The Darkness Beyond (11 page)

“Yes, I am. We've already been over this. I might be willing to get myself killed, but not you. Besides, you'll be coming with the second wave.”

“But—”

“No buts, kid. And every second you stand here and argue with me is delaying my getting to Reggie before they take her into that cave.”

Cody let him pass but dogged his steps all the way back to the truck. He finally grabbed D.J. by the arm, trying to prevent him from getting into the truck.

“What's the big deal about a cave? Why would they take her there? Who are these guys?”

This was not the time for long explanations. He jerked his arm free and turned the tables on the kid, slamming him up against the truck fender.

“Weren't you listening when I told you about what Paladins do for a living? Two of the bastards who have Reggie are from that other world. The cave must have a stretch of barrier in it. If I reach them before it all goes down, maybe I can get Reggie back before they have a chance to drag her across into Kalithia. She already knows too much for these guys to let her live. If you don't believe we're dealing with stone-cold killers, there's a dead body back in the warehouse that should convince you.”

D.J. stepped back. “You
will
wait here. Trahern and Lonzo will be along soon enough. Tell them everything.”

Cody looked back toward the warehouse. “There's really a dead guy in there?”

D.J. nodded. “Yeah. He's probably the one whose phone Reggie stole.”

“Go get her, D.J., please before they . . .” Cody's voice trailed off, but the misery in his eyes finished the statement anyway.

“I will.”

He handed Cody the gun he had stuck in his waistband and then pulled a sword out of the toolbox. “Take these and stay inside and out of sight. I don't know what kind of vehicle my friends will be driving, but they'll recognize my sword. Trahern's tall and has pale gray eyes. He's scary as shit, but he'll take care of you.”

Then D.J. got in the truck and drove like hell.

Reggie shuffled her feet, hoping to slow everyone down. All it accomplished though was to force one of the long-haired guys with the odd accents to drag her along by her arm as they traveled over the uneven ground. When she stumbled and fell forward, her escort managed to keep her from hitting the ground. Barely. She didn't bother to thank him.

“Where are we going?”

His pale eyes squinted up against the early evening sun. “Home.”

Ray turned around. “Both of you shut up! Jeban, the less she knows, the better.”

Reggie gave her companion an incredulous look. “You actually live in the caves?”

At first she didn't think he was going to answer her. When he did, his thick accent made it difficult to understand.

“My home lies beyond the caves. In the land of the dying suns.”

She trudged along the barely discernible path. The land of the dying suns? Was that some kind of Native American name for this area? Nothing made sense, but then she was bordering on exhaustion. It had been hours since she'd had anything to eat or drink other than that greasy hamburger and soft drink, neither of which had settled very well.

She prayed D.J. had found her cryptic clue, and that it had set him on their trail. Sure as heck no one else was going to come riding to her rescue. Besides, she'd come to some pretty strange conclusions about what was going on. She couldn't wait to pin him down on some of the finer points to see how close she'd come to the truth.

First and foremost, if the Regents existed, then so did the Paladins. If that much was true, then the next leap in logic was that D.J. himself was a Paladin. Which she really, really hoped meant he rescued the occasional damsel in distress.

They climbed steadily until the trail narrowed enough that her escort had to let go of her arm to squeeze between some boulders. Beyond that point, the trail twisted sharply to the right and then doubled back again. Nestled behind the last outcropping, a rock wall curved around a small, grassy clearing. There were three narrow fissures in the rock face.

Reggie shuddered as she noticed how well hidden they were. Surrounded by solid rock and trees, the openings couldn't possibly be visible from any distance. She watched as Ray and company whipped out flashlights and walked straight into the center one without hesitation. Before following them inside, she dropped down to retie her shoes.

Jeban stopped to wait for her, blocking the way back down the trail. “Come on, woman. Time is running short.”

She finished, hoping that she'd managed to leave enough of an impression in the dusty ground for D.J. to see. When Jeban wasn't looking, she quickly marked an X in the dust. Hopefully it would keep D.J. from wasting time checking out the other two openings in the rock.

