Read Online Transcendent by Lesley Livingston - Free Book Online

“There was . . . something. Something I was supposed to remember.” He shook his head. “It’s gone now.”
    â€œOh,” Mason said. “I just thought it might have been the heart. I thought you might have been mad or something. . . .”
    â€œWhat heart?”
    Mason blinked at him. He hadn’t seen her doodle on the dusty glass? Even by the dim light of the elevator cab’s single bulb, it had been there, plain as day. She wondered if they’d had the same experience after all. Maybe the details were different. Or maybe his safe, happy place didn’t include a heart with his initials and hers written inside.
    â€œIt’s nothing.” Mason shook her head and forced herself to smile. “It’s not important.”
    â€œIf you two are feeling up to it,” Maddox interrupted with delicate urgency, “we should probably get a move on it, yeah? Storm’s getting worse. So are the tremors. And I, for one, don’t want to be stuck in that elevator shaft if the power goes out or the nasties come knocking.” As Fennrys stalked past him, Maddox grabbed his arm and Mason heard him murmur, “Are you . . . ?”
    â€œGood as I’m going to be for the foreseeable future,” Fenn said tersely. “Yeah.”
    â€œRight. . . .” Maddox didn’t sound so sure. “I’ll go musterthe troops, then.”

VIII
    â€œH eather?” Toby called as he came around the corner, obviously looking for her. She put a finger to the corner of her eye, just to make sure there were no tears showing, and turned around.
    â€œHey, Coach,” she said.
    â€œYou okay?”
    â€œYou mean, am I still human? I guess so. Seems like I might be the only one.” She shrugged one shoulder, meaning for it to be a casual gesture, but it turned into a shudder and Heather hugged her elbows tight, realizing suddenly that she might very well be in shock.
    Toby led her to one of the white leather chaises and sat her down. He kicked away a low table, spilling the contents of thesilver dish full of rotted fruit that sat on it, and knelt in front of her. She raised an eyebrow at him as he turned over the palm of her right hand as if he was about to tell her fortune. Instead, he put two fingers on the pulse point of her wrist and went very still for a few moments. Heather could feel her heartbeat rattling, quick and light, against Toby’s blunt fingertips.
    After a moment, he looked up at her. “Yup. Still human. And probably less shocky than you should be. But I want you to sit here quietly for a few minutes, okay? I know that none of this can have been very easy for you.”
    â€œFor me ?” Heather snorted. “You’re kidding, right?”
    â€œYeah. Well. It’s been a bit of a day for all of us, I guess,” he muttered. “Some more than others.”
    â€œIt’s bad. Isn’t it? The whole Mason thing.” Heather nodded her chin in that direction. “I mean . . . she’s . . . wow. Scary. I mean, smokin’ outfit and all but, she looked so . . . different. Even more different than Cal and, y’know, that ? I can’t even.”
    â€œI can’t even, either,” Toby said, half a grin tugging at his mouth.
    â€œIt wasn’t supposed to happen, was it?” Heather asked. “Mason, I mean.”
    â€œNo. No, it wasn’t.”
    â€œWhat are you going to do?”
    Toby was silent for a moment. “Whatever I have to.”
    â€œGood luck with that.”
    â€œYeah. If it comes to that . . . I’ll need more than luck. We all will.”
    Heather sat there, not knowing what else to say, until the guy she’d heard the others refer to as Maddox came around the corner.
    â€œHey.” He nodded briefly at Heather and addressed Toby in a low voice. “Looks like she’s managed to get him under control. For the time