As soon as Eli rejoined them, Will launched in with the usual questions like name, address, and phone number. He took Eli’s statement starting from the moment he’d left his cabin for a hike right up through his arrival at the hospital with Halder Dennell. Eli kept his promise to stick to the basic facts without bringing up the earlier attack on her or anything about Martin’s death.
Will began packing up. “Nasty business, but we won’t know exactly what happened up there until your grandfather is able to talk to us. Safara, call me when he can answer a few questions, and I’ll get here as soon as I’m available.”
“Thanks, Will. I appreciate it.”
He pushed his business card across the table to Eli. “I’ll also need to examine the place where the attack happened. It would be dark by the time I could get a team up there, and I’d rather see everything in the daylight. Would you be available first thing tomorrow morning to show us where you found him? Say around nine?”
“Sure thing. You’ve got my number. Call if you need to change times or anything.”
“Will do.” He stood to leave. “Safara, tell your dad I’ll let him know what we find.”
“Thanks again, Will.”
When he left, Eli asked, “Do you want to wait here for news or would you rather sit out in the lobby?”
She picked up their tray. “The lobby would be better. Dad should be getting here soon, and he’ll wonder where I am.”
They headed back down the hall. “You don’t have to hang around, Eli. You’ve already done enough for us today.”
“You shouldn’t be alone while you wait, Safara. I’ll stay until your father gets here.”
She would’ve argued, but the truth was she appreciated the company. Her grandfather was in good shape for a man in his eighties, but she was still worried sick about him. If he’d inherited the Kalith ability to heal, he’d never said so. Based on Eli’s statement and what little the doctor had told her, he’d been in pretty bad shape by the time he’d arrived at the hospital.
Eli wrapped his arm around her shoulders, once again lending her his strength. “I don’t claim to know your grandfather, but he’s obviously tough and a fighter.”
Her eyes burned with the sting of tears. “You’re right. He is.”
Eli released his hold on her as they sat down in adjoining chairs. She missed the immediate connection, but they were sitting close enough that she could still feel the warmth of his big body next to hers.
When Eli started flipping through the pages of a tattered magazine, she leaned her head back against the wall and let her eyes drift shut. There was no telling how long she dozed before Eli nudged her.
“Your dad and some woman just came in.”
Great. At some point she’d slumped sideways and had been sleeping peacefully against Eli’s shoulder. She jerked upright, but it was too late. Her father had already noticed and didn’t look too happy about it. Too bad. Her aunt raised an eyebrow, but now wasn’t the time to indulge the woman’s curiosity.
Her father ignored Eli, but there was a definite note of anger in his voice when he asked, “What’s the status on your grandfather?”
“The ER doctor said they would be taking him to surgery to repair multiple lacerations.”
Eli joined the conversation. “The one on his abdomen was the worst, but he also had cuts on his leg and both arms.”
Her father turned on him. “And how did you just happen to be there when my father was injured? Seems mighty curious that you’ve shown up twice when someone in my family has been attacked.”
Her feelings were already raw from worry, and Safara’s temper flashed hot. “Dad! Stop it right now. Eli protected me at great risk to himself, and if not for him, Granddad would’ve died up there on the mountain.”
He rounded on her next. “Don’t you think it’s a little convenient that he came running with a sword in his hand the other night? What kind of person does that? And you only have his word for the fact that he wasn’t the one who cut your grandfather to pieces. We both know he’s got an entire arsenal of bladed weapons at his disposal.”
She half expected Eli to go on the attack, but he didn’t. That didn’t mean there wasn’t a lot of cold steel in his voice when he spoke. “Mr. Dennell, you’re right. You have no reason to trust me, because you don’t know me at all. That’s the only reason that you’re not picking yourself up off the floor right now.”
His gaze flickered in her direction as he stood up. “Well, that and the fact that you’re Safara’s father. You’ve got a lot of unanswered questions, people you care deeply about are in danger, and I’m a stranger to you.”
He took a single step toward her father, towering over him by half a foot and outweighing him by a lot of pure muscle. “You can believe what I’m about to say or not. Frankly, I don’t give a damn which way you go on that, but listen carefully: I wouldn’t do anything to put your daughter at risk.”
Then he stepped away and sat back down, crossing his arms over his chest, making it clear he wasn’t going anywhere. Safara remained frozen in position, caught between the need to comfort her father and make it clear that she trusted Eli, at least with her own life. She still couldn’t risk telling him the truth about the others of her kind.
Thankfully her aunt made an effort to defuse the situation. “Jakes, let’s not lose sight of why we’re here. You’re upset and worried about your father. We all are.”
Then she held her arms out to Safara, who stepped right into her hug. “Thanks for coming, Aunt Bitti.”
Her aunt gave her another tight squeeze before stepping back. Then she held her hand out to Eli. “I’m Bitti Greve. Safara’s mother was my younger sister. Normally, my brother-in-law has better manners, but he’s understandably upset right now.”
