In Darkness Reborn Read online

  He let her think he hadn’t noticed. “I assume you monitor all the volcanoes and fault lines.”

  Lacey nodded. “That’s why we’re here.”

  She led the way into her cluttered office, gesturing for him to sit down. He lifted a pile of textbooks and set them in a neat stack on the floor to clear a space for himself. Lacey rooted through some files before finding the one she’d been looking for.

  “I’ve made up a schedule for you for the next couple of weeks.” She held out a piece of paper to him. “Until we figure out exactly what your duties will entail, I’ve matched your work shifts to mine. Once I know what you can do, we can work you into our normal rotation. I like to have someone on duty here around the clock.”

  In his experience, trust was a gift to be given only sparingly. She might think he was here to prove his worth to her department, but that road ran in both directions.

  “Whatever you say, Dr. Sebastian.”

  Leaning back in her chair, she stared at him, her troubled eyes studying him. “I think we should make it ‘Lacey,’ don’t you think? After all, you’ve seen the Sebastians at their worst, squabbling out in the street. I apologize for Penn again. His attack on you was unprovoked.”

  Had the roles been reversed, his own people would not have tolerated a Paladin loose in their streets.

  “There is no need to apologize for your brother, Lacey.” The use of her first name was a gift he would savor. “And I appreciate your willingness to let me work here. It will feel good to be of use again.”

  She looked puzzled. “But what about Dr. Young? I thought you had been working in her lab.”

  “Yes, she was kind enough to keep me busy.”

  Understanding was quick in coming. “Ah, busy but not especially productive. Well, my budget is such that I need to squeeze as much as I can out of every minute, especially in times like these, when the mountain is so restless. I’m glad to have someone to help shoulder some of the load. I’m scheduled to do some field work this week; how do you feel about hiking tomorrow?”

  “I would enjoy some time spent in the outdoors.” Especially alone with this woman, out in the fresh air and warm sunshine, just the two of them far away from the prying eyes of the entire Regents organization. Maybe for a little while, Lacey would forget what he was and see him for who he was: a man enjoying the company of an attractive woman. Knowing how her Paladin brother would feel about it only enhanced his pleasure in the idea.

  “Give me your address and I’ll pick you up in the morning. Say, around six?”

  “I’ll be ready.”

  But first he’d have to call Devlin and find out what one wore to go hiking.

  Lacey knew Barak was hurting from the long day, but petty as it was, she deliberately kept up the grueling pace back to her truck until thirst forced her to stop. When she paused to take a swig of water out of her bottle, Barak immediately sank down on a boulder, another sign that he regretted coming along on this little expedition.

  Well, too bad. She’d been hauling equipment up and down these trails by herself for years. While she’d been doing that, how many Paladins had Barak killed? It was about time the mountain exacted a little revenge.

  She reluctantly admitted to herself that he’d done everything she’d asked of him without complaint. The few questions he’d asked had been intelligent and to the point as they’d checked the field equipment set to monitor earth movements around Mount Rainier. Lately Mount St. Helens had commanded most of the department’s attention, but with Rainier looming over Seattle, it never paid to get complacent. If the big mountain ever decided to blow, thousands of people would be in the path of destruction.

  She shifted her pack to keep it from digging into her shoulders. Her back itched due to the day’s increasing warmth, but that was easier to take than the biting cold on the mountain in the winter.

  She stashed her water bottle back in her pack and set off down the trail. Barak wasn’t quite so quick to get started, but she heard the crunch of gravel as he fell in behind her.

  “We’re almost there.”

  “That is good news.”

  Barak sounded a bit breathless. Maybe if she grilled him on what he’d learned, it would distract him from his aching feet and sunburned nose.

  The trail had widened, so she waited for him to step up beside her. “So tell me, what data are we hoping to gather?”

