NO ORDINARY PRIEST

Patrick rolled back into his blanket and closed his eyes, feigning sleep yet alert to any movement Claudia might make. The terror and shame in her eyes when she woke from the nightmare struck an answering chord in his heart. Brought a flash of what he thought was memory, but the shapes were shrouded in darkness and he couldn't be sure. 

Years ago, his angel said he should become a priest, and so he had. 

Yet some unknown, unhealed wound lurked in the deepest part of his soul. A darkness at odds with the teachings of the priesthood; that refused to be banished except by pushing his body to its physical limits. So he developed the double life of a beatific priest while also seeking refuge in manual labor and martial arts. While his spirit searched for enlightenment, his body became carved in muscular strength. 

However, lately he found it more and more difficult to escape the shadows in his soul. So he spent more time here at his sanctuary, stripped of even the button-down shirt and slacks that carried some semblance of his priestly career. If he focused completely on the strength of his physical body, perhaps the restlessness of his spirit would once again be silenced.

His plan seemed to be working--until Claudia's panicked flight resonated so deeply with his own desire to flee that he became her accomplice.

His sister-the-social-worker would understand, but Marly would not be happy Patrick helped Claudia disappear. Her abrupt messages on his cell phone to "call me" attested to that. Marly believed Claudia was the mother of a stolen baby in a highly publicized child welfare case, and had spent a number of weeks trying to convince Claudia to admit that fact. Local law enforcement had also been leaning on Claudia to name the attacker who slashed her chest and tried to rape her. 

Little wonder that she thought escape was her only option. Patrick doubted anyone had ever stood up for Claudia in a lifetime of being buffeted from man to man. Why believe someone would protect her now?

(Excerpt from Legacy of Angels, copyright Genie Gabriel)

THE ANGEL AND THE NERDY SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD

"Did your angel come back?" Claudia asked.

"Oh, yeah. I was sixteen and just discovering girls who were actually attracted to me, though I was still pretty scrawny and nerdy. When the angel said I was to become a priest, I was not pleased."

(from Legacy of Angels, copyright Genie Gabriel)

ANGELS ARE ONLY WILD IMAGINATION!

Patrick knew very well the feeling of not being believed. As a child, he tried to tell others about seeing an angel, and adults brushed the tale off as wild imagination. So he learned to keep his angel to himself.

(from Legacy of Angels, copyright Genie Gabriel)

MY FATHER KILLED ME WHEN I WAS FOUR...

"My father killed me when I was four." [Patrickj] stared out the narrow opening where the boxcar door didn't quite close. "That's when I first saw my angel. With wings, white robe, a luminescent glow all around him. All the angelic trappings you see in pictures of these heavenly beings."

(from Legacy of Angels, copyright Genie Gabriel)

LEGACY OF ANGELS: SAFE!

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***EXCERPT FROM LEGACY OF ANGELS***

(Copyright Genie Gabriel)

Using a long pole, Patrick pushed them across the lake and under a rocky outcropping. He secured the raft to a sawed-off tree stump that served as a pier post for a make-shift dock and stepped off. "Be careful. It can be slippery." 

Intrigued, Claudia once again took Patrick's hand and climbed off the raft. They walked toward a sheer rock cliff topped by ruins of what could have been an ancient stone cathedral. However, as they reached the cliff, Patrick slipped through a notch in one of the rocks. Once inside, he retrieved a flashlight from a pocket in the rock wall and turned it on, revealing a narrow corridor. Claudia followed him down a winding pathway for what seemed like miles. Patrick walked without hesitation, turning down side tunnels until she felt totally disoriented. 

At last he stopped in front of a solid rock wall. Well, it appeared solid. Until he slid aside what must have been a doorway, revealing into a cavernous room.

"Where are we?" Claudia asked. 

Patrick turned with a half-smile. "Safe. That's what you wanted, right?" 

LEGACY OF ANGELS: "I'M NOT SAFE ANYWHERE!"

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***EXCERPT FROM LEGACY OF ANGELS (Copyright Genie Gabriel)***

"I'm not safe anywhere." Terror beat in Claudia deGras' heart, pulsed through her veins, shut down any rational thought. Get out of here!

She bolted toward the door, not daring to look back as the sound of heavy footsteps followed her.

The old brown sedan sitting in the driveway always had the keys in the ignition. Most of the time, it started without much protest.

Claudia flung open the door and cranked the key. The engine caught and roared as she shoved the accelerator to the floor. Two doors banged shut as the old Buick slid sideways on the gravel, then found traction on the pavement.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Patrick O'Shea on the wide bench seat beside her, his hand braced against the dashboard for balance, but his face reflected his normal serenity.

Could she trust him? Did she have a choice? And where was she going?

She eased her foot off the accelerator and settled the old sedan into a speed that wouldn't get them stopped by the police, though patrols were rare on this sparsely traveled road in Eastern Oregon. 

While she drove the highway in silence, the childhood memories of curses and shouting and fists landing heavy blows on her body receded, and her panicked mind calmed down. 

No one had harmed her today. In fact, over the last few weeks the O'Shea siblings, including Patrick, had rearranged their lives to protect her from the man-beast who stalked her. 

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and does not want to let go."

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Claudia deGras was forced into prostitution by her mother at age twelve. In spite of the trauma and abuse, she dreams of a respectful life filled with joy, laughter and the love of one man. Ironically, that man is Patrick O'Shea, a priest facing demons of his own. Since seminary, he has suffered memory loss and darkness at the edges of his vision that extend into his soul. They are drawn together in a deeply emotional journey of healing that becomes a life-and-death challenge to outwit the twisted man-beast who has vowed revenge against all he thinks have wronged him.