Free Wings of Redemption by Sarah Gilman

toward the doors, he admired the exposed skin of her upper back. A beauty mark dotted the right side of her neck.
    He was going to kiss that spot and make his way down her spine, sans the blue cotton. However that would have to wait.
    “Hello, Saffron. Kestrel.” Cherie met them in the pristine lobby. Dressed in a knee-length white coat, the human doctor tucked her short blond hair behind her ears and took Saffron’s hand. “I’m Dr. Cherie Williams, but Cherie is fine. I understand you’ve become the subject of Kestrel’s morbid quirk?”
    Saffron nodded.
    “Well, if it’s anything that can be addressed here, we will do so. Not to worry.” A familiar disarming smile illuminated Cherie’s face. The human’s bedside manner never failed to put even the most suspicious of the demons at ease. “Kestrel, will you wait out here, please?”
    “Yeah.”
    Cherie led Saffron away with a hand on her shoulder. Saffron glanced back with a lingering grin.
    The humans disappeared through a wooden door. Kestrel paced. What would Cherie find? Would she give Saffron a clean bill of health? Would a definitive cause for alarm be better than remaining in the dark?
    “You all right?”
    Kestrel turned and faced his Guardian, who’d stepped out of nowhere, as usual. “They’re discussing her medical history.” He pressed a finger to his temple. “I can still hear her every word.”
    “I asked if you were okay.”
    Kes stared at the wooden door. “Of course I am.”
    “Right, sure. Why the white-knuckled fists, then?” The demon moved closer and leaned his shoulder against the wall. After a quiet moment, he said, “I overheard the conversation in the café.”
    “Privacy, Dec.”
    “Not a lot of room in that building.” The Guardian lifted a single shoulder in a non-apologetic shrug. “I need to admit that one of the reasons I reacted so strongly yesterday is I know you’ve been considering taking an early out, one day.”
    “I’ve never told you that.”
    “I’ve seen the way you look into the storm clouds. What I never realized was that you thought your father flew into that storm on purpose.”
    Kestrel stretched some tension out of his wings.
    “It really was an accident, Kes,” Dec said.
    “How can you possibly know?”
    “Because he was in the middle of making big plans for your three-hundredth birthday.”
    Kestrel shut his eyes. “ What? ”
    “The entire reason he was out that day was to invite the archangels who lived outside the colony, including a female he was hell bent on setting you up with.”
    A humorless laugh escaped Kestrel’s throat. He scrubbed his face with the heels of his hands. “That sounds like Dad.”
    “The last thing I wanted was for you to feel any guilt over the accident. I’m sorry. I should have told you. I didn’t want you to feel at all responsible for his death.”
    “Make it up to me by not giving up on my sorry ass?”
    Dec smiled. “I’ll be here. It’d be cruel to sentence someone else to the likes of you.”
    “Thank you.” Kestrel lifted his wing and brushed the demon’s arm, a symbol of trust he extended to very few.
    “You and the girl have gotten quite cozy.”
    “She’s…” Kes shook his head. “Irresistible.”
    “She’s lovely and she puts up with you. Cue the Hallelujah chorus. I’d vote you keep her, if she were anyone else.”

Chapter Seven
    Saffron sat on a padded examination table in what could have been a doctor’s office in any hospital in the country—save for the clay replica of a fanged humanoid skull. The scent of sanitation chemicals annoyed her, as did the ugly anatomy posters. However, Dr. Cherie had been efficient and compassionate. Now, they only needed to wait for the results of a few tests.
    The wait would be short. Unlike in a human hospital, there was no system to complicate matters. No “we’ll call you in a week.” Instead, just “Hang in there, sweetie, I’m going to look at the CAT scan and blood work results.