“We’ll be back.” D.J. picked up a duffel she hadn’t noticed earlier. It clunked when he slung the strap over his shoulder. No doubt his portable weapons stash.
She had a powerful urge to hug the two men. It would probably only embarrass them, and she really didn’t know either of them well enough to presume.
She settled for saying, “Be careful out there, guys.”
“We always are,” D.J. said, winking at her on his way out the door.
Somehow she doubted the truth of that statement, but she didn’t call him on it. Instead, she headed downstairs to Laurel’s lab. She caught herself pausing to check her hair in the gleaming stainless steel door. God, how dumb was that? She was here to check on the status of the injured, not to make an impression on anyone.
But, even so, her hands shook as she pushed open the door.
“Checkmate.”
Larem tried not to smirk at his roommate’s defeat, but it was hard. Lonzo leaned forward to study the board, obviously still trying to figure how Larem had managed to corner his king.
“Listen, you alien jerk, you must have cheated. Did you move the pieces around when I wasn’t looking?” Lonzo started resetting the board. “This time I’ll keep my eyes on you the whole time. Try anything again, and I’ll get someone to sneak in my sword past the guards.”
Larem sipped his glass of ice water. “Is it my fault you left your queen vulnerable? Perhaps you should ask Cullen for some tips, or even D.J.”
Normally Lonzo would’ve taken offense at the suggestion that anyone—especially D.J.—could show him up in chess. However, right now his roommate was too busy staring at something across the room to respond.
“Lonzo? Is something wrong?”
“Not really. Sasha Willis just walked in, and it looks like our favorite Handler is not so happy to see her. What’s up with that?”
Larem wasn’t about to tell Lonzo that Laurel knew he was reluctant to see Sasha again. His roommate already knew that Larem had broken protocol by going down into the tunnels to save her. It was what happened afterward that he had no intentions of confessing.
Time to redirect Lonzo’s attention. Tapping the game board with his finger, Larem asked, “Are we going to play or not?”
“Yeah, we are.” Lonzo moved his pawn and then looked past Larem again. “Or maybe not.”
Someone was coming toward them—Dr. Young, not Sasha. Larem knew it without even looking. “Can we finish this game later?”
“If I’m still here.” Lonzo grinned at him. “Laurel is threatening to kick me out this afternoon. Said she wants the space for someone who really needs it.”
Larem countered Lonzo’s move, mostly to postpone dealing with the problem over by the door. “Guess that means you’ll have to do the laundry this week. She already said I should stay here until tomorrow.”
Lonzo shoved another pawn off its square. “Fat chance. The dirty clothes can wait until you get home.”
Laurel stepped around the table so that she was facing Larem. “Sorry to interrupt the game, guys. Lonzo, I need to check you over before I sign off on your discharge. I might need the bed space.”
The Paladin went cold. “Son of a bitch, what happened this time?”
“Nothing so far. Lacey sent out a notice that the energy levels are fluctuating again south of here.” Laurel looked grim. “I want to make sure I’m ready. You know, just in case.”
Lonzo swept the chess pieces back into a beat-up box, added the board, and then jammed the lid back on. “Sorry, Larem.”
“Not a problem.”
When Lonzo was gone, Larem turned his attention to Dr. Young, still all too aware of the woman who was hovering just out of sight behind him. “Doc, make sure Lonzo knows you’re not releasing him to join the fight. He was still wincing in pain and rubbing his side when he thought I wouldn’t notice.”
Laurel’s eyes narrowed as she watched Lonzo make his way back to his bed. “That sneaky jerk! And he’s been complaining nonstop about me keeping him so long. I should’ve known better than to trust him. You two might get to finish that chess game after all.”
Then she dropped her voice. “Sasha Willis wants to make sure you’re on the mend. Okay if I send her over?”
“Sure.” He wanted to know how she was doing, too.
Before walking away, Laurel motioned for the other woman to come forward, pulling the curtain partly closed. “This is the first time Larem’s been up for any length of time. I don’t want him to overdo.”
“I won’t stay long. I promise.”
Sasha stood in front of him. As she stared into his eyes, her hand fluttered down to gently rest on his arm. “I thought I’d stop by to see if you needed anything.”
