What had she been thinking, getting involved with another Paladin?
Luckily, her cab pulled up, forestalling the need to say anything more. The ride back to her hotel was blessedly short. Larem’s thoughts were obviously elsewhere, which left her alone with her own. Despite how much she’d enjoyed the evening—especially the part after the concert—Lonzo’s phone call had been a splash of ice-cold water, forcing her to face the risk she was taking.
Larem slid out of the backseat and offered his hand to help her out. After he paid the cabdriver, she led the way over to the shadows at the side of the entrance.
She couldn’t even begin to smile. “Larem, listen, I have something to say. I hope you’ll understand that it’s nothing personal.”
But it was. It had everything to do with what he was and what he did for a living. He knew it, too.
“I had a wonderful time tonight. I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed myself more, but . . .” She paused, finding it nearly impossible to talk around the lump in her throat. David was her secret, and she didn’t know Larem well enough to share. She settled for the easy lie.
“But as the new administrator, I have too much on my plate right now to get involved with anyone, especially a Paladin who technically works for me. I’m truly sorry, but I hope you can understand.”
His reaction struck her as odd. Rather than getting angry, he actually laughed, although it had nothing to do with humor. She wasn’t sure how to respond.
“What’s so funny?”
Once again, he ran a strand of her hair through his fingers. “No, it’s not funny. I believe the correct word is ‘ironic,’ but I do understand all too well. Good-bye, Sasha.”
He brushed his lips across hers one last time and walked away, disappearing into the night.
Chapter 5
Sasha had spent the days since her date with Larem wading through paperwork until she thought her eyes would bleed. Anything was better than second-guessing her decision not to see him again. Still, trying to clean up the mess left by her predecessor hadn’t helped her mood at all, leaving her wanting to take a baseball bat to the man. Kincade, not Larem.
She had to give him credit, though. The bastard had done a bang-up job hiding his tracks. Finally, she’d borrowed D. J. Clayborne’s services from Devlin to work on the computer files. She’d left him back in her office to do his magic on Kincade’s personal computer. Hopefully, he’d have better luck.
But right now, she had a date with adventure.
The last time she’d spoken to Devlin, he’d reluctantly agreed to give her a brief tour of the tunnels under the Paladin headquarters. She was excited about the prospect of finally seeing the barrier for herself. Then, in his last e-mail, Devlin told her that he’d been called away because Mount St. Helens was once again causing problems. Luckily, he’d arranged for Lonzo Jones to meet her at the elevator at two thirty that afternoon.
She’d almost canceled, not sure she wanted to spend time with Larem’s roommate, but decided that was silly. The man could hardly hold it against her that her last date with his friend hadn’t ended well. That is, if Larem had even told Lonzo about it.
Either way, she was about to find out. The shortest route to their meeting place led her past Devlin’s office and the cluster of desks that surrounded it. The entire area was empty and silent. The hallway leading to the elevator was equally deserted.
“Lonzo, I hope you didn’t forget about me. I was really looking forward to this,” she whispered to herself, looking at her watch.
Maybe he was simply running late. Just in case, she needed to call her assistant to clear her calendar for the remainder of the day. When she tried her cell, though, she had no reception, probably because she was right over the barrier.
She did an abrupt about-face and went back to use one of the landlines. For good measure, she’d leave Devlin a message, too, thanking him again for arranging the tour. If Lonzo came while she was gone, surely he’d wait a few minutes.
He watched the big boss disappear back down the hall, hating the way the bitch strolled through the place like she owned it. It was bad enough the Regents had sided with the Paladins against the one man who’d ever backed the guards over those prima donnas. But instead of someone to kick ass and take names, they’d sent that woman, all because her daddy was a Regent. Did she really think she was capable of handling all the shit that went on around here?
Well, maybe a little scare was in order. The barrier readings down below had been stable for several days. Perhaps getting trapped below ground would be enough to send her running home to papa. It was worth a shot.
It sounded like the Paladin assigned to escort her had been delayed for some reason, too. With luck, the guy wouldn’t show up until she was already in the elevator and on her way down to the tunnels. After scribbling a few words on a sticky note, he stuck it on the elevator door and took off down the hall.
Sasha spotted a note on the elevator and sighed. She’d missed Lonzo by a matter of minutes. Hopefully he hadn’t bailed on her.
She peeled the note off the door and read it. Good, only the meeting place had changed. She keyed in her security code on the touchpad to summon the elevator up from below. It didn’t take long.
After one last look up and down the hall, she stepped inside. The doors whooshed shut and the elevator dropped, making her feel as if the floor had fallen out beneath her feet. Her stomach churned as she held on to the handrail with a death grip. The pounding of her heart was the only sound as she plummeted toward the barrier.
