In Darkness Reborn (9 page)

She held her breath, realizing how much danger they were in. As if sensing her sudden surge of fear, Barak reached back to take her hand in his, silently offering her the reassurance of his touch. She knew that her brother and his friends would be horrified to see her readily accepting comfort from their worst enemy, but Barak was not
her
enemy.

At that moment, she had more to fear from the human men who had just passed by. A few seconds later, she could no longer stand the silence. She leaned forward slightly to whisper, “Are they gone?”

She felt Barak shake his head. He squeezed her hand, again reassuring her. Finally, though, most of the tension drained away from his stance, and he sheathed his sword. Slowly he turned to face her, his movement triggering the closest of the lights. The sudden brightness had her instinctively burying her face against his shoulder. Immediately his arms wrapped around her, cradling her against his chest.

As she waited for her heart to quit racing, she realized that she wanted far more than comfort from the man who embraced her so gently. Slowly, she forced herself to look up. His pale eyes held her gaze as his hand came up to cup the side of her face. Her knees weakened with the sure knowledge that Barak was going to kiss her.

And that she'd waited her entire life for a man to look at her just the way that he was looking at her—as if by looking into her eyes, he'd found the answer to every question he'd ever asked. She offered him a small smile, and traced the masculine line of his jaw with trembling fingers.

As he closed the last little distance between them, her eyes fluttered closed, waiting for the touch of his lips to hers, knowing without question that her life was about to change forever.

Her breath mingled with his as Barak lightly brushed his lips across her mouth, making feminine desire coil deep within her. She slid her hands up to his broad shoulders, needing his strength and craving his heat.

She sighed, parting her lips in invitation to deepen the kiss. His tongue swept across hers as he gathered her closer, letting her learn the fit of his powerful body against hers. Her skin ached to be shed of the layers of clothing that held them apart even that small distance. She nibbled at his full low lip as she wrapped her leg around his; he growled in response and started to kiss her again.

Then a shout startled them both. They jumped apart, leaving her feeling guilty and disappointed. Trahern and Devlin were coming to find them, and she wasn't sure if they'd just saved her, or cost her something precious that she might not find again.

B
arak gave her a gentle shove toward the small pile of cases. “Work on the equipment. I'll distract them.”

Normally she would have resented his taking charge, but at that moment she was only grateful.

She watched him intercept Bane and Trahern before she turned her attention to the work at hand. He stopped them a short distance away while she tried to make the final adjustments. Inside the box were the various pieces of equipment she used to monitor and record earth movements in the surrounding area. Out on the mountains, she used a larger version to accommodate the bigger batteries required to power the instruments.

She'd modified the original design to make this smaller, more portable, version for more protected areas like these tunnels. If this one worked as well as she hoped, she wanted to install them throughout the tunnel system that the Paladins had to guard.

Her hope was to learn how to predict the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that caused the barrier to come down. Even a few minutes of lead time could help save Paladin lives. She'd watched them sacrifice so much—their very sanity—for a battle they could never completely win.

She had to wonder what Barak thought about the research she was doing. If she was successful, the lives she helped save would be at the cost of his kind.

“Get out of my way,” Penn snarled as he tried to get past Barak, who had put himself squarely in Penn's path. Just great, another testosterone-laden pissing contest.

Devlin glared at Penn. “Back off, Penn.”

“Like hell I will, Bane. This is your fault.”

“What's my fault? That you're acting like a major asshole?” Devlin joined Barak in blocking Penn's access to the tunnel. “No one gave you permission to be down here, you damn fool. If this gets reported, you'll be on laundry duty for the next six months.”

Oh, yeah, name-calling and threats were going to calm her brother right down. She latched the lid on the case and reached for the second one. Barak had already done most of the work, so it took only a couple of seconds to have it up and running as well.

She dusted off her hands and packed up her tools. “If you all are done acting like idiots, I could use some help here.”

Barak immediately left Devlin and Trahern to deal with Penn. As Barak leaned down to pick up the tool case, he met her gaze. In a soft voice, he whispered, “I'm sorry about all of this.”

The words hit her like a splash of cold water. What was he sorry about? That her brother was being a jerk—again—or that her decision to monitor the tunnels had stirred up a hornet's nest? Or that they'd kissed? Even now, she could remember how it felt to be in his arms and to taste his kiss.

