Safe (The Shielded Series Book 1) by Christine DePetrillo Read Free Book Online

were going to
be spending more time together. How much time? And why did he want that?
    “So we’re friends now?” She rolled her eyes. “Is there anything in your
domicile you absolutely need to complete your work?”
    He gestured to the tablet still in her hand. “That’s all I need.”
    “Light traveler. Excellent.”
    The tablet vibrated, and she looked down at it. “My buddy, Ghared, will
meet us on the roof in five minut—”
    A loud siren cut off her words. The sound banged around in Foster’s head,
making him wince. He spent so much time alone, sequestered in his lab, that his
ears weren’t used to such noise.
    Darina, on the other hand, sat on one of the steps, looking totally
unaffected. She grinned up at him. “This is nothing,” she yelled. “You should
hear Zeke snore after a seizure.”
    He actually laughed. His domicile would be consumed by flames any moment
now. Warres’s men were probably nearby, waiting for the building to crumble and
confirm his death. His research could fall into the hands of the enemy, and the
human population would be wiped out by the plague, but here he was in a
stairwell, laughing with a police officer he’d only met hours ago.
    What is happening?
    He’d thought the world had gone mad after the Unplug and Mikale unleashing
his disease, but clearly Foster had only, just now, lost his mind.
    The siren stopped, and he checked his ears for blood while Darina waved
his tablet at him.
    “Here,” she said. “I don’t want to be responsible for this. I’ll protect
you, but you have to protect your research.”
    “Delegating. Smart.” He shoved the tablet back into his pocket and prayed
it’d be safe as he zipped it closed. “Were you a cop before?”
    “Before the Anarch? Yeah.”
    “Did you join the search for them or the fighting?” He could easily
picture her engaging the enemy head on, guns blazing.
    She shook her head and got a faraway look in her eyes, then she met his
gaze. “No. I would have.” She flexed her left hand as she had before. “I was…
injured at the time.”
    He waited for her to say more, but she didn’t. Instead she glanced up the
stairs. “Let’s get to the roof.”
    She led the way and Foster stayed close behind her. At the door to the
roof, Darina hesitated.
    “Don’t think about it,” he said. “As far as your mind knows we’re on
ground level.”
    “Ground level, yes. No way we’d plummet to our deaths at ground level.”
She nodded and proceeded out the door. “Of course, we could die in an
all-consuming fire instead.”
    “Not on my agenda for today.” He nudged her toward the middle of the roof
in hopes flames would not blow the door behind him clear off its hinges.
    Darina took out her weapon and scanned the area, squinting up to the sky.
“C’mon, Ghared. I don’t like being out in the open like this.”
    Seconds after she’d uttered the words, a light droning grew in volume. Before
Foster could ask a question, a hovercopter appeared out of nowhere and wobbled
over the roof.
    “Let’s go.” Darina’s voice was full of authority, as if she did this sort
of thing all the time.
    Maybe she does. How would he know? He didn’t know anything about
her. Only that she was a cop—probably an amazing one. She had a son she saved
from dismantlement and obviously cared about greatly. She didn’t like rich
bastards.
    That last one bugged him. Yes, he was rich. Emerge Tech paid handsomely
for the work he did. He had all the major comforts of the wealthy. As he’d told
her though, he wasn’t a bastard.
    At least I try hard not to be.
    Was it possible he didn’t realize he was, in fact, a bastard? Had he been
avoiding that categorization? Had he been too wrapped up in his work to see he
was an asshole? Did being wrapped up in one’s work make someone a bastard?
    What does it matter?
    Bastard. Not a bastard. The only thing that mattered right now was staying
alive long enough to finish the cure. He was too damn close to