Bound by Darkness

by Alexis Morgan

“A sidewalk to the alley behind the building.”

  That was their best option. “Let’s go. Crawl to the door. The air is safer down low.”

  He let Sasha go first as he called the dog.

  “Chance, come!”

  The dog backed toward Larem, never once taking his eyes off the front door, his hackles up and his teeth bared. The door gave way just as Sasha disappeared into the garage, and two men charged inside already shooting. A burning pain shot up Larem’s left arm as he stood up and fired at the first guy, hitting him three times, while Chance leaped up to grab the second shooter’s gun arm. The guy screamed as the dog savaged his wrist.

  Larem’s target dropped to the floor choking on his own blood while his companion tried without success to fight off Chance’s attack. Larem stripped off the dying man’s gas mask to cover his own face. The man no longer needed it.

  Deciding the dog had done enough damage, Larem grabbed Chance by the collar and hauled him off the shooter. He kicked the injured man’s gun out of reach and then dragged him into the kitchen where the air was slightly clearer. Stripping the guy’s mask off, Larem pressed the barrel of his automatic against the guy’s forehead.

  “How many are out there?”

  “Go to hell, Other,” his prisoner choked out. “You and the other freaks are already dead. You just don’t know it yet.”

  Larem leaned in close. “That may be, but I’m betting you’ll be there before me.”

  Then he shot the floor right next to the cringing fool’s head, sneering when the guy screamed as if he’d been hit. “Tell your friends that Kalith warriors defend their own.”

  Larem ran for the door with Chance hot on his heels. Sasha stood near the door, holding the handle of a rake like a ball bat, ready to defend herself. It wouldn’t have done much against a bullet, but he loved her warrior spirit, loved her.

  “Let’s go.”

  She backed toward the door, keeping her eyes on the kitchen. “Are they dead?”

  There was no point in lying to her. “One is. The other is chewed up but still breathing.”

  He unlocked the side door and peeked outside. If there was anyone waiting out there, he couldn’t sense them. He could, however, hear sirens approaching.

  “Someone called the police. We need to get out of here before they arrive.”

  “Why not wait for them?” she asked, but she followed him out anyway.

  “Because right now we don’t know who we can trust. I promised to protect you and our child, and I will.”

  He tossed the gas mask into a trash bin in the alley as they cut between a couple of buildings to the street on the far side. At the end of the alley, Larem stopped to think. His arm would be of little use if they ran into more attackers. At least he was wearing a dark shirt, so the blood wouldn’t be immediately obvious to anyone who saw them.

  For now, they were in the clear.

  Sasha appreciated the chance to catch her breath, but why were they standing there so long? If Larem wanted to avoid the police, shouldn’t they be putting a lot more distance between themselves and the condo?

  “Larem, where are we going?”

  When she looked at him, waiting for his answer, he was using the hem of his shirt to wipe away a trickle of blood running down his wrist.

  “You’ve been shot!”

  He winced in pain as he nodded. “It’s just a graze. We’ll go to the animal shelter. The vet will help us.”

  “You need a hospital. Or at least let me get you to Laurel’s lab.”

  Larem was already shaking his head. “Can’t risk a human hospital getting a look at my blood, and I don’t trust the guards. We’d have to get past them to reach Laurel.”

  There was no time to argue. “All right, but let’s get moving then.”

  He nodded as he tucked his gun in the back of his jeans. As they started down the street, she let him set the pace. As tempting as it was to run, walking would draw less attention even if it left her feeling exposed. Chance brought up the rear but stayed close.

  Finally, Larem stopped outside a heavy door in an alley and rang the bell. A few seconds later a white-haired man in a lab coat opened the door.

  “We’re closed.” Then he spotted Larem. “Oh, it’s you. Did you forget your key?”

  “Doc, I need your help.” Larem held up his bloody hand.

  The vet’s bright blue eyes widened in surprise. He stepped back and motioned them inside. “Come in and let me take a look at it.”

  He managed a small smile for Sasha. “You must be Sasha. I’m Dr. Isaac.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Although the circumstances seriously sucked.

