Fallen Angel

Fallen
Angel

Prequel to
Nathaniel Teen Angel

(Ominous
series)

A novel
by

Patricia
Puddle

Copyright © 2014
Patricia
Puddle

First Edition

Smashwords
Edition

Cover Design by
:
Paradox Book Cover Creations

Patricia Puddle on
Facebook
:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Patricia-Puddle/181142218596903

All rights reserved,
including the rights to reproduce this book or portions thereof in
any form whatsoever without the prior written consent of the
copyright holder.

This is a
work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are
products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any
resemblance to actual events or locales or person, living or dead,
is entirely coincidental.

This
book is aimed at older teens (New Adults) and adults. All
main characters depicted in this work of fiction
are 18 years of age or older.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to
my sweetheart, the teenage boy I married, my best friend and
husband, whose endless support and encouragement has helped me to
learn what I never learned at school. Thank you for doing all the
cooking so I could write this book, honey.

Chapter
One

Nathaniel dived from his
cloud and shot down through the sky, descending lower and lower
over the Pacific Ocean until he was only a mile above the sea. As
he glided across the sun-drenched beaches, he wondered why he’d
been summoned to the birth of one of Devlin’s wards. Though he
prayed there wasn’t a problem with the delivery, he was looking
forward to seeing his best friend again.

When he reached Creed
Valley Hospital, he swooped down and coasted around the maternity
wing, peering through the third-floor windows in search of Madeline
O’Connor’s room. Spotting her guardian in one of the private rooms,
he flew through the open balcony door and furled his wings behind
his back. “Ramiel, you wanted to see me?”

Looking over his
shoulder, Ramiel smiled. “Oh, Nathaniel, yes, I did. Thank you for
coming so promptly.”

Nathaniel glanced at the
young woman in the bed, then peered out the door into the corridor.
“So where’s Devlin?”

Ramiel heaved a weary
sigh. “I’ve no idea, but I thought you might. Madeline’s been in
labour for twenty-four hours now, yet Devlin’s still not
here.”

Nathaniel shrugged.
“Sorry, mate, I don’t know where he is, but when I saw him a week
ago, he mentioned that Madeline was due to have her baby sometime
this week, so I’m sure he’ll turn up.”

“
I doubt it,”
said Ramiel, flicking his long blond hair from his face. “When
Madeline went into early labour, I sent Devlin a message. He didn’t
turn up or contact me, so I asked Archangel Michael for help. He
sent his messengers out to search for him, but when they couldn’t
find him, he told me to send for you.”

“
I see.”
Nathaniel rubbed his chin and frowned. “This isn’t like Devlin.
I’ve never known him to be late for a birth before. When I last saw
him, he seemed really excited about guarding this child. I hope
nothing’s happened to him.”

“
Well,
there’s no time to worry about him just now. This baby needs a
guardian and Michael wants you to take Devlin’s place.”

Nathaniel’s jaw dropped.
“You mean temporarily, right?”

Ramiel shook his head.
“No. You’ll be the child’s guardian for the rest of her
life.”

Holding his hands out,
Nathaniel frowned. “But Devlin’s my best friend. I can’t just
betray him like that. He’d never forgive me. Did you know he
actually
begged
Michael for this child?”

“
Well, he
obviously isn’t that keen or he’d be here,” said Ramiel. “Anyway,
this isn’t about Devlin. We can’t just let the infant come into the
world without a guardian.”

“
I realise
that, but why can’t you take his place? You’re already guarding the
baby’s mother, so it shouldn’t be too much of a burden.”

“
Sorry, Nate,
I can’t. I’ve just been assigned two more wards.”

“
Really?”
Nathaniel raised his brows. “That doesn’t make sense. I’m still
waiting for a ward, so why weren’t they assigned to me?”

Ramiel stared at him. “I
don’t know, but two more angels have fallen, so there’s a shortage
of guardians. Anyway, Michael’s chosen you to take over as this
child’s guardian, and I don’t think he’ll change his
mind.”

