Darkness on Fire (4 page)

Jora immediately sat up straighter. “How did you know of this gift? I hadn’t been told that it was one that Paladins had.”

“They don’t, but I know others from your world. Two of them have a variation of that same gift. Can you control the barrier, too?”

She frowned. “I’ve never tried, but probably. I can ease the stress in deep formations when it builds up too much. But if I concentrate hard enough, I can feel the smallest vibrations, even footsteps, as long as the people walking are within my range. It doesn’t work in town or in crowds, because there are too many to distinguish. These two were coming directly through the woods, not following any trails. My cabin is the only dwelling in that area.”

The glow of headlights swept past the window out in the parking lot. Penn pushed the closed curtain aside long enough to look out. Whoever it was pulled out of the lot, heading back toward the park, already too far away for him to see the license plate.

“What did you do when you sensed them coming?”

“I keep a pack ready in case the park needs me in a hurry. I grabbed a few other things and made a run for it. I didn’t take my car, because they would have noticed I was already gone as soon as they approached the cabin. By taking my bike, they had to check the cabin first. It bought me a few minutes.”

“Smart thinking.”

No sign of the car returning. He backed away, putting some distance between himself and Jora. As scared as Jora was, he wanted to offer her the comfort of his arms. She’d turned to him for help, but she was far too skittish for him to risk crowding her too much.

“It’s too dark for us to go back to your place and see much, but I’ll want to do that at first light. I don’t function without at least some sleep, so you can have the bed. I’ll take the floor.”

Jora immediately protested. “But this is your room. I’m the intruder here.”

“My momma raised me to have better manners than that, so I’ll take the floor.” Then he grinned and waggled his eyebrows. “Or we could share the bed.”

Holy crap, it looked as if she was actually considering it. Jora might have no interest beyond a safe place to grab some sleep, but he wasn’t sure he could trust himself. Like all Paladins, he had a strong need to protect. The thought of wrapping Jora in his arms, to keep her close and safe, held a great deal of appeal. But he also knew he’d want to do far more than just snuggle.

Time to make the decision for the both of them. “Help yourself to anything you need in the bathroom. Turn the lights out when you’re done.”

When she disappeared into the other room, he took two of the pillows and the extra blanket from the bed. After putting his gun and sword within easy reach, he made himself as comfortable as he could on the thin carpet. His gut told him Jora was on the up-and-up, but he’d been wrong about people before. If she went for her sword, he’d be ready for her.

When Jora returned he deliberately slowed his breathing, hoping she’d think he was asleep. She tiptoed past him, then all he heard was the rustling of blankets as she settled into the bed.

“Good night, Penn,” she whispered as she turned out the light.

He hadn’t fooled her at all. Smiling in the darkness, he whispered back, “Good night. Sleep well. You’re safe with me.”

“I know.”

He didn’t know which one of them sounded more surprised by that fact.

Tarl slammed his fist against the wall. At least this primitive cabin he’d rented outside of town was far enough from its neighbors to ensure no on heard him bellowing. The bitch had managed to slip free of the trap he’d set. That told him two things were true. The men he’d sent after her were incompetent fools, and her abilities were even more powerful than had been reported.

He turned to face his associates. “Tell me again how this went down.”

Berod shuffled his feet a bit. “We waited until after midnight, just like you told us to do. The parking lot was empty when we left the car there. We cut directly across country toward her cabin to avoid the trails. That way we’d be less likely to run into any stray campers.”

At least they’d thought that much through. He nodded his approval. “Did you see anyone who might have called the woman to warn her?”

“No, sir. I’ve got a talent for detecting heartbeats within a half mile or so, and the woods were empty. When we reached the clearing, there was a light on in the back of the cabin.” He wiped off the sweat that had beaded up on his forehead.

“We watched the place for a couple of minutes, you know, making sure she wasn’t outside. Then I realized her heartbeat was moving away from us. We charged through the cabin door to make sure, and that’s when we heard a motorcycle start up. It took us a few minutes to get back to the car to follow her.”

