The tunnel walls were uneven, as if carved directly out of stone. Someone had added a layer of concrete at one point, most likely for stability. Electrical conduits ran along the ceiling, interrupted every ten feet or so with motion-sensitive lights. She froze. Purefoy had chained her in a small offshoot of the main tunnel. If she were to quit moving completely, the lights should go inactive, leaving her cloaked in darkness.
Maybe the Other wouldn’t see her if she flattened herself against the mattress to become part of the shadows. How long would it take for the lights to go off? She moved again to reactivate their sensors and then stayed still. Counting off the seconds, she waited until the dim lights began shutting down, one after the other, until there was nothing left but the sound of her own breathing and the shimmer of the barrier.
She sat up again. Immediately the lights came up to full intensity, enough so that she had to shield her eyes briefly with her arm to give them time to adjust. Something niggled at the back of her mind about the extreme brightness, something to do with Others and light. After a second or two, it hit her. The lights in the tunnels were set to flare brightly enough to make it harder for the Others to see. Once they had been on for a while, though, the lights would return to normal intensity. It wasn’t much of an advantage for the Paladins, but one they made full use of.
The buzzing died away without warning, and the barrier once again returned to normal. While it was under control, she resumed her efforts to break free, knowing the respite might be brief. If the buzzing came back, she would resume her position on the bed and hope for the best.
• • •
Damn, he’d thought for sure he had brought the barrier down that time. Stepping back, Purefoy glared at the glowing wall of energy. For a few seconds it had weakened enough for objects on the other side to become visible, but not enough to interrupt the flow of the energy. Where had he gone wrong? He’d tried before to interrupt the flow by stabbing it with Bane’s sword, but that hadn’t worked. If he hadn’t been careful enough to wear insulated gloves, the damn thing would have fried him right there on the spot. As it was, the power had burned through the outer layer of fabric, forcing him to yank his hands out of the gloves before the smoldering heat caused blisters.
This time, he’d come better prepared. After staking out his prisoner where she’d be found by an Other as soon as he brought down the barrier, he’d returned to the stash of weapons he’d secreted over the last week. The small explosion he’d just set off should have put a big enough hole in the barrier. He’d have to try again using more force. Even if it only brought the roof of the tunnel down, that might do enough damage to produce a flicker or two—enough time for the waiting Others to cross over.
Once they caught the scent of a human female, the fun and games would begin. His original plan had been to have her for himself, but with his employer growing impatient and Bane already on his trail, there wasn’t time for a bit of rough sex. Once the barrier came down, every Paladin in the region would come pouring into the tunnels.
His plan depended on Bane being the first to arrive. While the Others kept the bastard busy protecting his woman, Purefoy would use a gun to bring Devlin to his knees. Once that happened, he could finish the job with a sword.
And if Laurel Young survived her first encounter with an Other, he still might be able to have some fun with her. It would serve the bitch right; his tongue still hurt where she’d bit it. Maybe after an Other used her a time or two, she’d appreciate a normal human male. Whistling tunelessly, he wiped his hands on his pants and then began the arduous process of wiring his next attempt to blow the barrier to hell and back.
• • •
For a second Devlin allowed himself to imagine how good it would feel to get his hands around his quarry’s neck and squeeze until the bones snapped. That pleasure would have to wait a while, but still made him feel better. It had taken way too long to hotwire the elevator, minutes that they didn’t have to waste.
He and Trahern could have rushed the job, but he didn’t want to risk setting off an alarm. The rogue guard had to know that Devlin would be coming after him, and if the son of a bitch felt cornered, he might kill Laurel. So Devlin had been forced to take his time in circumventing the safeguards on the elevator controls. Each extra minute Laurel spent in her captor’s clutches filled him with a cold fury.
“There, that should do it.” He reattached the keypad and listened with his ear against the door. Somewhere in the depths below, he could hear the click and whir of machinery starting up. “It’s on its way.”
“About time.” Trahern moved closer. “So what’s the plan once we get down there? Should we split up or hunt together?”
“I’m figuring he has a surprise or two in store for us, so we should separate. With luck, he won’t have had time to set traps everywhere. Going separate ways gives us a better chance of getting through to Laurel.”
Trahern nodded. “If I catch him first, can I kill him or do I have to save that little pleasure for you?”
“I want him to wish he’d never been born, but we’ve got bigger problems than him. And if he dies, everything he knows dies with him.” The elevator pinged softly and the doors slid open. Devlin motioned for Trahern to stand back while he entered the elevator first. When nothing happened, he nodded for his friend to join him. “This guy is at the bottom of the food chain and on somebody’s payroll. I want to know who’s on top, forking out the money and playing both sides against the middle.”
“So we catch him and convince him to talk first.” The corner of Trahern’s mouth quirked up in a small grin that showed lots of teeth. “Then we kill him.”
Devlin smiled back at him. “That’s the plan.”
“Works for me.”
In all the years he’d served in the Northwest, Devlin had never spent much time in this particular end of the maze of tunnels that hugged the length of the barrier through Puget Sound. The area this far north rarely had much seismic activity, although someone was always saying Seattle was due for the big one.
