Read Online Nightbound by Lynn Viehl - Free Book Online Page B

changeling.” Beau felt once more the urge to confess to his friend the truth. “Harlech, becoming a Templar was themaking of me as a mortal, but being changed to Darkyn was my penance. If Dr. Keller is right, then I must accept that I have done nothing to make amends, not once in these seven hundred years.”
    “You speak as if you need absolution for some terrible crime, but you have done nothing. Indeed, I have known you to be everything that is loyal and true and good in a man, mortal or Kyn.” The captain threw up his hands. “You do yourself injustice without cause. Name a moment when you have not conducted yourself as the most courageous of warriors.”
    “It does not matter. We must all face a day of reckoning.” And if he was right, his would soon be at hand.
    Harlech looked puzzled. “Reckoning for what?”
    Beau looked out into the darkness toward the east. “All our sins left unforgiven.”

     
    Unable to sleep, thanks to the X-rated movie starring Beauregard York that kept playing in her head, Alys went down to the hotel’s indoor pool to swim off her frustrations. By dawn she had managed to exhaust herself, which allowed her to sleep until her afternoon wake-up call. It took another hour to rouse her interns and have their equipment loaded into the rental vans they’d be using for transport to and from the site.
    Before they left the hotel, Alys coordinated their GPS units, distributed handheld radios, and gave her student drivers strict instructions to stay together. “I don’t want anyone accidentally ending up at one of the theme parks.”
    “Disney is for little kids,” Brenda said, sounding huffy. “We were hoping to hit Knights Realm, but they’re closed for renovations or something until February.”
    “I can skip the medieval experience,” Charles told her. “Those guys are just a bunch of wimpy RenFaire freaks anyway.”
    “Might I remind you all? This isn’t a vacation.” The disappointment on their faces made Alys feel a twinge of regret; they were still kids. “That said, if you’re diligent and we finish the project on schedule, I might be persuaded to pay for a celebratory visit to one of the parks for everyone.”
    “SeaWorld,” Chan said instantly.
    Brenda shook her head. “Universal is way better.”
    “The Holy Land Experience.” Paolo cringed as the other interns glared at him. “I can’t help it. I’m Catholic.”
    “If the time comes,” Alys promised, “we’ll take a vote.”
    Driving her Jeep, Alys led the mini-caravan out of the city, following roads through hundreds of acres of undeveloped land until she reached the turnoff for the survey area. Newly installed fencing made of steel and wire had been tagged every few yards with danger signs warning of high voltage.
    “Wow.” Brenda, who was riding in the passenger seat, peered at the signs. “Kind of extreme. I guess we won’t have to worry about looters.”
    Electrified fences seemed rather excessive to Alys as well, but obviously Tremayne meant to keep trespassers off the foundation’s land at any cost.
    She stopped at the entry, where she inputted the access code on the security pad to release the gate’s electronic lock. As the final barrier swung inward, the last rim of sunlight vanished, darkening the clear sky to an orange-bordered violet.
    The lack of light didn’t bother Alys, as she had always been more awake and alert at night. She also liked seeing the stars glittering overhead; that was something she’d missed since leaving Europe.
    The sky looks like his eyes.
    “What was that, Dr. Stuart?” Brenda asked.
    Alys hadn’t realized she’d uttered it out loud. “I said that the sky is a nice surprise. We can’t see this much of it in the city.”
    Her intern frowned at her. “Are you okay? You seem a little, um, preoccupied. I mean, even for you.”
    “I have a great deal on my mind.” And there was no room in it for Beau York.
    The foundation’s property encompassed wide