“The long and the short of it is, none at all, but let’s not assume the worst until we have to. I’ll say it again: give the lady a chance. She can’t be any worse than Kincade. Who knows, she might even surprise us. Now, get your asses back to work.”
The grumbling this time sounded more like the usual kind. Lonzo made his escape, heading for the tunnels. D.J. muttered something about having an e-mail to check into and then plowed through the crowd with his usual disregard for those in his way.
Larem had almost reached the door when the warning blast of the Klaxons went off. He ducked back out of the way, clearing the path for the Paladins behind him as they all rushed to answer the call of duty. Part of him envied them their clear purpose in life, but at the same time he hated the necessity for it. How many of his own people would die before the barrier was restored? How many of his Paladin friends would bleed?
He watched as Hunter and D.J. followed Lonzo into the elevator that plunged down to the tunnels below the city, their game faces on.
“Larem!”
Devlin came charging up, his favorite sword clutched in his hand. Larem instinctively retreated a few steps before common sense took over and reminded him that they were friends, or at least not enemies.
“What do you need, Devlin?”
“Find Sasha Willis and make sure she made it out safely before all hell broke loose.”
Both men looked around, but if she was in the area, Larem didn’t see her. That came as no great surprise. The milling crowd of Paladins pretty much all topped six feet, making spotting one small human woman almost impossible.
“I’ll find her.”
Not that he wanted to. But for Devlin’s sake, he’d make sure the woman stayed out of the way of those who had work to do. Pencil pushers, as D.J. called those in administration, played no role in the daily grind of a Paladin’s life. If the Willis woman managed to get herself in the path of the fighting, she’d learn the hard way why she had no business trying to tell the Paladins how to do their jobs.
Larem ducked back into the conference room in case the representative had sought refuge there, only to find it completely empty. Where could she have disappeared to so quickly?
Her office was located a few blocks away in the admin building, while this one housed the Paladins themselves. It also contained some of the research facilities, including the geology department where Barak and his mate both worked. If he didn’t find Sasha Willis soon, he’d ask his friends to join the search.
The closest exit was down the hallway, past Devlin’s and some of the others’ offices. He headed that direction first.
Sure enough, he spotted her hovering outside Devlin’s door. She looked up as Larem drew near. He wasn’t sure what to do. After all, he was only charged with ensuring she hadn’t been caught in the crush of bodies rushing down to the tunnels.
Mission accomplished. Job done. He could get back to his own business with a clear conscience, at least after he reported to Barak what had been said in the meeting. He kept his eyes straight ahead, intending to walk right by the woman without making any contact. Unfortunately, she had other plans.
“Excuse me, but did you happen to see where Devlin Bane went?”
Larem slowed his steps just long enough to answer, “He headed down to the tunnels when the alarm went off.”
She cocked her head to the side, as if puzzled by his answer, but maybe it was his Kalith accent that surprised her. Humans often mistook it for German or eastern European. With luck, she would as well.
Finally, she slowly nodded, as if he’d confirmed her suspicions. “I’d ask when he’ll be back, but I know that depends on how long the barrier stays down and how many Others are waiting to charge across.”
What could he say to that? He settled for saying nothing. Before he could walk away, though, she stopped him again.
“Sorry, but I’m kind of turned around. Can you point me toward the exit? I’ll head back to my office until Bane returns.”
“The door to the alley is back this way.”
He waited while she jotted Devlin a quick note. As she stuck it on the small corkboard the Paladin leader kept on his door, Cullen walked into sight, offering Larem the perfect opportunity to make his escape. After all, Devlin had thought it best if all the Kalith kept a low profile for a while. How could he do that and act as escort for the woman they were all supposed to avoid?
“Hey, Cullen, I’m late for an appointment. Could you show Miss Willis how to get back to her office?”
Without waiting for his friend to respond, Larem walked away. Maybe he should feel guilty for forcing Cullen to take over, but Sasha Willis had already picked up on his accent. If she recognized him for what he was, who knew where that would lead?
He doubted anyone connected with the Board of Regents would appreciate Kalith warriors wandering around unescorted. In fact, no one would be surprised if orders didn’t come down to do a lot more than restrict their access to Paladin facilities.
Just before the turn at the end of the hall, Larem risked one last look back. Cullen was showing Miss Willis something on his computer screen, giving Larem the perfect opportunity to study the woman without her knowing it.
