"Alexis Morgan - Dark Protector" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morgan Alexis)

тАЬDo you want a new Handler?тАЭ She held her breath, praying he wouldnтАЩt say yes.
тАЬNo, I donтАЩt. But this canтАЩt happen again.тАЭ
That was true. Still, her eyes stung from the threat of tears as she nodded in agreement.
 тАЬNot here, anyway.тАЭ He leaned so close that his warm breath tickled her skin. тАЬWhen you and I
do go to bed, LaurelтАФand we willтАФitтАЩll be someplace a hell of a lot more private than this. Because
nothing is going to stop us from finishing what we started today.тАЭ
Then he was gone.

Despite the near disaster at the lab, Devlin was in the best mood heтАЩd been in for days. The delectable
Dr. Young had proven quite a surprise. Behind that lab coat and clipboard lurked an amazingly
passionate woman.
He couldnтАЩt wait to have her in his bed, naked and underneath him. TheyтАЩd have to arrange it
carefully, of course, but battle tactics were his specialty. Arranging a secret tryst wasnтАЩt that much
different from planning an ambush.
He turned down First Avenue toward Pioneer Square, a popular tourist spot. Below the streets
lay a network of passageways known as the Seattle Underground. Tours offered limited access to
out-of-towners and locals, and none of them realized that the tumbledown brick walls from the past
masked the high-tech control center of the Paladins.
D.J. and the others got a kick out of watching the tourists as they were shepherded through the
few parts of the Underground that were declared safe enough for the public. Devlin just considered them
to be an inconvenience.
Habit had him checking to make sure he wasnтАЩt being tailed before ducking into the alley that
offered the closest access to the Center. He nodded at the guard stationed near the entrance. Dressed as
a down-on-his-luck drunk, complete with all the usual stains and smells, PennтАЩs appearance was enough
to ward off most intruders. If that didnтАЩt work, he had an impressive array of weapons hidden in his
broken-down shopping cart.
Penn was even more disreputable looking than he had been the last time; the man obviously took
perverse pride in his job.
тАЬCullen said for you to find him if you came in.тАЭ
тАЬThanks, IтАЩll track him down.тАЭ
Devlin trotted down the staircase and keyed in the code to open the door. Once inside, his normal
wariness eased. If he was safe anywhere, it was here. Maybe Cullen had found out something about how
DevтАЩs sword came to be stuck in the barrier.
On the way to his office, Devlin stopped to chat with Lonzo and D.J. Neither of them had seen
Cullen recently, but promised to let him know that Devlin was looking for him.
The stack of reports sitting on his desk was almost enough to make him turn around and march
right back out again. He wasnтАЩt in the mood to read all those dry-as-dust statements about the current
condition of the barrier. Hell, all he had to do was turn on the news to know that Mount St. Helens was
spitting out steam and building a new lava dome.
If the unstable mountain decided to blow her top again, Devlin and the others would be on the
front lines, fighting to keep the Others out of this world. He brought up a map of the area on his
computer, one programmed to show the hot spots along the barrier. Sure enough, where it came close to
the irritable mountain, the barrier was being tested from the other side.
He reached for the phone. тАЬLonzo, have we beefed up the coverage down near the mountain?тАЭ
тАЬWe doubled it last night when the first rumblings were reported. Ordnance okayed another squad
to be on call if needed.тАЭ
тАЬSend them now, because IтАЩm not sure even that will be enough. The activity on the other side is
increasing steadily.тАЭ
He wanted to get down there himself, but he hadnтАЩt been released back to active duty yet. If heтАЩd
stuck around the lab long enough to finish up the rest of the tests, he might have been free and clear. Still,