Raking his hands through
his curls, Nathaniel stared down at Madeline. Her face was
contorted with obvious pain and from the guttural groans she was
making it looked like she was already in the second stage of
labour. Pacing the room, he glanced out the balcony door, but there
was no sign of Devlin. Betraying his best friend was unthinkable,
but it seemed Michael was giving him no choice.

“
There’s no
point looking out there,” said Ramiel. “Devlin’s obviously not
coming.”

Nathaniel walked back to
the bed. “Listen, I have an idea. If I take over your new charges,
you could take Devlin’s place and have both your wards under the
same roof. I’m sure Michael would agree to that. What do you
think?”

“
It sounds
good, but Michael specifically wants
you
to be this baby’s
guardian, and there’s no time to contact him.”

Nathaniel sighed. “Okay,
but I don’t see why I can’t just take over temporarily until Devlin
arrives.”

Ramiel glanced at the
clock. “Look, you’ll have to work that out with Michel. Right now,
I have more urgent matters. Madeline’s in trouble, so I’m going to
prompt her to call for help. Look at her. The poor woman’s been in
labour since yesterday and there’s still no sign of the infant’s
head. I’m beginning to think the baby’s having
difficulty.”

Nathaniel scowled. “I
agree, but why on Earth isn’t there a midwife with her, especially
at this stage of her labour?”

Ramiel jerked his head
towards the door. “The nurse just popped out. I think she went to
get the doctor.”

“
That’s
good,” said Nathaniel. “But I think it’s time to intervene. The
baby must be extremely distressed by now.”

“
You’re
right,” said Ramiel. “I’ll send Madeline a psychic message.”
Closing his eyes, he pressed his fingers to his temples, a second
later, Madeline let out an ear-piercing scream and slammed her hand
on the buzzer.

“
Where’s my
doctor?” she yelled.

A nurse rushed into the
room and shook her head. “Mrs O’Connor, I’ve only just examined
you, and like I said, your baby’s not ready yet.” After grabbing a
damp cloth, she began wiping Madeline’s brow. “Just keep pushing
and breathing.”

Madeline elbowed her
away. “Get off me! Just go and find my doctor. I’ve been in labour
since yesterday morning, and I’m telling you, something’s
wrong.”

With a forced smile, the
nurse began fluffing Madeline’s pillows. “Look, dear, this is your
first baby, so don’t worry. Some births just take longer than
others. You’ll be fine.”

Anger blazed in
Madeline’s eyes as she grabbed the nurse’s wrist. “I won’t be fine
and neither will my baby if you don’t get me some help. Something
is drastically wrong. I can feel it and I demand to see my
doctor!”

The nurse held her hands
up. “All right, calm down. I’ll see if I can find him.”

“
Just hurry,”
yelled Madeline. Grimacing, she gripped her stomach with another
contraction.

Blowing out a sigh, the
nurse strode towards the door. “I’ll be back in a minute. Just
press the buzzer if anything changes.”

Madeline grabbed the
soggy wash cloth and flung it at her, hitting her on the back of
the head.

Glancing over her
shoulder, the nurse frowned, then grumbling under her breath, she
scurried down the corridor.

Nathaniel looked at
Ramiel and smirked. “Did you make Madeline do that?”

He grinned. “I might have
instigated it, but Madeline’s a feisty woman at the best of times.
Hopefully, now she’ll get some help.”

A strong gust of wind
blew the floral curtains across a bedside cupboard, knocking a box
of tissues onto the floor. Nathaniel turned around to see if it was
Devlin, but there was no one there.

Ramiel’s eyes darted
about as if he was anxious about something.

“
Did you
cause that breeze?” said Nathaniel.

Shaking his head, Ramiel
stared out the window. “No, but it seems odd because the air
outside is so still.”

Nathaniel sighed. “I
thought it was Devlin arriving.”

“
There’s no
chance of that,” said Ramiel.

Cocking his head to one
side, Nathaniel squinted at him. “You seem determined that he won’t
make it. Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Ramiel avoided his gaze.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“
Come on. I
can tell you’re keeping something from me. What’s going on with
Devlin?”