Sideswiped by Kim Harrison Page A

Peri’s cheerful chatter just a hallway away. Together they spilled into the night, Summer and Silas hustling into the dark as Allen wiped down the door and intercom. He slipped out of sight just as Peri and the night guard turned the corner into the hallway.
    Silas held his breath as Peri’s voice became louder. Summer’s warmth was beside him, her excitement adding to his. Whatever happened now, it had been worth it.
    â€œI can’t believe we just did that,” Allen whispered as he settled nearby, making Silas feel like a hulking giant.
    â€œIt’s good to be bad,” Summer said, her teeth catching the light as she smiled, and Silas nodded, his arm slipping around her, pulling her closer.
    They froze as the door buzzed and then opened. “Thank you so much,” Peri was gushing, the overhead light illuminating her. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”
    â€œI’m glad it was still there.” The night guard hung halfway through the open door. “Have a good night, and good luck with your studies.”
    â€œThanks!” she said expansively. “Bye!”
    She turned away, her face losing its light cast as the shadows took her, a dangerous glint blossoming in its place. Silas’s own expression went still as he recognized the depth of her determination, her focus. There was no play in her, no farce, not like there had been in Allen and Summer. Seeing her pacing away from the locked door, Silas realized she would have knocked that man cold if she had needed to, fought him, maybe even shot him with his own weapon to protect them. But she hadn’t. She was good enough not to need to.
    And she trusted us to do the same , he realized, not knowing if that had been the smart thing to do. Peri was far more invested in this than Allen ever was about anything.
    Uneasy, Silas made a soft noise as she passed them, and she flicked her fingers, acknowledging him even as she continued on as if oblivious.
    â€œLet’s go.” Allen touched his arm, and they backed up before turning and walking away.
    Oblivious to the strength of Peri’s commitment, Allen almost danced across the dark campus. “That was so sweet !” he exclaimed, hardly above a whisper. “Damn, I love my life.”
    Laughing, Summer pointed out Peri, and they angled toward her.
    â€œYou did it, yes?” Peri asked as they closed the gap and halted under a lone streetlight.
    Summer nodded, looking beautiful as the two women exchanged phones. “I sent the drone into the ocean, and trashed the controlling app already.”
    â€œThanks.” Peri checked her messages, head jerking up when Silas grabbed Summer, spinning her around in a shrieking circle and pulling her into him as they came to a happy halt. She was soft against him, and laughing, and, not letting go, Silas took a wipe from his pocket and cleaned the black smut from Summer’s face. A new closeness made his motions more tender, loving, as he traced her lines, and, sensing it, she smiled at him, the happiness and relief in her warming him.
    Unable to resist, he pulled her closer and gave her a kiss, his passion kindling deeper as she responded as if they were alone, pressing into him with a fervent tension. He would never let her go.
    But she reluctantly pulled back a little, remaining in his arms even as she used the same wipe to take the smut from his face in turn. “I hope this works,” she said, eyes flicking behind him to where Allen stood, quiet as he cleaned the incriminating black lines from himself.
    â€œIt has to,” Silas said, letting Summer go as he realized Peri was carefully not watching them as well. “No one has ever done it before. That has to count for something.”
    â€œSo who wants to go for a beer?” Allen said, the glow from his phone lighting his face as he checked the time. “We’ve got almost an hour before last call.”
    As if nothing