Skin Deep Read Online Free PDF

the bed, her lack of memory gnawing at her. Her entire life was based on remembering—her name, her history, her work. One misstep could not only expose the Guild’s or InterSec’s unauthorized involvement in cases, it could get her killed. She didn’t mind if the Guild or InterSec was embarrassed. Like all institutional organisms, they survived beyond the moment. She wouldn’t.
    Cress returned. Not bothering to hide a sour expression, she held Laura’s SWAT-team uniform well away from herself. “I hate the smell of gunshot residue.”
    “Me, too,” she said, lying a little. She liked the smell in a way she couldn’t describe. It wasn’t enjoyment, per se, but she did experience an element of pleasure in the thin rime of residue permeating her hair and clothing after a session at the range. It was an emotion that had to do with a sense of accomplishment. Washing it off had its own pleasure, too, like shedding a layer of skin associated with work.
    Cress pulled the curtain around the bed as Laura removed her hospital gown. “Can you be less modest?”
    Laura chuckled as she wrestled into her underwear and pulled the pants on. As a healer, Cress dealt with naked bodies on a regular basis in the context of her work. But because of the fear they engendered, leanansidhe were vigilant about issues of exposure. I would be, too, Laura thought, if being discovered as a leanansidhe meant being chased by an angry mob. As a druid, Laura spent too much time naked with her colleagues, both male and female, to think much about modesty. Something about baring her skin to the light of the moon, in a forest glade with her fellows, seemed natural and right. She didn’t think about nudity as exposure, but as a means to an end—in so many ways.
    Cress kept her face turned away. “I had to check your vest in after I inventoried it. You can pick it up downstairs,” she said.
    Laura slipped on her shirt. “Don’t need it. Just have an errand to run.”
    With a glance to confirm that Laura was clothed, Cress faced her again. “An errand in your soiled uniform?”
    Laura ignored the comment. “Do you have my stone?”
    Cress held out the thick gold necklace. The green stone—an emerald Laura had had for years—glittered in the fluorescent light. Laura kissed the gemstone to honor its power and slipped the chain over her head. Residual essence draped a glamour over her. She charged the stone with an extra burst of body essence. A brief static tickled her entire body as the full Janice Crawford glamour settled over her.
    Laura hadn’t wanted the SWAT-team persona to be too attractive, so she had lengthened the nose just short of distraction and fleshed out the appearance of her body frame by an extra twenty pounds. She looked trim but solid. Janice’s face was similar to her own, although she had dark red hair and light brown eyes instead of Laura’s blond hair and wider-set green eyes. She pulled her hair up in a clip. “How’s it look?”
    Cress nodded. “Perfect, as usual. Are you going to tell me what you’re doing?”
    “No.” Laura trusted Cress but made it a habit of treating everyone on a need-to-know basis. Cress handed her a small baggie. Laura emptied the contents into her pockets—cash, the Crawford badge and ID, car keys, and a cell phone.
    She hugged Cress briefly. She did trust her. And cared for her. Cress understood trust like no one else. She had chosen Terryn, and he had returned her affection. When a leanansidhe committed to a relationship, she committed more than her heart. She’d walk in front of a bus if he told her it was safe. If a lover left, the leanansidhe could spend years in a madness of disbelief.
    “No stunts, please. I want the rest of the night off,” Cress said, as they left the room.
    Laura followed her out of the med clinic as she tucked in her T-shirt. “Will do.”
    In the elevator lobby outside the InterSec offices, they went their separate ways. Down in the Guildhouse garage,