  Chance butted the vet’s hand, startling a laugh out of him as he slipped the dog a treat. “And Chance, I certainly didn’t expect to see you back so soon. Let’s go see if your friend is a better patient than you were.”

  Larem was waiting in the closest examination room. Sasha hurried forward to help him remove his shirt. The fabric was slick with blood, and his white T-shirt underneath hadn’t fared much better.

  “There’s a washer and dryer down the hall that you can use after we get him stitched up.”

  Then Dr. Isaac peered at her over the glasses perched low on his nose. “You’re looking a bit shaky, so do me a favor and sit down. Were you hurt, too?”

  “No, just Larem. That’s bad enough.”

  “I’m sure,” he said as he started gathering supplies.

  Larem reached out to catch the vet by his arm. “Doc, I’m sorry to have brought troubles to your door, but I didn’t know where else to go.”

  “Not a problem, son. What are friends for if not to help out in times of trouble?” He pulled on a pair of surgical gloves. “Now sit down and let me get this cleaned up.”

  When he started to fill a syringe, Larem stopped him. “Regular pain medicine doesn’t work for me, Doc. Just stitch it up.”

  Dr. Isaac looked puzzled. “Why? Do you have allergies?”

  Larem met Sasha’s gaze with a small shrug. “No, it’s because I’m not originally from this world and don’t always react well to human medication.”

  The vet froze briefly and then nodded, a broad smile lighting up his face. “Well, that certainly explains a lot. Okay, so we’ll do this the hard way. Brace yourself because this is going to hurt like hell.”

  Sasha couldn’t stand to see Larem hurting and not try to do something. Maybe a distraction would help. She wheeled her chair over closer to his and took his other hand in hers.

  “We haven’t talked about names yet. What do you think of Ella for a girl?”

  Dr. Isaac’s bushy eyebrows shot up in surprise, but he continued working as Larem kept his eyes trained on Sasha’s face. “That sounds almost like my mother’s name, although in Kalithia we would put the emphasis on the last half of the word. Eh-lah.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Then that one goes to the top of the list. How about if we have a boy?”

  Despite how much he was hurting, Larem shot her an impish grin. “If it would help your father accept me, perhaps we should name our son after him.”

  Perish the thought. “No way. One Chaz in the family is more than enough,” she said, studying the vet’s name tag.

  Obviously the man and Larem were close friends, probably the only one Larem had outside of the Paladins. She liked the way the man had accepted Larem’s explanation with such ease and offered his help without hesitation. Friendships like that were rare.

  “Hey, how about Isaac? I’ve always liked that name.”

  Her lover didn’t hesitate. “Isaac would be perfect.”

  In fact, Larem looked as pleased as his elderly friend did. The vet snipped one last thread and winked at Sasha as he applied a bandage to cover the wound. “You might want to hold off on that decision until you get my bill.”

  She tried to laugh—she really did—but instead, tears started streaming down her face as the combination of terror and fear for what might happen next broke through h
er last bit of control. Nothing like big gulping sobs to panic two grown men.

  Larem jumped to his feet and pulled Sasha into his arms while Dr. Isaac pressed his handkerchief into her hand.

  The vet then stammered, “Look, I’ll leave you two alone and go see if Chance needs food or water or something.”

  Nodding to his friend, Larem rubbed his hand up and down Sasha’s back in soothing strokes. “Let it all out, Sasha, but remember that I’m all right, you’re all right, and Chance is out there happily pigging out.”

  The storm was intense but brief. Already the tears were slowing down. Still, he held her close as if needing the comfort as much as she did. Finally, she sighed and wiped her face dry.

  “Sorry. I swear, I’ve never cried as much as I have in the past few days.” She even mustered up a brave smile. “So what do we do next?”

  “We call Devlin.”

  He fumbled for his cell phone, wincing a bit as he kept his good arm around Sasha and used his injured one. He punched in Devlin’s number.

  The Paladin answered on the first ring. “Where the hell are you?”

  “Safe for now. Send Lonzo to pick us up where I do volunteer work. He’ll know.”

