Touched (Touched, #1)

by Elisa S. Amore

What are you willing to sacrifice when the only person who can save you is the same one who has to kill you?

The truth is no one can stop time . . . nor can they know when their own will run out.

Angels are not what you think they are. Nor are their duties

she would never expect an Angel of Death to be rummaging through her things.

Death, if it comes unexpectedly, may be cruel, but it isn’t frightening, because you don’t have the chance to realize what’s about to happen.

“I can’t do without something inside you, something it triggers inside of me.”

“Life is a dream, death an awakening,”

“Well, see you at school . . . sweet thing,”

“Not all fairy tales have happy endings.”

It was better to keep moving forward and overcoming obstacles than to just stand there doubting myself.

Evan’s presence was everywhere. He was like a ghost who’d come to haunt me, to hound me.

It seemed impossible. I would never forget her face. Or her heart.

My body, my powers, my mind . . . nothing belongs to me any more when I’m with her.

I never would have believed such intense emotions existed if the touch of her hand hadn’t pierced my heart.

Do you think this is my apple? Do you think Gemma is my forbidden fruit?”

“You can’t protect the person you have to kill. You can’t deny who you are,”

The Màsala held people’s lives in their hands, but not their souls. They decided how long humans would be on earth, but their destinations depended on the people’s own decisions, a fact they were less and less aware of.

I was a Soldier, but just then I felt like a hostage.

“It’ll give you guys the chance to clean up. I mean, look at you two. Christ! Were you in an arena full of lions? Go change, Simon, or your victim will think you’re a zombie straight out of hell.”

Without hell, there is no heaven.

I was a Soldier. And Gemma was my target.

God, she takes my breath away. I felt like a madman, consumed by incomprehensible emotion.

I can’t name it, but it hurts. Could it be regret? No. It’s stronger than that. Is it pain, then? No, it’s deeper, fiercer. Is it the other side of pain, as wild and ardent as fire? Could this be the love everyone talks about? Would I be able to recognize it if it pierced my heart with its arrows?

My apprehension cleared away like mist as I realized I loved her. I loved this sweet creature. And I would love her forever.

I loved Gemma more than myself, I was about to lose her forever.

Impossible. How could I feel complete if half of me had been torn away? Because that’s what Gemma was to me: my other half, my Eve. Without her, part of me would die forever.

Two lives would be cut short: that of a human and that of an Angel who was desperately in love with her.

Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not there. Look closer,”

Didn’t she realize I found it adorable?

“Thauma,” I whispered, gazing at her. “It means ‘thing of wonder.’ The ancient Greeks used it to describe something unique. Like you are to me.”

I felt the need to protect her, wrap my arms around her and hold her tight against my chest where she’d be safe.

My heart had shattered into a thousand pieces. And with it, every fiber of my being disintegrated, like a vampire exposed to the light. Full of bitterness, I prepared to say goodbye.

“It’s ours,” Evan replied softly. “This is our song,”

“I know you. I know you like no other. Because I know your soul.”

“You asked me which star was mine. It’s you.”

“Because I’m already dead.”

You’re my demon and my angel on earth,”

“An obsession, huh?” he said, a grin appearing on his face. “You thought you were obsessed with me.” He raised an eyebrow, looking pleased.

My mind connects to yours without my permission.

“That I’m risking everything for you, but I’d do it again a thousand times.”

“Look at her,” I whispered, being careful not to wake the little angel I’d fallen desperately in love with. “Isn’t she beautiful?” I stroked her warm, rosy cheek. “I could spend eternity watching her sleep. I can’t take my eyes off her. It’s a like a spell. It paralyzes me.”

Gemma. My angel . . . Gem.

What are you willing to sacrifice when the only person who can save you is the same one who has to kill you?

“Revenge is a dish

Because I love her more than anything.

“You’re my world, Gemma. The only way I can lose everything is if I lose you. I’d rather be damned forever than live an eternity without you,

“Watching you sleep drives me out of my mind,” he whispered. “What do I care about heaven when I can have an even purer angel?”

I was an angel with broken wings whom he’d taught to fly.

“I mean that when I look at you, I see my other half.”

I’ll defy the entire universe if you’ll fight with me.”