Tarl let his disapproval leach into his voice. “And you lost her, despite there being only one road into town? How is that possible?”

“I can’t track a single heartbeat in a crowd. Nobody I ever heard of could do something like that.” Berod and his brother Jarner exchanged unhappy looks. “We drove up and down every street in the whole town, but there was no sign of a motorcycle anywhere. Either she kept going straight through town or someone’s hiding her. We looked for motorcycles, too, but she could’ve stashed it someplace. In a garage maybe.”

“You think?” Killing these two idiots right now wouldn’t further his cause at all, but he’d do so later. No use diluting the gene pool with fools. “Did our research on Jora Larth reveal any close friends within the town limits?”

Berod shook his head. “She’s on good terms with most folks, but no one in particular stood out. The diner is the local gathering place. We thought we’d stop there in the morning in case she showed up for breakfast.”

So they weren’t completely stupid. “Good idea. If necessary, one of you do the breakfast shift and the other lunch. We don’t want to raise suspicion by spending too many hours in such a small place.”

Berod started sidling toward the door. “We’ll be going now, unless you need us for something else.”

As if they were good for anything other than their muscles and very small brains. Still, it didn’t hurt to throw them a bone or two.

“I know you did your best tonight.” Such as it was. “Check out the diner. If she’s there, make no contact. Just report in, and I’ll take it from there. Whether or not you see her, get some rest afterward. It’s looking like another late night ahead of us.”

“Yes, sir.”

The two scuttled out the door, almost coming to blows over which one got to escape first. He waited until they were gone before dialing a familiar number. If they thought
he
was scary, they should meet the man he reported to.

“Sorry about the late call, sir, but you said you wanted me to report in no matter the hour. It was just as you suspected. Jora b’Larth is definitely the one who’s been interfering with the energy flow. I regret to say that she sensed my men approaching her cabin and managed to escape. I’ve instructed them to notify me as soon as they spot her. I
will
bring her in.”

The chill at the other end of the line made his gut twist in dread. Though he might kill his underlings for screwing up, but he’d make it quick and clean. He had an awful suspicion that his superior wouldn’t offer him the same courtesy.

“Good night, sir. I’ll be in touch as soon as I have any news.” Or he’d run for the nearest stretch of barrier and disappear back into his own world.

P
enn used the thin towel to dry his hair. “It’s probably best that you keep out of sight for now. I’ll go across the street and pick up breakfast while you shower.”

Jora hated feeling so dependent on the goodwill of this Paladin, but what choice did she have? She reached into her pack to dig out her wallet. “I’ll give you some money.”

“Don’t sweat it. We’ll settle up later.”

Penn disappeared out the door before she could protest. She was down two meals to none so far, not that Penn Sebastian seemed to be keeping score. Besides, her cash was limited until she could get to a bank machine, and that worried her. If the men who’d chased her last night were as well connected as she feared, they might be able to track her movements if she used her credit cards or an ATM.

She went into the bathroom to shower while he was at the diner. It was still steamy from his shower, and her wayward mind again imagined his hard warrior’s body under the stream of hot water.

Though he was her enemy, something about him appealed to her. Once he’d gotten past his initial shock that she was Kalith, he’d treated her with cautious courtesy, and even given up his comfortable bed for her.

It was hard to reconcile her parents’ description of what it meant to be a Paladin with this man. Maybe Penn was an exception to the norm, but she had no way of knowing that. The trouble was, she badly needed someone in her life whom she could trust, someone who could help shoulder this burden of worry she’d been carrying around for weeks. Right now, Penn Sebastian was the best candidate to fill that need. The
only
candidate.

She showered quickly and got dressed. After her clothes had been wadded up in her backpack for months, the best she could say about them was that they were clean. Since her thick hair would take forever to dry with the small hair dryer provided by the motel, she settled for braiding it.

She heard Penn moving around in the other room. Gathering up her things and her courage, she left the bathroom to face her Paladin accomplice.

He held out a Styrofoam container. “Hope scrambled eggs and hash browns are okay. I didn’t think to ask.”

