Violet (The Silver Series Book 4) Read Online Free

and his brow furrowed. “Dr. Tannin,” he replied
so soft through the shield that I barely heard it.
    My heart clenched and I fought down the urge
to growl or hit something, two things completely the opposite of
what I would have done before the accident. I sighed and stood up,
careful to make sure that the shirt covered at least the important
parts. It stopped halfway down my thighs and did little to shield
the chill that ran up my legs. “Let me see your hands.”
    I took a step closer and he straightened
from the tree. His eyes tightened and I imagined him baring his
teeth beneath the shield. “You need help,” I pointed out. “From
what Roger told me, you should have healed by now.”
    He opened his hands slowly and studied them
along with me. I touched one and he winced and pulled it away fast
enough to make me jump. I laughed at myself for spooking so easily,
then held my palm out again. He set his hand in mine, his breath
shallow and harsh as though it came out between clenched teeth.
    Gouges ran through both palms where he had
grabbed the bars. Fresh blood showed in the crevasses and the angry
red skin looked infected. I stared at him. “I don't understand.
This should have healed.”
    His brow creased slightly. “There was a gel
on the bars, like on my neck. If I touched it, this happened.”
    I reached up before he could move and ran a
finger along the metal band around his neck. He jumped back and
growled, “What are you doing?”
    I held up the finger. “I'm immune to silver.
It won't hurt me.” I rubbed the gel between my finger and thumb and
saw fine specks of gray in the solution. “It must make the effects
of the silver stronger,” I said more to myself than to him. “Maybe
it absorbs into the skin.”
    “ Why doesn't it affect
you?” Rafe asked, his tone cautious.
    I gave him a smile I hoped was reassuring.
“I wasn't born a werewolf. I was made one by Dr. Tannin after I
died in a car accident with my brother. Silver doesn't affect
Kaynan or I.” It felt strange to say it so casually after what we
had been through, but I felt less cautious out in the open under
the trees, like a heaviness had been lifted off my shoulders.
    He reached up to touch the band around his
neck again, but I caught his hand. “I can take it off.”
    “ The shield, too?” he asked
in a restrained tone as if he refused to get his hopes
up.
    I nodded and light touched his eyes. I
smiled at the softening effect it had on what features I could see
above the mask.
    “ What do you want me to
do?” he asked softly.
    I stepped around behind him and he held so
still I wondered if he was holding his breath. Every muscle of his
shoulders and back was tense. A long scar ran down his spine from
the base of his neck to below his shorts. I shuddered to think of
the pain that must have caused.
    “ You're too tall for me to
reach. You'll have to kneel down.”
    He hesitated, then knelt with his back to
me. His hands clenched into fists on his knees regardless of the
burns. I slid my fingers beneath the enclosure on the back of his
head and pulled just enough to test the strength. The gel that
covered the outside coated my fingers, but the metal gave slightly.
I clenched my teeth and pulled with a quick jerk.
    The metal popped open and the shield dropped
to Rafe's lap. He jumped, knocking me backward before I could move
out of the way. My hands shot out to catch me even though Kaynan
had told me a thousand times that was a good way to break an arm. I
landed with a thud on the leaf-covered ground.
    Rafe was suddenly crouched next to me, his
expression concerned. His uncovered jaw was bare of scruff, showing
him to be closer to my seventeen years than I had guessed. He
carefully helped me to my knees despite his injured hands.
    “ I apologize,” he said, his
tone embarrassed. He sat back on his heels.
    “ It was my fault,” I
quickly pointed out. “The stuff burns you. I shouldn't have let it
fall.”
    Humor touched his eyes,