“Like they did when Trahern brought Brenna into our installation without permission?” Hunter smacked his forehead, “Oh no, I forgot. They let it slide because her father was one of theirs, didn’t they?”
He stopped to catch his breath and to renew his argument. “Tate’s a smart woman. Even if I hadn’t told her a damned thing, she already knew that my injuries had completely healed in less than twenty-four hours, and the reason the four of us are hiking our asses up and down the bluff this morning isn’t because we need the exercise. Anything I told her was just filling in the blanks.”
D.J. stood next to him, shifting his weight, his energy level running high even for him. “But having suspicions is different than handing her the facts, Hunter. Right now, if she went to the authorities and told them her boyfriend got shot and stabbed, they wouldn’t believe her. How can they when those supposed fresh wounds have all but disappeared? And even if they managed to track the Kalith back to the cave, I doubt his two buddies left any evidence for the cops to find.”
“I’m not her boyfriend.” He had to deny it even though he wanted to be far more than that to her. “And besides, if she was going to call the cops, she’d have done it already. We can trust her.”
He started walking again, relieved to reach the steepest section of the trail, forcing D.J. to fall back behind him again. He hated knowing that D.J. was right. The only reason the Paladins were able to do their job was that so few people knew about them. If their existence became public, the military and the government would step in and screw things up for everybody. They’d want all of the Paladins to serve in the armed forces. Who wouldn’t want soldiers who were nearly impossible to kill? But then who would defend the barrier?
Then there was the whole impact once it became known that intelligent life existed on other worlds. Oh, yeah, and by the way, only an unstable energy barrier kept the crazies at bay. Wouldn’t that make for interesting headlines on the evening news?
The more he thought about the entire situation, the worse his mood became. He needed a target for the anger that chewed at his gut and burned along his nerves. And hey, D.J. was handy. Hunter considered the best plan of attack. He couldn’t pull his sword. It wouldn’t be fair, since the other Paladin wasn’t sporting any steel at the moment.
The cane might have other uses, though. He shifted his grip on it, considering its effectiveness as a club. Oh, yeah, the balance was perfect, and the ivory handle would make a nice impression on his companion’s thick skull.
Before he could make his move, D.J.’s heavy hand came down on his shoulder from behind. “I wouldn’t try it, good buddy. Not that I mind a good dustup now and then, but do you really want to explain a whole new set of bruises to your woman?”
Hunter shook free of D.J.’s grasp and turned to face him. “She’s not my woman.”
“You keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better.” D.J.’s eyes twinkled with good humor. “But my guess is that Tate checked over last night’s crop of injuries pretty thoroughly this morning.”
That did it. Hunter’s fist connected with D.J.’s mouth with a loud crack. The force of the blow left Hunter’s hand hurting like hell, but at least he’d wiped the smile off D.J.’s face. To his surprise, the Paladin didn’t strike back.
“You just going to stand there?” he asked, bracing himself to take this to a whole new level.
D.J. spit some blood on the ground. “Pretty much. Figure I probably had that one coming. Besides, you were about to explode from frustration. Now maybe you’ll be able to think more clearly while we explore the cave.”
The man was clearly insane, but Hunter couldn’t deny that he’d burned off a little of his temper. He picked up the cane before heading on down the trail to meet up with Penn and Larem. They were waiting by the ledge that led to the cave.
Penn looked at D.J. and then back to Hunter, a grin starting to spread across his face. “I was going to ask what took you so long, but I can guess. What did he do this time?”
“Nothing.”
Penn snorted. “Then why the split lip?”
“He tripped on a tree root and ran into my fist when I tried to break his fall,” Hunter said with a straight face. “I feel real bad about it, too.”
D.J. started to laugh but winced when it stung his lip. “All right, assholes, that’s enough. I can’t help if I’m clumsy. Let’s check this place out.”
Hunter released his sword and started across the ledge with Larem close on his heels, followed by Penn. D.J. remained behind to stand guard.
