Dawn Endeavor 3: Julian's Jeopardy Read Online Free PDF Page A

and telepathically sent him support. “Tersch, come on. Rein it in. You can do it.”
    “Let me go!” Tersch tried to shrug out of Fallon's grip, but the tenacious Circ clung like a burr.
    Anger pushed through Tersch's beast, calling forth the berserker that nothing could stop. He grew muscles on top of muscles and increased in mass. On top of that, he felt a burning fury to decimate everything in his path and intended to make good on his desire. His eyesight changed, seeing in heat patterns as the scent of his prey—Fallon—grew stronger.
    He shoved Fallon back so hard into the wall that Fallon broke through the drywall and dented the reinforced steel behind it. Fallon stumbled groggily to his feet. Seeing his adversary weakened, Tersch took another step closer and drew back his arm.
    Hands caught him, and he turned to attack.
    Only Fallon's quick shove pushed Tersch away and saved Ava from taking a fist in the face.
    Her eyes wide, she stared at him in shock, and the fury Tersch had been feeling faded under a blinding wave of shame. Fists striking, screaming. A frail female falling, moaning his name before she hit the ground, hard. Then the scent of death, all too close…
    “Gunnar?” Ava took a step closer.
    Horrified he'd nearly struck her, Tersch scrambled back. He turned to leave when he suddenly stumbled. Confused and heartsick he'd nearly hurt the woman who meant the world to him, he wanted nothing but to disappear. Instead, he fell to the ground.
    “Easy, Gunnar. You just need to sleep this off,” Mrs. Sharpe said, her voice soft, soothing.

    He glanced up to see her holding a dart gun, her expression concerned. He wanted to crawl into a hole and die. His worst fear had come true. He was nothing more than a monster, an abusive asshole like his father. Now Jules would suffer even longer because they'd never let Tersch help find him.
    “Should have used real bullets,” he mumbled before he blacked out.

    * * *
    Sheridan tugged on the spaghetti strap of her thin camisole and stared without seeing at the large bed in her room. She had a feeling tonight would prove as frustrating as the past few nights had been. She couldn't sleep, and she didn't need to wonder why.
    In the past two weeks, Sheridan had only managed to visit Jules twice more.
    He never seemed quite aware of her, questioning her existence as if he thought himself dreaming. She thought that might be a good thing, considering his poor state of health. Better he be nearly unconscious than to be fully awake and suffering so much. Damn Ricardo!
    Both times she'd seen Jules, he'd been beaten so severely, she'd cried as she healed him. Since she'd learned of his existence, she'd spent her time planning and plotting. With Pedro's help, she'd managed to copy, encrypt, and send her research to her family for later study. She'd thoroughly deleted her project from the compound's computers, pretending to continue her work on basic botanical studies any third-year student might access from a public university. Luckily, no one seemed overly interested in her research.
    Sheridan couldn't wait to leave. And thanks to Pedro, she soon would.
    He'd been a font of information concerning the compound, once she'd found the nerve to question the truth about the place. It wasn't the professional lab she'd envisioned when she'd first started working here. The scientists, if she could call them that, experimented on people . Or so it was rumored. She only wished she knew more. But avoiding Ricardo remained her top priority lately, especially concerning the information she'd recently overheard.
    Apparently, Ricardo wanted her . Sheridan Keyes, quiet, unassuming, overweight botanist, had somehow managed to outshine Elena Dominguez, a supermodel and Latina hotbod. Who would have guessed?
    She swallowed hard, trying not to imagine Ricardo's cold, calculating stare or the way he sometimes focused on her mouth or breasts, as if envisioning her naked.
    She trembled, but as usual