Before the Fall Read Online Free Page A

it.
    He peered over at the oncoming crowd. The soldiers had stopped a few feet away from Obadiah and were laughing.
    The lead soldier stood, unmoving, his face half hidden underneath a bronze helmet and a thick black beard. Hanging off his shoulders was a red toga held together by a round golden brooch at his neck. The toga waved in the breeze, gently slapping against his muscled thighs.
    When the lead solider drew his sword from his scabbard, a small figure dashed through the horde of soldiers. For a moment, Raphael thought it was a young boy. Perhaps it was the son of one of the diseased that lived in the tent community. Then he saw the flowing light blue robe that brushed against the ground, sending a cloud of dust as the figure moved.
    “Stop. I beg of you. Please stop,” the woman cried out.
    Her small hand latched on to the lead soldier’s large bicep. It looked so delicate against the hardened arm.
    “Out of the way, woman,” the solider growled, pushing her away from him.
    The woman stumbled a few steps forward and fell at Obadiah’s feet. Dark hair covered her face like a veil of silk. From the distance, Raphael could hear her sobs. The sound of it filled him with a strange feeling. It was like there was a rope tied to his chest that was pulling him to her. He dug his heels into the ground, frightened by the strength of the strange feeling. He wanted to go to her, to comfort the brave woman who was daring to take on an army of soldiers on her own.
    He watched as Obadiah reached out his hand to her. Seconds passed and Raphael wondered what she was doing as she continued to stare at the ground. After a moment, the woman squared her shoulders and took hold of Obadiah’s hand.
    And then, Raphael saw her face.
    Tears stained her rosy cheeks; flawless skin was covered with dirt; and yet, she was the most beautiful being, human or angel, he’d ever laid his eyes upon.
    He was mesmerized by her every movement: the way she brushed her hair off her face to hang over delicate shoulders; the way pink lips moved as she spoke her thanks to Obadiah; the way her eyes crinkled as she smiled at him and then transformed to worry as she glanced in the direction of the tents.
    Turning to face the group of soldiers, the woman schooled her face, hazel eyes blazing with determination. Staggering back, Raphael’s breath hitched at the sight of them. It was only a glimpse. But that was all it took to set his heart on fire. The strange feeling returned in full force, coursing through his veins. He couldn’t understand what was happening to him. It was something that he had heard humans experienced. Rarely did he hear angels speak of such feelings.
    He glanced quickly at Rachel and wondered if these were the feelings she tried in vain to keep hidden whenever she saw Uriel. He found new respect that she was able to contain them and then sadness that she had been doing so for quite some time.
    He looked back to the woman and wondered what could send him to experience these emotions. And for a moment, he felt ashamed. Was he falling into the trap of lust? Was he desiring her because of her physical beauty?
    He had seen beauty before. Gabrielle was lovely, as many of the angels were. And yet, this woman, there was something about her that entranced him in a way that no angel ever had.
    He swallowed, shaking his head. No, it wasn’t lust. It was more . . . there was something more.
    “You will stop this, Baka,” the woman said to the lead soldier. “You will tell your men to go back to the city.”
    Baka took off his helmet and stared at the woman, his tanned face stoic. At that moment, Raphael wished he could read Baka’s mind. That was one power that no angel had, no matter how high in rank.
    Baka’s dark piercing eyes looked from the woman over toward Obadiah. Slowly, thin lips curled into a smile and he threw his head back, laughing.
    “Rebecca, after all these years, your heart still goes out to the weak,” he said. “When