Read Head Above Water (Gemini: A Black Dog #2) for Free Online Page A

Why did she walk past the portal? Did she discover the breach? Or was she a part of the security detail making rounds after the fact?
    Eyes dry and itchy, I massaged them with my fingertips, wishing Graeson or Dell could lend me a second pair, but all information pertaining to the video was classified, which meant I was on my own. When I lowered my hand, Graeson stood in the doorway of my bedroom. Hindquarters wiggling, he leaned forward until his wolfy elbows hit the floor while a massive yawn cracked his jaw. I rolled my eyes, and his tail wagged once, as though asking for permission to join me.
    “Not on the bed.” I made a no-way, no-how gesture. “I only have two sets of sheets, and I’m not doing laundry tonight.”
    One of the downsides of living in such cozy quarters was the limited closet space. Two sets of sheets—one for the bed and one for the laundry pile—was as luxurious as it got around here.
    Polite as could be, he walked over to inspect my desk and laptop. He sniffed the keyboard, dismissed it and dropped his head into my lap instead. Taking the hint, I scratched under his chin until his hind leg twitched. His sudden bark made me jump to my feet, which must have been his point since he darted from the bedroom, blazed through the kitchen and scratched on the screen door’s frame until I opened it for him.
    He was a pale blur as he leapt from the steps and hit the dirt, initiating his change the second his paws touched earth. This change was slower than others I had witnessed, but in under a minute Graeson sat bare-cheeked in my yard. Careful to keep my eyes north of his collarbone, I gathered his clothes and waited for him to come claim them.
    “Did you enjoy your nap?” I called.
    With a grunt, he rolled to his feet, and then he was jogging toward me, ignoring the pile of fabric in my hands as he climbed the steps. “I did.” He smiled down at me, eyes slumberous. “I haven’t slept that well in weeks.”
    Returning home to the place where his sister had been murdered couldn’t have helped his restless nights.
    “Is there a reason you decided to introduce yourself to my family while wearing your fur suit?”
    “I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t shift back.” He bent down, leaning close enough the scent of his damp skin filled my head, and reached over my shoulder to caress the doorframe. “It’s very subtle magic.”
    “The wards,” I said, distracted by his proximity. “The trailers have dampening wards so that any residual energy is siphoned away from us.” His eyebrows climbed. “Retaining magic makes us fidgety. The wards help us sleep. They flush all the foreign energies from our bodies and use it to fuel themselves.”
    He scratched the stubble on his cheek. “They also prevent wargs from changing.”
    “I’d have to ask Aunt Dot, but that might explain why you fell asleep.” No one outside of my family had been inside my home. Ever. Graeson was my first real guest. “The wards might have been munching on your energy.”
    “Hmm.” The thoughtful sound rising in his throat caused warning bells to ring in my ears. “You think so?”
    I shrugged. “Spellwork is her forte, not mine.”
    For the longest time after coming to live with Aunt Dot I was afraid of the dark. She tried teaching me a spell that manifested in a bouncing sphere of light, but I couldn’t so much as conjure a spark. I still can’t. Her knack was self-taught using tips from friends she depended on to create our stacked ward system, and they didn’t translate to me. My skills tended toward reading magics from touch and being immune to glamour.
    “Dell is on her way.” Graeson’s eyes went distant. “She’s watching over you tonight.”
    A ripple of unease kicked my pulse up a notch. “Do you expect trouble?”
    “Oh yes.” His nostrils widened as he inhaled the warm night air. “And she’s right on time.”
    Leaning around him, I spotted a pair of golden eyes waiting in the darkness.