Read Online Wings of the Raven by Cindy Spencer Pape - Free Book Online Page A

His complexion was back to normal, and his rest appeared to be a natural slumber. Hope, on the other hand, was ashen, her face tightly drawn.
    “Sit down before you fall,” Vaughn snapped as she stood and swayed. He moved to intercept her on the way to the door.
    “I will,” she spit back. She turned to Hannah and me with a wan smile. “He should sleep through the night. If you can bandage up the superficial wounds, I can deal with them in the morning. Charlie’s guys are doing the same for Nick.”
    “Got it covered,” Hannah assured her. “Anything else I can do to help?”
    “Keep all these he-men from killing each other while I crash?” She stepped shakily to the door, and didn’t even protest when Vaughn picked her up halfway there. “Goodnight, everyone.” She laid her head on his chest and let him carry her from the room.
      “Well, we’re going to go get some sleep too,” Hannah told me, after she and Evan finished covering the cuts on Will’s skin. “We claimed the pull-out couch in the living room. Come get us if you need us.”
    “Try and get some sleep yourself,” Evan added. He gave me a one armed hug. “See you in the morning.”
    “I will,” I answered. If I could.
    After I turned the light off, I crawled into bed beside Will, moving as cautiously as I could. No way would I be able to sleep anywhere else, and he seemed to gain some comfort from touching me. If I stayed away too long, his hand would begin to move restlessly until he found mine.
    It was over, I reminded myself as I lay there shaking and trying not to sob out loud. The horror of the day was finally over, and we’d all survived. Once I was through crying, I finally fell into an exhausted slumber.
    I woke this time, knowing exactly where I was. Will was pressed up against my back, his arms were around me and his lips were nibbling my ear. “Wake up, beautiful.”
    I rolled over to look at him. “Will! You’re awake.”
    “Observant, isn’t she? How are you, sweetheart?” He leaned up on one arm and ran his other hand over my face and down my side. “A few hours after you left me, I felt…something awful. But Hope says everything is okay.”
    “When did you talk to Hope?” I scrunched up against the pillows, so I wasn’t flat on my back. A quick look at his shoulders and chest showed nothing but pink, healing tissue. Apparently Hope had also finished the job.
    “She was in here about an hour ago. You slept right through it, but she caught me up a little bit.” A spasm of pain crossed his face before he turned it away. “I heard one of Charlie’s men was killed.”
    “You know it can happen in this line of work,” I reminded him. “Even if we hadn’t been captured, they’d have had to go in and take down the bad guys sooner or later.”
    “I know.” He sighed, then turned back to examine me. “But you’re okay, and so is the baby, right?”
    “Thanks to Hope. It was pretty close, I think.” I didn’t even like remembering that moment of fear when I felt the bleeding start.
    “I could feel your pain,” he said. “Then it just went blank. I was terrified.” He reached up to his neck and took my raven necklace off, then put it back on me. “You know I’m going to lock you in a tower for the next eight months, right? Maybe longer.”
    “Only if I get to do the same. You felt something, but I saw you when Evan carried you in here yesterday. That’s not a moment I’m going to forget either.”
    “I know.” He smoothed my hair, leaned over to kiss my lips. “I love you, Carys. I didn’t even know how much until I thought my nightmare was coming true. I don’t want to live the rest of my life without you.”
    “I love you, too. And the same goes.” I sniffled back a sob.
    “Carys Branwen Maddox, will you marry me? Not because of the baby—though that’s a bonus—but just so we can spend our lives together?” His eyes glittered as they gazed into mine.
    “Of course I will.” I launched