Midnight Shadows Read Online Free PDF Page A

that he loved her, that taking care of her was a privilege. If he hadn’t known how much she hated her blindness, he’d have fought tooth and nail against the surgery. It had been risky, experimental. The doctors had made that clear. Explaining the possible consequences, including death, every hair on his head had stood on end, and he wasn’t an easy man to scare.
    He was putty in her hands but he would have put his foot down and said no, no way to the surgery except…the longing in her voice, in her face, when she spoke of regaining her sight unmanned him.
    So she’d had the operation, which had gone relatively well. It was taking her longer to recover than she’d hoped and she still had vision problems though she tried to hide it.
    The surgery had taken about 20 years off his life, but what the hell.
    Allegra was happy, so it was worth it.
    He checked his watch and grinned. Allegra probably had another half hour in the shower to go. He had no idea what she did in showers, he only knew it was time-consuming.
    He’d have time for his own shower in the smaller bathroom and time to set them up on the terrace to watch the sunset.

Chapter Four
    Douglas was out on their spectacular terrace, leaning on the railing, two glasses of the delicious local rosè restsina on the wrought iron table behind him. Allegra took a second to look at the picture he made, his muscular frame outlined by the huge red sun halfway down the sky.
    He really could be Neptune, she thought. He looked like he could command the seas and all the elements. He looked powerful and invincible and indestructible and yet…he wasn’t. She’d seen him age since her operation. She’d seen him tired and worried. Yet he never complained, not once.
    She walked silently forward on the pretty silk Turkish slippers she’d purchased up in the town of Hagios Nikolaus but you could never get the drop on her husband. He seemed to be aware of everything, always, 360°, 24/7. He straightened and turned and smiled at her, holding out one arm.
    She fit into it neatly. Douglas bent down and sniffed at her, like a dog. “You smell nice.”
    “Thanks.” She sniffed back. “So do you.”
    He gave that surprised, snorting laugh of his. They turned and looked out over the bay together.
    “It’s so incredibly beautiful,” she sighed.
    And it was. The sun was floating just upon the sea’s surface, then slowly dipped below it as they watched. The bay’s arms stretched out, green and welcoming. Behind them the gorgeous white city tumbled over the top of the hill, what had once been the peak of the volcano.
    She breathed in. While blind, her sense of smell had blossomed. She could smell the faint scent of bougainvillea and the stronger scent of jasmine along the sides of the building. Yannis had planted clematis and wisteria along trellises flanking the walkways and huge beds of roses. But above those rose the smells of the countryside. She and Douglas had taken long walks in the countryside of the island. A path leading from the resort up to the town had been cut through the Mediterranean scrub and the scents had nearly made her dizzy—oregano, thyme, mint, rosemary, sage…
    All those scents floated in the air now and under them, the deep notes of sea brine. She’d never smelled anyplace like this before.
    “I’ve decided that Kratior is definitely Atlantis. I’ve been reading up and this place looks as plausible as any other. They say they had tons of high tech that was lost for almost ten thousand years.” She nudged her husband. “You’re a navy diver. Why don’t you go diving and find some high tech?”
    “Right.” His deep voice rumbled. “Dive down a hundred feet and find a rusted iPhone. That’d make everyone sit up and take notice.”
    “But more than the high tech, it seems they were more civilized than us. Atlantis was a real democracy and everyone lived in peace and harmony.”
    Douglas snorted. “Were they human?”
    Allegra was taken aback.