Just inside the entrance, she found herself in a small cavern barely big enough for the six of them. Okay, this was getting seriously creepy. She fought down the panic creeping up her spine. It didn't make sense that they'd drag her all the way here just to kill her. There'd already been plenty of opportunities without going to this much trouble.

Cold comfort, but she'd take what she could get.

A pair of narrow passages opened out of the back wall. Ray motioned for Jeban's partner to lead the way through the one on the right. They all fell into line, journeying into the chilly depths of the hillside with only the dim flashlights to show the way. It was becoming increasingly difficult for Reggie to keep going. Feeling claustrophobic, the weight of the surrounding rock pressed down on her until she could barely move forward.

Jeban shoved her forward, sending her stumbling into Ray. He turned around to snarl at her. “Watch where you're going.”

She bit back the temptation to run into him again. As much as she wanted to resist every inch of the way, right now the man had the power of life and death over her. He'd already demonstrated once that he wouldn't hesitate to kill. She probably shouldn't risk provoking him even if it went against her nature to simply surrender.

That's when she noticed a strange glow coming from just ahead. Either their flashlights had suddenly grown in strength or there was another source of light. The passageway widened out into a large chamber. It would've been unremarkable in itself, but it was the sheet of swirling color that formed about an eight-foot stretch of wall that took her breath away.

She ignored her companions as she approached it. The hair on her arms stood up in response to the buzz of energy in the air.

“What is that?” she asked as she reached out to touch it.

Jeban lunged forward to knock her hand down. “Foolish woman, do you want to die?”

Ray laughed. “That barrier will crispy-critter you in a matter of seconds. Who knows, maybe you'd find that idea more appealing that accompanying my two friends here to their world for a nice vacation.”

Was he joking? She looked from man to man, but none of them was laughing. They seemed to be waiting for something to happen.

“Their world? What's that supposed to mean?”

She addressed the question to Jeban, hoping he'd answer her honestly instead of in riddles.

He jerked his head in the direction of the shimmering light and then spoke slowly, maybe so she'd have an easier time understanding him.

“The wall of light divides this world from mine. When it goes down, we'll cross into Kalithia.”

Ohh
-kay. She really wanted to believe Jeban was as crazy as they come, but he sounded all too matter-of-fact about the whole thing. Her logical mind wanted to deny even the possibility that she was standing but a few feet from an alien world, but too much was starting to add up.

Her control over her emotions had become more tenuous as the day had progressed. It finally shredded completely, and she went on the attack. She directed all her pent-up fury right at Ray. It was his fault she was there in the first place. Time to put her self-defense classes to good use. She didn't stand a chance against five adult men, but she could make sure Ray was hurting before it was all over with.

She stomped down on his instep and then shoved the palm of her hand into the bastard's nose. The resulting crunch of cartilage was most satisfying. Next, she threw him to the floor hard enough to rattle his brain. Before she had a chance to launch an attack on his most vulnerable parts, her original kidnappers had her by the arms and were yanking her back.

“Woman, are you fucking crazy?” one of them demanded. “He just shot a guy for a hell of a lot less than that!”

Jeban and his partner remained impassive, but she was pretty sure that both of them had found the incident amusing. Even so, they helped Ray back up off the floor of the cave. He pulled out a handkerchief to staunch the gush of blood from his nose. When the bleeding slowed, he crossed over to where his two thugs held Reggie immobilized.

He drew back his fist as if to punch her. To her surprise, Jeban blocked the blow. He and his partner had both drawn knives. The blades were long and curved, unlike anything she'd ever seen before.

Ray turned his temper on them. “What the hell do you two think you're doing? Why do you care if I get a little payback?”

Jeban shrugged. “We want her unmarked. Damaged, she is of less value to us.”

Ray laughed, his eyes lighting up with a crazed joy. “Well, all right then. We'll send her across to your world unblemished. When I want her back, I'll leave a message here in the cavern. It will probably take a couple of weeks to make sure that no one is still looking for her before I can safely put her to work for me. You boys can enjoy her other talents until then.”

