Bride of Midnight Read Online Free Page A

looked at him over the rim of the glass. “Sounds like a full day.”
    “You will be worn out by the end of it.”
    There was a sparkle in his eyes as if he had plans for the end of the day.
    She cleared her throat. “May I use this moment to apologise for my snoring? I tend to do it when I have been up for a while.”
    “Well, there is a visit to medical scheduled for tomorrow. We can have the tech take a look and see if there is a medical issue.”
    He was completely serious and she felt bad for making so much noise in her sleep.
    Aloss grinned. “I am making a joke. Shadow Bringers don’t sleep, so you could take up the drums in the bedroom and it wouldn’t disturb me.”
    She blushed. “Really? You don’t sleep?”
    “No, it relates to the changes in our bodies created by our sciences. Our brains no longer tolerate sleep.”
    “So, why do you have a bed?”
    He raised his eyebrows and smiled. There was a predatory masculinity to that smile. “It is mainly for your comfort. From what I have read on mating, it is nearly a necessity for support.”
    She blushed again.
    “You have a rather odd colouration on your lower jaw.”
    “That is the sunburn. My goggles only cover me to my cheekbones.” She smiled.
    “Will you show me what you do?”
    “I could manage it tomorrow. Do you have a crossbow?” she raised her brow in challenge.
    “I am sure we could acquire one. Why?”
    “I never feel dressed walking on the sands without one.”
    “Then, we will see what we can do. Do you have one in your possessions?”
    “Nope. There isn’t a lot to spare, so it is with the weapons supplies in Shadow City.”
    “If we don’t have exactly what you are after, we can locate something, I am sure.”
    With her meal cleaned up, they left together and began their day.
    The city was well laid out and mostly empty. The few Shadow Bringers that they saw smiled in greeting and came over for introductions. It was a relaxed atmosphere, but everyone knew their job and did it with an effortless grace that made Sobi feel like a gambolling sand runner.
    “Our next stop is the broadcast centre. It will show you how we do what we do.”
    “How you hold the shadows?”
    “Precisely.”
    She was walking arm in arm with him, and it felt completely normal. His casual shirt did a good job of hiding his physique, but she could feel the muscle quite clearly, tucked to his side as she was.
    Sobi went from the street and into a room that resembled the observatory from the ship. There was a large dome and six Shadow Bringers sitting with their eyes open and solid black streaming upward in a cloud.
    “What the hell is that?” She whispered it as quietly as she could, but a nearby Anvin grinned at her.
    Aloss pointed. “The first man is using his mind to determine the edges of the city. He is the control. Our bodies create a chemical, which is excreted through our eyes. It does not hurt, but it forms a gaseous layer around our target area. The larger the area, the more Shadow Bringers are required. The city can be sheltered with three, but we use six to keep from overtaxing our protection.”
    “Smart. Wow. Your eyes?”
    “The shadow can also be exhaled but that is harder on our systems. Once it is deployed, it can easily be topped up by even the youngest member of our gathering.”
    She stood and absorbed the process by which life on Ikar was allowed to live. The Shadow Bringers didn’t resent their lot in life; in fact, they accepted it as purely natural.
    She looked at her companion. “So, you do this?”
    “When necessary. Some of us are able to both assess the space and express the shadow no matter how large the surface area. The ideal situation is that we have enough Shadow Bringers to make cities all over the planet habitable.”
    “So, you are confident that your species will breed true?”
    “No. But we are confident that if we do not try, there will be no result.”
    Sobi blinked. “That is true, so why are the Shadow