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didn't know, couldn't remember the word to describe

his eyes, but she knew it didn't

at an angel, fallen from the heavens Or God Himself

Yes, she thought sleepily She'd been saved by God

Himself

It was her last, pleasant thought as she slipped back into the darkness

She had opened her eyes

Even now, hours later, Ian clung to that glorious heartbeat of ti it in his , but that

She had opened her eyes It was a ranite path froht Overhead, thehalo of light

It was silent except for theof his heels on the timeworn stone The sea was a distant thrum of waves on rock He pushed his hands deeper in his pockets and laughed aloud Christ, he felt good

Over and over, he saw the ie of Selena when she'd finally wakened Finally, he'd seen the dark, mysterious brown of her eyes

Just thinking about it sent exhilaration, blistering and liquid, coursing through his blood He realized in that instant that he hadn't believed she'd wake up, not really He thought she'd lie there in that too narrow bed and simply fade away

For years, he'd pictured the Alilded throne, playing with humans

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as if they were e, he could understand, could hate with equanimity; it allowed him to sit in the dark and nurse his animosity, allowed hi world