Red Night ((Book 1) Timewalker Chronicles) Read Free Page A

ordered her to do whatever was necessary to prevent the outbreak. That included eliminating the scientists responsible. Luke couldn’t be hers. She was supposed to kill him. If she didn’t, M-6 would. He was the third victim of the Red Death.
     
    Even as she flirted with the thought, she knew there was no mistake. The cabbie, Trent, and all the men in the small army of staff that worked in this complex had failed to draw her attention. Nope. The only man she wanted was him. The whistler.
    There was always the chance he’d be reasonable. How cruel a fate to be forced to kill her mate. Or anyone else for that matter. She wasn’t at all sure she could do it. Hopefully, she wouldn’t have to find out.
    The urge to unmask her presence and tell him everything was nearly impossible to resist. If he were her true match, he would have to respond to her. To believe her. But what if he didn’t? Could she risk billions of lives on a theory inspired by a hormonal surge? No.
    Frustration built until it was gnawing a hole in her stomach two hours later. She couldn’t allow Luke to get out of sight, so he’d led her on a merry chase around the complex. To the lab. Back to his office. More pacing. Conference room for a meeting where a bunch of stiffs argued over details that wouldn’t matter in a week if the Red Death struck. Back to his office. Even more pacing. And mumbling. And cursing. She wanted to slap him upside the head and tell him to get on with it. He needed to go home so she could destroy any files he had there. He needed to get her inside the lab so she could wipe out all the bugs. And what was he doing? Sitting at his desk for the last half hour, working. There was nowhere she could hide in his Spartan office and relax for a minute. Two chairs, one huge wall-to-wall bookcase stuffed to overflowing, and his desk occupied the small room. That was it. The plain tile floor didn’t look comfortable, and the hallway was no better. No rest for the wicked. Problem was, she couldn’t keep this up much longer, especially without food. She’d been cloaking herself for longer than she would’ve believed possible.
    A slight tremor vibrated through the waves of light she could see cascading around her and she hoped he couldn’t see her. The struggle to remain hidden drained her energy, and would soon force her to act in reckless desperation. Exhaustion made her hands shake and her right eyelid periodically twitch. All she really wanted was to devour several pounds of chocolate, then lie down and sleep for a week.
    Fat chance of that happening.
    But at least he wasn’t whistling.
    Surprisingly, she missed the sound. As obnoxious as she’d first thought his habit, the noise had calmed her nerves, just a bit. Oh, well. She’d wanted him to stop, and now he had. No sense whining about it.
    Alexa sat in the brown leather chair across from his desk and studied him. Luke was scowling intently at his laptop computer. No matter how hard she tried to remember to control herself, her foot rebelled and periodically tapped the floor, betraying her irritation. His concentration was so complete he didn’t hear it.
    Enough! Time to get this fool out of here before she collapsed.
    She sprang out of the chair and pulled the power cord out of his laptop. He frowned but didn’t stop working.
    As quietly as possible, she glided around his desk to check the computer screen. Battery back-up. Hell.
    Resisting the temptation to touch him, she arched one arm around his broad shoulder and pushed in the power button. A delicious mix of coffee and aftershave lotion invaded her lungs, made her want to…
    “What the…” Luke reached around, plugged the computer back in, and started to reboot. Stubborn man. An ornery giggle nearly escaped before she could swallow it down. This could get interesting.
    He rebooted the computer. She crashed it. They went through the dance again. She knocked over his coffee when his arm got close to it. Journals and