She was listening intently to Cullen and nodding occasionally. Cullen, one of the resident computer geniuses, looked impressed when she said something and pointed toward the screen.
But it wasn’t just the woman’s intelligence that held Larem’s attention. While almost all Kalith had dark hair and pale gray eyes, Sasha Willis was the opposite. Her hair was a deep red, the warm color of embers burning brightly, and her eyes were dark as night.
A couple of curls had escaped from her attempt to subdue them. His hands itched to pull those pins from her hair and set it all free. Such fiery beauty shouldn’t be restrained. He bet she hated the halo of curls that would surround her face, softening the strong angles of her high cheekbones and full mouth. How would she taste? Tart? Sweet?
He had no business wondering about such things, and just his luck, he’d been caught staring. Rather than run, he nodded in her direction and then calmly walked away. Perhaps she’d think he’d only been assuring himself that she was receiving the help she needed. Rather than worry about it anymore, he headed for the geology lab to consult with Barak and Lacey.
Chapter 2
Sasha did her best to follow Cullen’s detailed explanation about the network he and D.J. had designed for the Paladins. So far, she’d understood most of what he was saying, at least until she’d sensed someone staring at the two of them. Straightening up, she took a slow, casual look around.
It didn’t take long to spot who was watching them—the guy who’d initially helped her was still lurking nearby. The question was why he felt compelled to hang around, especially when he’d jumped on the first opportunity to hand her off to someone else.
Interesting man, though. He moved with such quiet dignity and spoke English with an odd cadence, as if it wasn’t his native language. No surprise there. Paladins lived and worked all over the world. He might have been transferred into the area from almost anywhere.
As he nodded and then turned away, she forced her attention back to the computer screen. Who was he? She could ask Cullen but found herself oddly reluctant to do so. Besides, all the local Paladin personnel files were waiting on her desk back in the admin building. She could always shuffle through them to find out his name later.
The only thing that bothered her was why she found him so oddly compelling after such a brief encounter. Sure he was handsome, but all the Paladins she’d met so far had that inborn charisma so characteristic of alpha males. Most likely this particular guy stood out from the crowd only because she’d encountered him one-on-one, rather than as part of that angry mob she’d faced earlier.
She realized that Cullen had stopped talking several seconds ago. “Sorry. I guess I’m still trying to take all this in.”
He shot a quick look down the hall where the mystery man had gone. “Want me to show you the way out now, Ms. Willis?”
“I’d appreciate it.”
Cullen logged off his computer and stood up. “It’s down this way. The door leads out into an alley where we keep a guard posted all the time. Since you’re new, I’ll walk you out to make sure there’s no problem.”
“That’s very kind of you.”
They walked in companionable silence. She noticed another hall branching off to the left just before they reached the door. “What’s down that way?”
“Just some labs,” Cullen said, shrugging as he opened the door to the alley.
As she followed him outside, she wondered why his reaction had seemed a little too casual, as if he were trying to deflect any interest in those labs. Maybe she was reading too much into it, but she strongly suspected that he was relieved when she didn’t ask any more questions.
That was all right—for now. Eventually, though, she’d learn far more about the entire organization than any of them were going to be comfortable with.
Larem watched as Lacey Sebastian studied the array of monitors and seismographs that ran the length of her lab. Lines of tension bracketed her mouth as she made notes on her clipboard.
“How bad is it?” he asked.
She checked the numbers one more time before answering, “Bad enough. Although based on these readings, the barrier should stabilize in the next few seconds.”
Barak was holding on to the edge of the counter, his knuckles white, his face gray and stony. All Kalith had some affinity for the barrier, but he felt it the strongest. Lacey watched her mate with sympathy as they waited.
Finally, the dials did one last jump before settling down to normal levels.
Barak’s shoulders sagged as he released his death grip on the counter. “It’s back up and holding strong.”
All three of them breathed a deep sigh of relief knowing the fighting far below in the tunnels would end shortly. Lacey recorded the last of her data before setting her clipboard aside. Then she poured a cup of tea and set it down in front of Larem along with one of her famous chocolate chip cookies. Done with her hostess duties, she pulled up a stool and sat down between him and Barak.
“So, this new administrator, what did you think of him?”
He considered how best to respond. “First of all, her name is Sasha Willis.”