The Darkness Beyond

by Alexis Morgan

  “Is breaking and entering a standard part of the Paladin training?”

  Trahern chuckled. “Actually, I learned it on my own, but it still comes in handy once in a while. I’m sure we’ll manage to squeeze it into your curriculum at some point.”

  “Cool.”

  As much as Cody had been looking forward to graduating, the future stretched out before him had looked pretty empty. Now it seemed as if the Paladins and the Regents might just fill in the gaping holes in his life. It felt damn good to hear Trahern, Devlin, and even D.J. talking about his future with them.

  But now wasn’t the time to be thinking about anything except getting Reggie home safe.

  “I’m going to log into Reggie’s e-mail and contact our boss. D.J. wanted me to pretend to be her and tell Mr. DeLuca she’s sick and will be working from home for a few days.”

  “Good thinking, but what about you?”

  “I’ll tell him I’ve got finals. He won’t question it unless I’m gone too long.”

  “When you’re done, pack up her laptop to take with us. Meanwhile, I’ll see if I can’t forward her phone numbers to our Seattle office so Cullen can monitor them.”

  It didn’t take Cody long to send the e-mails. It almost felt as if he was turning in his resignation rather than just asking for a few days off. Who knew, maybe he was.

  Trahern turned off the sole light they’d used. “Okay, I’m done. Let’s hit the road. We still have a long way to go.”

  Not as far as Reggie did, but Cody kept that comment to himself.

  Just as they reached the truck, Trahern’s cell phone rang. After answering, he listened for several seconds.

  “Yeah, Dev, we just finished up. We can be there in half an hour or so.”

  As he spoke, he stared over at Cody. Where would they be in half an hour? The last Cody had heard, they were heading back to the Paladin headquarters in Seattle, at least a four-hour drive.

  “See you soon. Yeah, I’ll tell him.” Trahern disconnected the call. “Hope you’re not afraid of heights.”

  “Not as far as I know. Why?”

  “Dev pulled some strings and we’re hitching a ride back to Seattle in a helicopter.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. Are you down with that?”

  Cody grinned. “Oh, yeah.”

  “Too bad it’s dark out. The view of the Cascades and the volcanoes is seriously bitchin’ from a chopper. But hang with us and eventually you’ll get to see the mountains up close and personal from the air.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  The other man’s face turned grim. “I wish it was, Cody. I really wish it was.”

  When D.J. returned from disposing of the body, Reggie took one look at his empty hands and seemed to shrink in on herself. At least the horror in her eyes had faded to a more manageable level, leaving her looking washed out and tired. And so damn sad. When had she last slept?

  At least she didn’t ask him what he’d done with the Kalith’s remains. Maybe she didn’t care. More likely, she was just relieved that any reminders of what had just happened were now out of sight. Speaking of which, he headed back to the stream.

  Kneeling down in the grass, he dumped all of her clothes into the water and let them soak for a few minutes. She was right about how cold it was. By the time he finished rinsing out her underwear, tunic, and pants several times each, his hands were damn near too numb to move.

  He spread her clothing over some nearby bushes, but doubted they’d dry by morning. When he had them all arranged, he wiped his hands on his pants and looked around for something else to do. With a maelstrom of emotions churning in his chest, he didn’t trust himself around Reggie right now. Part of him wanted to wrap her up in his arms, do his best to soothe her fears, and then kiss her until this nightmare was only a dim memory.

  His other half wanted to shake her until her teeth rattled for getting herself mired in his world. Damn the woman. If only she’d listened to him. But she hadn’t.

  He skirted the edge of the camp, gathering some more firewood and at the same time acquainting himself with their surroundings. Rain must not be a problem because the Others had laid their pallets out on the ground with no shelter of any kind. How would Reggie react to sleeping in a dead man’s bed? It wasn’t like they had a lot of choice right now.