That’s all they needed right now. Even the slightest shift in the plates could bring the barrier down long enough to let the Others through. He wouldn’t even let himself think about what would happen to Laurel at their hands. It was the main reason that the Regents had a hard-line policy against allowing women down in the tunnels. In fact, as far as he knew, there had never been a female Paladin; he’d always assumed that the Y chromosome had something to do with it.
If he lived through the night, maybe he’d ask Laurel if that was the case. It had never been a particular concern of his because he’d never had unprotected sex; the complication of getting someone pregnant had held no appeal for him. But he and Laurel had skated the edge of carelessness a couple of times. They were both old enough to know better, but the sex between them burned so damn hot that common sense came in a poor second.
The ping of the elevator door signaled their arrival at the bottom, just as an image flashed through his mind of Laurel huge with child—his child, their child. The very thought should scare him, but he found himself grinning.
Trahern was staring at him as if he’d grown a second head. “I don’t know where your mind is, Devlin, but it better be right here in this elevator with me. When that door opens, who knows what kind of mess we’ll be walking into.”
“Don’t worry. I’m here.”
He brought up his pistol, and each of them moved to stand as far out of sight as they could. Only a fool would stand right in front of the door and offer himself up as a target. When there was no immediate attack, Devlin nodded at Trahern that he’d take point. He dropped low and rolled out of the door and back up on to his feet, ready to fire if necessary. Trahern followed close on his heels.
Their motion set off the lights. From years of practice, both of them automatically focused their eyes on the floor, away from the blinding brightness. It wouldn’t take long for their eyes to adjust, but for a few seconds they were vulnerable.
“See if they left any trail that way. I’ll check in this direction.”
Trahern arched an eyebrow. “How many shoes do you think your woman carries around, just in case she needs to leave a trail?”
“Very funny.”
Before either of them could move, a wave of energy rolled toward them from the left. Devlin braced his feet wide and stood with his head tilted forward as if leaning into a strong wind, while Trahern did the same. When it had blown past them, he shook his head to clear it.
“What the hell was that?” Trahern stared beyond them, as if expecting a repeat performance.
“My guess is someone is messing with the barrier—most likely our kidnapper.”
“Only a damn fool would risk bringing it down. If we’re right about this guy being one of the Guard, you’d think he’s seen enough of what the Others can do to know better.”
“Yeah, but you’re assuming this guy is sane. He’s the same one who thinks he’s going to live long enough to actually spend whatever he’s getting to take me out. That alone proves he’s three kinds of crazy, but we’re going to need help if he does manage to bring it down. There’s no telling how far the damage will stretch.”
He dug in his pocket for his cellphone, but they were too far down underground to get reception. “Shit! You’ll need to go back and get help. An energy burst like that could have taken down the entire grid of sensors, so they’re probably working blind up there.”
Trahern obviously didn’t like the idea of leaving Devlin alone, but the barrier had to take precedence over the life of one woman or even a Paladin. That was the one truth they lived with.
The tunnel remained quiet. “Go ahead and go. It feels like the barrier held, but he might not be satisfied with one attempt.”
“I’ll be right behind you as soon as I get back up top and call in.”
“I know. Tell Cullen to come from the other end. I want to make sure we catch the bastard between us.”
“Will do.”
The two of them set off in opposite directions. As he ran, Devlin sent up a prayer to the God he rarely even thought about, asking that He keep Laurel safe. At least until Devlin got there and could take over the job.
• • •
The buzzing was back. Already Laurel could see the shadow pacing back and forth on the other side. Fear burned at the back of her throat. Forcing herself to remain calm, she resumed her deliberate attempts to break free of her bonds. The pieces of rusty metal were finally starting to separate. If she could just get it to move a little farther, she might be able to work the joint free.
The humming grew worse, making her ears hurt again. Time was running out. She wrapped her hands around the pipe, closed her eyes to concentrate all of her strength, and tried to turn the pipe. It gave a minute fraction of an inch, but it definitely moved. She tried again and then again. Small flakes of rust rained down on her hands, and it came loose!
Now she just had to bend it down far enough to slide the handcuff chain over the top. And if she could work a piece of the pipe free, it would be a weapon. Several sweaty minutes later, she held a two-foot length of pipe in her hands.
It was time to leave.
The barrier had grown thinner; the clear, vivid colors she’d seen earlier had faded to a muddy tan streaked with sickly green and black. It looked poisoned, as if the beautiful colors had become tainted. And the shadow was no longer a blank silhouette. She could almost make out the features of the Other standing vigil on the other side. As she moved, his head turned, warning her that he could see her just as well—perhaps even better—because she’d triggered the lights in the larger tunnel.
She needed to run, but which direction should she go? Devlin would have found her shoes by now and knew where to start his search. If he used the same elevator, then she wanted to be moving toward him, not away. On the other hand, Purefoy had gone in that same direction.
Going the other way might have its own dangers, ones she couldn’t even begin to fathom. Deciding she was better off risking a run-in with Purefoy than an untold number of Others, should the barrier continue to weaken, she sidled past the spot where the Other waited. Once she passed that point, she kept her back to the wall and moved slowly forward. She was already lost; all that mattered now was not being right where Purefoy expected her to be.