They paused at the entrance of the cave, letting their eyes adjust to the dim light. All of them had good night vision, but the bright sun outside had a stronger effect on Larem. Inside, they spread out.
Penn knelt down to study something on the floor of the cave. “You definitely cut him good, Hunter. Someone made a half-assed attempt to hide the blood spatter, but they missed some.”
“Good, although I’d just as soon have found his body than his blood.” Maybe that was cold, but it was honest.
Larem stopped short of the barrier. “I’d guess you came pretty close to killing him; he definitely wasn’t moving all that well on his own. Looks like they practically shoved him across once he brought the barrier down. I’m guessing it was the Guildmaster himself. I don’t know anyone else strong enough to control the barrier while bleeding that badly.”
Penn moved up beside him. Hunter thought it had to be the strangest sight he’d seen in a long while. Who would’ve ever thought to see a Paladin standing shoulder to shoulder with an Other as allies rather than enemies? Hunter might have a hard time thinking Larem or Barak would choose to save him over one of their own kind, but obviously Penn and D.J. didn’t feel that way.
Hunter glanced at Penn’s sword hand, the poor bastard. Even if Hunter’s leg would never come back to one hundred percent, at least he could still wield the Paladin weapon of choice. What was Penn going to do if he never regained the use of his hand?
Penn happened to glance back at that moment. He frowned and balled his fist. “Knock it off.”
Sensing an apology would only piss Penn off even more, Hunter focused his flashlight—and his attention—on the floor of the cave. “It’s clear both humans were in here last night.”
Larem stepped back from the barrier. “Has it occurred to either of you to wonder why they didn’t return to finish Hunter off? Unless they assumed he was dead. But if they wanted to keep their little enterprise secret, they wouldn’t risk leaving a witness.”
Hunter had been wondering the same thing. Last night, most of his fear had been for Tate’s safety. Even if the bastards had shot him a few more times to make sure they’d gotten the job done, he would’ve pulled through. Tate wouldn’t have been so lucky.
So why hadn’t they come gunning for him once they’d sent the injured Kalith back to his own world? The answer was obvious.
“Maybe one of them suspected killing me wouldn’t work. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”
Penn was already nodding. “We’ve known all along that the Kalith were working with someone on our side. Whoever it is has to have ties to the Regents organization, but we haven’t been able to figure out who it could be. Every time we manage to identify someone, he ends up dead. The guard who attacked Laurel died falling across the barrier, but Devlin would’ve killed him anyway.”
Hunter paced the narrow width of the cave. “Yeah, and the Regent who was behind the attacks back home in Missouri was murdered while inside our headquarters. That had to be an inside job.”
Larem joined in. “Then some died in the earthquake that almost killed Barak as well.”
Penn’s smile was brutal. “Can’t exactly blame that on anyone except their own stupid selves for getting trapped in a cave with a pissed-off Kalith warrior in the middle of an earthquake. Served the bastards right. Besides, they got off easy because they died quickly. I can guarantee they wouldn’t have if they’d still been breathing w
hen we dug them out.”
He looked back at the barrier. “My sister and I would’ve both been dead if it hadn’t been for Barak’s ability to hold off the mountain’s fury long enough for me to get her to safety. We almost lost him.”
No wonder the Seattle Paladins had adopted Barak and Larem as their own. It was time to get back to the apartment. Hunter needed to find a place to live, and they weren’t finding much here anyway.
“I think we’ve seen everything. I doubt they’ll be back tonight, since their Kalith contact was injured, but someone should keep watch just in case.”
Larem shot him an odd look. “Is there some reason you won’t be able to do it?”
Hunter thought about lying, saying he needed some rest because of his injuries, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. “I won’t be here. Tate asked me to move out, and I promised to get a hotel room until I can find another apartment.”
For several seconds, an uncomfortable silence settled over the hillside as they stepped out into the late-afternoon sunshine.
Penn finally spoke up. “Well, that sucks. You can crash with us. Devlin told us to hang out up here for a few days to keep an eye on things.”
