Viper (Second Wave Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

felt when she had met
John. Only it had felt so much more intense and deeper than what she had felt
with John. Then again, she thought, maybe she was finally cracking up. It would
explain Viper’s disappearing bruises and injuries.
    There was no way, in the rising
moonlight, as close as she was, that she had misjudged the extent of the
injuries on his face. His jaw had been swollen to the size of a tennis ball.
His left eye was almost swelled shut. And there was a bruise that had traveled
from his chiseled jaw to his temple.
    In the light of the glow stick, his
facial injuries didn’t even need tending. The swellings of his eye and jaw were
almost completely gone. The small cuts that had been scattered around his face,
and neck were now nothing more than specks of dried blood that she had easily
wiped away.  
    Even the cut on his forearm had
closed dramatically since she had first seen it in the clearing. No one could
heal that fast. She had either seriously misjudged his injuries, or she was
losing her mind.
    Either option was unappealing to
her. If she was losing her skills to judge something so simple, she wouldn’t
make it long out here. If she was crazy, then she would end up in a VA run
psych ward, if she went back. Either way she would end up dead. Dying out here,
alone, was a better plan, she thought, and felt more dignified.
    She’d think about it once she got
the intriguing stranger somewhere safe, like she promised him. If she wasn’t
losing her skills, she would bet that if he was telling the truth, then his
people would be coming for him. All she would have to do is keep him alive long
enough for his people to find them.
    The problem would be setting up a
system of clues for his people, but not for the enemy. She had a feeling Viper
would be able to come up with something unique that would only speak to his
people if they saw it. Lara made up her mind that she would have him leave the
clues for them to follow when he woke up.
    As long as she could keep them away
from the cabin, she could easily disappear into the forest when his people came
for him and head to the cabin when they were gone. She wasn’t going to take any
chances that the cabin would be discovered. By anyone, if she could help it. She
was under no delusions that she could trust the beautiful stranger. Or anyone
else for that matter.
    Lara pulled her rifle across her
lap and stretched out her legs, trying to get more comfortable. Leaning her
head back against the wall again, she thought back to the clearing, hoping that
she’d remember a clue as to who he was. And why she felt so… strangely, around
him.
    She’d been shocked to see the men
in the clearing and thought they were there for her at first. Then she saw him.
He was staring defiantly at the asshole who had hit him. His green eyes had
flashed with fierce determination, and Lara had felt like the years of
loneliness had disappeared the moment she saw his eyes.
    Lara hadn’t cared if he was good or
bad at the time, all she knew was she had to save him. She had recognized the
men who held him. They were all surprisingly similar in appearance to the ones she,
and John had encountered overseas. Similar builds, height, jaw lines…… the only
variations seemed to be eye and hair color. Even the hairstyle was the same
severe military cut.
    The most important detail she had
seen, had been the same shoulder sleeve insignia that the ones in Afghanistan
had worn. It was an insignia that she and John had never seen before, denoting
a unit none of them had ever heard of and couldn’t find any information on.  
    John had asked around and was told
the same thing everyone else who asked had been told. That they were a
specialized unit on a separate mission and were using their location as a base
of operations. They were to be ignored and forgotten.
    Those men in the clearing with
Viper were wearing that same badge. Even if her instincts and soul hadn’t
screamed at her to try to save Viper,