 Alpert, right? You’re someone quite important in that company of yours. Yet you’re somehow the recruitment officer, too? And you’ve come to me? I don’t get it. So as I said, why me?”
“Because you’re good,” Alpert told him, calmly and patiently. “You could become one of the world’s leading experts in chemistry research one day. I’m dead serious,” he added when Luke laughed. “You’re smart, you have inovative ideas... and you fit our pyschological profile.”
Luke gave him an incredulous look. “You want someone who’s unsociable, borderline depressive, and spends half his time drunk? Piss off,” he said irritably. “You don’t know anything about my ‘psychological profile’.”
“I know more about you than you think,” was the reply. “I know you don’t get out much, you’re shy, and compensate by being unsociable and even rude... as you’ve just demonstrated. You have few friends, no girlfriend... few ties, few commitments. For us, that’s an asset. And, Luke... Part of the reason you’re depressed is because you’ve been wondering where you’re going with your life. I can give you an answer to that question which is beyond anything you could ever imagine. I can have you working on secrets that the rest of the world doesn’t even know are being studied. I can change your life completely. If you don’t like the one you’ve got, isn’t that all the more reason to try a new one?”
Although he had not really intended to, Luke eventually found himself listening. He gave Alpert a long, searching gaze. The man merely held his gaze, and smiled very slightly, perhaps reading the first hints of genuine interest in the younger man’s eyes. Finally, Luke put down his bottle.
“What did you say the name of your company was?”
Alpert’s faint smile remained steady.
“Mittelos Bioscience Corporation”
* * *
In the small, pre-fabricated building near the quarry, as he stood by Diane, Luke’s face and eyes were hard, hinting at the cold anger which had smothered over some of the hot rage burning within him.
“Coll dies, we’re gonna have to hit back. We haven’t got the Kwon woman, but we’ve got two murderers locked in cages. I’d say handing out justice is going to be easy.”
* * *
Luke remained at or near the quarry until gone nightfall. He did not trust himself near the main Hydra complex or the cages. He did not trust himself to accept Ben’s judgement about the prisoners without an argument. It was dark outside as he sat, the chair leaned back against the prefab wall, an empty glass bottle of guava juice in his hand. As he had done earlier that day, he glanced up when Diane walked in.
The look in her eyes said it before he could even ask.
“Colleen’s dead.”
Luke’s grip on the bottle tensed, and he forced himself to put it down without smashing it. He stood, the chair slipping and falling with a clatter behind him.
“Bastards!” he spat. He looked at her. “Did Shephard do nothing?”
“No, Shephard did help. He did everything he could, with Juliet. It just... There was nothing to be done. There was never any real hope.” She swallowed, painfully. Luke nodded. He pulled his chair back up, motioned her over to it, and sat himself on the edge of the table. He poured her a glass of water, and drank from the pitcher. They both sat in silence for a long while.
“Ben,” Luke said at last, his voice dark and slow, quiet and deliberate, “is going to have to stop tolerating them being on this island.”
“Not all of them are bad,” Diane pointed out in a similar tone.
“No, I know.” He looked out at the dark sky through the window. The window pane rattled slightly in the breeze. Outside, all seemed deceptively quiet and peaceful. “That’s what I keep telling myself.”
* * *
The URI to TrackBack this entry is:Worldbuilding: Awesome Toronto setting with the PR firm and the world of the arcane (ie paranormal) world of vampires, pilfering fey bosses, clients like ghouls and ofc masquerada. While shape-shifting into other people isn’t a new notion in itself, the world of the masquerada is an original and thereby lovely (to me) concept.
Characters: Caro is smart, capable, funny, and easy to like. Her insecurities and partial self-hate as masquarada coupled with her tough past make her easy to empathize with. I loved her snappy humor and how despite feeling vulnerable after the attack she soldiers on to the best of her abilities, so her resilience has her pushing herself to build a new life.
Eric was kind of alpha though of the more subtle variety, hot, and more nuanced than I might have expected him to be – so all in all, a delectable juicy bit. He was charismatic, fun, super passionate, but also insecure due to the convergence issue so he came across as a bit vulnerable too.
They brought out the best and worst in each other and were super hot together.
Plot: The slow burn romance was tense and delicious. The Iversone tangent was suspenseful and exciting. I liked the alert pace of events and the hierarch power struggle intrigue.
Curb Appeal: Cool cover, hooking blurb – impulsive buy material for my original PNR moods.
I recommend Masked Possession to fans of intense yet sweet romance, plus original and exciting shifter stories with power struggles.
This entry was posted in 5 butterflies, adult, Alana Delacroix, fairies, fluttering thoughts, hot romance, netgalley, paranormal, RBR, romance, shape shifters, The Masked Arcana series, vampires on Aug 11, 2017 by The_Butterfly_Livia.
 -- Bread.
Experts have known that the sodium in breads and certain other foods can add up, but even CDC officials were amazed that just 10 foods are responsible for 44 percent of the sodium consumed.
"It's possible to eat a whole bunch of sodium without it seeming salty," noted John Hayes, an assistant professor of food science at Penn State, who was not involved in the report..
Health officials say no one should eat more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, equal to about a teaspoon of salt. Certain people, such as those with high blood pressure, should eat even less. But average sodium consumption in the U.S. is around 3,300 milligrams, the CDC study found. Only 1 in 10 Americans meet the teaspoon guideline.
The.
The new CDC report is based on surveys of more than 7,200 people in 2007 and 2008, including nearly 3,000 children. Participants were surveyed twice, each time answering detailed questions about what they had eaten over the previous day. Researchers then broke down what they ate into categories, and assigned sodium amounts.
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We look forward to your inquiry.PAS%.
After introduction of modern technology in quarrying sector of Pakistan and due to demonstration effect of the model projects of PASDEC, quarry production will increase to a level of 2.5 million tons annually till 2011..
PASDEC seek support from Government of Pakistan in the current economic situation for successful deployment and implementation of the approved projects.
General Company Description
Pakistan Stone Development Company (PASDEC) is not for profit organization, incorporated as public Ltd. Company under section 42 of the Companies Ordinance, 1984. PASDEC established by MOIP as subsidiary of PIDC. Vision
“To Become Globally Competitive and Socially Responsible Dimension Stone Industry”
In short run, PASDEC is focused on achieving one goal, extraction of “Square Blocks”. This strategy would have trickle down effects throughout the value chain of the Industry, achieving tremendous transformational impact. In the long run, the PASDEC vision for industry is to emerge as a globally competitive dimensional stone indusTrg.
The revolution of the industry as a whole into a globally and socially responsible competitor requires restructuring of the entire value chain, starting from the quarrying and followed by investment(s) in the processing capabilities on advanced technology/ up-gradation.
Initiatives to achieve the goal:
• Raise Value Chain Productivity
• Investment in Workforce Development
• Export Marketing
• Promote Strategic Partnerships (J.V. & D.F.I.)
• Develop Industrial & Market Information
The dimension stone sector is currently expanding all over the world. The use of natural stone has significantly increased in-spite of induction of several competitive construction materials in the market. Pakistan’s Marble and granite sector is underlined by unempirical mining technology and high wastage.
According to the vision developed by Strategic Working Group for the