Free Dark Wings Descending by Lesley Davis Page A

you.”
    “What’s that?”
    “Why all that glitters is gold around you.” She took another mouthful of coffee and watched Ashley’s eyes sparkle a dangerous shade of blue. Dark clouds gathered; Rafe braced herself for the storm.
    “It’s not exactly public record,” Ashley said, heaping sugar into her own coffee cup and stirring vigorously.
    “So you have no real home. You have an investigative business that has no offices that I can find, yet you receive commendations from grateful folk for what you do in serving the public. So tell me, Ashley Scott, while I am not under whatever spell it was you wove over me last night, who the hell are you?”
    “She’s one of the good souls on earth.”
    The voice came from behind Rafe, causing her to spill her coffee as she spun around. She cried out in pain as a brilliant white seared her eyeballs and pierced through her skull. Even with her eyes screwed tightly shut, the light still pounded through her eyelids. Her knees buckled beneath her as the light overwhelmed her. The last time she’d seen light that bright she’d been waiting to mercifully die.
    She could hear Ashley’s voice calling, and the whiteness faded enough for Rafe to stop clutching at her head waiting for it to explode. Curled up on the floor in a protective ball, Rafe could feel hands on her back. She cracked open an eye to the room. A man stood before her, dressed in the most impeccable white suit she had ever seen. She opened her eyes a little wider and gasped as something behind him shifted in the light and just as quickly vanished from her blighted sight. She could smell Ashley’s scent surrounding her and dimly registered that it was Ashley cradling her in her arms.
    “You okay?” Ashley asked, running her hand across Rafe’s forehead as if checking for a temperature.
    “He’s brighter than you, so much brighter,” Rafe bit out.
    “I do believe it’s not just you she can see,” Eli said. “This is more than a little unexpected.”
    Rafe looked at them both as best she could, desperately trying not to be frightened by what she could see or what she had gotten herself involved with.
    “Rafe, this is Eli. He’s kind of my boss, well, one of them anyway.” Ashley grumbled at him. “For God’s sake, Eli, turn it down if you can. I told you she was sensitive.”
    Rafe barely heard Ashley’s harsh reprimand over the steady hum of white noise that accompanied the light. It sounded like a million voices suppressed into one endless tone. The brightness faded enough for Rafe to try to keep her eyes open a little longer, but she still ended up having to shut them. But there was no escape from the light. “What the fuck is going on?”
    “Eli, do something.”
    Rafe flinched as unfamiliar hands grasped her face and held her head captive.
    “What…” She gasped as white-hot pain lanced through her brain. She nearly blacked out as the agony threatened to overwhelm her. Then as suddenly as the pain had struck, it was mercifully gone. Rafe fell forward, saved only by Ashley’s grasp. She opened her eyes to find Ashley’s concerned face mere inches from her own.
    “Are you okay?”
    Rafe looked around her. She could still see the white light vibrating around Eli. It pulsated and flashed like a living, breathing entity. But looking didn’t hurt her anymore and the sound was gone. Rafe turned to Ashley.
    “Do your thing, Sparky,” she said and watched as Ashley lit up in her familiar golden glow. “I can keep my eyes open when you do that now.” She flicked a wary look in Eli’s direction. “What is it with you two and the laying on of hands without consent?”
    Eli cocked his head at Ashley. “You touched her again ?”
    “I healed her. That damn demon scratch was poisoning her. I’d triggered it, so of course I touched her to stop it from killing her.”
    Rafe tried to get to her feet as best she could without pulling at her side or needing too much of Ashley’s help. Muttering