In Darkness Reborn (11 page)

“After you left, Trahern and I finished setting up the equipment while Devlin talked to Barak. You see, right as Barak and I had gotten started working on the first piece of equipment, some armed men came down the main tunnel. We hid in the darkness until they were out of sight.”

“You were trapped in a dark tunnel with an Other.” He bit out each word separately, as if speaking to someone who had a difficult time with English.

He hadn't exactly asked a question, but she nodded anyway. “Before we got back to the elevator, Devlin and Trahern showed up. You know, you were right behind them. After you left, Trahern helped me set up my gear,” she repeated, hoping Penn would be happier that she'd been with the Paladin rather than Barak. “But when the four of us were leaving, the men came back. Trahern shot one of them with my gun, while Barak killed the other two with his sword.”

“And you saw all of this?” Again his tone was unnaturally calm.

“No. I was in the elevator when the second man was killed, but I heard the shot and saw Barak cut down the last guy. Trahern took me up the elevator while Barak and Devlin waited for help to arrive. I don't know if the third man died or not. I hope not.” Even if his reason for being in the tunnel was shady, he didn't deserve to die. It was bad enough that the other two had been killed, even if it had been self-defense.

Penn remained absolutely quiet for a handful of seconds before he exploded in rage. After an impressive string of obscenities, he began ticking off her transgressions on his fingers.

“You went down in the tunnels with an Other. You hid in the darkness with an Other while armed killers strolled by. You managed to see two men get killed. And unless I'm mistaken, you don't see that you've done anything wrong.”

Technically, she only saw one man die, but she didn't think now was the time to point that out. “I admit I should have checked in with Devlin before going down in the tunnels.”

Penn slammed his fist on the table hard enough to rattle the windows. “Damn it, Lacey, you haven't got the sense God gave a goat! You could have been killed down there—if not by those men, then by that damn Other. What if he'd decided he was tired of this world and dragged you back across the barrier with him? Did that thought even occur to you?”

She was in no mood for this. “No, it didn't, because he wouldn't do that.”

“And you know this how?”

Because she trusted Barak, but Penn wouldn't want to hear that. She was so tired of arguing with her brother, especially when it got her exactly nowhere.

“You need to leave, Penn. I love you because you're my brother, but you are not my keeper. I'm a grown woman and capable of making my own decisions. Until you understand that, I suggest you not come back here.”

She stood up and walked to the door, opening it to emphasize her point. “I've already told Devlin that I won't go down in the tunnels without letting him know ahead of time. He's asked me not to go at all until he knows more about the men we ran into. That's a reasonable request, so I've agreed to wait until he says it's safe for me to do my job. Now go.”

Penn looked as if he wanted to fight some more, but then he took a closer look at her. “You look like hell, so I'll go. But this isn't over.”

She sighed. “Yes, it is, Penn. I don't mind having discussions with you, but we're done with the ultimatums. Now good night.”

She slammed the door closed a little harder than necessary.

The night sky was cloudy, but a few stars still managed to peek through. Barak stood on his small balcony and stared up into the darkness. He'd have to buy a book on the stars of this world so that he could learn their names. He drew comfort from their presence, because light of any kind warmed his soul.

The day had been a disaster. His first real chance to prove his worth to Lacey Sebastian, and what had he done? He'd cornered her in a darkened tunnel and kissed her. Despite hours of personal debate, he still had no idea if he was relieved or regretful that they'd been interrupted before they'd gone too far.

More times than he could count, he'd reached for his phone to call her to make sure she was all right. She'd been through a lot down there in the tunnels, but she seemed to have handled it well. At least she hadn't…how had Devlin described it? Ah, yes, she hadn't fallen apart, an appropriate image.

But the look in her eyes when she'd seen him kill that last fool would be hard for either of them to forget. He half expected to get to the lab in the morning only to be sent away, perhaps for good.

And then where would he go?