  Barak kept his eyes firmly on the trail ahead. As he replied to her questions, his responses impressed her, though she didn’t want them to. Her sudden surge of sympathy for him wasn’t a welcome feeling either. But judging from the stubborn tilt to his jawline, he wouldn’t appreciate any sympathy.

  The trailhead was about a quarter of a mile ahead. As much as she looked forward to shedding the weight of her backpack, she wasn’t relishing the thought of being shut up inside the cab of the truck with Barak for the long trip back to the city. Normally she stopped to eat along the way, but that would only prolong their time together.

  When they made the last turn in the trail, she glanced at her silent companion. His normal pallor was worse than usual and she slowed her footsteps, concerned that he might not make it as far as the truck. The last thing she wanted was to have to call for an emergency pickup just because she’d been taking cheap pleasure in her new assistant’s misery.

  “When’s the last time you drank something?”

  “I ran out of water shortly after we reached that last checkpoint.” His pale eyes met hers.

  That was over two hours before. She didn’t know which one of them was the bigger fool: Barak for not complaining, or her for not keeping a better eye on him. He stumbled slightly, his feet dragging slightly as he struggled to keep his balance. She muttered a curse as she caught him in her arms. When he tried to resist she tightened her hold, but she realized her mistake as their bodies came together in an unexpected rush of heat. Her lungs forgot how to breathe as she stared up into his handsome face. His eyes met hers briefly before glancing down at her mouth. Was he about to kiss her?

  “Barak?” His name came out in a whisper.

  He started to lean closer, but then shook his head as if to clear it and stepped back. Afraid he might still stumble, she wrapped one of his arms across her shoulders, ignoring her body’s response to his nearness. The sudden ache in her chest reminded her that it was the wrong time, the wrong place, and this was definitely the wrong man. Surely it wasn’t disappointment she was feeling, but relief.

  When he resisted her help, she said, “Don’t fight me, Barak. We’re almost to the truck. I have extra water there.”

  “I’ll make it.” His words were slurred, but at least he was still moving.

  They managed the last distance in a series of short spurts, stopping frequently to allow him to catch his breath before trudging onward. Her small pickup had never looked better to her, dents and all.

  She helped Barak drop his backpack to the ground and all but shoved him inside the cab. Handing him a bottle of water, she ordered, “Sip that slowly.”

  After stowing their gear, she started the engine, then turned on the air-conditioning to aid Barak’s recovery.

  He was leaning back in the seat, his eyes closed. Every so often, he’d lift the bottle and take another slow drink. Before putting the truck in gear, she poured some of her own water on a clean cloth she had in the back.

  “Here. Hold this on your forehead.”

  Barak did as he was told. When the cool water touched his skin, he sighed with relief. “Thank you.”

  She didn’t want his gratitude; not when she was partly at fault for his condition. “You should feel better as soon as it cools off in here and we get some fluids into you.”

  His color gradually improved as they drove down the mountain. Was his kind more sensitive to the altitude?

  “Feeling better?”

  At first she thought he wasn’t going to answer, but then he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “Yes.”

 
“Good. I guess we overdid it for the first time out.” Well, she hadn’t, but she was used to the mountain and its ways.

  “It does appear that I’ll have to work harder to acclimate myself.” He closed his eyes, thus ending the conversation.

  There was a myriad of questions she would have asked him if he hadn’t been the enemy. Why had he crossed the barrier in the first place? What was his homeworld like? What was so terrible that it was worth risking almost certain death to escape across the barrier?

  But those questions would go unanswered for now as her unwanted companion fell into an exhausted slumber. She drove down the mountain and back to Seattle with only an oldies station for company.

  If Barak could have lifted his head from the carpet without falling on his face again, he would have asked the gods to end his misery right then and there. He’d managed to salvage at least some dignity by walking unassisted from Lacey’s truck into his apartment before collapsing. Even now, hours later, he couldn’t focus enough to see the clock. Judging by the glow of the streetlight coming through the window, though, it was well into the evening.