The barrier flickered, the colors pulsing bright and then fading. Ray checked his watch. “Right on time. Until I send word, I leave her in your capable hands.”

There was nothing Reggie could say to that. Instead, she joined her captors in watching the light show. And when it blinked out completely, she got her first glimpse of Kalithia.

D.J.
was getting close. He'd found the black truck Reggie had described several minutes ago, tucked in a stand of trees. Rather than leave his own vehicle in plain sight, he'd parked it off the road behind some boulders about a quarter mile away.

Preparing for the hunt, he armed himself and picked up his weapons bag. The first thing he did before taking off along the trail was slash the tires on the panel truck. After he was finished, he called Trahern.

“D.J., what the hell are you doing?”

His friend's worried growl had D.J. grinning. “I'm hunting. If you hurry, I might even leave some game for you.”

“Can the jokes, you idiot, and tell me what's going on.”

Okay, Trahern had even less of a sense of humor than usual. “I've disabled the kidnappers' truck, so they won't be going anywhere soon. Try not to kill them all though. No doubt Devlin has some interesting plans for them.”

“Fine,” Trahern groused, “but where's the fun in that?”

D.J. could hear another voice in the background. “I guess you've met our newest recruit. He's a good kid.”

“Hell of an introduction, don't you think? Nothing like a kidnapping and a dead body to get the new guy off to a good start. Nice that he knows how to wield a sword though.”

“Yeah, gotta love that. Where are you now?”

As he listened, D.J. knelt to study the footprints in the dust. After he'd learned all he could, he slung his bag over his shoulder and started up the hillside, talking as he walked.

“Listen, you're only about twenty minutes behind me now. I'll be following the trail these guys left. I count three different male human footprints plus Reggie's. There are also two sets that look like they were made by smooth-soled Kalith boots.”

The thought of her alone with those bastards had D.J. moving faster. “Call me when you get here. I parked about a quarter mile west of their truck, near some boulders. I have a seriously bad feeling about all of this. There's no reason for them to drag her all the way out here with them just so those two Kalith can go home alone.”

Trahern's silence on the subject was telling. Finally, the man said, “I'd tell you to wait for us, but that's not going to happen, is it? I wouldn't either if it were Brenna up there, but watch your back. Last thing I want to do is haul your dead ass down a mountainside.”

D.J. grinned at the rough concern in his friend's voice. “I'll be careful. I'd hate to put you out for any reason. See you soon.”

He continued along the trail, stopping every so often to listen for voices and to make sure he was still moving in the right direction. About half a mile farther, he came to a screeching halt, positive he'd heard the angry rumble of a man's voice.

Rather than risk being caught in the open, he ducked behind some boulders and waited. Sure enough, a few minutes later three all-too-human males came hot-footing it down the trail. Two looked like hired muscle, leaving the third man to be the one in charge. He noted the guy's swollen nose. It looked as if he'd just taken a punch and was willing to bet Reggie was the one responsible. He respected her gumption but worried that she might have pushed a killer too far.

He watched the path for another couple of minutes. No sign of the two Kalith or Reggie. Damn it, that couldn't be good. The question now was whether he should risk trying to take these three out himself. Chances were he could, but one might get off a lucky shot. No, he'd leave them for Lonzo and Trahern to deal with.

When they were out of sight, he took off up the hillside at a dead run. A short time later, the visible trail ran out. He lost valuable time when he had to study the rocky ground for what seemed like forever before seeing any sign of where they'd gone from that point.

Finally, after following a narrow, twisting route through some boulders the size of small cars, he found the trail again, which ended in a clearing. Devlin hadn't said anything about there being three different possible caves to choose from. The last thing he wanted to do was waste even more time exploring dead ends.

He studied the ground in front of the first entrance. No sign of entry. He moved on to the second one. Bingo! Someone had knelt in the small patch of dirt right in front of it. Not only that, there was a small
X
scratched in the dust.

“Well, I'll be damned. She did it again.”

He peeked into the third one just to make sure, but the cavern inside went barely eight feet before ending completely.