He'd managed to save a small amount of money, but not enough to pay for food and shelter for more than a month. He'd gotten rather good about starting over, but he had set down roots in this city of Seattle. He was learning his way around and even had a few friends. Laurel for certain, Devlin didn't seem to hate him anymore, and even Trahern was usually civil. He'd hoped to add Lacey Sebastian to that list, but only time would tell.

And only the passage of hours until morning would tell whether he still had a job. Weariness settled heavily on his shoulders, telling him that it was time to retire for the night. Sleep would not come easily.

Combat always left him restless and horny, another funny expression he'd learned from listening to D.J. talk with Cullen. It hadn't been difficult to guess the meaning of the word, and he'd found it a fitting description of his condition. He'd chosen a life of celibacy for the past few years for a variety of reasons. Horny—that was him.

He thought back to those precious few seconds when he'd held Lacey in his arms, touching the smooth skin of her face as he'd stared down into her blue eyes. The rest of the world had disappeared into the distance, leaving the two of them alone, with only the hunger for the touch and taste of a kiss surrounding them.

Barak cursed Devlin and Trahern's bad timing. If they hadn't come along, he would have savored the sweet flavor of Lacey's kiss as well as how she'd felt in his arms. Even now, hours later, he could close his eyes and remember exactly how her body had fit against his.

How much more exquisite would it feel to have her beneath him, cradling him in the warmth of her arms and in the heat of her body? He very much wanted to know the answer to that question. It had been so long since anyone had touched him, even just out of friendship. The females of his world had long ago turned their backs on him, not understanding the road he'd chosen to follow.

But Lacey had reached out with her sensitive fingertips and touched him with such gentleness. Her golden hair had slipped through his fingers like silk, her breasts had felt so right pressed against his chest.

Had it been only a moment of weakness on her part, or was she feeling the same fascination for him? He'd had little experience with seduction in his world, and none at all in this one. Perhaps a trip to the library would provide some credible information. Maybe tomorrow after work…

The shrill ring of the phone drew him back inside his small apartment. The phone rarely rang unless it was a wrong number. Most of the time he just ignored it, but the need to hear another voice, even a stranger's, anything to distract his thoughts from Lacey Sebastian, had him reaching for the receiver.

“Yes?”

“Barak? It's Lacey. Lacey Sebastian.”

As if he wouldn't know that. “Is something wrong?”

Her laugh sounded nervous. “No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to make sure that you were all right.”

“I'm fine.” Other than his body hurting with the need to bed her. Even the sound of her breathing was stirring his body into full readiness to mate.

“I was worried. That whole experience down in the tunnels was so awful.” There was remembered fear in her voice.

He hurt for her. “I regret you had to see what happened when those men returned.”

“Yes, well, better them than you or Devlin or Trahern.” She paused. “Or me. I just wanted to let you know that I'm grateful that you insisted on coming down with me into the tunnels. I'm sorry that it had to end on such a horrible note.”

“I was honored to serve as your bodyguard.” He pulled a chair closer to the phone so he could sit down. The darkness in the room lent a certain intimacy to their conversation. “And I'm grateful that you found my sword. I'm relieved to have it back.”

“I'm happy we found it.”

Silence settled between them, and for the moment the only connection between them was the distant hum of the power in the phone. Words never came easily to him, but he didn't want her to think he was reluctant to talk to her. And there was something in her voice that made him think there was more wrong than she was telling him.

“Have there been repercussions from the incident?” The need to protect this woman boiled up in his blood.

There was a definite hesitation before she answered. “No, not really. It's no surprise that Devlin said we can't go into the tunnels while he investigates why those men were there. And Laurel Young stopped by to make sure I was all right. That was kind of her.”

“She is a kind woman. Did it help to talk to her?”

“Yeah, until my brother stopped by to yell at me. I sent him packing.” Pain and anger colored her words.

“I would have liked to have seen that. You do know he just wants to keep his sister safe.” He considered his next words. “And I would think he hated you experiencing some of the violence that is so much a part of his life.”

“I'm not a child.”

