Read Obsidian Prey for Free Online Page A

head cretin demanding my help. Someone named Webber.”
    “Dr. Felix Webber. He’s in charge of the lab.”
    “I haven’t returned any of his calls, naturally.”
    “He mentioned that you had been less than cooperative,” Cruz said dryly.
    “Call me petty, but it gives me so much pleasure to decline to assist Amber Inc. in every possible way, shape, and form.” She tilted her head slightly. “So that’s why you’re here. You want me to open up the ruin for you.”
    This was not going well, he thought.
    “Yes,” he said.
    “I assume you intend to offer me lots and lots of money?”
    “Name your price.”
    “Forget it,” she said softly. She put down the glass and folded her arms on the counter. “You can’t afford me, Sweetwater.”
    “Something else you should know.”
    “Mmm?”
    “When the ruin closed, there were five people inside the chamber: two lab techs and the head of the lab’s security team. There were also two Guild men in there. We can’t make contact. We don’t even know if they’re alive.”
    She sighed, closed her eyes, and dropped her forehead onto her folded arms. “I’m going to have to have a chat with my Harmonic Meditation instructor. There must be something really screwed up with my karma. I don’t even get to enjoy a little innocent revenge. Instead, I have to go rescue three cretins who work for Amber Inc. and a couple of Guild thugs.”
    He had known that she would agree to help. Their time together had been brief, but it had been long enough to be sure of a few things about her. His Sweetwater intuition had not failed him. For all her hostility toward him, personally, and the company in general, she would never leave five trapped and helpless people to their fate.
    “Lyra,” he said gently. He started to reach across the counter to touch her bare arm.
    She straightened abruptly, stepped back out of reach, and came briskly around the end of the counter. “No one got caught in the doorway itself, when it closed?”
    “No.”
    “Good. Give me a few minutes to change my clothes. I don’t intend to ruin this dress in the jungle for the sake of Amber Inc.”
    He watched her walk toward the sliding screens that concealed the bedroom area.
    “About the orchids,” he said.
    She disappeared behind the screens. “What about them?”
    The screens were opaque but translucent. He could make out tantalizing glimpses of her shadow as she unzipped the little black dress and stepped out of it. Everything inside him got tighter.
    “Just wondered who sent them,” he said. “Given the fact that it wasn’t me.”
    “Haven’t a clue. There’s never a signature.”
    He looked at the stack of cards. “Must be someone you know well, if he figured he didn’t need to sign the cards.”
    “Mmm.”
    He contemplated the graceful shadow of her leg and the curve of her hip as she stepped into a pair of pants. She had a very fine rear, he thought. Truly excellent. The presence of the flowers indicated that some other man admired the same assets.
    “What do the cards say?” he asked, unable to stop himself.
    She appeared at the opening in the screens dressed in jeans, a faded denim shirt, and a pair of low leather boots. She had a jungle pack slung over one shoulder.
    “See for yourself,” she said.
    He could tell from her smile that he was not going to like whatever was written on the cards. But he had to know. He rose from the stool, crossed to the coffee table, and picked up the top card. A strange, icy feeling twisted through him.
    “ ‘We belong together,’ ” he read aloud.
    “Romantic, don’t you think?”
    It took some major willpower, but he managed to suppress the urge to rip the card into little pieces. “That’s a damn personal message from someone you can’t identify.”
    “Yes, it is,” she agreed. “Guess I’ve got myself a secret admirer. Never had one of those. You know, my life has suddenly become a heck of a lot more interesting.” She looked at