Okay, door number two it was. Time for one last call to Trahern. It went to voice mail, probably because the Paladin was busy rounding up the bad guys. He left a message anyway.

“I found the cave. There are three openings, but it has to be the middle one. I'm going in.”

He hesitated, wondering at the wisdom of what he was about to say. Still, unlike Cullen, he wasn't willing to cross the barrier without anyone knowing that was what he was doing. Maybe they could get a message through to that Sworn Guardian friend of Barak's. Unfortunately, there was no way to know where this stretch of barrier was in Kalithia. It could be on the other side of the world from where Berk lived.

“Devlin's not going to like hearing this,” he began, knowing that was why he was telling Trahern instead. “But if they've taken Reggie across, I'm going after her. Ask Hunter to let Sworn Guardian Berk know I might be in his territory.”

His decision made, he entered the cave wondering if he'd ever come out again.

The cavern inside reminded him of the one that Hunter Fitzsimon protected north of Seattle. That one warranted a full-time Paladin mainly because of its proximity to civilization. This one, not so much. Hell, considering how well hidden it was he had to wonder how someone had found it in the first place.

He set down his equipment bag and pulled out the backpack he kept stashed inside. It held extra ammunition, bottled water, granola bars, and a spare gun. Next he pulled out his sword. As prepared as he'd ever be, he shoved the equipment bag off to the side, purposefully leaving it where Trahern and Lonzo would find it.

He closed his eyes briefly before deciding which passage to follow to the barrier. Oh, yeah, it was calling to him from the one on the right. He was strongly attuned to the barrier in Seattle as well as the one near Mount St. Helens, but this new stretch hummed softly in the back of his mind.

It was close, too. He turned off his flashlight and moved forward as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. There was a hint of light coming from down the way; that, combined with his Paladin vision, was enough to allow him to walk without hesitation toward where he really, really hoped Reggie was waiting for him.

He stopped to listen just short of the last turn. Nothing except the erratic buzz of the barrier itself. Either they were gone or they were dead. Only one way to find out. Fury burned like acid in his veins, urging him forward.

He slowly coasted to a stop. Nothing. No one.

What now? The barrier was stretched thin in places. Most likely that meant it had recently been down. It clearly wasn't stable yet, but there was no way to know if it would repair itself or go down again.

He studied the floor of the cave, hoping to read some truth about what had happened before his arrival. Reggie had managed to leave clues before. Maybe she had again. The first thing he spotted was a spray of blood, but he figured it belonged to the guy with the injured nose, not Reggie. He ignored it and kept looking. It didn't take him long to find something.

She'd written one word—Jeban—and then an arrow pointing toward the barrier. He didn't know for sure, but Jeban had to be one of the two Kaliths. It sounded right. It also meant his worst fears had come true. Reggie was being held hostage in a world known to be hostile to humans.

No, that wasn't his worst fear—that would have been to find Reggie already dead. As long as she was alive, there was hope. There had to be. He wouldn't have it any other way.

It was time to report in again, not that it would change what he was going to do. Even so, he wouldn't leave Devlin guessing this time about where one of his men had disappeared to. Since cell phones didn't work next to the barrier, he hurried back down the passage.

Outside the cave, he'd started to call when he heard someone coming up the trail and cursing a blue streak. He'd recognize that pissed-off voice anywhere. What was Trahern doing? Why wasn't he dealing with the three humans involved in this mess? Had they dragged them all the way back up here for some reason?

Only one way to find out.

“Trahern, I'm up here,” he shouted and then went to meet him.

He rounded the last boulder and found Trahern, Lonzo, and Cody waiting for him. No sign of the three humans.

“Don't tell me you let them get away.”

Lonzo looked thoroughly disgusted. “I don't know who you're dealing with here, but they've definitely got some money behind them. Just as we pulled up, a chopper was disappearing over the horizon.”

D.J. closed his eyes and fought for control. Once again the bastards had slipped through their fingers. Now how was he supposed to figure out what they wanted with Reggie? He should've shot them when he'd had the chance. He picked up a rock and heaved it at the nearest tree. When that did nothing to relieve the cauldron of fury and frustration burning inside him, he looked around for a more satisfying target and spotted one.