“No, you're not, and Penn knows that. If he didn't, he wouldn't hate me being around you so much. Big brothers often have a problem with men desiring their beautiful sisters, no matter what their age. That he considers me his enemy makes it even worse for him.”

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. He knew the question she wasn't asking. And the answer.

“Lacey, I've wanted to kiss you from the first moment you walked into that meeting room, ready to do battle. Instead, you took my hand.” Even now he could remember the burst of pleasure at the surprise he'd felt at her touch.

“It was just a handshake.”

So she'd felt it, too, or else she wouldn't be trying to convince herself otherwise.

“But down in the tunnel today, it was so much more than a simple handshake.” He was playing with fire. Either she'd admit to the powerful attraction they both felt, or she'd banish him from her lab for his presumptions.

“Yes, but it shouldn't have gotten that far.”

He heard regret in her voice, but was it because she was sorry they'd been interrupted or because it had happened at all? Before he could think of a response, she yawned loudly, then sighed.

“Sorry, Barak, that was rude. It's been a long day for both of us. I'd better be going.”

To bed.
He ruthlessly ignored the interesting picture that brought to mind. “Thank you for calling, Lacey.”

“It was the least I could do. After all, you risked your life to keep the rest of us safe.”

“No. To keep
you
safe,” he corrected.

She ignored the distinction. “I'll see you in the morning. Good night, Barak.”

“Good night, Lacey.”

He waited until she disconnected before hanging up his phone, not wanting to lose touch with her a second sooner than he had to. Then he made his way through his darkened apartment to his lonely bed.

Perhaps now he could sleep.

T
he pounding at the door matched the pounding in Penn's head. He squinted at the clock beside his bed and cursed as he threw back the covers. His robe lay on the floor at his feet, but damned if he'd risk bending over to pick it up, not the way his stomach was churning.

Wincing at the bright sunlight flooding into his kitchen, he cussed again when he saw Devlin staring at him through the back-door window. What in hell did he want? Even if the clock was pushing noon, Penn wasn't due for guard duty until two. Plenty of time for him to settle his stomach and clear his head.

After unlocking the dead bolt, Penn stepped back. “Before you start yelling about whatever you came by to yell at me for, I need coffee.”

Devlin gave him a disgusted look. “Sit down before you fall down. I'll make it.”

Penn would have argued, but he figured he'd only embarrass himself further. “I'll be back.”

If Devlin wanted to talk to him badly enough to come to the house, then he'd wait around long enough for Penn to shower and dress. Besides, if he was going to get his ass chewed, he wanted to be wearing more than yesterday's boxers.

Ten minutes later he walked back into the kitchen feeling a helluva lot better. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Devlin had already poured them each a cup of coffee. He'd even managed to scrounge up a couple of aspirin and had them sitting by Penn's cup. Penn nodded his thanks and swallowed them dry, then took a careful sip of the coffee. It was strong enough to melt nails, burning away the last of the cobwebs in his head.

After emptying the cup, he set it down. “So go ahead and yell. I'm ready.”

Devlin's smile was not pleasant. “Penn, you've been screwing up so much lately, I ought to rip your fucking head off. God knows I've warned you enough about fighting. And it would help if you followed orders once in a while. Then there's yesterday's fiasco down in the tunnels.”

Damn it, he wasn't the one who screwed up yesterday! “It wasn't
your
sister down in the tunnel where that son of a bitch could have dragged her across the barrier.”

“I've already dealt with your sister over her lack of judgment, so you stay out of it. However, you were the one who didn't bother to send the elevator back down to us. If you had, we could have made it up without those bastards even knowing we were there. But because you had to be an asshole, Lacey saw Trahern shoot a man while Barak sliced up the others like ripe watermelons.”

Penn blanched. “I didn't think about that.”

“And damn it all, that's exactly what your problem is, Penn!” Bane leaned forward in his chair. “You don't
think.
”

There wasn't much Penn could say to that.

Devlin stared at him a few seconds longer, then sat back and took a long drink of his coffee.

