Hakan Severin Read Free Page A

she muttered.
    “Dammit, you’re going to give me a heart attack,” Rage informed her. “Not to mention the fact that Parish is going to skin me alive for not checking in.”
    The guards had taken their cellphones when they’d first captured them, which meant they hadn’t been able to contact the Wildlands and reveal what they were doing.
    Payton didn’t want to worry anyone, but this was too important not to stay and finish the job.
    “I’m close to breaking through,” she assured her companion.
    Rage moved to stand at her shoulder, his impatience a tangible force in the air.
    “I still don’t know why we can’t just take the computer and leave.”
    Payton swallowed her sigh. Hunters. They were always eager to charge in and take action. This waiting was driving the male insane.
    “Because they’ll know we have it and destroy the information we need,” she explained for the tenth time, glaring at the numbers that scrolled across the screen. Rage wasn’t the only one losing his patience. “Come on, come on,” she urged softly.
    “Does talking to it make it go faster?” Rage teased.
    “Smartass.”
    “Hey now, is that any way to talk to the male protecting your very fine ass?”
    She rolled her eyes, her lips twitching. Rage was a compulsive flirt, but she couldn’t deny she enjoyed his companionship.
    Every female enjoyed a male who made her feel beautiful.
    Especially after she’d been cruelly rejected by the male she loved.
    “You need to keep your attention focused on the guards, not my ass,” she chided.
    On cue, there was the sound of a door opening down the hall and Rage swore beneath his breath.
    “Time’s up, sweetheart.”
    Payton reluctantly straightened. “Crap.”
    “We’ll try again after halftime.”
    “How long will that be?”
    “Twenty minutes.” Rage shrugged. “Thirty minutes tops.”
    Payton hesitated. If she shut down the program she’d have to start over on the last layer of security.
    “Then I think I’ll take the risk of leaving my program running,” she abruptly decided. “Unless they try to use the computer they won’t notice.”
    Rage snorted. “I doubt those goons know how to turn on a computer, let alone comprehend what you’re doing.”
    Payton agreed. It’d become painfully obvious the human guards hadn’t been hired for their brains.
    Of course, whoever was running the clinic probably didn’t think anyone would ever manage to stumble across this secret basement. And if they did, most people would have been easily run off by a guard pointing a gun in their direction.
    “I’m not worried about the guards,” she told him. “I’m afraid of triggering my presence once I break past the final firewall.”
    “Let’s go.”
    Grabbing her upper arm, he gently tugged her out of the computer room and past the large lab that was locked up tight. Then, entering the storage area at the back, they pushed aside the shelves to reveal the double cells built in the hidden room.
    “You have the gun I gave you?” Rage demanded as he opened one of the cells and urged her inside.
    Payton glanced down to where the full cut of her slacks hid the weapon strapped to her ankle.
    “Yep.”
    Rage shook his head as he closed the door and used a small piece of wire to tumble the lock. They both knew the weapon was more for show than actual protection. She couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.
    Not that she was helpless.
    She was far stronger and faster than a mere human.
    “I don’t like this,” he breathed.
    She rolled her eyes as the Hunter moved to step into the adjoining cell, closing and locking the door behind him.
    “You’ve made your opinion clear,” she assured him.
    Rage moved to stretch his large body onto the cot, sending her a chiding glance.
    “Not clear enough or we wouldn’t still be here.”
    She headed to the back of the cell as she caught the smell of the approaching humans. It wasn’t the same sour stench of the disciples of Shakpi. Nope,