A Caress of Wings Read Online Free PDF Page B

trauma.”
    “Wipe away,” he repeated.
    “Yes. Not repressed. Gone completely.”
    “Well.” Chewing, he thought about it. “I’m sure that comes in handy.”
    And he wasn’t opposed. How could he be, if it took away the fear that even now vibrated through the very center of him? A fear that struck him the moment Siobhán left the room, both now and earlier when he’d dressed. And the shame. Not just at what had been done to him, but for the times when he’d been left alone in the pit for so long that he’d yearned for the vampires to come back. The times when he’d longed for their agonizing bites and the horror of their greedy demands on his ravaged body just so he wouldn’t be alone anymore. But what would that oblivion cost him? Surely there was a price.
    He’d ask Siobhán about that as soon as they were alone again. He glanced at the clock. In twenty interminable minutes.
    *  *  *
    “Siobhán.”
    She straightened abruptly from where she’d been leaning against the closed lab door, trying to regain her bearings. “Yes, Malachai?”
    He approached her with a frown, looking formidable in his black jeans and T-shirt. “You’re treading dangerous ground, aren’t you?”
    “Thin ice, perhaps,” she admitted. She would have left it at that, but the look on his face told her it wouldn’t be enough to satisfy him. “Don’t worry, Mal. He won’t be here long enough for me to fall through.”
    “I don’t understand what you’re waiting for. He’s fit now, and his mind is whole.” His brows rose. “Isn’t it . . . ?”
    “Yes, yes. His mind is fine. He’s traumatized, but that’s to be expected. He just needs to regain some weight before I cut him loose.”
    “I’m not sure it’s worth the risk to you to wait.”
    “It’s worth it to me. Once I wipe his memories of the last year, his recollection of his appearance won’t match what he sees in the mirror. I could embellish, but that opens him up to errors in continuity, which would only cause more stress.” She affected a shrug. “I gave him a pint of my blood. He’ll fill back out in just a few days and I’ll make arrangements for him to work for Raguel.”
    The archangel who oversaw North America would certainly have a use for a man with Trevor’s medical training and warrior’s heart. In fact, she could use him herself. There weren’t many Sentinels with her depth of interest in human anatomy.
    Malachai reached out to her. She sidestepped nimbly, knowing he wanted to get a read on her state of mind. While she had nothing to hide, the confusion she felt toward Trevor seemed too personal to share.
    “I’m okay,” she said more firmly.
    “Is he the reason you feel so tormented? Or were you developing feelings prior to this?”
    She looked up into her dear friend’s handsome face, seeing the puzzlement and fear in his seraph blue eyes. Fear for her.
    It was one of the reasons she hadn’t been more specific in her talk with Trevor—she hadn’t told him it was the mating between angels and mortals that led to the Watchers’ fall. She didn’t want Trevor to fear the connection between them when she was presently the only person he trusted.
    She’d read him when she squeezed his shoulder and knew he grew restless at the thought of being separated from her for too long. He was tolerating Aurelia just to avoid being alone. It was only his strength of will that bought Siobhán thirty minutes to pull herself together. She, a being who had never been anything less than totally composed.
    “Walk with me,” she said.
    They moved down the hallway.
    “Have you ever wondered if mortals are right about soul mates?” she asked. “If there is, perhaps, another soul out there destined to touch yours in ways no other can?”
    “Is that what you think he is to you?” He shot her an alarmed look.
    “No.” She was startled at the unease she felt, as if her negation was a lie. “I just wonder if his story—what he went through