Sacred Bloodlines by Wendy Owens Page A

up for us.”  Sophie continued.  “But nobody was available.  I can still see her.  She looked at me and said ‘What kind of party would it be without a cake?  Why no party at all.’  Minutes later we were on our way to the bakery.  It was so fast I can’t even remember the actual accident.  I just remember waking up in a hospital bed, my entire life changed.  Apparently we were hit head on and the only reason I even survived was because my bloodline had been activated and with a Guardian’s natural ability to heal, I lived.  Our healing ability is part of why we live so long.”  Sophie stopped, her breath getting caught in her throat.
    “You know, I even convinced myself she wasn’t dead for a little while.  I would wake up in the hospital and ask the nurses if my mom was there.  I did it for weeks.  It wasn’t until Michael found me and I came here that I really allowed myself to fully admit she was gone.”
    “Sophie,” Gabe didn’t know what to say.  How could he comfort her when he had the same feelings of guilt?  The same frustrated helplessness.
    Sophie turned and pressed her back into Gabe.  She pulled one of his arms around her head, using it as a pillow as she lied on the floor in front of the fire.  Gabe moved in closer to Sophie, draping his arm over her side.  They both took in a deep breath of air, their bodies heaved against one another in grief.  
    Gabe thought better of saying anything else as he did not want Sophie to reconsider her positioning.  A moment later their bodies gave into the exhaustion and fell fast asleep in one another’s arms.

Chapter Eight
    Gabe awoke, his hands tingling and pain shooting up his arm.  He went to move but saw that Sophie was still asleep on his arm.  Gabe quickly froze, hoping with everything in him to prolong the moment.  He had never felt like this for anyone, honestly he had never let himself get close to anyone.  Looking down at peaceful her face , he wondered if this was what sleeping beauty look like.  
    Gabe found himself questioning what he was doing.  There was a reason Gabe didn’t let himself get close to people.They ended up dead.  Sophie had almost been killed once because of him.  He wasn’t sure what he would do if something happened to her.
    “Good morning, love birds.”  Uri’s sarcastic tone cut through Gabe’s thoughts.  With that, Sophie popped up and frantically looked around assessing the situation.
    “Shut up, Uri,” Sophie said flashing Uri a nasty glare.  She frantically turned and gathered up her boxes of candy, shoving them into her nearby bag.  Uri started to laugh in a deep bellow.  
    “I’m serious, Uri, you better shut up!  Nothing happened.”  Sophie insisted.
    “Sure, whatever you say, Soph.”  Uri said with a huge grin across his face and flopped down on the bed, hands behind his head, ankles crossed.  The arrogant pose seemed to enrage Sophie.
    “Whatever.” Sophie said in a huff, grabbing her bag and exiting, not a word to Gabe.
    Gabe sat there dumbfounded, not sure what to say.  He looked over at Uri.  “You should learn to knock.”  Gabe was annoyed his moment with Sophie had been stolen.  Uri continued to smile mischievously.  “You know, she is telling the truth, Uri, nothing happened.”  Gabe added.
    “I know.” Uri said sitting upright.  “You’re not her type.” 
    Gabe sank at his words.  He thought Sophie and he had an incredible connection, but Uri  had him doubting that confidence in an instant.  Had he just read into things?  Was she just being nice to the new kid who she thought saved her life?
    “What do you mean I’m not her type?”  Gabe asked deflated and a little wounded.
    Realizing he had upset Gabe, Uri quickly tried to put his statement far from Gabe’s mind.  “Never mind, don’t listen to me.  Ready?”  Uri popped up to his feet and walked to the door.
    “What?”  Gabe asked, still fixated on getting a real answer from