Although her father wouldn’t appreciate his sister-in-law making excuses for his behavior, Safara was relieved that Eli accepted the peace offering. The four of them settled into an uneasy silence, the time dragging past at a snail’s pace. It was another hour before a doctor finally stepped into the waiting room.
“I’m Dr. Quinton. Are you all here for Mr. Dennell?”
“I’m his son.” Her father stood up. “And this is my daughter and my sister-in-law.”
Safara wanted to smack him for ignoring Eli, but now wasn’t the time. “How is he?”
“The surgery went well, and he’s holding his own. In fact, Mr. Dennell is out of recovery and on his way to his room. We’ve given him a heavy dose of antibiotics to prevent infection and fluids to replace the blood loss. He’s also getting pain medication. Combine that with the anesthesia, he’ll be pretty groggy for a while, so don’t let that surprise you. The bottom line is that Mr. Dennell was a very lucky man. If he hadn’t gotten here when he did, the situation would’ve been a whole lot worse. As it is, he should make a full recovery.”
Her father finally glanced at Eli and nodded. It wasn’t much of a display of gratitude, but evidently it was enough, since both men relaxed.
“When can we see him?”
“As soon as he’s in his room.” He gestured toward the elevator in the corner. “The surgical ward is on the second floor. When you come out of the elevator, the nurse’s station is about halfway down the hall. They’ll be able to tell you which room is his.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, looking tired. “I’m going off shift. If you have any questions, you can either ask the nurses or the resident on call. They’ll keep me apprised of any changes in Mr. Dennell’s condition, but I really don’t expect there to be any problems.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
When he left, the four of them headed up to the second floor. She considered once again telling Eli he could go home, but she already knew he’d refuse. Her father clearly didn’t want him there, but Aunt Bitti interceded.
“Safara, your grandfather will likely sleep the rest of the day and into the night. There’s no need for all of us to be here, and you’ve already had a long day. A
fter you get a chance to see for yourself that Halder is all right, you should go home and get some rest. I’ll stay with your father.”
Bitti was right. It had been a long day. Every bone in her body ached. “All right, if you’re sure.”
The nurses pointed them down the hall to where they were just wheeling her grandfather into his room. The four of them waited outside until they got Halder settled in and the nurse took his vitals. When she was done, she said, “You can come in, but keep it to two at a time for now.”
Her father motioned for Safara to go first so she could leave. “I’ll text you later to let you know how he’s doing.”
Eli followed her into the room, a silent presence standing behind her. Her grandfather looked so small lying there in that bed. His injuries had stripped him of all his usual vitality. She stared at his too-still figure with tears streaming down her face.
When she swiped at her cheeks, Eli muttered a soft curse and pulled her into his arms. She slowly relaxed into his embrace and soaked in his calm strength. “Gods above, we almost lost him today.”
“But you didn’t.” Eli’s voice was a soft rumble against her cheek. “And don’t forget the doctor said he should be fine.”
“I know, but if you hadn’t been there . . .”
He crooked a finger and used it to lift her gaze up to meet his. “But I was. Now, let’s let your father and aunt come in and take over. The two of us will grab dinner somewhere, and then you can go home and crash for the night.”
It was so tempting to spend more time with this man even if each minute they were together made it that much harder to protect her secrets.
“Come on, Safara, don’t make me eat alone. I’ll even let you pick the restaurant.”
Okay, that made her laugh. “Well, unless you want to drive an hour to another town, you have the choice of eating at the diner or, let’s see, the diner.”
She expected him to be disappointed, but instead he looked thrilled with their only option. “Do you think there will still be pie this late in the day?”
Feeling better than she had in hours, she said, “There’s only one way to find out. I need to talk privately with my father for a minute. It shouldn’t take long, and then I’ll be ready to go.”
He gave her a long look as if he knew full well he would be the topic of conversation. His disappointment that she still didn’t trust him showed in in the angry set of his jaw. “Fine, I’ll wait down the hall by the elevator.”
She wondered if she was making a mistake in shutting him out. Her heart said she was. At the same time, her head argued her people had closed ranks against outsiders for a reason. Before she could declare either side of the debate a clear winner, her father walked into the room.
“Care to tell me what’s going on between the two of you? Because I’m telling you right now, I’ve done some checking on him, and things aren’t adding up right.”
When she didn’t say anything, he went on talking. “He was telling the truth about Martin’s grandson being involved in a military helicopter crash a few weeks ago. I find it odd that both the grandson and this guy have the same first name. One allegedly dies in the crash at roughly the same time the other one appears up here living in Martin’s cabin.”
Did they really have to do this now? Evidently so, judging by the stubborn look on her father’s face. “Just what are you saying, Dad?”
He ran his fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair in frustration and let out a weary sigh. “Hell, I don’t know. I just want you to be careful until we know more about him. That man’s got secrets of his own. Maybe they’re no danger to us, but we don’t know that.”
She wanted to deny the truth of what he was saying, but she also knew there was more to Eli Jervain than the man was willing to share. Not for the first time, she recalled the image of him charging to her rescue as if he’d been born to carry that sword in his hand. Everything about him fit the description of the Paladins, the sworn enemies of the Kalith people. Could he be working undercover on their behalf to infiltrate her people?