  He counted to ten, then pushed himself up into a kneeling position. When his head didn’t start spinning in circles, he drew a steadying breath and pulled himself up to his feet with the support of the couch. Closing his eyes, he waited for the world to right itself before risking a step toward the kitchen.

  One step, two, and then three and four. He was all the way across the living room and into his small kitchen. In bad need of both food and water, he yanked open the refrigerator door. Just as he suspected, he should have gone grocery shopping days ago. He mainly ate fruit and vegetables, but there was nothing inside the fridge that looked inviting.

  He grabbed a sports drink and reached for the phone. He didn’t know what it said about his new life that he had the local pizza parlor on speed dial. After placing an order for his usual vegetarian pizza, he sat down in his favorite chair and counted off the minutes until the pizza would be delivered.

  Only five minutes had passed when there was a knock at the door, too soon to be his food. He reached for the stout stick he kept stashed next to the door. It wouldn’t protect him against a gun or rifle, but it was all he had. After a quick glance through the peephole, he set the stick down and opened the door to greet his unexpected guest.

  “What do you want?”

  Devlin took one look at him and said, “You look like hell.”

  “Thanks. If all you came to do was insult me, this conversation is over.” Barak started to slam the door in Devlin’s face, but the Paladin shouldered his way into the room.

  “Why are you here?” Barak growled.

  Devlin helped himself to one of the three beers in the fridge. “I wanted to hear how your first full day went.”

  Barak gave up on getting rid of the Paladin anytime soon. He picked up his own drink and settled back into his chair. “Why do you care?”

  Making himself comfortable on the couch, Devlin popped the top of the beer. “Because if this deal isn’t going to work out, we need to start making other plans.”

  “I can make my own plans, Bane. You are not my keeper.” A surge of temper washed through Barak, hot and bright red. “Now tell me the real reason you’re here. We both know it isn’t for the company.”

  “Laurel wanted me to check on you.” Devlin’s lip curled up in a sneer. “She’s worried.”

  For the first time in hours, Barak felt like smiling. Despite Devlin’s well-earned reputation as a cold-blooded killer, his mate had him spinning in circles. The way might never be smooth for the Paladin and his lover, but there was no doubt that it was a love match.

  “Tell her that I am thriving.”

  Devlin looked at him for a long time. “Which is why you look like hell? What happened?”

  Barak was not about to tell Devlin the truth, so he used the words Lacey had used to describe Barak’s adverse reaction to the mountain. “Altitude sickness. Dr. Sebastian and I made a trip up to Mount Rainier today. Evidently I have not adjusted enough to this world yet to handle the extreme elevation. I should be fine after I eat.”

  As if his words had conjured the pizza delivery out of thin air, the doorbell rang again. He resigned himself to having a Paladin for a dinner companion. At least he’d ordered an extra-large pizza, figuring on eating the leftovers for a day or two.

  Good manners in this world dictated that he ask, “Would you care to join me for dinner?”

  Eyeing the large box, Devlin responded, “What kind did you order?”

  “Vegetarian.” Barak hid a smile, waiting for Devlin’s reaction.

  Just as he expected, Devlin looked thoroughly disgusted. “Laurel has definitely been a bad influence on you, but I can choke some down. I missed lunch today, and Laurel had to cancel our dinner plans.”

  Barak set the pizza box on the coffee table and brought two plates in from the kitchen. “Help yourself.”

  Neither of them felt the need to maintain polite conversation while they consumed all but one piece of the savory pizza. Devlin eyed the remaining wedge, then smiled at Barak.

  “Since it’s your pizza, I’ll leave that one for you.”

  “How very generous of you. Now go home. I want to go to bed.”

  The smile disappeared. “Do you need help?”

  “No, I can manage alone.” Even if it killed him.

  “Are you working tomorrow?” Bane asked as he picked up the pizza box and plates and carried them into the kitchen.