As she turned the first corner an explosion shattered the air, the concussion making the world around her heave and roll. She watched in horror as the barrier flickered and then disappeared altogether. A heartbeat later, a pool of blackness, inky and thick, rolled through her mind, and the floor rushed up to meet her.
• • •
“Son of a bitch!” Devlin sat next to the wall and waited for the nausea and dizziness to pass. He didn’t know what had just happened, but it was bad. He felt as if he’d been flayed alive, because someone had ripped the barrier out by its roots.
He braced himself against the wall and tried to push himself to his feet. It took two tries before he succeeded, and even then he knew the slightest wrong move would land him flat on his face again. Ever so slowly, he stooped to retrieve his sword, aware that he’d be damn lucky if he could even lift it.
Then he felt his way along the tunnel, hoping that his head would clear in time for him to help Laurel. He didn’t let himself think about what the blast might have done to her, closer to the center of the explosion. She was all right. She had to be.
• • •
The first stirrings of consciousness brought Laurel the unwelcome news that she was no longer alone in the tunnel. She could hear someone moving around, but as far as she could tell she had yet to be spotted. She pushed herself up to her knees and then to her feet. What had caused the explosion?
It had to have been Purefoy, although why he would want to destroy the barrier was beyond her. Did he want their world to become inundated with Others? What good would that do? It appeared that only one Other had crossed in the near vicinity, but that one was headed her way.
The tunnel split ahead. Which way to go? She picked the right hand side because it was dark; something had shut down the power in that particular offshoot. The shadowed entrance was her one hope for refuge from the terror that stalked her.
She reached the darkness just in time. She could hear the steady approach of the Other coming her way. Raising the pipe over her head, she waited until he reached the split in the tunnel. He paused just out of sight, no doubt trying to decide which path to take. What was he doing? It sounded as if he were sniffing the air. With their limited eyesight in the brightness of her world, did they rely on their sense of smell more than humans did?
“Female human, come out.” The guttural sound of his voice sent shivers up her spine.
She’d already been the prisoner of one man; she wasn’t about to put herself in that position again. Maybe she could catch him off guard.
“I’m coming out. Don’t hurt me.” She injected as much fear into her voice as she could. Let the fool think she was broken and ready to surrender. Instead she charged out of the tunnel, her pipe swinging around to take her would-be captor by surprise. It worked. Her makeshift club connected with the Other’s head with a sickening thud.
A low groan told her that she hadn’t killed him. Throwing caution to the wind, she charged down the tunnel, running full tilt. When she turned the corner, she saw the last person she ever wanted to see again. Skidding to a stop, she looked for an escape route, but Purefoy had already seen her. He waved his gun at the pipe in her hand. When she didn’t immediately drop it, he pulled the trigger. The bullet ricocheted off the wall by her face, sending rock chips flying and startling her into dropping the pipe at her feet with a loud clang.
“Well, Dr. Young, looks like you’ve been busy since I last saw you.” Purefoy closed the distance between them and grabbed her, his fingers digging into her arm hard enough to leave bruises. He pulled out the key for the handcuffs and quickly snapped the loose end onto her other wrist.
<
br /> “It also looks like my plan to leave you to the tender mercies of the Others met with failure. And I had such high hopes, too.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, Sergeant.”
“Well, he can’t have been the only one to cross over. And with the barrier still down, there’s still hope.” He dragged her back to where he’d chained her before.
“You know you won’t get away with this. As soon as you damaged the barrier, every Paladin within a hundred miles knew it. If I were you, I’d get the heck out of Dodge while you have a chance.”
“And I bet you think I should leave you behind so I can travel faster.” He laughed. “The only way I’ll leave you behind is if you’re dead. Of course, if that’s what you want…”
A guttural voice said, “Only a coward hides behind an unarmed female, human.”
The Other she’d clobbered was waiting for them a short distance down the tunnel. A small trickle of dark blood on his cheek was the only sign that she’d hurt him. He stood leaning against the wall, but his relaxed stance was deceptive. When he moved to block their passage, he brought his sword up in a two-handed grip that seemed second nature to him.
“Human female, step away from him.”
Purefoy’s grip on her arm tightened. “Get the hell out of my way or die where you stand.” At least now he was aiming his gun at the Other rather than at her.
The alien male looked remarkably unconcerned. “Only a coward kills from a distance. I like the feel of my sword slicing into an enemy’s gut.”
Laurel shuddered. His rough, low pronunciation took all of her concentration to follow. But there was no mistaking the deadly threat he represented. Despite his pallor, he was striking looking, with long hair the color of tarnished silver and eyes only a shade or two lighter. Dressed in unrelenting black from head to toe, he reminded her of a villain straight out of an old black-and-white horror film.
Purefoy risked a quick glance back down the tunnel behind him. If he pulled the trigger, he might very well kill the Other, but any Paladin in the area would come running. She felt his weight shift slightly, warning her that he’d made his decision.
Dark Protector Page 22