  Thank the gods that the Paladin leader was the sort to remain calm, at least until the battle was over. There was more he should know.

  “Devlin, the two who attacked the condo had to be guards. The one that I left alive said all my kind were dead even if we didn’t know it yet. I want only men I can trust to protect Sasha and Mr. Willis while we deal with this. Warn Barak and Cullen. Get Lacey, Lusahn, and the kids someplace safe.”

  “What the fuck’s this world coming to?” Devlin obviously didn’t expect an answer because he kept right on talking. “I’ll have the guys round up all the guards here at headquarters and throw the bastards in a locked room until we have time to sort them out.”

  Larem liked the way Devlin thought. “On our way in we’ll stop and pick up Sasha’s father. He should be in on what happens.”

  “Good idea. I’ll call and give him a heads-up, but hurry. As long as you two are out there, you’re both targets.”

  When Larem hung up, Sasha looked bewildered. “They were guards? Why would they attack you?”

  “They obviously hate all Kalith, but that doesn’t explain why they waited to come after me at your place. They could’ve killed me anytime without drawing so much attention to themselves or risking injury to the daughter of a Regent.”

  “So you’re thinking I’m the real target? Something I’ve done has set them off.”

  The explanation felt right. “I’d guess it’s a combination of things. From what I’ve been told, once Kincade took over, there was always tension between the guards and the Paladins here in Seattle. It all started when one of them went rogue and tried to kill Laurel after Barak crossed over into this world. Then Cullen compounded the problem when he returned with Lusahn and her children.”

  “And you.”

  He nodded. “And me. Most likely the guards feel betrayed that the Paladins have accepted us as friends but not them.”

  Sasha sighed. “And then here I come, making it clear that my first priority is making things better for the Paladins, to correct the wrongs committed by Colonel Kincade. Despite how he treated the Paladins, he obviously still has loyal followers among the guards.”

  Dr. Isaac stuck his head back in. “Larem, come quick. Someone is at the back door.”

  Larem drew his gun. “It’s probably my roommate, but just in case, you two stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  Chance trailed along behind him, obviously thinking Larem needed backup. Rather than risk opening the door for the wrong person, Larem shouted, “Who is it?”

  “It’s the damned Tooth Fairy and his sidekick, the Easter Bunny. Now let us in.”

  Larem didn’t know who the Tooth Fairy was, but he did know his roommate’s voice and opened the door. Lonzo hadn’t come alone, either. Hunter was right behind him, and both were heavily armed.

  Larem stood back and motioned for them to come inside. “Thanks for coming.”

  “No problem.”

  As both men crossed the threshold, they came face-to-face with Chance. The dog eyed the two Paladins and woofed softly.

  Larem patted the dog on the head. “They’re okay, boy.”

  Chance immediately wagged his tail and sniffed the hand Lonzo held out. “Damn, Larem, he’s huge.”

  “And a helluva guard dog. He not only gave us enough warning to stop those guys from killing us, but he took one out himself.” He dropped his voice, not wanting Sasha to hear any more bad news. “How are the Paladins Devlin had watching the condo?”

  “Drugged and a little roughed up. They’ll be okay, so no problem there.” Hunter looked around. “How’s Sasha?”

  “Shaken up. Scared.”

  “And able to answer for herself.” The woman in question walked up beside him and held out a clean shirt. “Dr. Isaac said this probably won’t fit, but it’s the best he could come up with.

  “Thanks for coming, guys,” Sasha added as she matter-of-factly helped Larem ease the shirtsleeve up over his wound.

  “No problem.” Lonzo eyed the bandage. “Looks like you took one for the team. You okay?”

  “I will be when we catch the bastards behind these attacks.”

  Larem rolled his shoulders and lifted his arm, testing its mobility. The pain was already starting to fade as his healing ability kicked in.

  “Devlin has Cullen and D.J. tracking the guards through their e-mail accounts to see if we can pick out the culprits. Penn and Craig are manning the alley so we can get you and Sasha into the building safely.”

  “Good.”

  While they were talking, Sasha looped her arm through Larem’s and rested her head against him. Lonzo’s eyebrows shot up, but then he grinned.

