Bound by Darkness (2 page)

“Yeah, right, and if he doesn't buy what you're selling? What then?” Hunter turned his attention to Larem. “Pack up your things. You're coming home with me and Tate. The apartment over the garage is yours as long as you need it.”

Devlin looked like he wanted to argue, but then the big man shut his mouth and shrugged. “He's right, Larem. I can't guarantee this new guy will listen to me. If you'd feel safer moving up north with Hunter, I wouldn't blame you. Go camp out in Hunter's apartment,
at least until the dust settles and we know more what we're dealing with.”

For the first time since Devlin had called the morning meeting to order, Larem didn't feel quite so alone. As tempting as it was to take off with Hunter, the thought of hiding out didn't sit well with him. A warrior both by training and by nature, he would not run.

“I'll wait to see what happens. Besides, I'm not the only one affected by this order.” Larem nodded down the hallway to where Barak q'Young stood talking to his sister, who had two Kalith children at home. “We can't all go into hiding.”

Devlin sighed, clearly tired of dealing with all the bureaucratic bullshit. “This guy is supposed to show up by the end of the week. I suggest we go about business as usual until then.”

Like anything had been “usual” for Larem in a long, long time. “Are we done? If so, I'm out of here.”

Without waiting for an answer, he headed for the gym, intent on working off some anger banging blades with someone, anyone. A few seconds later both Hunter and Lonzo caught up with him. He'd rather be left alone for a few minutes but couldn't fault them for their show of support. The least he could do was show his appreciation by bruising them up some.

The three warriors walked into the gym and headed straight for the rack of practice weapons. Larem reached for one of the Kalith-style curved blades that the armorer had recently added to the collection. After a few warm-up swings, he tossed his shirt in the corner and faced off against his two friends.

“All right, gentlemen, who wants to bleed first?”

Hunter's wolfish grin was a mirror reflection of Larem's own. With a quick salute, the battle was on.

Watching Chaz Willis squirm was a rare pleasure. Right now the two of them were staring out of a tenth-floor office window at the sidewalk below. Thanks to her fiery red hair, it was easy to pick Sasha out of the crowd even from that height.

Her father glanced at George, his mouth a straight slash of anger. “Look, I know Sasha takes her orders from the entire Board of Regents, but I really hate this. No matter how much I argue, she won't listen to reason.”

George sipped the glass of expensive scotch Chaz had poured for him, savoring the twin burns of the liquor and his friend's frustration. “I understand where you're coming from, but you really need to lay off the girl before you drive a permanent wedge between the two of you. She's well qualified for the job and deserves a chance to prove herself.”

Chaz topped off his own glass and took a large swig. “Shut up, George. She's my daughter. That gives me the right to interfere when I think it's in her best interest.”

“And she's my goddaughter,” George snapped. “Don't screw this up for her because you're not ready to cut the apron strings. She's all grown up—it's time you realized that.”

Chaz glared at George over the rim of his glass. “I don't doubt my daughter's abilities. But as both her father and a Regent, I have some misgivings about what kind of situation we're sending her into. We both know
Kincade made a mess of things in Seattle, and it's not finished yet.”

George strolled over to perch on the side of Chaz's desk. “You're thinking he wasn't working alone.”

Chaz finally turned away from the window. “I'm thinking we don't know. I don't want Sasha caught up in any fallout. By the way, I'm still pissed you helped her rally enough support to get this assignment in the first place. You should've stayed out of it.”

“Chaz, you and I both know that Sasha deserves this chance. Besides, we need someone out there who we can trust to do the job right. Would you rather the Board pick someone else, someone we can't control?”

For the first time all morning, Chaz laughed. “If you think you can control Sasha, especially from almost two thousand miles away, you've sorely overestimated your influence on her.”

George clapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, Chaz, how much trouble can she get into? We both know Devlin Bane and the rest of the Paladins have no use for number crunchers. At best, they'll tolerate her. At the worst, they'll ignore her. They certainly won't trust her. Meanwhile, we've managed to buy ourselves some time to deal with Kincade himself. We have to find out who else was involved in his shenanigans before we assign a permanent Regent to that sector.”