He got right up in his friend's face, both hands clenched in fists. “You said you had my back, Trahern. Fat lot of good that did.”

Those cold gray eyes narrowed and Trahern's lips twisted up in a nasty sneer. “Yeah, and if you hadn't gone off half-cocked as usual, none of this would have happened.”

Lonzo tried to intervene. He yanked D.J. a step back. “Guys, we don't have time for this shit.”

D.J. shook Lonzo's hand off his shoulder. “Stay out of it, Lonzo, or you're next.”

Trahern simply smiled at him, the glint in his pale eyes just daring D.J. to try it. It wouldn't be the first time a couple of Paladins went at each other just to blow off steam. However, as satisfying as a down-and-dirty mood adjustment might be, they all needed to focus on getting Reggie back. It wasn't his friends' fault that everything had gone to hell.

D.J. backed up another step, for the first time really noticing that Cody looked pretty damned worried. “Hey, kid, you doing okay?”

He ignored D.J.'s question to ask one of his own. “Where's Reggie?”

There was no use in hiding the truth. “They took her across the barrier.”

The kid charged right at him, grabbing a fistful of D.J.'s shirt. “You were supposed to save her, you bastard.”

“I tried.”

Cody got right up in his face. “Not hard enough. It's your fault she's in this mess in the first place, Knightwalker.”

Okay, so Cody had obviously gotten the full complement of Paladin traits, including a hellacious temper. Cody had done nothing to deserve the situation he was in. Neither had Reggie.

“You're right, Cody. That's why I'm going after her.”

“If you go, I'm going, too.”

That was the last thing D.J. needed right now. “Sorry, but that's not happening. We've already had this discussion. I can't be responsible for your safety when I don't know what I'll be walking into.”

“It's not up to you, D.J. I'm an adult. I make my own decisions.”

Trahern rejoined the conversation, breaking the kid's hold on D.J. “Listen, Cody. Trust me on this. You don't want to make this any harder for D.J. to succeed. He'll do better working on his own.”

Then he turned to D.J. “Devlin's on his way here with Barak. They're bringing you suitable clothing, and Barak will brief you on a few things before you go across. He'll drop the barrier for you, too.”

Okay, that was a big plus. D.J. hadn't been sure how he was going to handle that particular problem on his own. Tradition was one of the two reasons the Paladins fought with blades rather than bullets. The other was that bullets could shred the barrier, making it take longer to repair itself. The longer it was down, the more of those crazy fucking Others came pouring across.

But right now, he didn't give a damn if they destroyed this little patch of hell permanently as long as he could get through to the other side. Reggie's safety was the only thing that mattered.

“I'll show you which cave it is, but then I'm going back inside just in case something happens while we're waiting.”

The other three followed him around the boulders until they reached the entrance. He pointed to the ground. “Reggie managed to leave her footprints and marked the right one for me.”

His friends looked impressed, but Lonzo asked, “Did you check out the other two caves?”

“The far one only goes in about eight feet. I didn't explore the first one.”

“I'll take a quick look while Trahern waits for Devlin and Barak. Once they land, we'll catch up with you.”

“Sounds good. Cody, you're with me.”

D.J. didn't wait to see if the kid followed him. He headed inside and straight back toward the barrier. He paused just before the last turn to wait for his companion to catch up with him.

“Where's that light coming from?”

“You're about to get your first look at the barrier that separates our world from Kalithia. This is just a small stretch. The one that runs under Seattle is much bigger, as is the one in southern Missouri. The damn thing is scattered in bits and pieces all along the Pacific Rim and anywhere else there are major fault lines.”

“Seriously? No shit?”

For the first time in hours, D.J. grinned and echoed Cody's response. “Seriously. No shit. This will beat any computer game you've been playing to hell and back.”

Then he stood aside and let Cody get the first glimpse of his new worldview. At least it would give the young Paladin-to-be something to think about other than where the heck Reggie was and if D.J. would be able to pull off a rescue.