Normally Hunter would’ve resented the Paladin leader issuing orders without consulting him first, but in this case it was for the best. Besides, he tried to pick his battles when it came to bucking any decisions handed down by Jarvis, and he figured it was only smart to treat Devlin’s edicts in the same way.
“Sounds good. She didn’t mention you guys needed to leave, and my rent’s paid up until the end of the month. If you think it’s more comfortable, feel free to use the apartment.”
D.J. rolled his eyes and grumbled. “Comfortable my ass. Have you tried sleeping on that couch? It’s a foot too short and feels like it was upholstered with rocks and rusty springs. Personally, I’m looking forward to sleeping in a real bed, even if Penn does snore.”
“Me? It sounded like someone was grinding boulders on your side of the room.”
Larem laughed and clapped the two Paladins on the shoulder. “We flipped a coin, and I won. These two had to share while I slept well in the silence of my own room.”
“Yeah, well it sounds like you’ve got a roommate now, and I snore—a lot.” Hunter moved up beside Larem. “In fact, they gave me my own insulated room back in Missouri because I kept setting off the earthquake alarms.”
The Kalith warrior’s attempt to hide his horror had Hunter grinning. “Aw, buddy, don’t sweat it. I’m just jerking your chain.”
Penn and D.J. both cracked up. Larem finally joined in the laughter as they continued up the hillside. “Hunter, it will be my honor to share my room, but you might want to remember one thing about Kalith warriors.”
“What’s that?”
“We understand the concept of revenge quite well.” His smile showed a few too many teeth to be a happy expression.
“I’ll remember that.”
“See that you do.”
Chapter 15
Son of a bitch! He slammed the phone down. Why wasn’t Joe answering?
Did nothing ever go right? He paced the width of his office and back. No word from that idiot Guildmaster either, not even to say that he’d survived the night. Maybe he hadn’t, but that was the fool’s own fault. If he hadn’t tried to take on that Paladin with his sword instead of letting Joe simply shoot the bastard, none of this would’ve happened.
Granted, if he was right about the intruder’s being one of Bane’s boys, he wouldn’t have stayed dead after a simple gunshot. But once he’d been immobilized, the Guildmaster could’ve slipped back to finish the job when Joe hadn’t been there to watch. No, it was better to let Joe think he’d killed the guy, even if he now had a bunch of pissed-off Paladins to deal with and perhaps a dead partner.
Where was the justice in that? He’d spent years cultivating this partnership with the Kalith leader, and both of them had profited nicely by the association. Not that he’d care at all if the Kalith was dead, as long as his replacement could pick up where his predecessor left off. But according to Devlin Bane’s reports, there was a group within the Sworn Guardians determined to stop the leak of blue garnets out of their world.
The Guildmaster had barely managed to keep his job after the Paladins’ unauthorized foray into the other world. When the news of their little adventure had spread through the Regents, he’d wanted to dismantle the entire Paladin organization in Seattle and scatter those fools all over the world. It had taken him days to rein in his temper enough to look at the situation with a clear head.
Breaking up the close-knit group would’ve served no purpose. In fact, it would’ve been counterproductive. Paladins took care of their own. Threaten one and you had them all breathing fire down your neck. So instead of banishing them all to obscurity, he’d gritted his teeth and continued to frustrate any way he could.
That, in fact, was his favorite pastime. Speaking of which, maybe it was time for another round of mandatory tests. That always set Trahern off, which was fun to watch. Not that he gave a flying fuck about the results, only that it kept the Paladins off balance and riled up.
He’d give the Guildmaster another day to recuperate. Kalith warriors didn’t heal quite as fast as Paladins did, but it was close. Maybe he should make the next trip up to Justice Point by himself. Having Joe with him would only complicate matters. In the past, he’d stayed overnight at the bed-and-breakfast where Jacob Justice, the owner, had always been up for a good game of chess to pass the time. Should he risk it? Of course, if any of the Seattle contingent was hanging around, he’d be dead meat.