“That's just the problem—Sasha doesn't see her assignment to Seattle as a stopgap measure. She has every intention of being appointed as the new Regent for that whole area. We'll just have to find a way to monitor her actions carefully.”

Actually, George suspected Sasha would report in only when she absolutely had to and, even then, tell them only what she wanted to share. To maintain control over the situation, it would be better to have another pair of boots on the ground.

“Maybe we should have another man on-site. You know, to keep an eye on her.”

Chaz immediately perked up. “Good idea. She'll kick our asses if she finds out, but I'd sure feel better about the situation. Any suggestions who we can trust to keep a low profile?”

After running down his mental list of possible candidates for the job, George made a quick decision. The man he had in mind had served as a reliable spy in the past. There was no reason to think he wouldn't this time.

“Yeah, I do. We've even used him before in similar situations.”

“Good. Call him.”

George hit a number on his speed dial. When the guy on the other end picked up, George kept it simple.

“Pack your bags. You just got transferred to Seattle. I want someone I trust to keep me informed about what's going on out there and to do what's necessary to keep things from going to hell. There's a bonus in it if you get there by the end of the week.”

A minute later George hung up, satisfied he'd done the right thing. Certainly Chaz looked happier. Now, only time would tell if he'd made things worse or protected his agenda.

•    •    •

Sasha's plane had flown disturbingly close to Mount Rainier on the way over the Cascades, but the view of the mountain from her hotel room was stunning. The helpful pilot had also pointed out St. Helens and Mount Adams, two of the other volcanoes in the region, as he guided the plane into its final approach to Seattle. A chill slithered over her skin at the memory, but she resisted the urge to close the drapes. She had to get used to the sight eventually, and the sooner the better.

Granted the three peaks were beautiful, but she knew their truth. Underneath all that magnificent splendor beat the cold hearts of killers. At times unstable, always unpredictable, and when the mood hit, totally lethal. Even if the mountains didn't do the killing themselves, they also harbored the Others, crazed murderers from another world. Sasha couldn't just enjoy the volcanoes' rugged beauty, not when she knew about the trained warriors who lived and died under those scenic slopes, all to keep people like her safe.

The Paladins—a society shrouded in secrecy. Even working for the Regents, she'd caught only an occasional glimpse of the St. Louis contingent. Her father had done his best to protect her from the world the Paladins lived in. Even with her limited experience, she knew why.

They were warriors in the finest sense of the word—alpha males in all their glory, the kind of men who attracted women wherever they went. But not her. Not again. She knew better. It'd been another secret she'd kept from her father and the Regents; if they'd found
out, they might have terminated her employment immediately. Despite the passage of time, the memories remained sharp and clear; the pain still ached like an old sports injury that acted up whenever it rained.

But enough of that. It was time. Ignoring the flutter of butterflies in her stomach, she picked up her briefcase and left her room. Her first meeting with her new charges was scheduled in less than an hour.

Devlin Bane, a legend in their world, hadn't been happy when she'd refused his request to meet with him one-on-one ahead of time. He'd raised some valid points in their brief flurry of e-mails, but she didn't want anything to color her first impressions of the Paladins stationed in the Seattle area. Besides, it was pretty much a sure thing that they'd close ranks to shut her out. Fine. They had good reason not to trust the Regents anymore. She expected to have to work long and hard to break through their firmly ingrained “us versus them” mentality.

If she could reestablish a positive working relationship, though, she'd guide them back into compliance with the regulations established by the Regents for the good of all. The Paladins were the best at what they did, but somehow this bunch had gone way off track—to the point of harboring the enemy among their ranks.

Her father and some of his associates were all for shipping the ringleaders out, scattering them over the globe. She'd managed to convince the Board as a whole that to do so would only spread the contagion.

