Out in Blue by Sarah Gilman Read Free Book Online

backed into a corner.
    He plunged, ignoring the towering flames, his archangel immunity to demon fire an invisible shield as he soared straight into the inferno.
    Accompanied by gunfire, numerous voices shouted from beyond the flames. No bullets made it past the demons’ barrier. Three Guardians, the source of the blaze, stood in a wide circle.
    Wren spotted two more demons and Ginger on the lawn. The impact jolted his bones as he landed in haste and rushed over.
    Vin and a second demon crouched at Ginger’s side. She lay so still. Wren sucked in a sharp breath. The intensity of his power crawling over his skin told him Ginger lived, but death hovered moments away.
    Vin looked up, profound relief in his gaze. The crimson glow of the fire lit the scene and accented the demon’s taut features. The second Guardian, bleeding from his thigh, dragged himself across the ground to make room for Wren.
    “Thank God,” Vin said. “She’s…”
    Wren dropped to his knees, extending his wings to accommodate the position, and gathered Ginger in his arms, relieved to see the bullet had exited her body. One less thing to worry about. She looked at him, though her eyes seemed unfocused. In advanced shock and barely conscious, she didn’t seem to be in pain. But her pulse fluttered like an injured moth.
    She murmured his name.
    Wren wasted no time finding the wound amongst all the blood, and covered it with his palm. The energy of his healing gift responded, heating his skin. He felt her tissues knit until the wound sealed over. Her pulse strengthened and her eyes closed as she fell into a healing-induced sleep.
    “Gin, you’re going to be just fine.” He brushed the hair from her face with a slight shake to his fingers that surprised him. Her brush with death affected him more than it should have.
    Wren shut his eyes. He couldn’t allow himself to feel so much for this woman. The consequences of such an involvement with another were too horrific to risk.
    In his mind, he saw his mother’s body after her death, unrecognizable after hours of torture, save for the engraved ring his father had given her. Lark’s message, left with her body on bloodied paper, threatened not only Wren, but anyone close to him. Lark promised that if Wren built a family, they would suffer even more than his mother had when Lark caught up with them.
    If Wren felt anything for Ginger, he had to act on it by putting as much space between them as possible. Best she go back to Alaska before this desire grew any stronger.
    “I’ll take Ginger to Sanctuary. She’ll be safe there for now, but call Devin and tell him to hurry. She needs to be taken to Haven as soon as possible. She needs to get away from me.”
    Vin nodded, understanding in his tight expression. All the Guardians knew of Lark’s threat.
    “She’s all right?” The second demon propped himself up on his elbow. He had a shirt tied around his bleeding thigh.
    “Yes. Hold still.” Wren leaned over and touched the Guardian’s wounded leg. The demon fell back onto the grass, unconscious but healed.
    “Go now,” Vin urged.
    Wren held Ginger to his chest and stood. She shivered in her sleep and he wrapped his wings forward to trap warmth around her. He crossed the lawn, climbed the stairs to the deck, and leapt off. Beating his wings hard, he struggled to ascend with the extra weight.
    To his right, the sunrise colored the horizon pink. Using his talent drained him physically, and carrying Ginger made flight more work. He flew north toward the colony, but scanned the landscape for a safe place to land and rest.

Chapter Six

    Raphael woke to the sound of activity beyond the door of his prison. The locks released and the lights flicked on. He squinted, stood, and stretched his wings, the room just large enough to allow him to extend them fully.
    The door opened. Lark stepped in to the room, flanked by two human guards.
    Raphael folded his wings and his arms. He clenched his