At least his recent visits had all been at night. The Paladins might not be watching so closely when the sun was up, especially knowing the Kaliths’ sensitivity to light. No one there had seen him. He should be safe enough, especially if he kept his stay brief, just one night.
Walking to the minuscule window in the corner of his office, he stared out at the Seattle skyline. Sometimes it felt as if the entire world conspired against him. What was wrong with wanting to retire early and rich? That certainly wasn’t going to happen on the pittance the Regents paid him, so he was building up a little nest egg for himself. If a few people died along the way, that just left more for him.
As far as he was concerned, it was capitalism at its best.
Tate frowned at the flowery teacup in her hand for a long time before finally setting it down, reaching instead for the one mug on the shelf. Hunter’s mug, or at least it used to be before she’d kicked him out of the apartment and her life.
Somehow, sipping a strong brew of Darjeeling from the heavy piece of crockery offered her the only comfort she’d been able to find. Stupid, she knew, but the solid weight of the mug somehow eased the pain that had settled in her chest since Hunter had left her kitchen. Left her.
She poured the hot liquid from the plain teapot she’d also used for Hunter. Was she a glutton for punishment or a fool for clinging to the few reminders she had of the time he’d spent in her life? Probably a little bit of both.
Although, to be honest, even though he’d vacated the premises, he certainly hadn’t vacated that huge place in her heart he’d managed to carve out for himself. When he’d tossed his duffel in the back of his truck and backed out of the driveway, heading for God knows where, she’d watched in silence. Not because she’d had nothing to say, but because the sight had made her skin hurt and her lungs quit working.
She’d wanted to scream that it was all his fault, but that wasn’t true. He’d warned her off repeatedly, but she hadn’t listened. Instead, she’d let herself pretend that he’d just been the average guy next door. Well, he’d been next door all right, but he and the crowd he ran with were anything but average.
His explanation of who and what he was had sounded insane. Trouble was, she had seen too much to deny the truth. Hunter wasn’t completely human, and those parts that were alien in origin gave him special abilities. All of that freaked her o
ut, but at the same time she was grateful to his long-lost ancestors for donating that magical DNA—it was all that had kept Hunter alive this long. A sly voice in the back of her mind reminded her that it hadn’t been Hunter’s alien genes that she’d been admiring when he’d finally cornered her against the kitchen table, though.
No, he’d been all man as he’d reduced her to a quivering mass of hormones with his touch. And it wasn’t mere lust that had her aching now. No, she feared it was another l word, one she couldn’t bear to let herself admit. Not now, not when it was too late.
Her tea had grown cold, but she didn’t want it anyway. All of this wallowing was getting her nowhere. There had to be something she could do to occupy her mind. It was Monday, so the shop was closed, leaving her free to do whatever she liked. She didn’t feel like shopping, but she needed to be active.
Her yard was in good shape and wouldn’t need mowing for another few days. Maybe she should head over to the Auntie Ms and do theirs for them. With Hunter gone, they’d be back to using a lawn service, something they could ill afford on their budget. The three women did their best to be independent and take care of themselves. But if they’d accept help from Hunter, they surely wouldn’t mind Tate lending a helping hand. They could bake her cookies if they felt the need to pay her back.
She put on her garden shoes and headed out to the garage to get her lawn mower, trying to ignore how much junk Hunter had cleaned out of the garage or how nicely the lawn mower ran since he’d tuned it up. Nope, she wasn’t going to think about him.
That plan lasted as long as it took her to push her mower the short distance to the Auntie Ms house. Not only was the front yard neatly mowed but the bushes had recently been trimmed as well. Darn, she should’ve thought of this sooner. Judging by the amount of work that had been done, they’d obviously already spent a small fortune on getting the place spruced up.
She was about to go back home when a movement at the back of the house caught her attention. At first she thought she was imagining things, seeing what her heart wanted to see, similarities where there were none. Whoever she’d glimpsed out of the corner of her eye had gone back around the corner, where she could no longer see him.
Defeat the Darkness (Paladins of Darkness 6) Page 22