Lucan: The Pendragon Legacy by Susan Kearney Read Free Book Online Page A

locked.”

    She removed her communicator from her pocket and watched while Lucan slid a screwdriver from his boot and attempted to jimmy the station door. She tried contacting Shaw, then Quentin. When neither answered, she swore under her breath. “The military must be jamming signals.”

    “This way,” Lucan said. “Once we find Shaw, we’ll tell him that the scientists have been betrayed. Then we’ll find a way to protect Avalon.”

    Betrayed? Of course. General Brennon must have had a spy on the scientific team. Someone must have notified him the minute that they’d eliminated the shield and now… the flames were spreading like the wind.

    Why hadn’t the alarms sounded? Had the military jammed those, too? Did that mean the fire units wouldn’t respond? With the fire starting on the north end of the complex, the scientists inside still might not know what was happening.

    When the lock gave, she shoved past Lucan, entered the building, and took stock of their situation. The lights were out, so the backup generators hadn’t kicked in. She sniffed but didn’t take in so much as a whiff of smoke. Either the internal air scrubbers were independent of the backup generators and removing the fumes, or the fire hadn’t reached this far.

    “This way.” Taking Lucan’s hand, she led him down the hallway. How easy that small gesture of reaching out to him seemed. How natural. She could easily become used to touching. And being touched.

    “You can see in the dark?” He was squinting through his glasses.

    His question stopped her cold.

    He had no idea what she was.

    There was no other explanation.

    “I’ve always had great eyesight.” She spoke lightly, but a shiver ran down her spine. The Priestess of Avalon, a dragonshaper, could see in the dark and possessed keen hearing. Everyone knew. dingI ]But not Lucan, apparently. No wonder he’d placed himself between her and the military airships. No wonder he held her hand and whispered in her ear. No wonder he didn’t fear her. He didn’t know. But how could he
not
know?

    Who in the Goddess’s seven universes was he?

    “You don’t believe in dragons, do you?” she asked.

    “You do?” he shot back.

    While he’d just confirmed her suspicions, now wasn’t the time for revelations and long explanations.

    Even with the emergency lights down, she had no difficulty steering through the long corridors. Her second set of lenses activated, lenses that expanded the pupils of her eyes. If Lucan could see her now, he would see no white around her irises—just dark purple. Very few people had seen her in this state, but those who had, even doctors who’d studied her vision, had been repulsed. But as she led him around water coolers, a file cabinet, and boxes of supplies, she was grateful for her superior vision.

    “I hear shouting.” She made a right, then a left.

    “It sounds as if they’re heading away from us.”

    She frowned, and her voice rose in fear. “They’re running toward the fire.”

    “We have to go faster. Stop them and turn them around. Hurry,” he urged.

    She broke into a run, then stopped at the main lab’s double set of doors. Lucan placed his palm on a door, feeling for heat. He must have been satisfied, because he opened the door. Smoke billowed out.

    Gagging, she stepped back. No one could breathe that smoke and live for long. “Shut the door.”

    “Someone may still be in there. Wait here.” Lucan lifted his tunic over his mouth and nose, darted into the lab, and shut the door behind him. If he got lost in the darkness, he’d die in there.

    Moments ticked by.

    She should have gone with him, but he hadn’t given her the chance, and if she went inside now, she’d never find him in that thick smoke. How long could he hold his breath? Should she go inside and shout to him? Should she flee?

    Damn it. Where was he?

    She took a deep breath and cracked open the door. Flames lit parts of the lab. Smoke burned her eyes,