• • •
“So you’re telling me that they’ve finally figured out a way to beat the test.” Colonel Kincade glared across the table at Laurel, as if it were her fault that all of the Paladins had passed their scans with flying colors. Even Trahern.
“No, that’s not what I said.” She was tired of his belligerent attitude and obnoxious personality. “What we said,” nodding in Dr. Neal’s direction for emphasis that she was not alone in this, “is that the scans revealed a great deal of stability across the board. Some had progressed toward the higher-end readings, but none had crossed the line.”
Dr. Neal shuffled through a stack of papers until he found the ones he wanted. “We also recalibrated the machines, both before the tests and in between patients, as well. The control readings were right on the mark. I’ve made you a copy of our report.”
He shoved a hefty stack of papers across the table toward the colonel, who predictably ignored it. Dr. Neal smiled but said nothing.
That left it up to her to throw down the gauntlet. “I must say that I find your reaction to our findings to be a bit odd, Colonel. I would think that you’d be relieved to know that your fighting force is ready and able to face the continuing threat of invasion. Instead, you seem a bit disappointed.”
Maybe she shouldn’t provoke the man, but the whole mess had her teeth on edge. That, and not knowing where Devlin was or what he was thinking. Everything felt disjointed. Yesterday she woke up happily snuggled next to her new lover, only to have him ruin the mood. She should have known that he would equate talking with lecturing and giving orders. Well, she’d shown him when she—
“Dr. Young, what do you think?”
Dr. Neal’s quiet voice yanked her back into the conference, away from the memories of what she and Devlin had done on her living room floor. Fortunately, he repeated the rest of the conversation.
“Colonel Kincade thinks, and I tentatively agree, that we should set up a regular schedule of scans for all of the Paladins. In the past, we’ve only done them when there was cause for concern.” He gave Laurel a sidelong look. “For example, the scan you ran on Mr. Bane when it took so long for him to come back from his last death.”
She stared at her hands, examining the idea from several different angles. Her personal dislike for the man from Ordnance was not a legitimate reason to reject his suggestion.
“On the surface, I’d have to agree that the idea may have some merit. It would all depend on what we would be using the data for. These men already feel threatened by the test, which we can all certainly understand.” Well, at least she could. “If we are using the scans as a means to better understand the developmental process a Paladin goes through over time, fine.”
She fixed her gaze on the colonel. “But if you’re going to hold the tests over their heads as a threat, I will not be a party to such a misuse of a patient’s medical care.”
Kincade’s eyebrows snapped together and his face turned an interesting shade of red. But before he could explode, a guard knocked and then stuck his head into the room.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, Dr. Young, but you have a phone call. She said it was important.”
The opportunity to escape could not have been better timed. “Gentlemen, if you’ll excuse me.” She followed the guard down the hall to the front desk.
He resumed his position against the wall, giving her the illusion of privacy. Who would be calling her at work? Her mother would be more likely to call Laurel’s cellphone. But maybe not if it was an emergency. Her pulse quickened as she reached for the phone.
“This is Dr. Young.”
“Meet me for lunch in ten minutes. Same place as before.” The phone went dead as soon as Devlin finished talking.
She gritted her teeth. These men and their dictatorial attitudes. Couldn’t he have at least waited for her answer? Instead, she was left standing there having to pretend to carry on a conversation with an imaginary caller, a woman at that. Who had he coerced into calling for him, to keep the guard from recognizing his voice?
“Yes, thank you for the heads-up call. I’ll take care of it.” She set the phone back in its cradle as she smiled her thanks to the guard. “I’ll be leaving the building for a couple of hours. Thanks for coming to get me.”
“You’re welcome, Doctor.”
She returned to her lab to hang up her lab coat and get her purse. Each step of the way, she debated whether she would follow Devlin’s rather abrupt orders. If he needed her, all he had to do was ask. No doubt he wanted to keep the conversation short to ensure that no one guessed that she was talking to him and not some anonymous woman, but that didn’t excuse his rudeness.
So she’d meet him for lunch, but he was going to get an earful about simple good manners.
She signed out, leaving her expected return time blank since she had no idea how long she’d be with Devlin. If anyone else needed her, they could call her cell. She slipped out the back to lessen the chance of anyone taking note of where she was headed.
The sun was shining brightly, bathing the city with warmth. It felt good to be breathing fresh air and enjoying the sunshine. Too bad Devlin had given her such short notice. Otherwise, she would have taken a more indirect route to the restaurant just for the sheer pleasure of it.
She would like to think that he’d wanted her to join him for lunch because he missed her. No doubt he had questions about the scans or some other Paladin business he wanted to discuss with her away from the prying eyes and ears of Ordnance and the others in Research. She’d help him if she could, but not if it meant compromising her integrity as a doctor.
Before opening the door to the restaurant, she paused to take a casual look up and down the street. The coast appeared to be clear. When a man opened the door of the restaurant on his way out, she slipped inside.
