Lucan: The Pendragon Legacy Read Online Free PDF

How soft she’d felt against his hardness.

    “The beam’s stable?” Shaw asked, leaning over the device.

    Lucan moved a rolling display board to reveal a gaping hole in the lab’s wall. “I tested it last night.”

    “Are you certain there are no harmful side effects?” Quentin asked.

    Lucan shrugged. “Ninety percent certain.”

    Shaw nodded. “With the military breathing down our necks, that’s good enough odds for me. Let’s try ipert h _ Yt, people.”

    Quentin turned to Lucan. “If the laser works, you’ll have to turn over all rights to the device, since you constructed it while under government contract.”

    “Understood.” Lucan raised his voice. “Everyone don eye protectors.”

    Cael moved away from Rion, their conversation over.

    Lucan placed safety goggles over his glasses and attached power cords to the laser. The device hummed. “Ready?”

    “Go ahead,” Shaw ordered and pointed to Avalon’s shield. “Open the observation port.”

    Lucan prayed this would work. Because, short of detonating a nuclear bomb to access Avalon, they were out of options.

    “Fire when ready,” Shaw said.

    “Initiating a two-second laser burst.” Lucan threw a switch. Pure blue light lanced from the device, through the observation port, and struck the shielding dead center. The clear sparkles of Avalon’s shield flashed a dull orange.

    Someone cheered, but the reaction was premature and died on a hollow note.

    One orange blink in the shield was all the laser had achieved. As if in defiance, the shield returned to its normal clear, multi-sparkled hue.

    Lucan tensed, waiting for Shaw’s orders, willing the man to increase the burst.

    “Hit it with a longer burst,” Shaw ordered, impatient now that he’d made the decision to blast away.

    “Upping the burn to four seconds.” Lucan made the adjustment and fired. And held his breath. This time the shield absorbed every damn atom of energy he threw at it. Almost as if, after the initial laser burst, the shield had self-corrected.

    Was the shield’s technology capable of learning? Interesting. Aggravating. He gnashed his teeth with frustration, but he really wanted to smash his fist into a wall. Apparently, Rion had been wrong about the laser’s capability. Strangely, he didn’t look disappointed.

    “Close the port,” Shaw ordered, discouragement threaded through his voice.

    The team descended on the laser. Arguments ensued regarding how to increase its potency, and the engineers who’d grabbed the specs from Lucan’s desk began to theorize on different angles they should try to penetrate the shield. In the mad chaos, Lucan made eye contact with Cael. She sent him a sorry-it-didn’t-work look, hesitated, then approached him.

    With the team still speculating on the new tool, no one noticed as he stepped back from his desk to meet her. “You’re disappointed,” he said. “I really thought the laser—”

    “We’re all disappointed,” she corrected. Her smile widened, and the effect made his pulse quicken. “But in science, failure often leads to success. Look how you’ve stimulated them.” She indicated the scientists, who were busy examining the laser and discussing the design. “Have a little faith.”
    “Faith?” When it came to Cael, his thoughts were anything but spiritual. Reminding himself that he had to stay neutral and ignore the heat and pull of his attraction, he tore his gaze from her very full, very tempting mouth to look her in her eyes. “I’m a man of science. I know that shield can be breached. I just wish I understood how it works.”

    “The Goddess says to choose our wishes with care, because once we attain our wishes, we may not be pleased with the outcome.”

    Usually it took a lot more than a pretty smile—okay, a dynamite smile—and an encouraging word to gain his attention. But Cael’s presence packed a feminine punch that rocked him to the core. Once again, he was instantly, insanely,