And that scared her right down to her bones. He represented everything she'd been brought up to hate, yet Barak was a far cry from the monster her brother and the other Paladins had made his kind out to be.

She said calmly, “If you'll pick up that one, Barak, we'll take it a short distance farther down the main tunnel and finish setting it up.”

Devlin stood in front of her, his hands on his hips, looking scarier than she'd ever seen him. “Lacey, what the hell are you doing down here? And who authorized it?”

She wasn't impressed. “I'm doing my job. Now, if the whole bunch of you would get out of our way, we could finish up and get out of here.”

“Damn it, Lacey, there are reasons we don't let just anyone go wandering around down here. What would have happened if the barrier had gone down?”

“I would have protected her.” Barak had set the box back down and stood with his hand on his sword.

She was tired of their arguing over her like a pair of dogs fighting over an old bone. “In fact, he did keep me safe, Devlin. Three men carrying rifles went strolling by here no more than ten minutes ago. If Barak hadn't heard them coming, they would have seen me for certain.”

Bane's green eyes snapped from her to Barak. “When were you going to tell me about this?”

Barak glared right back at the Paladin. “I wasn't sure how much you wanted Penn or Trahern to hear. I would have told you as soon as I had you alone.”

Some of the anger drained out of Devlin's expression. “Fine. I'm listening.”

“I heard their voices carrying down the tunnel. I pushed Lacey deeper into the small tunnel and told her to hold still so that the lights would go out. I drew my sword and waited for them to appear.”

“Were they members of the Guard?”

“They wore no uniforms, but that doesn't mean much. They seemed relaxed even though they carried weapons, as if they expected to have the place to themselves. They didn't sense our presence, although it was a close thing.”

“Son of a bitch.” Devlin ran his fingers through his hair. “Were they carrying anything they shouldn't have?”

Lacey had been following the discussion right up to that point. “Like what? They had some kind of machine guns. Isn't that bad enough?”

Barak and Devlin exchanged looks, but neither one seemed inclined to offer up any explanations.

Trahern spoke up. “Where do you need that equipment put, Dr. Sebastian? I can carry the stuff for you while these two hash things out.”

He was trying to distract her, and there wasn't much she could do about it. Paladins played their cards close to their chests, and right now she was too mixed up inside to argue.

“This one stays,” she said, pointing at the closest case. “I want to take the second one farther down the tunnel enough distance that I can compare the readings.”

For once she got no argument, which spoke to how worried Devlin and Barak were about keeping their conversation to themselves. She picked up her tool kit and followed Trahern down the passage. Barak watched her leave, but maybe she was only imagining it.

“So what did you do with Penn?” She should have thought to ask where he'd disappeared to before now.

Trahern shrugged. “Devlin ordered him back to the elevator. I thought I might have to knock him out cold and drag him there.” The tall Paladin looked down at her. “He wasn't too happy to hear that you'd come down here alone with Barak.”

“Then why did you and Bane tell him? You had to know how he'd react.”

Trahern stopped short. “We didn't tell him. I called Devlin myself, but neither of us spoke to Penn at all. I figured he must have seen you and Barak leave the lab.”

“I knew better than to let him find out. Otherwise, we'd never have gotten past him in the first place. We left by the other door and went straight through the building without stopping to talk to anyone.”

Her companion muttered something that sounded suspiciously like an obscenity. “I'll have to tell Devlin and let him talk to Penn. It will be interesting to see who was watching you or maybe Barak.”

She sighed. It was bad enough that her brother still treated her like a child half the time without him enlisting others to help him spy on her.

“If he's having his friends watch me, I'll kill him. I've been threatening to for ages. Maybe it's time I show him that I'm serious.”

Trahern laughed, although it sounded rusty. “I'd love to watch. If it's any comfort, my money would be on you.”

She gave him a suspicious look. “Because of his hand?” Because that would really make her angry.

He looked shocked that she'd think such a thing. “No way. I've just learned to have a healthy respect for what a strong woman can accomplish.” He looked back to where Devlin was still talking to Barak. “Whoever thought Bane could be hog-tied by a woman?”

Lacey had to laugh. “Some might have wondered the same thing about you.”

His harsh features softened a bit. “We're not talking about me.”