Rather than say anything about what she was thinking, she changed the subject and summarized Will’s discussion with her and Eli. “Will is meeting Eli on the mountain tomorrow to look around. I doubt they’ll find anything useful, but you never know. Regardless, we have to go after Tiel, and soon.”
Her father accepted the change in subjects. “We do, but not yet. We’ll let the sheriff’s department do their thing, and then we’ll start the hunt. Now get out of here and get some rest. We’ll regroup in the morning and go from there.”
She still wasn’t happy with him, but she gave her dad a quick hug and did the same with her aunt out in the hall. “Call me if you need me for anything.”
Bitti made shooing motions. “You’ve done enough. Go be with your young man and forget about all of this for a little while.”
Safara glanced past her aunt toward the man standing down at the far end of the hall. Eli was leaning against the wall near the elevator looking as if he would wait for her all night if that’s what it took. “He’s not my young man. He’s a . . . a friend.”
That assessment felt like a lie even to her. Aunt Bitti clearly felt the same way because of the way she laughed. “Honey, I might not be as young as I used to be, but I can remember when a man looked at me with that particular kind of hunger in his eyes. You might be only friends for now, but I’m thinking he might be wanting a lot more than that.”
“The more time I spend with him makes it more likely he’ll find out about us, about our world. I can’t hide what I am forever. What if it’s too much for him?”
Bitti put her hands on Safara’s shoulders, her pale gray eyes filled with sympathy. “From what I understand, he’s already brushed up against our truth twice already. I sure don’t see him running in the other direction.”
Could she be right?
“But Dad said—”
Bitti cut her off. “He’s just reacting like any other father does when he sees a man he doesn’t know sniffing around his daughter. Trust me, if Eli turns out to be the right man for you, your dad will eventually come around. He also knows that if it hadn’t been for Eli, we would’ve lost Halder today. That will count for a lot with him when he’s had time to think things through.”
Her aunt brushed a lock of Safara’s hair back from her face. “What’s more important is that you can’t live your whole life not taking chances, not trusting anyone outside of our little circle. If it doesn’t work out between the two of you, so be it. But do you really want to give up on the possibility that he might make you happy without ever giving the two of you a chance?”
Safara glanced Eli’s direction and could feel the weight of his green-eyed gaze from all the way down the hall and drew comfort from it. Which, on reflection, gave her the answer to her aunt’s question.
She gave Bitti one last hug and drew a deep breath before starting toward Eli. Painfully aware of how rumpled she must look, she wished she could stop by her house long enough to change out of her uniform. There wasn’t time for that. Besides, he looked a bit worse for the wear himself, a reminder that neither of them had had an easy day.
A few laughs and maybe some of Ronnie’s pie would do them both some good. After that, well, they would see where the rest of the evening took them. Just that quickly, a renewed surge of energy danced through her veins, and her feet picked up the pace to close the distance between them.
8
When Safara started down the hall, Eli slowly straightened up and waited for her to reach him. What was she thinking about so hard? Nothing pleasant, if he had to guess. He hadn’t been able to make out what Jakes said to her right after Eli walked out of Halder’s room, but there’d been no mistaking the man’s tone for anything other than anger mixed with a heavy dose of suspicion. By the time Safara had started talking, Eli had been too far down the hall for him to get a solid read on her response.
Was she trying to come up with an excuse to b
low off their dinner date? He hoped not, but he’d understand if she was ready to call it a day. Regardless, he’d insist on stopping by the diner to pick up some food to go. She needed more than the crappy sandwiches they’d eaten earlier to replenish the energy she’d burned stressing about her grandfather.
When she closed about half the distance between them, her entire demeanor suddenly changed. It was if she’d somehow shaken off the dark cloud of worry that had been hovering over her for hours. Her smile seemed more genuine, and there was new pep in her step. Whatever had changed her mood must have been catching, because he was feeling it, too.
“Ready to escape?”
“Yeah, I most definitely am.”
To prove her point, she hit the elevator button four times as if that would make it appear faster. He understood her attitude. He’d never spent a day in a hospital, but he’d visited enough friends over the years to have had his fill of the funky medicinal smells, not to mention the pall cast by years of illness and pain. As soon as they stepped outside into the cool evening air, a heavy weight slid off his shoulders. He suspected Safara felt that way, too. She paused to draw several deep breaths as if clearing her lungs.
“Do you want to ride with me or take both vehicles?”
She looped her arm through his as they headed out into the parking lot. “Why don’t you follow me to the station to drop off the cruiser. Then we can go to the diner together. Afterward, you can give me a lift home. It won’t be much out of your way.”
Like he cared how far it was. The farther the better if it meant more time in her company. “Sounds good.”
FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER found the two of them studying menus in a booth in the far back corner of the diner. Ronnie himself came over to take their orders.
“Deputy Dennell, good to see you.” Then he gave Eli an assessing look and wiped his hand on his apron before holding it out. “We’ve haven’t met. I’m Ronnie Alden, owner and chef.”
In Darkness Transformed Page 8