at Claire. Brown eyes widened, her face draining of color. “Claire—”
    Hands clenched, her heart pounding so hard she could feel it in her throat, Claire couldn’t find her voice. She shook her head, and to her horror, tears blurred her eyes. When Annie didn’t say anything else, she started to back away, wanting to hide, to avoid the revulsion, the rejection. Avoid the anguish that she would feel when she lost her best friend. Again.
    She only took two steps before Annie lunged forward. Braced for anger, Claire’s knees almost buckled when Annie let out a sob and wrapped both arms around her.
    “Oh, God—Claire—” With a shuddering breath, she pulled away, gripping Claire’s arms. “Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I? Damn—I can’t believe you’re here—”
    She gathered Claire in again, crying silently as she held on.
    Claire clutched the back of Annie’s jacket, putting aside the aches, the bruises that flared into life.
    Sniffing, Annie let out a watery laugh and eased back. “Sorry about the smothering—you must already be hurting, and I just added to the pain. You look like you’ve been through hell—oh, shit.” She clapped one hand over her mouth, let go.
    Claire caught her wrist, a smile tugging at her mouth. “Good to know I look like I feel. You didn’t hurt me, Annie—and I came close, but I didn’t make it inside. Though, you already know that.” Annie stilled, eyes widening. “Yes, I saw you, and I remember. I held on to that, and I think it helped me get home. I wasn’t certain—” Claire took in a shaky breath, kept going. “Now that you know—about me, I wasn’t certain you would want anything to do with me.”
    “Wow. If I weren’t so damn happy to see you, I’d be pissed that you’d even think I would turn on you, because you’re a—because of your past.” Annie studied her, brown eyes as warm as she remembered. And as sharp. “We can talk more, later. There’s some big nasty going on in this town, isn’t there?”
    Claire smiled. “You always have a way of getting straight to the point. Yes, there is, and I wish you weren’t in the middle of it.”
    “Too late.” She ran one hand over Claire’s hair, lifted the snarled ends. “I’m guessing you’ve been busy, since you’re dressed like a refugee from a cut-rate spa and you look like ten miles of bad road. Where’s Marcus? I’ve been trying to call him for hours . . .” Her voice faded, tears blurring her eyes as she looked down at her left hand. For the first time, Claire saw the sapphire on her finger. A beautiful blue teardrop embraced by two round amethysts. Even without her power, she could see the spark from it. The spark of Annie’s power. “What’s wrong with him, Claire?”
    “He was injured, protecting us.” She closed her hand over Annie’s, not feeling the heat that she knew must be emanating from the ring. “He is dying. And I can’t stop it.”

 
    TEN
     
    A nnie lowered herself to the bed, tears stinging her eyes. She blinked them back, forced a smile when Marcus opened his eyes.
    “Hey,” she said. It took everything she had not to recoil when she looked into the death shadowing those green depths. “I heard you played the hero.”
    “Not the outcome I—expected.” The few words left him breathless, leached what little color he had left in his face. It turned, for one hideously long second, into a death mask. Then he took in a harsh breath, an unnatural flush edging his cheeks. “Did not want to involve you, but I—discovered the truth too late.”
    “No need to apologize. I’m here, and I’m going find out what the hell is going on.”
    “You have seen Claire?” he whispered.
    Annie stared down at her hands. “I cried like Miss America when I saw her.”
    “What an—embarrassment.”
    “Smartass.” A smile touched his lips. “Up for a little water?”