Scorched Read Online Free PDF

help you. The men breaking into the museum—they’ll do whatever it takes to get this egg. We have to get it out of here before they find it.”
    “ We ?” she repeated, her dark eyes impaling him. “There is no we . Now get the hell away from there.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a strange metal canister from her purse. He squinted at it; was it some kind of weapon? A grenade of some sort? He was really getting sick of all these surprises.
    Holding up his hands in surrender, he stepped back from the case, glancing longingly at his pistol, still out of reach on the other side of the room. But maybe it was best this way. Let her unlock the case, then jump in and grab the egg before she could put her hands on it.
    “Just don’t touch it,” he warned, as she fumbled with a set of brass keys. He realized her hands were shaking furiously, at odds with her defiant expression. “I’m serious.”
    “What, is it going to bite me?” she retorted, finding the proper key and sliding it into the lock. The case popped open. Connor’s eyes zeroed in on the egg.
    Now! He made his move, lunging toward the prize. But Trinity was too quick, turning on him and blasting him in the face with a hot stream of liquid from her canister. Connor staggered, blinded, his eyes burning as if on fire. He rubbed them with his fists, trying to clear them, but only managed to increase the sting.
    “Please!” he begged. “Whatever you do, don’t touch the egg!”
    She didn’t answer. And when his vision finally cleared, she was gone.
    And so was the egg.
    “Damn it!” he cried, grabbing his pistol and bag, and running out of the room. He couldn’t lose her or the egg. The future of the world depended on it. He raced down the hallway, following the sounds of her footsteps slapping against the marble floors some distance ahead. He glanced behind him, half expecting the operatives to be hot on his heels. But thankfully the corridor was empty.
    I could have saved her , he thought wildly, as he cut through the dinosaur exhibit. I could have gotten her out of this whole mess unharmed. She could have lived a normal life, had a happily ever after.
    But now it was too late.
    A scream echoed through the hallway. Her scream—coming from right around the corner. He skittered to a stop, swinging a hard right into the sea-life installation. Ducking behind a giant turtle fossil, he located Trinity, in the grip of a burly man dressed in black. She was still clutching the egg with white-knuckled fingers as the man pressed a pistol to her temple.
    “Let me go!” she screamed, fighting him with all her might. But the man outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds and, by the looks of it, had a killer grip.
    “I’ve got some girl,” he reported into a black metal device attached to his shoulder. “She was trying to escape with the egg.”
    “Don’t let her go,” a voice crackled over the airwaves. “I’ll be right there.”
    Connor froze, his heart in his throat. That voice. He’d recognize it anywhere. As if it were his own. But that was impossible. There was no way he could be here. Unless…
    Oh God. Had the Dracken come after the egg too?
    He’d have to figure it out later. Right now, all that mattered was freeing Trinity and retrieving the egg—before either the government or the Dracken showed up. Forcing his hands to stay steady, he attempted to line up his target. But Trinity was in the way—a human shield—and he couldn’t find a clear shot. And if he cried out to her, he’d give his position away.
    Could he send to her? While he couldn’t direct her thoughts thanks to his current lack of spark, he could probably muster up a helpful suggestion or two and pray she thought it was a good idea.
    He squared his shoulders. It was a weak plan, at best. But he had no other options. And he was running out of time. Squeezing his eyes shut, he lobbed a command as hard as he could in her general direction, praying she’d hear and