But he didn't deny it, either. Brenna Nichols had worked a miracle with Blake Trahern, and Lacey was genuinely happy for both of them.

They'd reached another branch in the tunnel. “Let's set this one up in there.”

“Not that one!”

Trahern reached out to stop her, but she'd already gone far enough to trigger the lights. There wasn't anything to distinguish the short space from the previous one—until she spotted a dark brown stain on the floor. It looked like…Then she recalled the stories she'd heard about the day that Barak had crossed over from his world and Devlin had killed a traitor from among the Guard. Oh, Lord help her. It was blood—old and dried out—but blood, all the same. The stain was puddle shaped and ran right up to the small area of the barrier that ran through the tunnel. It ended abruptly at the edge of the barrier.

“Blake, is this where?…”

“Yeah,” he admitted reluctantly. “This is where Sgt. Purefoy chained Laurel to Barak and waited for the barrier to come back up. It would have killed them both.” Devlin had killed him instead, with Barak's help.

It seemed appropriate to set up her equipment right where Barak had earned the right to live in her world. She swallowed hard and set down her tool kit. “Let's get set up.”

The chill of the tunnels had made her fingers stiff, making it hard to fine-tune the last settings. Finally, though, she had the small machine running properly.

“Would you mind if I looked around a bit more? It won't take more than a minute or two for me to see if I can find other places to set up more equipment on my next trip.”

He frowned at that. “You can look. That's no guarantee that you'll be allowed back down here anytime soon.”

She rolled her eyes. She'd managed to get down there once; she'd do so again. Rather than argue the point, she did a hurried inspection of the next hundred feet of tunnel. There was only one more offshoot of any size. After waving her hands to set off the lights, she blinked her eyes against the sudden brightness.

Except for a rusty bed with a broken headboard, the tunnel was empty and would do for another station. If Devlin refused to let her come back, maybe she could get Trahern to accompany Barak down to set up the equipment. As she was about to ask him, she spotted something glittery out of the corner of her eye and turned to see what had caught her attention.

It was a sword, but one like none she'd ever seen before. She approached it with caution, knowing it had to have come from the wrong side of the barrier.

“Blake, come look at this.”

He joined her, kneeling down to look at the sword. The two of them studied it for a few seconds before he reached out a cautious hand to move it out from the wall to get a better look.

“It had to have belonged to an Other.”

“But according to the files, there hasn't been any fighting along this stretch for years.” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. The only way she'd know that was if she'd been accessing secret Paladin files.

“I mean, uh—”

Trahern shot her a knowing look. “Don't sweat it, Lacey. Devlin's already figured out that you've been reading the files. He sicced D.J. on your trail.”

She'd be lucky if her boss didn't have her up for disciplinary action. “I needed the information.”

“Next time just ask for it. We all have a vested interest in your work.”

“Thanks, I will,” she replied, surprised by his answer.

“I won't promise that Devlin will allow you free access to everything. But if you can convince him that your need to know is legitimate, he'll listen.”

Trahern pulled out a handkerchief and used it to pick up the sword by the hilt. “I've never seen inlays like that before. I would guess that this little beauty belongs to your friend back there.”

“Is Barak allowed to carry a weapon?”

Trahern arched an eyebrow. “He's carrying a sword right now, isn't he? Your doing, I assume.”

She felt a blush rising up her face. “No, actually, it was his idea to come with me in case I ran into trouble. He said that the practice swords in the gym were the only weapons he had access to.”

“Well, let's go see what he has to say about this one.” Trahern stood aside to let her lead the way.

Devlin stood glowering, his hands on his hips. “Damn it, Barak. I can't have you wandering all over creation. The Regents would have my head for it.”

Barak frowned. He was still learning to differentiate the meaning behind some of the expressions used by the Paladins and other humans he came into contact with. There was nothing in his experience that made him believe that the Regents would kill one of their fiercest champions because of Barak.

No, logically speaking, they'd be more likely to order his death instead of Bane's. Devlin was exaggerating again.

“Was I supposed to allow Dr. Sebastian to come into the tunnels alone?” Barak kept his tone reasonable, but he was growing weary of having to defend his actions.

“Hell, no, but you could have called me instead of letting her go traipsing all over the place.” Devlin gestured widely with his hand. “The barrier could have gone down.”