“But I didn't really come here today to yell—too much. I have a question for you and I didn't want to ask it back at headquarters.”

Penn's stomach clenched with dread. “What is it?”

“How's the hand doing?”

This wasn't the time to lie. Penn held out his hand and clenched it, making a fist, but he couldn't hide the amount of effort it took. “It's better, but not great.”

“How good are you at fighting left-handed?”

Where exactly was this conversation headed? “I've never tried it seriously. I'm a fair shot with both hands, though.”

“That's good.” The scowl on Devlin's face lightened up. “That's damn good. As of today, you're no longer on guard duty. Instead, I want you working more closely with the physical therapist on strengthening your right hand. And I want you in the gym every day with either me or Barak working on fighting left-handed.”

Penn's good mood disappeared instantly. “
Barak?
Why the hell would I want to work with him?”

“Because I don't have time to work with you every day, and Barak's fighting style is closer to yours than Trahern's or Cullen's.” Devlin finished his coffee. “This is your best chance at getting back into the fight, Penn. After this long, it's hard to know if your right hand will ever be normal. We've cut you a lot of slack, knowing how hard it must be to be so close to the barrier and not able to fight.”

“You don't know. Nobody does.” If he sounded like he was whining, too damn bad.

“Maybe that's true.” Devlin met his gaze head-on with his best no-prisoners-taken glare. “Don't blow this opportunity, Penn, or we'll have to move your sorry ass somewhere far enough away from the barrier to keep you from driving everybody, including yourself, crazy.”

Devlin stood up and held out his hand. “I need you back, Penn. All the way back.”

A few minutes later, Penn watched Devlin drive away. Damn, he'd known the day would come that the decision would be made about whether he would rejoin the fight or else be shuffled off into some no-account job. Oh, they'd try to protect his dignity, but they all knew that a Paladin who couldn't fight would wither away. Already some of the Paladins avoided him because he reminded them how precarious their own lives were.

At least Devlin had offered him a chance. Turning away from the door, Penn flexed his hands and considered the irony of it all. An Other had taken away his ability to fight, and now he had to depend on one to give it back.

A sense of calm poured through his veins as he picked up his keys and prepared to drive to the Center to be fitted for a new sword. A new weapon, a new life, and an old enemy to face.

“Hey, Penn, you're looking pretty clean cut for sitting out on the sidewalk.”

Penn clenched his teeth. Ben Jackson was at least the seventh person who'd made the same or similar crack since he'd come into the Center.

“I'm no longer on guard duty.” And if Penn kept moving fast enough, Ben wouldn't have time to ask if that meant he was returning to the tunnels. The Paladins didn't bother to ask. If he'd been recalled to normal duty, the news would have flown through the ranks like wildfire.

“Hey, well, congratulations, Penn. That's terrific news. I bet you're thrilled to be back in the trenches.” Ben slapped him on the back a little too enthusiastically. “What say I buy you a beer in celebration?”

It took some effort, but Penn managed to smile at the IT specialist. “I'll hold you to that offer, but I'm not back on the roster yet. Devlin has something else in mind for me than sitting on my ass out in the alley, though. I guess that's good news.”

Ben's excitement didn't dim by even a flicker, making Penn more suspicious than ever. Why had he singled out Penn for so much attention? He'd taken to stopping and talking every time Penn was out on the sidewalk, almost as if he'd been watching for him. Maybe Penn shouldn't be so distrustful, but he hadn't been known for having a charming personality even before his injury. Now he could hardly be civil to anyone, including his own sister.

Ben's behavior was making Penn's hackles rise, enough so that he didn't want to blow the guy off. There'd been rumors about some pretty weird stuff going down lately, what with the renegade guard and all, and maybe Ben was part of it. But Penn wouldn't say anything to Devlin until he had something more solid than just his gut feeling to go on.

“Tell you what. If I get a chance, I'll stop in the bar up the street after I get done. If you're there, I'll let you buy me that beer.”