  Here they both were, trapped in Kalithia and hoping like hell they lived long enough to tell the tale. Even if Reggie had the strength to hike her delectable ass back up to the cave tonight, it would be hours before Barak dropped the barrier again.

  Nor would she be out of danger once they crossed back into their world, not if the humans involved were still flying under the radar. Besides, she lacked his night vision and moving in the dark increased the risk that she might stumble and fall. The whole situation made him crazy. Once again his eyes automatically sought her out.

  Damn it, she was shivering again. He had to do something about that. Neither of them had eaten anything and keeping up their strength was important. He’d brought just a few things in his pack, but it would have to be enough to see them through until morning. After dropping the firewood in the pile, he sorted through their options for dinner. At least the dead Kalith had put water on to heat. That would help.

  Oh, goodie. There was powdered chicken broth and freeze-dried stew. At the bottom of the pack, he found his own personal favorite, dried eggs. It was better than starving—maybe.

  Ripping open a packet, he poured the bouillon into a cup of hot water, stirring as he carried it over to where Reggie sat. The whole time, she watched his every move with wary eyes, as if poised to run should he make a single wrong move.

  Did she think he was going to come after her next? Yeah, sure, seeing someone shot to death was probably a new experience for her, but it was either kill the bastard or watch her die. She’d seemed awfully damn glad to see him earlier.

  Had something happened to change that or was she just now really seeing him for what he was—a stone-cold killer? Maybe it was better if she was scared. Maybe then she’d listen the next time he told her to stay the fuck out of his life.

  “Here. It’s just chicken broth, but at least it’s hot and will hold you until the stew is ready.” He shoved the cup at her and then stalked off.

  Reggie watched D.J. walk away as she wrapped her hands around the metal cup. The oppressive silence was getting to her. She’d never been one for camping, but back home, back in her real world, even the night had its own sounds.

  Right now all she could hear was the crackle of the fire and the small noises D.J. made while fixing their meal. Intellectually, she knew the valley and hills were still out there beyond the firelight, but she couldn’t see them; she couldn’t even feel their presence. A city girl at heart, she was used to being surrounded by thousands, even millions, of souls.

  Here in this alien place, there was just herself and D.J. From the way he was acting right now, she suspected he’d just as soon be alone. That hurt, but then she hadn’t even thought to thank him for the things he’d done. Granted, her head was all muddled from everything that had happened, but at least he’d cared enough to come after her.

  Would he forgive her for putting him in a position where he had to kill two Kaliths? Personally, she’d been too busy freaking out to think about good manners. Hopefully, better late than never.

  “D.J.?”

  She waited for him to look at her before continuing.

  “What?”

  “I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done.” Then she held up the cup. “By the way, this broth is helping. You may have noticed that I’m pretty much a mess.”

  His dark eyes stared at her, his mood unfathomable from across the fire. His voice was gruff when he finally answered. “Not much of a surprise considering all you’ve gone through in the past twenty-four hours.”

  She wasn’t alone in that. After all, he’d been caught up in the ugliness of the situation, too. “I’m not the only one. I
’m so sorry you had to kill both of those guys.”

  He flinched as if she’d hit him, his jaw clenched tight. “I’m not.”

  “Not what?” Although she knew.

  “I’m not sorry.” He came closer. “I won’t lose a single minute’s sleep over those two dying. Good riddance, if you ask me.”

  “But—”

  By now he was standing over her, his face a series of sharp angles and fury. “No buts, Reggie. Remember how curious you were about what a Paladin does? Well, now you know. We kill vermin like those two. Day in and day out, year after year, I wade through buckets of blood to protect our world from the crazy fuckers from this one. My friends and I fight with swords or axes or even our bare hands if it comes to that, but we get the job done.”

  He knelt down to stare right into her eyes. “And the funny part is, modern science says we share their DNA. That’s why I can see in the dark.”

  Her mouth dropped open in shock. “But that means—”

  He cut her off in midsentence. “Yeah, that means you’ve shared ice cream with someone who isn’t completely human.”