He savored the small contact and slowly moved to cover her hand with his own, afraid she’d step back out of reach. Yes, there was something he needed. Before Sasha came into his life, it had been a long, long time since anyone had actually held him, touched him, kissed him.
Two days ago he’d been out of control and out of his mind. What had he been thinking when he’d latched on to this woman and poured everything he had into that kiss? More importantly, though, what had she been thinking when she kissed him back?
Not that it mattered, not if he’d become a target for the guards. The last one who’d gone rogue had tried to kill Laurel. It had taken the unlikely alliance of Barak q’Young and Devlin Bane to save her. Larem wouldn’t put Sasha in the same kind of danger. He had to drive a wedge between them and make a clean break of things.
He gave her the only answer he could. “I have everything I need.”
She actually looked disappointed as she peeked out at the remaining Paladin patients.
Finally, she looked back at him. “Laurel says everyone is on the mend, including you. You definitely look better than when I stopped by yesterday.”
“She’d mentioned that you’d been in to check on the wounded.”
Although he bet he was the only one she’d actually touched, even cried over. His skin tingled with the remembered feeling of her gentle fingers against his when she’d thought he was asleep.
Sasha stepped back and shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket. “Yes, well, it’s my job to make sure everyone was all right—the guards, the Paladins, and the—”
“Other?” he offered when she hesitated. He knew she didn’t see him that way, but he couldn’t let them get any closer.
“Darn it, Larem, don’t put words in my mouth. You’re not one of them. You forget, I’ve seen the difference up close and personal.”
Despite the anger blazing in Sasha’s eyes, she’d dropped her voice to a whisper. He did the same.
“You can tell yourself that if you want. Does it make it easier for you to stomach the fact that you let yourself be kissed by one? Touched by one? Remember that night at the zoo?”
“I haven’t forgotten a single moment of our time together.”
Neither had he, but that changed nothing. He eased his feet down onto the floor, determined to finish this conversation standing up.
Still conscious of the fact they weren’t exactly alone, he leaned in close and whispered near her ear, “Sorry if it bothers you so much, Sasha, but it’s nothing less than the truth. Kalith, Other—the words don’t matter because they don’t change what I am. Maybe it makes me sick to think that I kissed a human. Ever think of that?”
She jerked back as if his words had been a physical blow. “No, I can’t say that I did. Sorry I’ve burdened you with my human cooties. I didn’t realize you aliens found us so repugnant.”
He watched in grim silence as she stalked away, her back rigid, anger obvious in each step she took. She picked up the computer case and purse she’d left by the exit and slammed her way through the swinging door. He wanted to charge after her, to admit he hadn’t meant what he’d said, but he wouldn’t. For her sake, it was the right thing to do.
At least his wounded leg held up until she was out of sight before it gave out on him. He grabbed on to the side of the bed, barely managing to save himself the indignity of hitting the floor. After a few seconds, the room quit spinning enough that he could crawl back up on the cold steel without asking for help.
He stretched out and concentrated on taking long, slow breaths, seeking to center himself, to block out the world and the jagged edges of pain shooting through him. A few seconds later, Laurel appeared at his side with a syringe in her hand.
“This will help you rest.”
She made no move, allowing him to make the final decision; taking human drugs was iffy because of his Kalith physiology. This time, though, he’d risk it. A little oblivion sounded damned good right then. He held out his arm so she could inject it through his IV.
“Thanks, Laurel. Maybe it will help.”
It wouldn’t, not really. But for the next couple of hours he wouldn’t have to care.
Chapter 9
Chaz Willis stared at his reflection in the window, on the whole pleased with what he saw. He prided himself on how far he’d come from his humble roots. It had been an uphill battle to shake the dirt of poverty off his shoes, but he’d done it and never looked back.
Of course, few people had any idea how much power he actually wielded, because the world of the Regents and Paladins was a secret one. He liked that. It meant that there were fewer rules he had to play by, which only made the game that much more fun. After all, the government couldn’t regulate what couldn’t be openly acknowledged as existing in the first place. Only a handful of highly placed men in each country that housed Paladins knew of their existence—and for good reason.
The clock on the wall tolled the hour, reminding him that his fellow Regents were due to arrive soon. Footsteps approached, their sound muted by the thick Persian rug on the floor. Chaz turned around to acknowledge the Paladin’s presence.