God's Eye by A.J. Scudiere Read Free Book Online Page B

the reduced brain he now possessed. But Allistair had waged this battle. He was the one who had come along after Zachary and his lord had chosen Katharine. Had taken what was meant to be a simple offer and turned it into warfare. Allistair was smart to be alert, and he knew that a tickle was likely all the warning he would get that Zachary was nearby.
    Not feeling the slightest bit threatened, Zachary laughed, a festive sound that again tipped Allistair’s head. Poor Allistair, he was clearly enamored of Katharine, his human feelings much stronger than they should be. Katharine seemed unaware of all of it. She remained oblivious to the radiation her assistant was giving off. From this side of the veil, it was plain as day what Allistair felt for her. Need and want curled tendrils around him, pulled tight into himself by his own sub-par discipline. Every so often, several escaped his imperfect grasp and reached out for Katharine.
    Allistair had always been a failure at this. He wasn’t supposed to be human, but he had an insidious need to slide into them, to feel them. If Zachary had his way, this would be Allistair’s last foray, last assignment, last chance. And so far, it seemed that Allistair would fail this one too, as he had so many others before. Even in this short mortal timeframe, he was already too entangled in Katharine. Zachary was grateful to her for being completely oblivious to the creature who presented himself as her assistant.
    But Allistair was another story. The world would be a better place without him in it. He was a disgrace even to his own kind. And Zachary would be glad to help rid the realms of this interloper.
    Even now he was standing in Zachary’s way, having risen to his feet and concocted an excuse to look over Katharine’s shoulder. Effectively, he placed his mostly mortal body between Katharine and Zachary, blocking Zachary’s view of her. He could no longer read her feelings through the shield that Allistair provided merely by being what he was.
    Zachary growled his frustration as he watched Katharine all but disappear behind the curling tendrils of thought and feeling that Allistair finally allowed himself to wrap around her. The second loss, which bothered Zachary more, was that he was unable to exert any pressure on Katharine with Allistair in the way. He needed to nudge her, to help her get uncoiled from Allistair. But that was an impossibility right now.
    He turned away. He would make sure he saw her tonight and then he would undo the damage Allistair was doing now.
    Zachary slipped away to wait.
    •  •  •
     
    Katharine tried to concentrate on the data retrieval program that Allistair needed help with. She didn’t know why he needed the help; he’d been going along just fine, seeming to never forget anything she told him. Then, suddenly, he popped up from his desk, complaining of problems with the advanced functions of the graph generator.
    She could have sworn he’d already produced a chart for her using this program. She was certain she’d shown it to him. But she went through the steps again, patient as a lamb. He was her trainee, so she trained. His performance reflected on her, so she would show him whatever he needed. She was more than aware of his head directly over her right shoulder. Her entire body was reacting to the scent of him–or maybe just the nearness of him.
    Heat radiated from his skin. The smell of him called to her, inviting her to lean her head back and test the texture of his crisp shirt. His voice, engaged in the simple task of asking questions, was a siren’s song. He could break into “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” at any time and she would likely just sigh and ask him to sing it again.
    Katharine forced her mind back to the task. With effort, she kept her own voice calm and modulated. She pieced together logical strings of words. She walked him through the program and tried not to notice his hand planted on the surface of her desk right beside