Chapter Five #3
energy. If she could shift just a little to the left, she could replenish her
powers... “We took care of the injuries we could see, but did your captor hurt
you...in other ways?”
Rape. She was talking about rape. Forgetting the need to
steal a little of Gem’s magic-giving energy, Aurora shuddered.
“No. He cut off my clothes, but...no.”
The memory of it, the fear as he stripped her, brought a
wave of fresh anxiety. He’d led her to believe he was going to sexually assault
her, but his taunts turned out to be just another way to terrorize her. In the
end, he was too disgusted by what she was to be turned on.
“Good,” Gem said crisply. “And I hope he’s too dead to hurt
anyone else.”
Ditto. Big ditto. “Who...who brought me here?”
“Hawkyn.” The doctor released her and reached for a box of
bandages. “He’s the one who rescued you.”
“Why? How did he find me? How did he survive what I did to
him?”
Gem eyed her. “What did you do to him?” She shook her head,
making her perky pigtails swing around her jawline. “You know what? Never mind.
All I know is that he brought you in and demanded the best medical team
available.” She let out a sigh as she loosely covered the wound with a fresh
gauze pad. “Typical angel.”
It took a second for Aurora to process Gem’s words, but even
then, they didn’t make sense. “Did...did you say he’s an angel?”
“Oh, shit.” Swearing again, Gem settled the sheet and blanket over Aurora’s legs. “I thought you knew. He’s sort
of an angel... I’ll let him fill you in on the details since I wasn’t supposed
to say anything in the first place.” She glanced at her watch. “I’ve got an
appointment, but I’ll have a nurse come clean your wound and apply another coat
of salve. You should be able to go home tonight, and you’ll be fully healed by
morning.” She brought the tray of food over and settled it on the bed’s table
attachment. “Want me to send Hawkyn back in?”
Aurora’s breath caught. She associated him with the worst
few days of her life, but at the same time, it appeared that she owed him that
same life. Plus, she’d hurt him that night when he was, according to Drayger,
trying to help her.
“Please,” she told Gem. “I have a lot of questions for him.”
“I’m sure you do.” Gem reached for the door handle. “I don’t
know him well, but his sister works here and is part of my family, so for what
it’s worth, I think you can trust him.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
Nodding, Gem left. Before the door whispered closed, Hawkyn
caught it, stepped inside, and the air rushed out of Aurora’s lungs. But this
time, her physical response wasn’t the result of trauma or fear. This time it
was pure female appreciation. And maybe a bit of awe that the tall,
devastatingly handsome male was an angel. An actual angel.
Gods, she had so many questions.
“Hi,” he said, flashing a smile that would have dropped her
panties in any other situation. Not even the fangs that peeked between his full
lips would have given her pause. Except, maybe, to ask why an angel would have
fangs. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m not in pain, if that’s what you mean.” She opened the
little bottle of orange juice and took a sip. “The doctor said you’re an angel.
Was she joking?” Because angels didn’t wear ass-hugging jeans and untucked blue
plaid button-downs, right? They wore robes and sandals or something.
“She wasn’t joking.”
Oh, wow. She exhaled slowly, needing a little time to gather
her thoughts. Why would an angel have been in the parking lot that night, and
why would he rescue her? Unless... “Are you my guardian angel?”
He moved closer, his boots silent on the gleaming black
floor. “Long story, but no.” He looked down, his long bangs falling across his
face and obscuring his eyes. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you from him.” He
didn’t have to say who “him” was. “I failed.”
“Are you kidding me? I blasted you with silver fire. I
thought you were with that bastard who abducted me.” The sound of his body
hitting the lamp post reverberated in her ears as if it had happened only
seconds ago. “Later, when he said you were a Good Samaritan, I was afraid I’d
killed you.”
His hand came up to rub his sternum. “You put a serious
hurting on me, but we angels are pretty tough.”
Apparently so. A Wytch’s silver fire weapon was so deadly
they were forbidden to use it except to save their own life. She’d never heard
of anyone surviving a full-body strike. But then, she’d never heard of it being
used against an angel.
“How did you find me?” She frowned. “Why did you
find me?”
He shoved his hand through his sandy hair, and bizarrely,
she wondered what it felt like. Was it as silky as it looked? Did angels have
perfect, super-soft hair? What about their wings? Would it be rude to ask?
“Another long story,” he sighed. “I just wish I’d found you
sooner.”
Yeah, she wished that, too, but she wasn’t going to complain
that he hadn’t saved her life sooner. That he’d saved it at
all was a miracle.
“Please tell me he’s dead.” She’d never wished death on
anyone, but Drayger needed to die slowly and in excruciating pain.
“I would love to tell you that,” Hawkyn said, his voice
dripping with raw anger. “But I won’t let him hurt you again.”
Footsteps passed by the door, reminding her how weird this
whole thing was. “Excuse me, but...you’re an angel. You brought me to a
hospital full of demons? Aren’t angels and demons
mortal enemies?” Hell, she should be his enemy as well.
“Well...”
She held up a hand to stop him. “Are you going to tell me
it’s another long story?”
The red tinge in his cheeks said yes. “Let’s just say it’s
complicated.”
“I’m sure it is.” She peeled the top slice of bread from the
sandwich on her tray. Looked like ham and cheese. She
liked ham. But then, this was a demon hospital... Maybe it wasn’t ham.
Ew. Appetite ruined, she pushed the tray away. “What is the angelic stance on
Wytches?”
“We have no problem with witches.”
“Just to be clear, it’s Wytch. With a Y.”
His eyes shot wide. “Seriously? I’ve never met one. I always
thought you were mythical.” He shrugged, a slow roll of one big shoulder. She’d
bet those broad shoulders carried a lot of weight, and her fingers itched to
knead the tension out of them. “Of course, I always thought elves were mythical
too, but last year one of the fallen angels who works for my father mated one.”
Elves? And who the hell was his father? She was about to ask
who Hawkyn’s father was and why a fallen angel would be working for him when
the door opened and a pretty, dark-skinned nurse entered. This one looked
human, but somehow Aurora doubted that she was.
“Hi, Aurora,” she said. “I’m Shanea, and I’m going to take
care of you.”
Hawkyn stood, rising to his full height, which was somewhere
around six and a half feet, she guessed. “I’ll give you some privacy.”
Instinct made Aurora want to ask him to stay. She didn’t
know anything about him, but he’d been there for her in the grocery store
parking lot, he’d rescued her, and he’d sat at her bedside while she recovered.
Right now, he was the one thing in her life that made her feel safe.
She couldn’t even call her brother because he was in some
Middle East hellhole, and her parents were just two weeks into a year-long
cruise around the world. No way was she going to interrupt anyone.
“Are you coming back?” Aurora asked, hoping the eagerness in
her voice wasn’t as obvious to Hawkyn as it was to her. “Will I see you again?”
His smile made her pulse flutter, and it even made Shanea
sigh a little. “Absolutely.”
He took off like a shot, disappearing before the door swung
closed, leaving her with far more questions than answers.
But he also left her with something to look forward to, and
that hadn’t happened in a long, long time.