A figure pushes me out of the way, and the lightning pounds into that person instead of me. My savior falls backward, knocking us both to the ground and pinning me beneath their weight.
The lightning abruptly stops.
A silence deeper than anything I've experienced before descends on Sanctuary. Smoke emerges from inside several tents, and flames ignite on others. But I don't see any people. Except for the man lying on top of me. I push him off and roll him over so I can see his face.
Gabriel's eyes are open, but he's not breathing.
The lightning has killed him.
Chapter Five
Gabriel
A ringing noise deafens me. My entire body feels like I've jumped into a swimming pool while holding a raw electric wire in my teeth. Though my eyes are open, and I can see what's going on around me, I can't move or breathe or speak. Did I leap in front of a lightning bolt? That's insane. I would never do anything like that. But I do sort of recall seeing a bolt heading straight for Sarah, almost in slow motion, and I remember thinking that she would die if that thing hit her.
So, I jumped in front of her.
The bolt must have struck a few feet away. Right? That scorched smell must be the grass that got incinerated.
"He's not breathing!" Sarah shrieks, while she kneels beside me. Her eyes are wide, and her lips are trembling. "Help! Someone, please!"
Footfalls pound. Voices say things I can't quite make out.
"What happened?" That's the voice of Dax, the British Hulk. "Lightning hit him?"
"Yes," Sarah says. "He jumped in front of me and took the bolt for me. We have to save Gabriel."
Another figure approaches, though I see the person as only a shadow. "I had some basic medical training in the army. Let me take a look."
Is that Grant? I had no idea he was ex-military, but that doesn't matter right now. I feel oddly disconnected from everything around me. The only thing that comes through clearly is Sarah's voice.
"Please try," she says. "He might've been an ass at first, but he saved me."
If I could chuckle, I would. She described me perfectly. I am an ass.
Someone starts pushing on my chest, probably doing CPR, and I feel my heart trying to pump. Little by little, my body comes back to life, first with my heartbeat, then with my breathing. I blink slowly and groan.
"Take it easy," Grant says. "We nearly lost you, so you'll need a few minutes to recover."
I try to speak, but it comes out as incoherent mumbling. So this is what almost dying feels like. I have to admit, I expected something more dramatic, like a white tunnel with an angel reaching out to me. Not that I believe in that kind of thing. But if heaven does exist, I won't be going there.
Pain ricochets through my body, but it isn't as intense as I'd expected, considering I got fried by lightning. I push up onto my elbows, groaning again, then try to sit up. Grant helps me.
I scrub my hands over my face, then shove them into my hair. "I don't recommend tangling with Echo lightning."
"Yeah, it's a lot more powerful than the regular kind," Grant says. "Can't believe you survived that. Most people would be crispy critters after a strike half as strong as the one you took."
"Guess I got lucky."
Sarah is kneeling beside me, her eyes wide, staring at me like I've started to glow. Have I? No, I'm pretty sure that hasn't happened. But she keeps gaping at me. It makes my skin crawl.
"What's wrong with you?" I snap.
"You died, then you came back." She reaches out to grasp my hand. "And you saved my life."
"No, I just—It wasn't like that."
"Don't be embarrassed. You jumped in front of a bolt of Echo lightning to protect me."