He managed to dodge Ben's effort to slap him on the shoulder. “Great! I'll see you then.”

Penn walked on toward Devlin's office, pausing to look back at the man. Yeah, something was up; he only wished he knew what it was.

Lacey shook her head to make sure she'd heard correctly. “Are you sure he said Penn? As in my brother, the one who hates your guts?”

Barak looked up from the data he'd been entering into the computer for her and nodded. “Yes, I am to meet your brother in the gym this afternoon after I finish here.”

“But why on earth would Devlin pick you to spar with Penn?”

What kind of game was Devlin playing? Did he want her brother to kill Barak for him since he couldn't do it himself? No, that didn't make sense. Devlin Bane wasn't known for his subtlety.

Barak shrugged. “I would guess it has something to do with your brother's hand.”

Oh, no! Lately, she'd suspected Penn hadn't been very diligent about doing the exercises the therapist had given him, but surely his hand had been improving. Maybe not, if Penn's increasing anger was any indicator.

“You're not a doctor or a therapist,” she said, suddenly realizing how little she really knew about her new assistant. Except he had a way of making her hormones stand up and take notice whenever he walked into the room. Or when he looked in her direction with those spooky silver eyes. Or…

“No, I'm not.” He turned to face her. “From what little Devlin said, your brother needs to change sword hands if he can. Like Devlin, I am able to fight with either hand. Perhaps that is what he thinks I can teach your brother.”

“Penn's not going to like this.”

Barak tried unsuccessfully to hide a nasty little smile. “No, he won't.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a disapproving look. “I know he's been a total jerk around you, but he's had a hard time with this injury.”

“What your brother needs is a swift kick in the ass, to borrow one of Cullen's colorful phrases. Penn isn't the only Paladin to suffer this kind of injury, and feeling sorry for himself won't help him get back his sword. Working out against me might.”

She couldn't argue with his logic, but that didn't mean she had to like it. “Can I watch?”

“No.”

“And why not?”

“Devlin promised your brother that we would give him privacy, especially at the beginning. At first Penn will be clumsy fighting left-handed. Spectators will only make it more difficult for him.”

She grudgingly accepted defeat. “Fine. Just make sure that this extra duty doesn't interfere with your work here. And remember, we're scheduled for another trip to the mountains tomorrow.”

“I'm looking forward to it. I've heard and read a great deal about Mount St. Helens. It will be nice to meet her in person.” He picked up his clipboard and began writing down more numbers.

He wasn't the only one excited about the trip. It was a pretty drive, right up until the moment you reached the highest tourist center and looked right out at that brooding mammoth of a mountain. Mount Rainier and Mount Baker were volcanoes, too, but they hid their anger better.

It would be interesting to see Barak's reaction to the lady, as he called the volcano. She watched him work for a few more seconds before returning to her office. Ever since their trip down to the tunnels a few days ago, she'd found herself staring at him far too often.

Neither of them had mentioned their brief kiss or the phone call they'd shared that night. And Barak's thoughts were impossible to read. He was the perfect coworker: courteous, punctual, diligent.

She had nothing to complain about, but she found herself wanting to pick a fight. Yet whenever she criticized his work, he nodded and made the corrections without complaint. His eyes followed her whenever he thought she wouldn't notice, but she hadn't confronted him about it.

He was her brother's enemy, but not hers. From the first moment she'd met him, Barak hadn't fit the image of an Other that she'd grown up with. But just as she'd started thinking of him as a friend, the memory of him smiling over the corpses in the tunnels jolted her into remembering he'd probably killed his share of Paladins and Guards.

“How many of my people have you killed?” The question had been hanging unasked between them from the beginning. She didn't regret its slipping out; she only hoped that she didn't regret his answer.

Barak stared at her with those odd eyes and slowly stood. He walked toward her, forcing her to either stand her ground or retreat to her office.

She took a step in Barak's direction and widened her stance. He stopped close enough that she could feel his body heat, and a deep breath filled her senses with his scent.