  Then his gaze zeroed in on her mouth. “Not to mention that you actually kissed a freak.”

  She couldn’t listen to this. “No matter what you say, you’re nothing like them.”

  “Lie to yourself if you need to, Reggie, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  He rose back up and grabbed the pommel of the sword he wore at his side. Then with a look of total frustration, he shoved it back down in the sheath and walked away again.

  “D.J.?” she whispered, his words still battering her mind like heavy fists.

  He looked back at her. “Look, just forget I said anything.”

  Heck no. Despite his claim to the contrary, it was clear that the deaths had affected him whether he admitted it or not. So did his supposed alien DNA. Also obvious was the fact that someone in the past had rejected him for that very reason. Sure, she was shocked by his revelation, but who wouldn’t have been? It wasn’t as if she’d even heard of this world before yesterday.

  No matter how tired she was, he wasn’t going to get by with convicting her of crimes she hadn’t committed. She gathered the cloak around her and followed D.J. over to where he bent down to stir the pot he’d scavenged from the Kaliths’ supplies.

  When her shadow fell over him, he looked up. “What do you want now?”

  “An apology.”

  He dropped the spoon in the pot as he jerked back upright to tower over her. “Just how the hell do you figure I owe you an apology? I’m not the one who got herself kidnapped and dragged into an alien world. You should be grateful that you’re not currently sharing one of those pallets with those two aliens.”

  Okay, if he wanted to be a jerk, fine. She didn’t back away an inch.

  “You’re right, and I already told you that I was grateful. But for the past hour you’ve been acting like I just kicked your puppy or stole your lollipop.”

  She tightened her hold on the cloak. “I am sorry that I ever tried to track you down, and I’m sorry I didn’t listen when you warned me off. But don’t accuse me of crimes I didn’t commit. Kiss or no kiss, yes, it came as a shock that you might have some alien DNA. Considering that I didn’t know it was even possible until five minutes ago, maybe you could cut me some slack.”

  “There’s no might about it, Reggie.”

  She poked him in the chest with her finger. “But I’m guessing you’re jumping to conclusions about how I’d react based on someone else’s sins, and I don’t appreciate it.”

  Maybe she was mistaken, but the gleam in his chocolate brown eyes had taken on a whole different meaning. Maybe a tactical retreat was in order. At this point, she wasn’t sure what they were really fighting about or why. But their tempers were both definitely running hot, maybe because focusing on D.J. kept her from thinking about anything else.

  He matched her retreat step for step. “Where are you going, Reggie? I thought you wanted an apology.”

  “I changed my mind.”

  His eyes flicked past her to where Jeban had spread out pallets on the ground. “I wouldn’t want us to go to bed mad at each other.”

  The image of the two of them sharing a bed popped into her head. Okay, she was not going there. “Look, I’m not mad anymore. Besides, I think maybe the stew is burning. You might want to check on it.”

  “I can always make more.”

  He wasn’t so much walking as prowling, and there was no doubt who was his prey.

  “D.J.” She used his name as a warning, holding up her hand to stop him.

  “Reggie.” He made hers sounded like a purr, warming up the night—and her—with his deep voice.

  “There’s no time for this.”

  That was a lie. They had all night. As crazy as it was, she wanted his touch to drive away her fear and to hold her nightmares at bay. She stopped retreating.

  “Tired of running?” D.J. sounded disappointed as he twined a strand of her hair around his fingers. “Or are you planning on using some of your fancy martial-arts moves on me?”

  Her sensei would be bitterly disappointed to find out that the thought hadn’t even occurred to her. But then, alien blood or not, the threat D.J. posed to her wasn’t physical, but emotional. She had no moves, fancy or otherwise, to protect herself from that.

  “Not unless you force the issue.”

  Okay, his smile was driving her crazy. This time his fingertips followed the curve of her throat, down and down, to lightly trace the valley between her breasts. The ache that followed in the wake of his touch melted the last bit of her resistance.

