Prodigal Storm (Toccata System Book 3) by Kate Sheeran Swed

Author:Kate Sheeran Swed [Swed, Kate Sheeran]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Spells & Spaceships Press
Published: 2019-11-07T16:00:00+00:00

14

Lj

Had LJ been asked to bet on the odds of Conor Keyes showing up to save her from drowning, she’d have come down firmly on the side of ‘hell no, he would not.’ And yet here she was, not drowned, partly because of his actions. She wasn’t a hundred percent solid on the details, but Conor had found her. She could still feel the drumming of his heart against her temple, his fingers running through her hair, and if their history hadn’t been—well, their history—she’d have thought he was afraid for her.

Viv cast a worried glance back at her as they hurried up toward the deck, but LJ just flashed her a thumbs-up. Yes, she’d have liked a glass of wine and a full day of sleep, not to mention a dry set of clothes. Her shoes squished when she walked, her shirt and pants chilled through and suctioned to her skin. Not ideal, but then LJ was no stranger to pining for things she couldn’t have.

Strangely, Conor looked at her as often as Viv did, as if LJ might still drown if he kept his back turned. Since she wasn’t sure how to feel about that, she decided to ignore it.

When they stepped out onto the deck, Toccata was already pushing its way through the curtain of storm clouds, sending rays of light skipping over the waves and glinting off the island ahead of them. For a moment, LJ thought her brush with death was making her see things. How could an island be glinting?

She blinked, and her vision cleared. It was a dome. The island was covered by a dome. It was made of clear glass, or maybe plasteel, and it extended well past the sandy beach, protecting a wide patch of water. It looked like the kind of thing terraformers might set down on a hostile planet or moon.

“What the hell,” LJ breathed.

“Hence the airlock gel,” Conor said calmly. LJ could only assume the comment had something to do with the stuff he’d smeared on the hatch when she’d been trapped.

“Not that I’ve been completely upfront with you,” LJ said, “but I’d have expected you to mention the moon-sized snowglobe protecting the island.”

“I have it handled,” Conor said.

“Like you have the AI thing handled,” Viv said.

To LJ’s surprise, Conor didn’t reply. He pressed his lips together and looked at his hands, as if chastened by Viv’s rebuke. LJ didn’t know what that was about, but she did know that if she’d said something like that, he’d probably have tried to throw her overboard. Tried being the operative word, but still. He’d have tried.

“What the hell,” Viv said, “is that?”

Because it wasn’t enough to have a snow globe protecting the island. The overgrown patch of soil was also guarded by a hulking tower, a cylindrical block of obsidian stone reaching as though to touch the dome that encased it.

If they hadn’t been trapped in a storm for the last few hours, not to mention distracted by pirates and

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.