It took a second or two to adjust to the dim light, but she spotted Devlin almost immediately at the same table they’d shared before. From another man, she might have thought he picked it out for sentimental reasons. But Devlin had no doubt chosen it because it was tucked in an out-of-the-way corner, yet gave him a clear view of the door.
Her heart jumped when his eyes met hers, making her wish they were someplace a whole lot more private. She wound through the clutter of tables and chairs to where her lover waited. The thought thrilled her, and she stood beside the table until he got up and let her slide in next to him.
He laid his arm along the back of the booth, pulling her close to the heat of his body. Her lecture on manners scattered to the winds when she realized he was about to kiss her, and she met him halfway. His tongue slid into her mouth almost instantly as his hand anchored the back of her head at just the right angle for him to kiss her.
She grabbed on to the front of his flannel shirt and held on for dear life as his tongue slid in and out of her mouth, making her want to pull him on top of her and finish what they’d started. Unfortunately, someone next to their table cleared his throat, reminding them both that this was hardly the place for this.
Her face flamed bright red as Devlin pulled away, his green eyes sparkling with heat aimed directly at her. It was all she could do not to slink down under the table in embarrassment, but Devlin kept her anchored at his side as he turned to deal with their waiter.
“We’ll have two dark ales and two small pizzas: one veggie with artichokes and one with the works.” He gave Laurel a sly grin. “And you’d better hold the onions.”
The waiter laughed as he quickly headed toward the kitchen. Considering how close she came to tossing her glass of water at him or Devlin, it was a wise move on his part.
Chapter 10
He knew he shouldn’t have kissed her like that, but it would have taken a far stronger man than he was to resist. She tasted sweet, with a hint of hot temper thrown in for spice. He liked it. It didn’t take a genius, though, to figure out that the good doctor wasn’t particularly happy with him right now. She definitely hadn’t appreciated his abrupt
phone call. But if she wanted flowery words and fancy manners, she’d picked the wrong man for a lover.
He gave her hair a playful tug. “So how pissed are you?”
Her eyes narrowed. The dark circles under them reminded him that the past few days hadn’t been easy for her, either. Maybe he was a selfish bastard, but he couldn’t regret anything that had happened between them.
“Next time, ask me if you want something; you’ll find I don’t respond well to orders. Try this again, and you’ll sit here until hell freezes over waiting for me to show up.”
She scooted over to the far side of the booth to put some distance between them. Devlin laughed as he hauled her right back to his side and kissed her again. Slowly, her resistance melted. She leaned against him, content for the moment to let him hold her.
“Now that we have that out of the way, why did you order me down here on such short notice?”
“Do I need a reason?”
“Yes, you do, especially when you called me away from a meeting with my boss and your Colonel Kincade.”
That caught his attention. “What did that bastard Kincade want? He can’t be happy that we all passed your damn tests.” If he sounded bitter, too bad.
“They aren’t ‘my’ tests, Devlin. And besides, how did you know that everyone passed?” The temper was back in her eyes.
“Don’t worry, Doc. We didn’t hack into your medical files.” Although now that he thought about it, it wasn’t a bad idea. D.J. could do it without leaving any trail. “Most of the locals and a few of the imports showed up at my place yesterday for pizza and beer. It won’t come as a surprise that the subject of mandatory scans was a topic of interest to all of us.”
“Hmmm. Sounds like you guys had way more fun than I had. I was at the lab until the wee hours, scoring the scans and dictating reports.” She eased her head back against his arm and closed her eyes. “I am so looking forward to going home tonight.”
He wished like hell that he was going to be there waiting for her, but that wouldn’t be wise. Even now he didn’t have much time before he needed to be back at the Center to talk to the others. If that waiter didn’t hurry up with their order, they’d have to have it boxed up to go. He caught the man’s eye, and the waiter signaled that their food was on the way.
“So about Colonel Kincade…”
Laurel sighed. “He wants mandatory scans on a predetermined schedule. No decision had been made when I left.”
Damn, he’d been afraid of something like that. “Do you think he’ll get his way?”
“I don’t know. Testing has always been up to Research, not Ordnance, but the man is being pretty insistent. After what happened the other day, the Regents may give in to him. I know you all hate the scans and the tests, but if we can determine what it is about your physiology that brings you back from such horrific wounds, maybe we can learn to control the bad effects it has on Paladins long term.”
“We’ve done fine for centuries without it.”
She had the nerve to laugh. “Who would have thought that a big, tough guy like you would be such a stick in the mud? Just because something has always been done one way, it doesn’t mean that’s the only way or even the best way. What if we found out a way to improve the readings on your scans, somehow slowing down the process? Wouldn’t that be worth suffering through a few extra tests?”
Maybe. But what if their scores improved, but they still turned Other with no warning? And hadn’t Dr. Neal said that Devlin’s own scan readings were lower than before?
“Did Dr. Neal mention anything about my scan results?”
“No, we barely had time to calculate the results on the ones we each ran, without exchanging reports. I was going to look over all the reports this afternoon. What did he say to you?”
“He mentioned a couple of the readings stuck out, that they’d dropped lower from the scan you did the other day.”
