Apocalypse to Go Read Online Free PDF

heard and seen nothing when it first appeared. I had another puzzle on my hands, one that the SAF:L I’d run earlier had linked to the Chaos magic symbol. I opened a new file and made a few notes.
    I returned to answering my e-mail. When you’re part of a large bureaucracy, even a secret one like the Agency, you end up spending a lot of time on e-mail. The Apocalypse Squad got its share. Thanks to multiple encryption systems, it’s just plain safer than cell phone calls. Since all the big phone companies archive cell messages on their server network, my agency, like the CIA, forbids its agents to use texting even for personal communications. A careless message might reveal where an agent lives, for instance, or other dangerous fragments of data.
    When I finished, I swiveled around in my computer chair to see what Ari was up to. He’d put his laptop on the coffee table.
    “You know,” he said, “I’ve been thinking about the unpleasantness with your mother. Is it because of her example that you won’t marry me?”
    I sighed. “I don’t see why you’re so obsessed with the idea of marriage.”
    “You’re like the roadrunner in those cartoons, always speeding away from me. That makes me the coyote. Of course I want to catch you. Not for my dinner, though.”
    “Gee, thanks! Meep meep!”
    He smiled and patted the cushion next to him.
    “I am not coming over there if you’re going to keep talking about getting married.”
    His smile vanished. “Why are you so dead set against it?”
    “I don’t want to be married. It’s not you. It’s the institution. I don’t want to be in an institution.”
    His glare deepened.
    “That’s a joke,” I said. “The institution part, I mean.”
    “I understood that. I merely resent you joking about this.”
    My brain finally spat out the information that I’d hurt his feelings.
    “I’m sorry,” I said. “This discussion makes me really anxious. I don’t mean to trivialize the subject.”
    He softened the scowl to exasperation.
    “Look,” I went on, “why can’t we just have some kind of modern committed relationship without all the legal hassles?”
    “Because as far as I know, you’re not committed to anything. Especially not to me.”
    I started to reply, then realized that I’d never told him I loved him, not once, not even in bed.
    “For all I know,” Ari continued, “you’re hoping I’ll be sent back to Israel, and you’ll never have to see me again.”
    “That’s not true.”
    “What is true, then?”
    I felt my aura shrink and harden into a shell of Qi around me. I longed to cower inside it and throw wisecracks his way, but I refused. I walked over to the couch and sat down beside him.
    “Well?” he said. “Do you want me gone?”
    “No. Don’t be stupid!”
    “That’s something, I suppose. A sign of affection in its own way.”
    “Oh, stop it! Ari, I love you. I love you a whole lot, and I can’t even imagine being with any guy but you ever again.”
    The way he smiled, with a wave of relief and joy mingled together, shattered the aura shell. When he held out his arms, I slid over and cuddled up. I rested my head on his chest and heard his heart pounding.
    “You’re shaking.” He kissed me on the forehead. “You need to marry me for your sake as well as mine, you see. That way you’ll know I’m never going to leave you.”
    I pulled back so I could see his face. He was grinning.
    “You never give up, do you?” I said.
    “Of course not. Why should I? I’m right.”
    “You’re lucky I love you, or I’d kick you so hard—”
    He laughed, then kissed me for real. I felt the Qi begin to flow between us. He nuzzled the side of my neck and slid one hand down to my lap.
    “Do you want to work anymore tonight?” he said.
    “No.” I felt my desire as Qi warmth, a sweet, troubling warmth wrapping around both of us. “Let’s just go to bed.”
    “Hmm.” He let go of me and moved a little away. “I don’t know.”
    “Say