  She smiled back at him and then asked, “How about my father?”

  “I told Devlin we’d pick him up on the way. Speaking of which, we’d better get a move on.” Then Larem gave her a quick hug. “Sasha, can you tell Doc we’re leaving?”

  “Sure.”

  All three men watched until she’d disappeared into one of the exam rooms. Hunter punched Larem lightly on his good arm.

  “So, you and the boss lady?”

  “Yeah, me and her.” Then softly he added, “And a baby.”

  “Holy shit!” Lonzo stumbled back a step. “Okay, I so didn’t see that one coming. How in the world did that happen?” He slapped his forehead. “Wait, forget I asked that.”

  Hunter just grinned. “Congratulations!”

  Then his eyes flicked past Larem in warning that Sasha was on her way back. “I guess now’s not the time to talk about this.”

  “No, but if anything happens to me . . .”

  The good-humored Paladins disappeared, replaced by two of the deadliest warriors on the planet. Hunter’s voice thickened with emotion, making it sound even rougher than normal. “You know we will. Now let’s go get the bastards.”

  Chapter 20

  Under other circumstances, Sasha might have opted for more discretion when it came to the nature of her relationship with Larem, especially in front of his buddies. Things would’ve been too new, too unsettled for her to be completely comfortable with their openly acting like a couple in front of the rest of the Seattle contingent.

  However, there was something about almost dying three times in the past few weeks that shattered all need for caution. She might not know how things would play out for the two of them, but not for one second did she want Larem to doubt that he was important to her.

  She watched as he quickly checked his gun. Lonzo and Hunter did the same, the motions clearly second nature to all three of them. Just as they were about to leave the examination room, Larem’s cell rang. Everyone froze and waited, the tension in the room immediately ratcheting up.

  “Yeah, what’s up?” He listened for several seconds without saying a word.
“We’ll check it out.”

  When he hung up, Sasha asked, “Larem, what’s wrong?”

  His expression was grim. “That was Devlin. He hasn’t been able to reach your father. He’s not answering his cell or the phone in his hotel room.”

  Sasha dug her nails into her palms, trying to stay calm. “Do you think they’ve taken him? And don’t lie to me.”

  “Probably.” Larem’s answer was terrifying in its stark simplicity.

  They started toward the door again, only to have their plans interrupted again with the sound of a phone ringing, this time Sasha’s. She checked the number on the screen and should’ve been relieved. She wasn’t.

  “It’s my father’s number.”

  Larem caught her hand before she could answer. “Put it on speakerphone.”

  She nodded and did as he said. “Dad?”

  “Sasha, run! Get the hell out of there!”

  There were horrifying sounds of a struggle followed by a brief silence and then a different voice came on the line.

  “Miss Willis, listen and listen carefully if you want to see your father again. Especially if you want to see him alive.”

  Fear and fury had her gripping the phone hard enough to break it. She forced her hand to relax, wishing she had the same control over her emotions.

  “I don’t know who you are, but if you hurt my father, you’re dead. The Regents will authorize whatever it takes to hunt you down, along with anyone stupid enough to follow your orders. There isn’t a place in this world or any other one where you’ll be safe.”

  “Tsk, tsk, Miss Willis. Threats will get you nowhere. I want Kincade’s account numbers, and I want the money you’ve stolen from him.”

  “That money wasn’t his to begin with, and it definitely isn’t yours.”

  Okay, that wasn’t the smartest thing she could’ve said, but Lonzo was making circles in the air, telling her to keep talking. Was he having the call traced?

  “You can’t seriously think I give a rat’s ass where he got the money. Kincade owes me for a couple of jobs I did for him and I have a rule about that. People who don’t pay me end up dead, just like the targets they sent me after.”

  The cold pride in his voice was nauseating. “I get paid top dollar for what I do. I suspect you don’t approve, but I’m really just a businessman with a specific skill set, one that happens to be in big demand lately. If it makes you feel better, I’m planning to retire as soon as I collect my pay, although I plan to do the world a favor before I disappear. Free of charge, too.”