  She held the cloak closed with one hand and used the other one to do some touching of her own. Ever aware of the difference in their heights, she rose up on her toes to brush her fingers over his sexy mouth. “Are you going to kiss me?”

  He nipped at her fingertips, his smile heating up yet another notch—or ten. “Got a thing for aliens, do you?”

  That again? “Yeah, D.J., I just love little green men.”

  His breath teased her skin as he leaned down close to her ear and whispered, “Sorry to disappoint, but you can see I’m not green, and I’ll be happy to prove to you that I’m not little.”

  Now there was an image guaranteed to fry her brain. For the first time in hours she was warm. Hot even. Feeling alive.

  The rough fabric of the cloak chafed her skin. Even the night air felt heavy.

  She leaned into D.J.’s strength, drawing in the scent of his skin. In the past, she’d always been cautious around men, reluctant to trust and even more reluctant to surrender. But here, in the small circle of light from the fire, they lived in a world of two. All that mattered were their rules, their choices, their needs.

  And right now, she needed this man to help ground her, to stop the fear of what lurked out there in the shadows.

  “Kiss me.”

  Chapter 15

  Reggie wasn’t asking him a question, but issuing an order. It was a shame she hadn’t yet met Devlin because the big guy could tell her all about how well D.J. took orders. He always got the job done, but he did it in his own time and in his own way. Guess she’d have to learn that lesson on her own.

  First things first. Where should they stage this little party? The handful of pallets were scattered around the clearing.

  He kissed her cheek. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back.”

  He dragged two of the makeshift beds close together near the fire and then spread the third and fourth on top for good measure. With each only little better than a couple of thin blankets, they wouldn’t offer much by way of cushioning. Under the circumstances, he’d play the gentleman and make sure he was the one who ended up with rocks digging into his ass.

  Next, he took the blanket Reggie had dropped and used it to cover the nest he was building. He turned back the top edge, hoping it would look inviting. Then he pulled the stew off the fire but left it where it would stay warm. Fo
r later. A lot later.

  Okay, back to Reggie. With luck she hadn’t changed her mind, although he wouldn’t blame her if she had. A woman like her deserved to be courted and then seduced, not subjected to a quick tumble only hours after she’d been kidnapped and threatened with far worse.

  D.J. made his approach slowly, watching her for any hint of reluctance. The final decision would be hers, even if it killed him. Considering how hard he was at the moment, it just might. Hot damn, she was so perfect and petite. With her hair tumbling down her shoulders in soft waves and her pretty bare feet peeking out from the bottom of the cloak, she was temptation itself.

  Her eyes stared past him, right at the bed he’d made, her normally expressive face impossible to read. He coasted to a stop just out of reach.

  “Should I make another bed for myself?”

  He was impressed with how calm he sounded. The thought of sleeping alone made him want to howl with frustration, but she’d already had enough of men dragging her around. As he waited for her answer, all he could hear was the snap, crackle, and pop of the fire. Well, that and the pounding of his heart.

  “You’d really do that, wouldn’t you?” she murmured.

  He nodded, although she’d sounded as if she were talking more to herself. At long last, her eyes sought his. The heat in their depths had nothing to do with the fire, her smile a funny mix of caution and fearlessness. In a move that stunned him stupid, she let the cloak slide to her feet. Then she shimmied out of the tunic, leaving her wearing nothing but the dim glow of moonlight on her skin.

  “You still haven’t kissed me.”

  It was hard to talk with his tongue dragging on the ground. “Sorry, my bad.”

  Then he leaned toward her to correct that omission.

  As soon as D.J. touched her, she melted. The man was big and powerful and scary, but she’d never felt so safe, so cherished, as when he folded her in his arms. His mouth took hers in a simple kiss. A claiming, to be sure, but so gentle.

  Who would’ve thought a man who charged through life at a dead run could slow down to linger over a moment like this one?