Before she could respond, the waiter appeared with a large tray balanced on his shoulder. He set their food on the table and for a few minutes, they concentrated on their meal.
Devlin practically inhaled all his pizza, as well as a piece of Laurel’s. He wished that they had time to wander back down to the waterfront again, afterward, but they both had pressing business to see to.
“Thanks for coming.”
“You still haven’t told me why you called.” She wiped her mouth with her napkin and set it down.
“I wanted to make sure you were all right.” He’d arranged to have Trahern follow her to the restaurant and back to see if anyone showed too much interest in her activities. He knew he could depend on Trahern to protect her, but it would be a long wait until he got a call saying she’d arrived back at the lab safe and sound.
“Is there a reason to think I wouldn’t be?”
How much should he tell her? Enough to make her careful, without sending her screaming back to headquarters to raise the alarm. His Handler was no weakling, but she wanted to see only the best in people. The fact that she thought Paladins were redeemable showed how innocent she really was.
He did a quick check of the patrons in the restaurant to make sure there were no familiar faces. “There’s been a lot going on recently that doesn’t add up. We’re trying to get a handle on the situation, but we’ve got way more questions than answers at this point.”
“Questions about what? I’ve already explained about the scans.”
“No, not about your end of things. There’s been some weird shit going on at our end. It’s probably nothing, but it has us being extra cautious.”
Like not trusting any of the guards or Kincade or even Research. Until they knew who was dealing with the Others, everyone was suspect, except for the Paladins and the woman sitting next to him.
“You’re not telling me everything.” It wasn’t a question.
He shrugged. His woman had a tendency to tilt at windmills. If she thought for one minute that someone within the organization was corrupt, she wouldn’t rest until she raised the alarm. Once that happened, he might as well paint a target on her back. “No, I’m not.”
She stared into his eyes, trying to ferret out his secrets. “Promise me you’ll tell me when you can.”
When he nodded, she surprised him by reaching up for a kiss. The spice of temper had been replaced by oregano and dark ale, but the passion was still the same. Hot and sweet and addicting. She was playing with fire, and they both knew it. Finally, one of them showed the good sense to break it off. He was pretty sure that it hadn’t been him.
“I’ve got to get back to the lab.” Her lips were swollen and too damn inviting.
“We should leave separately.” Although she wouldn’t be alone, but he didn’t tell her that.
“Will I see you later?” There was a shadow to her dark eyes, because she already knew the answer.
“No.”
She pasted on a bright smile. “Well, then, this has been pleasant, Mr. Bane. Thank you for lunch.”
He slid out of the booth to let her out, wishing like hell that he didn’t have to. She had obligations, and so did he for that matter. But given half a chance, he’d chuck it all for another night spent in her bed.
Laurel must have sensed something about the direction of his thoughts, because she gave him one of those mysterious womanly smiles—the kind that could bring a man to his knees. He took a half step back before he realized what he was doing, and her smile turned into a big grin.
“Chicken.” Then the little minx patted him on the cheek and sailed past him toward the door.
As if that weren’t enough, she put a little extra sway in her walk. He tried to convince himself that in fairness to Laurel, he should chalk up their relationship to hot sex and a few laughs and let it go. But when she gave him one more sweet look from the door, he knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Cursing under his breath, he yanked his cellphone out of his pocket and hit a number on his speed dial. “She’s out the door. Keep me posted.”
>
• • •
Devlin had called for the Paladins he knew the best and trusted. Years of fighting together against a common enemy had made them closer than brothers, each a finely honed weapon against the darkness.
Devlin flexed his sword hand, wishing he had a better idea of what they were up against. One rogue would eventually slip up, and they’d have him. But if the treachery was deeply ingrained within the Regents, who knew how far up the chain of command the problem went?
His office door opened and his friends filed in. Unless Colonel Kincade chose that moment to drop in for one of his unannounced visits, no one would give a damn if Devlin and his friends wanted to hang out together. They frequently gathered in his office just to shoot the bull.
D.J. plopped down in a convenient chair and propped his boots up on the edge of Devlin’s desk. Cullen did Devlin the favor of knocking D.J.’s feet back down to the floor. Although he appreciated the gesture, they both knew it was futile. D.J. had no respect for his own belongings, much less other people’s property. His scuffed combat boots would be back to scratching the woodwork within minutes.
Trahern was the last one through the door, quietly closing it behind him. As usual, he stood with his back to the wall as far from the others as possible. He wouldn’t say much during the meeting, but when he did speak the others would listen. He had a knack for seeing through the bullshit to the heart of the matter.
D.J. raised his hand like a kid wanting the teacher’s attention. “Want to tell us why you dragged us in here, Dev? I’d planned on spending the afternoon doing some research.”
Cullen snorted. “You mean you were going to hack into some other poor bastard’s security system, drumming up business for your new program.”
“I prefer to think of it as doing market research.” The innocent expression on D.J.’s face didn’t fool anybody.
Devlin tried not to laugh but failed. “Sorry, D.J., but you won’t have time for recess today. I’ve got some digging I want you to do.”
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