No, containment was the appropriate goal and her first in a long list. As the elevator whisked her down
to the ground floor, a surge of pure adrenaline hit her veins. The battle for control was about to begin.

It was time to report to the conference room. Larem had reluctantly agreed to attend the meeting as the sole Kalith representative in the crowd. Barak and Lusahn had offered to come, too, but Devlin had advised against it. At least he'd agreed that one of them should be there to hear what the representative had to say. Larem had no idea why the Paladin leader had picked him and hadn't bothered to ask.

Larem joined the long line of Paladins making their way toward the meeting place. A fair number simply ignored him, tolerating his presence only because they'd been ordered to. Inside the room, he paused to locate his friends, who had promised to save him a place. Lonzo and Hunter stood along the back wall near one of the exits. Lonzo was on duty and needed to be the first one out the door if the barrier crashed.

“Hey, roomie, thought maybe you'd changed your mind.” Lonzo scooted to the side to make space for Larem between himself and Hunter.

D.J. joined them in the back, his eyes flitting around the room. “Rumor has it the new administrator has been ducking Devlin. What's up with that?”

Lonzo shrugged. “Maybe he's afraid of the big man.”

Hunter laughed, his ruined voice holding little humor. “If so, maybe the guy is smarter than we gave him credit for. Think if one Regent rep went missing, they'd get the message and leave us the hell alone?”

Larem ignored the banter, focusing instead on a sudden
stir at the front of the room. Devlin had walked in, but for once he wasn't the one leading the parade. Whoever had entered just ahead of him was too short to be seen over the assembled Paladins and guards.

Interesting.

Few in the crowd had even noticed that the party was about to begin. Devlin looked back to bark something at Trahern, who had followed him into the room. The other Paladin nodded and immediately stuck two fingers in his mouth and blew hard. The shrill whistle brought all conversation to a screeching halt.

Devlin walked up to the podium and glared around the room, his eyes locking up with Larem's briefly. He gave a slight nod before moving on, maybe expressing his approval that Larem had dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt to better blend in with his companions. He'd also tied his hair back with a leather thong, although Larem wasn't the only male in the room sporting hair down past his shoulders. Devlin himself wore his dark hair long although it lacked the sprinkling of gray that gave the Kalith people their distinctive look.

“Okay, everybody, listen up. I'd like to introduce our new administrator, who's here on behalf of the Board of Regents.”

Before he could complete the introduction, the crowd turned restless as several Paladins shouted out comments and questions. Larem didn't bother to join the chorus of angry voices, figuring it wouldn't accomplish anything. Still, there was part of him that was glad the Paladins weren't going to make it easy for the Regents' representative to impose his will over them.

Devlin obviously had a different take on the situation. When the rumbling continued, he shouted, “Will you guys shut the fuck up!”

Then he flushed red as he turned to face his unpopular companion. “Sorry about that.”

Lonzo looked like he'd swallowed a worm. “Did Dev just apologize to a Regent?”

“Yeah, that's just wrong.” D.J. rose up on his toes to see better. “Well, I'll be damned.”

“Yeah, you will,” Hunter muttered, “but can you see the guy?”

D.J. shook his head, as if to clear it, before answering, “He's a she.”

That had all of them stretching their necks, hoping to see over the crush of oversized men that filled the room. Finally, the new administrator made it easier on everybody by climbing up on a chair. As the woman waited for her unwilling audience to fall silent, she did her own fair share of staring back at them.

Larem's heart lurched in his chest. Not only was he a she, but she was striking. Or at least she would be if she didn't wear her flaming red hair yanked back from her face in that unruly wad at the nape of her neck. He couldn't see what color her eyes were from across the room, but they looked dark and intelligent. Her clothing was plain yet showed off her compact feminine curves rather nicely.

If she was nervous facing a boisterous crowd of angry men, it didn't show. He respected that about her, but then he'd served with a female Sworn Guardian long enough to know that courage wasn't determined by gender.
The woman's gaze swept past Larem without pausing, which would ease Devlin's concerns but left Larem feeling oddly disappointed.