Free Touched by Lightning by Danica Avet Page B

owlishly. “That’s…” He paused to lick his lips. “That’s some freaky shit.” His voice had dropped from its regular tenor to a deep baritone, the words growling out of him. “I feel like…I can leap tall buildings in a single bound or something.”
    Joe snorted and gave the shorter man a gentle shove. “Go see Carrie so she can cleanse you.” She watched the Reaper walk away, his legs shaky like a sailor who’d just stepped off a roiling vessel. “Murphy, go with him. Make sure Carrie gets that power out of him. The last thing we need is someone else with a Dr. Hyde syndrome in this building.”
    The big man’s gaze shifted to Brit, who’d lowered the girl to the ground, hovering over her like a protective guardian. Joe shook her head at the Beta T.U.’s leader. “Don’t worry about him, I have this covered.”
    She could see the war in his eyes, but he didn’t gainsay her. The metal disappeared back into his skin as he turned and walked away, following Clay out of the motor pool. Joe made a mental note to make sure Beta T.U. got some downtime this week. She hadn’t wanted to call them in for something like this, but she’d needed discreet, powerful team members who wouldn’t balk when she wanted them to take down what most men would perceive as a weaker person.
    Mr. Dimples trotted out of the shadows and the darkness clinging to her heart lightened a little. She frowned, not understanding how her wolfhound always managed to find her, or how he’d managed to make his way downstairs, but shrugged off the thought. Someone must have heard him howling on her floor and brought him down in the elevator. Not that it mattered. He was here and she was relieved to see him.
    Kneeling, not caring the least bit about the grunge and dirt on the ground, she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face against his silky shoulder. Peace and serenity filled her as it always did when her faithful wolfhound was at her side. He kept her level better than the Siphons who lived to keep her from going nuclear. She sighed deeply, earning a sympathetic groan from Mr. Dimples.
    “Sometimes I think you’re the best human I’ve ever met,” she whispered to him before she released him and stood.
    Being the Director of a multibillion-dollar nonprofit wasn’t for the faint of heart. Sometimes you had to be ruthless to get the results and answers you needed and Joe had done that tonight. She dusted off her suit with steady hands before she spun on the heel of her three-thousand-dollar Valentinos and faced Brit. She heaved another sigh, unhappy with the way things had turned out.
    Brit had the girl cradled in his arms, his brown eyes nearly black with fury as he glared at Joe. His thoughts were a seething mass of retribution against Murphy and Clay, slightly less pain planned for Joe and lots of coddling for the woman he currently held. It was that last bit that made up for the other thoughts as far as Joe was concerned. Somehow this strange girl with her too-dark soul, split personality and titanium mental shields had touched the normally collected Siphon. She cocked her head to the side to study him, reading him loud and clear.
    She shook her head. “That just isn’t possible, my friend, and I don’t think Murphy would appreciate you fixating on his ass so much,” she teased, hoping to see a little of his quirky humor. Of course it didn’t work because Brit had gone all white knight for this woman. Joe sighed yet again and shrugged. “I’m not sorry I didn’t tell you. She’s an empath and despite what you think, your mental shields aren’t as strong as they could be. She would’ve read you like a book and we would’ve never caught her.” The look he shot her should’ve set her hair on fire, but Joe had been the recipient of that exact same glare so many times, she was positive she was fireproof.
    “You sicced a reaper on her,” Brit growled, just more evidence that the man was unfurling his chivalric