Read Online Grady's Awakening by Bianca D'Arc - Free Book Online

walk you to your accommodations?” Grady Prime asked politely.
    “That would be nice. Thank you.”
    They walked together down the dark pathway toward the main area of the compound. Neither of them seemed to want to move very quickly. Instead, they set a leisurely pace to maximize the amount of time they could spend together.
    “I confess…” Gina spoke hesitantly, trying to make conversation. “I’m intrigued by this guy Harry you talked about at dinner. You sure got the Patriarch hopping, though I don’t understand exactly why.”
    “Harry’s DNA is important to our people. You may have noticed the significance of bloodlines to us. Well, Hara—the progenitor of Harry’s line—was one of our greatest explorers and leaders. He was believed lost to us, as was the rest of his exploration party. Finding residual evidence of them here on Earth is an amazing discovery that will affect every Alvian.”
    “This young man is really that important?”
    “Not him per se, but his genetic code could spell great changes for Alvians and humans alike. The Alvian population would no longer be able to believe themselves superior genetically if the native humans were proven to share not only Alvian DNA but that from one of the most highly respected of our ancestors. It would change things—most likely for the better for humans.”
    “Which is probably why your Council has hidden this for so long. What you did tonight, by telling the Patriarch the truth, was a good thing, Grady.”
    She tried to see him in the darkness, but her night vision wasn’t up to Alvian standards. Instead, she reached for his hand, gratified when he seemed startled for just a moment, then interlaced his fingers with hers. She squeezed his hand, hoping to convey the very real admiration she had for him. It was a simple gesture, but she knew how rare it was for Alvians to touch, even in friendship.
    She suspected that since gaining emotions, Grady needed to be touched. Like an infant, he needed reassurance from other feeling beings and she liked that he’d taken her hand and seemed unlikely and unwilling to let it go.
    “Harry is a good man,” he said with genuine warmth in his tone. “I read a human book once called The Once and Future King by T.S. Elliot. Mick O’Hara loaned it to me when I asked why they referred to Harry as the second coming of Merlin.”
    “You mean Merlin like in Camelot and King Arthur?”
    “The very one.” She could hear the approving smile in his voice. “Apparently Harry’s gifts were so many and so strong even his gifted family thought he was a magician of some kind.”
    “That’s cool.”
    His warm chuckle sent a river of warm lava down her spine. “It also indicates to me—although I am no expert on the genetic intricacies—that the mixture of human and Alvian DNA might very well produce more beings like Harry. The humans we’ve encountered are many generations removed from their original Alvian progenitors. It could be that a fresh infusion of Alvian DNA into the human race, or human DNA into Alvians, would produce the next evolution of both races. Psychically gifted beings that can be stronger than either one of our races are alone.”
    “I bet your Council would consider your words as treason. Aren’t you concerned by their reaction should your candor with us be discovered?”
    “At this point there’s very little they can do to me. I gave up my occupation and most of what had been important to me in order to participate in Mara 12’s study. I wouldn’t change it for the world, but it’s put me in a unique position. I can take risks now that I wouldn’t have before.”
    She turned to him on the darkened path. A shaft of moonlight filtered through the trees, lighting his face enough for her to read his expression. She found her own desire mirrored there, and her breath caught.
    “You’re a dangerous man, Grady Prime.”
    His head lowered, and she knew he was going to kiss her. She didn’t pull