Angel Of Solace Read Online Free PDF Page B

that seemed to drink all the light in the room. Her hair was pure white and shoulder length, but she couldn’t have been much past twenty. Calling her exotic would have woefully understated the matter; she possessed a delicate, ephemeral beauty that seemed like…well, like something divine. She wore a snug, long-sleeved white shirt and a matching loose-fitting skirt.
    He, on the other hand, was wearing nothing.
    “Careful,” she warned, sensing his sudden flash of panic.
    He jerked away, and a fresh lance of pain stabbed into his gut. He yelped and tumbled over on his side, instinctively clutching at himself. When he lifted his hand, it was splotched with blood.
    She sighed softly and leaned over him. “You tore open your stitches.”
    “Stitches? What…”
    “You cut yourself in the struggle,” she explained, the regret thick in her voice. “You also took a lot of jabs with the shock stick. I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them faster.”
    “Who are you?” he snapped, grabbing her wrist before she could touch him again. She didn’t struggle in his grip; her arm went limp. “What the hell is going on?”
    “I brought you here where it’s safe.”
     “And where is here?”
    She smiled tiredly. “Solace.”
    Damien tried to blink past the pain and shock and take in his surroundings. They were in a small room by the looks of it, decorated like a hotel or spartan apartment. Daylight trickled in through the only window off to the right.
    “My name is Sariel,” she added softly, “or just Sara if you like. You are Damien Vendare, yes?”
    He glanced up to her and realized he was still clenching her wrist tightly. He released his grip and pulled his arm back to his side; the wound was burning now. At a glance it didn’t seem infected, but it wouldn’t take much for that to change.
    “How do you know that?”
    “It’s nothing sinister,” she assured him. “I work for the Asurans. They sent me to make sure you escaped.”
    The Asurans…sending an Angel? That made absolutely no sense. Angels were the leaders of the Covenant, even above the priests. They didn’t conspire with groups that harbored Demons like himself.
    “So you were there just for me?” he asked skeptically.
    “Yes,” she said, then sighed softly. “I want to explain more of this to you, but for now we need to take care of your wound. Will you let me heal it?”
    He glanced down to the bloody patch. “You didn’t do a great job the first time.”
    “I treated the one on your head that might have killed you and the two burns on your back,” she corrected. “Afterwards I was…weakened.” Her eyes lowered for an instant. “But I believe I’ve recovered enough to handle this.”
    Damien touched his fingers to his forehead. He didn’t feel any bruises or cuts, but he did recall a sharp pain before he lost consciousness…
    “You see, I know what I’m doing,” she said, her smile returning. “But you will have to trust me. Can you do that?”
    He took another minute to survey the room and figure out what was going on before resigning that it was hopeless to protest. He was naked and unarmed, and while she didn’t appear physically imposing, he knew that was a façade. He couldn’t overpower an Angel, not physically or mentally.
     “Fine,” he grunted.
    “I won’t harm you,” she soothed, placing a hand on his chest. Again he felt the spark of her mind brushing against his. “I promise.”
    He nodded, and she adjusted herself on the bed to press against him. Her right hand moved near his wound while her left brushed across his brow. She was close enough he could feel her breath on his cheek, and her eyes fluttered closed.
    And without warning, the spark between their flesh became a current of electricity coursing through his body. Whispers of her thoughts brushed against and then through him, and her emotions swirled together with his own as they had hundreds of times before with his clients back home. But this time he was