Free Dedication (The Medicean Stars Saga Book 1) by McCullough Crawford Page A

slightly as she grits her teeth in frustration at the slow cars impeding the effective flow of the traffic.
    When Ryan had heard that he had chosen to work with the newest professor in the department—a woman only a few years older than them—and in fact be her first graduate student, he had taken any opportunity he could come by to tease Jon. Her latest driving maneuver sends Jon’s head swaying so that he ends up looking out the window as his musing continues. Sure, she is the best looking professor in the department (not that it is much of a surprise, as the rest of the professors are all grouchy old men), and possibly she is one of the best looking professors on campus. But despite Ryan’s insinuations, her attractiveness had nothing to do with his choice. Her small, well-formed frame—he remembers her mentioning she had swam competitively in school—contains an energy, passion, and intellect that seems to be bursting that the seams. When he had met her for the first time, he had felt her eyes boring into him, reading his soul as easily as she would pick up and read a paper he had turned in. The reason he had decided to work for her was that whereas others with that kind of piercing gaze would have read him and judged him, she simply read and understood that analysis would be deferred until more data could be gathered.
    Professor Lilianne Esmali may be the best looking professor on campus, but she is also the smartest, nicest, and most genuine person that Jon knows, and he desperately wants be her friend. The few times they have had more social moments during their weekly lunch meetings, she has let slip that she is a little overwhelmed by the chaotic social scene of the town. Jon wishes he could help her have some fun, but his own social life isn’t exactly legendary, and he is afraid of losing her respect if he is too overt.
    It does not take long for both listeners to grow weary of trying to ignore the assaulting dialogue and for the professor to reach towards the radio. Allowing her fingers to hover before changing station, she asks if Jon has any particular taste in music. Knowing the expected answer, he insists that anything is fine. Soon the guitars of a rock band fill the car, a product of another tumultuous time in the country’s history. This band is from a previous generation, when music was more pure—at least that is how the era is remembered. The car continues to roll past the exits that lead to smaller streets and intertwined neighborhoods, and, looking out of the windshield, Jon can see a mass of dark clouds assembling over the city’s skyline.
     
    *
     
    A light rain is falling as the car begins to slow in the increased traffic of the commercial center of the city. Whereas before they had wide lanes and space between cars, here in the older part of the city, the road is squeezed in amongst the bases of the towering buildings. The pavement slinks its way around the buildings, as if ashamed to present itself in drab concrete amongst their glittering splendor. The rain spots on the window make the brake lights blossom into flowers of color as Jon looks out. He is struck by the constructions around them. Every time he travels into a city, he is shocked by the sheer defiance and power of the buildings. Such buildings seem to be built to spite the laws of nature. The arrogance of the tiny parks and trees in planters along the sidewalk make him wonder how it can all be held together. Even though he spent his childhood near the heart of a city much like this one, he wonders how such an artificial landscape can withstand the untamed and uncaring power of the wild that waits hungrily at the edges of the suburbs.
    After they exit the freeway, a light forces them to stop, allowing Jon to look through the window at the oddly distorted remains of an older building. The roof must have given way during the last storm, causing much of one half of the building to go with it. Now a pile of rubble with the