“That will be fine. I’m a vegetarian, not vegan.”

She accepted the food and a carton of orange juice, then sank down onto the floor to eat. To her surprise, Penn joined her rather than sitting on the bed. He stretched out his long legs, opened up his own meal. The next few minutes passed in silence.

Finally he said, “That hit the spot. Did you get enough to eat?”

She nodded as she finished off the last bite of toast. “Plenty.”

“Good. I didn’t want to raise suspicions by ordering a lot more than a guy my size would normally eat.”

Jora stuffed her empty container into the bag he held out. “Why? Was someone acting suspicious?”

“No one stood out, but there was no way to know who belonged there and who didn’t. While I waited for the food, I drank a cup of coffee. I didn’t pick up on anyone paying special attention to who came and went.”

He paused to drink his juice before continuing. “Even so, with only the one place to eat in town, it would be a logical place for them to wait for you to show up.” Penn frowned. “They could also be keeping watch from outside the diner.”

Jora’s breakfast turned into a solid lump of tension in her stomach. “I never asked. Did you have a chance to read over the reports I gave you?”

Penn nodded. “Yeah, a couple of times. I’m going to call Devlin to see if he can send me some help.”

“Do you want me to step outside so you can talk to him in private?” She crossed her fingers that he’d say no. Standing out there exposed to the world would feel as if she had a target pinned to her chest.

“No, if Devlin has something to say to me that he doesn’t want you to hear, I’ll step outside or go sit in my truck. I don’t want you standing out there when we don’t know who’s watching.” He gathered up the rest of their trash and threw it into the wastebasket, then grabbed his cell phone.

To give him a little privacy, Jora went into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Then she washed out a few things and hung them to dry, leaving the water running the whole time. She could hear the deep murmur of Penn’s voice, but that was all.

She pulled the shower curtain to hide the undies she’d hung up to dry, then she rattled the door handle a bit to warn Penn that she was coming out.

The motel room was empty and she heard Penn’s voice coming from the parking lot. His
angry
voice. Pulling the curtain aside, she peeked out to see what was going on. Whoa—from the way he was waving one arm around and glaring, Penn Sebastian was seriously ticked off. He kicked a rock, sending it flying high in the air.

When he started to turn in her direction she quickly closed the curtain, not wanting him to think she was spying on him. What had him so upset? Did Devlin Bane not believe her? If that was the case, Penn Sebastian would undoubtedly disappear from her life as quickly as he’d entered it.

Though that should worry her, oddly all she felt was disappointment.

“Damn it, Devlin, why not?”

Fully aware of Jora in the bathroom, Penn decided to take this argument outside. “Look, I know you’re shorthanded, but I’m not asking you to send any Paladins as backup. Ask Barak if he’ll come and bring Lacey. Hell, I’d settle for just Larem.”

He held his phone out at arm’s length and could still hear Bane’s frustrated reply. “Damn it, Penn, I can’t pull Lacey off her duties without permission from the Regents. I already told you that I wanted this to fly under the radar.”

“I get that.” Penn stroked his short beard, trying to maintain some control. “But I can’t protect Jora and investigate this anomaly she’s talking about at the same time. And to do this job, I’m going to have to go underground to check out the rip in the barrier Jora found. That means no guns, just blades to fight with. How the hell am I supposed to do
that
?”

Devlin wasn’t just his superior; he was his friend as well. “Okay, you’re right. I’ll see about getting Barak and Larem heading in that direction by the end of the day. I’ll text you with their flight information.”

Shit, he’d forgotten that neither of the Kalith warriors could drive. “Fine, I’ll meet their plane. And I’m sorry to be such a demanding pain in the ass, Dev.”

“You
are
that, but it’s okay.” A heavy silence came from the other end of the line. “I have one more question for you, Penn. When were you going to tell me that Jora is Kalith, too?”

Shit, how was he supposed to answer that? But Devlin was like an old dog with a bone; he wouldn’t give up until he had the truth. Might as well give it to him.