Seconds later, the elevator hit the ground with a jarring thump. She swallowed hard as the doors slid open. Outside, the air smelled of damp rock as she poked her head out to look around. The elevator was tucked in behind a stone outcropping, severely limiting her view. Other than a distant buzz that sounded like the hum of high-power wires, the heavy silence made her wonder exactly where her escort was waiting for her.
“Lonzo?” No answer. She tried again, louder this time, but still with no success.
What the heck was going on? Darn it, she’d been really excited about the chance to see the barrier firsthand after all these years of hearing people struggle to describe it. She read Lonzo’s note again. It clearly said he’d be waiting by the barrier for her, but she couldn’t see it from where she stood. She moved tentatively forward, reluctant to wander very far from the elevator.
Surely it wouldn’t hurt to take a quick peek around the corner to look for Lonzo before she returned upstairs. She crept forward, straining to hear even the slightest hint that anyone else was in the tunnels. The motion-activated lights flickered on as she moved forward, illuminating the tunnel for some distance in each direction. The place was empty as far as she could see.
Her intention to stage an immediate retreat was put on hold as soon as she saw the dazzling, solid sheet of energy. Words couldn’t describe the swirling colors that changed and shifted and then changed again. It might be deadly to the touch, but why had no one ever told her the barrier was beyond beautiful?
She had to get back but hated to look away for fear she’d miss a wisp of color that might never be seen again. It wasn’t lost on her that she stood mere inches away from another world, one unlike anything she could possibly imagine. All she knew for certain was that it bred cold-blooded killers who destroyed lives, leaving more than just their intended victims bleeding and hurt.
She closed her eyes to block out the mesmerizing murmur of power and beauty, wishing she could slam the door on her memories as easily. But some things—and some people—deserved to be remembered despite the pain that never faded. David’s dark chocolate eyes and broad smile were burned into her brain, their image as bright now as when she first met him. Eight years wasn’t all that long, but it seemed like forever since she’d last touched his face or tasted his kiss.
He was her first love. He’d sworn her to secrecy before confessing he was a Paladin. Two days after he’d proposed to her, he’d died, first from a sword wielded by an Other, and then a second time from a syringe full of poison administered by his Handler.
She shivered, but not entirely because of the chill in the subterranean tunnels. Time to get back topside. She’d check in with Devlin later to reschedule the tour and demand an explanation from Lonzo about why he’d ditched her. She headed for the elevator, but the steady buzz from the barrier increased in volume.
Looking back, she frowned. What the heck? The barrier was no longer opaque. The colors were still bright, but she could see shadows moving through the translucent curtain. Okay, this was bad. Maybe really, really bad. One of the two most common signs that the barrier was about to go down was that it thinned out, revealing hints of the world that lay beyond.
The other sign was sudden streaks of sickly colors replacing the vibrant, healthy ones. Sure enough, gangrenous yellows and greens started to appear at the top near the ceiling of the tunnel and spread rapidly across the entire expanse.
She took off running for the elevator. She had to get it open—now. Her fingers shook as she keyed in the code. No response. Why hadn’t she at least thought to hold the elevator on the lower level for the few minutes she’d been looking around?
Devlin had been right—this was no place for a civilian to be wandering alone. As she waited for the elevator to return, she hoped she lived long enough for him to say he’d told her so.
His spur-of-the-moment plan appeared to be working. He quickly keyed in the high-level security code that would recall the elevator and keep it topside. His clearance didn’t warrant that kind of authority, but it helped to have friends in high places.
He grinned as he felt the small blast of air that signaled the approach of the elevator. Then he wiped his fingerprints off the keypad and headed down the hall, this time to leave the building. It wouldn’t do to be seen lurking in the area once Sasha Willis managed to find her way back up topside.
“Come in and sit down.” Devlin led the way into his office and dropped into his own chair. “I just got back from an all-nighter down at St. Helens, but I need to talk to you.”
“What about?” Larem asked, although he could probably guess.
“Last Friday Laurel and I had drinks with Sasha Willis. Imagine my surprise when your name came up in conversation.”
“You already knew we’d met. I couldn’t very well ignore her.”
“Damn it, Larem, I thought you had more sense. What the hell were you thinking? The last thing I wanted to hear out of Sasha Willis’s mouth was that the two of you have been hanging out.”
From past experience, Larem knew the best course of action was to let Devlin rant until he ran out of temper or breath, whichever came first. Trying to reason with the man before that happened would be a wasted effort. It didn’t take long.
“Well? Care to explain?”
Larem shifted in his chair, trying to come up with an answer that was close to the truth but wouldn’t set Devlin off again. He sure couldn’t admit that he’d first sought her out because the Kalith and their closest allies didn’t exactly trust Devlin’s ability to ensure their safety. Worse yet, he’d also spent time with her because he wanted to.
If Devlin was upset about him and Sasha sharing a cup of coffee, the man would go ballistic if he found out they’d actually gone out more than once, especially if he knew about their last date.