  On another day, Barak might have protested, but it would take all the energy he had left just to make it to bed without crawling again. He pushed himself up out of the chair while Bane was out of sight.

  “Yes, I am expected at ten o’clock. Dr. Sebastian is having me work the same hours she does until I learn my duties.”

  Bane’s green eyes saw too much. He started to offer a steadying hand, but he caught himself at the last second. “Did Dr. Sebastian tell you that her brother is a Paladin?”

  Barak struggled to keep his voice neutral. “We met yesterday.”

  The Paladin frowned. “I take it the experience wasn’t exactly fun.”

  “No, I enjoy having a street person jam a gun in my back and punch my jaw. I look forward to chatting with him again tomorrow.”

  Devlin sighed. “That fool never makes it easy on himself. I’ll have a talk with him.”

  “That will not be necessary. The man was attempting to protect his sister. I would have done the same if the situation had been reversed.”

  “You have a sister?”

  Barak gritted his teeth for letting that slip out. “I didn’t say that. I just meant that if I were to see an unknown Paladin approach a female that I cared about, I would have responded in a similar manner.”

  “If it continues to be a problem, let me know.”

  That wasn’t going to happen. Either Penn Sebastian would learn to accept Barak or they would come to blows again. He couldn’t have Bane or Laurel always standing between him and trouble. It would only make things worse for him.

  Hiding the effort it took, Barak followed Devlin to the door. “I didn’t think to ask. What caused Laurel to cancel your dinner plans?”

  “One of the newer Paladins took a sword to the gut when the barrier went down yesterday. It’s his first time with a major wound and he isn’t handling it well. She was hesitant to leave him yet.”

  “Do we know him?” Not that he cared. Much.

  “Yeah, it was that boy you cut on the face the other day. Roy, I think she said his name was. He’ll be fine in another day, but the first time you go down like that is tough.” Devlin opened the apartment door. “Keep me posted on your progress. And watch out for Penn. He might not be able to handle a sword, but he’s a damn fine shot and throws a mean knife.”

  “Thanks. I feel so much better now.”

  Devlin’s laugh was wicked. “You can handle him.”

  Barak watched out the front window unti
l Devlin drove away. The big Paladin was no longer his enemy, but he wasn’t exactly a friend, either. It was difficult enough to live in this strange world, but not having anyone to confide in was the worst part. He should be used to it, because he’d been very much alone in his own world. It was a place of darkness, and secrets were a way of life.

  But here, it seemed as if most people lived surrounded by the noisy camaraderie of coworkers, family, and friends. With a few notable exceptions, conversations ended abruptly when he walked by, only to resume again when he was out of hearing—or so they thought. Leave it to these humans to assume that because he looked like them, his senses were like theirs.

  While his eyesight was no more keen than the average human’s, his sense of smell and hearing were far more acute. If he had lashed out every time he’d overheard a snide remark, he would have been fighting from dawn to dusk. Such slights were not worth the effort. Besides, his own kind hated all humans, as if each one had been the same as the next; he could hardly blame the humans for feeling the same way.

  His bed was calling. The sooner he crawled in between the sheets, the sooner this aching weariness would end.

  For the first time, he had something to look forward to, working with Lacey Sebastian tomorrow. He owed her for her unexpected help coming down off the mountain. Without it he could have died up there on the steep slopes. She had obviously thought his illness had been due to the altitude. Perhaps that had been part of it, but geological phenomena of all kinds resonated deep inside him.

  His body was not yet in tune with the pulse of the local mountains, and even a relatively quiet volcano such as Mount Rainier took some getting used to. Eventually he would be able to judge its mood without becoming ill. He could only hope that he could continue to hide his affinity for the moods of the mountains.

  On that cheery note, he turned off the lights and sought out the refuge of his bed, hoping to dream about how it had felt to hold Lacey in his arms.

  The shrill ring of the phone startled Ben, even though he’d been expecting the call. He let it ring a few more times before he answered.