Out in Blue Read Online Free

assume they went through my car and found my wallet.”
    “ Why did you take their van?”
    “The poachers shot Wren in the wing, drugged him, and loaded him into the cargo area of the van. I had no other choice. He needs a few days to recover, and I’m going to stay with him.”
    “Where,” Devin demanded.
    “We’re safe. I promise.”
    “You’re not safe. Sources have reported the poachers who attacked Wren this morning work directly for Lark.”
    “Who?” Ginger lifted her gaze to Wren. Fury burned in his eyes.
    “Lark is the former Guardian who killed Wren’s parents. You have to stay hidden. Don’t go out for anything. Don’t talk to anyone. I’m on my way. The trip will take a couple days. I insist you tell me where you are, so I can send Guardians to collect you. You both need to be brought to Sanctuary.”
    She arched an eyebrow at Wren. He glowered at a random point across the room for a moment. With a frown, he met her gaze and nodded.
    Ginger relaxed and gave the address. “We’re in Claire’s apartment, above the garage. She and her husband are on vacation.”
    Relief filled Devin’s voice. “The Guardians will be there in an hour or two. Love you, honey.”
    “Love you, too.” After she hung up, she approached Wren. “Thank you, but why did you change your mind?”
    “My issues with the Guardians are my own. I won’t see you put in danger again over me.” He stepped into the bathroom and shut the door.
    §
    Wren let the shower rain down on his wings, the warm water an exquisite luxury after bathing in rivers and ponds for months. Specks of light danced across his field of vision. He leaned forward, hands on the wall, and let the water cascade down his body.
    Heaven.
    He focused on washing the blood from his wing. The shower, while probably roomy for a human, restricted his wings as he worked around the throbbing injury. He shoved the shower curtain out of the way and cursed as water spilled onto the floor. A few minutes later, soft knocking drew his attention.
    “Yeah?” He extended his uninjured wing to cover himself.
    “I found a towel and pants in the house,” Ginger said through the half-open door. She reached in and set a bundle of folded clothes on the hamper. “You and Claire’s husband are about the same size. And I have more bandages to replace the wet ones later.”
    “Thank you.”
    She peaked around the door and down at the tiles, now thoroughly drenched with bloody water, but no annoyance colored her face or voice. “I’ll get more towels.”
    The door shut, but her image remained in Wren’s mind. He recalled the honest concern in her gaze when she had warned him about the poachers’ trap…the light weight of her hands on his wing…the contrast of the black lace bra against her ivory skin as she’d tended his injury. He wanted…
    Wren shook his head and shut down that train of thought. Hard. He didn’t have the luxury of being smitten with a human. Even a Guardian’s daughter.
    Hell, especially a Guardian’s daughter.
    Wren stepped out of the shower and flicked his uninjured wing to expel moisture from his feathers, soaking the glass tile walls. He toweled his skin, and more tentatively, his injured wing, dry.
    The painkillers, which had only dulled the agony in the first place, were wearing off. Wren pulled on a pair of black drawstring pants and covered the floor with the pile of towels left on the hamper. He stepped out of the steamy room and shivered in the cool, dry air of the apartment.
    Ginger sat on the edge of the bed with a fresh pile of bandages. Wren sank down on the sheets on his stomach—unable to stay vertical a second longer—and extended his wings to either side. He studied her every move as she unwound the old bandage and rewrapped the wound.
    “It’s like you’ve done this before.”
    She shook her head. “I’ve never even seen an archangel before today.”
    “Even as a Guardian’s daughter?”
    “Devin keeps me at arm’s