Archangel's War (Guild Hunter #12) - Nalini Singh Page 0,29
on the bed, she gave herself a good few minutes to recover before she sat up and, switching on a bedside lamp, began to work the body lotion into her skin. She examined her body with a critical eye at the same time. Her skin continued to glow, but it had quieted down to a significant extent. Looked like the glow-in-the-dark phase of her life was on its way out.
Eerie inner luminescence aside, her skin was its natural hue—a dark gold that came to her via her grandmother’s Moroccan heritage—but it appeared fragile, her veins dangerously visible. In better news, her bones did appear to have a normal heft and strength to them. She’d ask Nisia to check for tunnels or hollow patches but right now, her bones looked to be the strongest part of her body.
After finishing with the body lotion, she touched her face, found sharp cheekbones, and jawbones defined enough for the runway, but it felt like her skin was stronger there. “Let’s hope that means good things for the rest of me.” Recovered enough to attempt a bit more bad behavior, she made her way to the closet and snagged the summer pajamas Sara had given her for her last birthday.
At least not all her clothes had been destroyed.
The bottoms of the pjs were pink and white striped shorts with white lace trim, the top a silky-soft pink T-shirt with a scooped neck and a white print—the silhouette of two angels kissing in the moonlight. Elena loved it, not just for the design but for the softness of the fabric. It’d also work to give the healers access to her body while keeping her from flashing the world.
She wasn’t even going to try for a bra. Neither Keir nor Nisia would even notice she had breasts unless those breasts started sprouting tendrils or spontaneously grew two nipples each. Grinning, she took the clothes back to the bed, and got dressed sitting up.
Next, she sent a message to Nisia alerting the healer she was up: no sense wasting time. The more calories they could get into her, the faster she’d be back to full strength. Then, phone gripped in her teeth, she hobbled her way to the living area. Archangel? She reached out with her mind as her ass hit the sofa cushions, the compulsion to ensure Raphael was okay not one she could fight. Not this close to their return.
The salt-laced sea crashed into her mind, the feel of Raphael a touch distant. Elena-mine.
A movement outside the uncurtained balcony doors caught her attention before she could reply. Her eyes widened. Birds in the sky, but non-creepy. An important fact. Condors. Three of them sweeping and dipping just off the balcony.
Even though she was still breathless from the trip to the living area, she got up and hobbled over. She knew the temperature outside was liable to have dropped, but she opened the doors nonetheless so she could watch the birds without the barrier of glass. Not that she was stupid about it. She stayed firmly in the doorway, a good distance from the open edge of the railingless balcony.
Are the birds doing anything of note?
Raphael’s voice was stronger and more resonant now; he had to be heading back toward Manhattan.
I think they’re leaving. The three birds she’d seen had just joined a much larger group. A massive vee of them, heading south. The sight of so many birds of prey together was beyond majestic.
I have spoken to Dmitri, Raphael said after a short pause. He tells me the pumas and other large cats are also departing the city.
Elena shivered as the wind blew her hair off her face, but she stayed in place, her gaze on the departing wave of birds. Elijah must’ve gotten word of Raphael’s return, was retreating from his fellow archangel’s territory before Raphael had to ask. A friendship between two archangels would always be a finely balanced thing—there was too much power involved for it to be otherwise.
The condors a distant blur now, she turned and got the doors closed with creative use of her crutches. Right as Nisia walked through the door. “Of course you are not resting like a sensible being who just emerged from a chrysalis,” the diminutive healer muttered, her ankle-length gown a dark blue that Elena hadn’t properly noticed before. As always with Nisia’s work clothes, it was simple but beautifully stitched.
“In my defense,” Elena said, “I appear to be the first non-insect to emerge out of