Bound By Darkness

The vet froze briefly and then nodded, a broad smile lighting up his face. “Well, that certainly explains a lot. Okay, so we’ll do this the hard way. Brace yourself because this is going to hurt like hell.”

Sasha couldn’t stand to see Larem hurting and not try to do something. Maybe a distraction would help. She wheeled her chair over closer to his and took his other hand in hers.

“We haven’t talked about names yet. What do you think of Ella for a girl?”

Dr. Isaac’s bushy eyebrows shot up in surprise, but he continued working as Larem kept his eyes trained on Sasha’s face. “That sounds almost like my mother’s name, although in Kalithia we would put the emphasis on the last half of the word. Eh-lah.”

She squeezed his hand. “Then that one goes to the top of the list. How about if we have a boy?”

Despite how much he was hurting, Larem shot her an impish grin. “If it would help your father accept me, perhaps we should name our son after him.”

Perish the thought. “No way. One Chaz in the family is more than enough,” she said, studying the vet’s name tag.

Obviously the man and Larem were close friends, probably the only one Larem had outside of the Paladins. She liked the way the man had accepted Larem’s explanation with such ease and offered his help without hesitation. Friendships like that were rare.

“Hey, how about Isaac? I’ve always liked that name.”

Her lover didn’t hesitate. “Isaac would be perfect.”

In fact, Larem looked as pleased as his elderly friend did. The vet snipped one last thread and winked at Sasha as he applied a bandage to cover the wound. “You might want to hold off on that decision until you get my bill.”

She tried to laugh—she really did—but instead, tears started streaming down her face as the combination of terror and fear for what might happen next broke through her last bit of control. Nothing like big gulping sobs to panic two grown men.

Larem jumped to his feet and pulled Sasha into his arms while Dr. Isaac pressed his handkerchief into her hand.

The vet then stammered, “Look, I’ll leave you two alone and go see if Chance needs food or water or something.”

Nodding to his friend, Larem rubbed his hand up and down Sasha’s back in soothing strokes. “Let it all out, Sasha, but remember that I’m all right, you’re all right, and Chance is out there happily pigging out.”

The storm was intense but brief. Already the tears were slowing down. Still, he held her close as if needing the comfort as much as she did. Finally, she sighed and wiped her face dry.

“Sorry. I swear, I’ve never cried as much as I have in the past few days.” She even mustered up a brave smile. “So what do we do next?”

“We call Devlin.”

He fumbled for his cell phone, wincing a bit as he kept his good arm around Sasha and used his injured one. He punched in Devlin’s number.

The Paladin answered on the first ring. “Where the hell are you?”

“Safe for now. Send Lonzo to pick us up where I do volunteer work. He’ll know.”

Thank the gods that the Paladin leader was the sort to remain calm, at least until the battle was over. There was more he should know.

“Devlin, the two who attacked the condo had to be guards. The one that I left alive said all my kind were dead even if we didn’t know it yet. I want only men I can trust to protect Sasha and Mr. Willis while we deal with this. Warn Barak and Cullen. Get Lacey, Lusahn, and the kids someplace safe.”

“What the fuck’s this world coming to?” Devlin obviously didn’t expect an answer because he kept right on talking. “I’ll have the guys round up all the guards here at headquarters and throw the bastards in a locked room until we have time to sort them out.”

Larem liked the way Devlin thought. “On our way in we’ll stop and pick up Sasha’s father. He should be in on what happens.”

“Good idea. I’ll call and give him a heads-up, but hurry. As long as you two are out there, you’re both targets.”

When Larem hung up, Sasha looked bewildered. “They were guards? Why would they attack you?”

“They obviously hate all Kalith, but that doesn’t explain why they waited to come after me at your place. They could’ve killed me anytime without drawing so much attention to themselves or risking injury to the daughter of a Regent.”

“So you’re thinking I’m the real target? Something I’ve done has set them off.”

The explanation felt right. “I’d guess it’s a combination of things. From what I’ve been told, once Kincade took over, there was always tension between the guards and the Paladins here in Seattle. It all started when one of them went rogue and tried to kill Laurel after Barak crossed over into this world. Then Cullen compounded the problem when he returned with Lusahn and her children.”

“And you.”

He nodded. “And me. Most likely the guards feel betrayed that the Paladins have accepted us as friends but not them.”

Sasha sighed. “And then here I come, making it clear that my first priority is making things better for the Paladins, to correct the wrongs committed by Colonel Kincade. Despite how he treated the Paladins, he obviously still has loyal followers among the guards.”

Dr. Isaac stuck his head back in. “Larem, come quick. Someone is at the back door.”

Larem drew his gun. “It’s probably my roommate, but just in case, you two stay here. I’ll be right back.”

Chance trailed along behind him, obviously thinking Larem needed backup. Rather than risk opening the door for the wrong person, Larem shouted, “Who is it?”

“It’s the damned Tooth Fairy and his sidekick, the Easter Bunny. Now let us in.”

Larem didn’t know who the Tooth Fairy was, but he did know his roommate’s voice and opened the door. Lonzo hadn’t come alone, either. Hunter was right behind him, and both were heavily armed.

Larem stood back and motioned for them to come inside. “Thanks for coming.”

“No problem.”

As both men crossed the threshold, they came face-to-face with Chance. The dog eyed the two Paladins and woofed softly.

Larem patted the dog on the head. “They’re okay, boy.”

Chance immediately wagged his tail and sniffed the hand Lonzo held out. “Damn, Larem, he’s huge.”

“And a helluva guard dog. He not only gave us enough warning to stop those guys from killing us, but he took one out himself.” He dropped his voice, not wanting Sasha to hear any more bad news. “How are the Paladins Devlin had watching the condo?”

“Drugged and a little roughed up. They’ll be okay, so no problem there.” Hunter looked around. “How’s Sasha?”

“Shaken up. Scared.”

“And able to answer for herself.” The woman in question walked up beside him and held out a clean shirt. “Dr. Isaac said this probably won’t fit, but it’s the best he could come up with.

“Thanks for coming, guys,” Sasha added as she matter-of-factly helped Larem ease the shirtsleeve up over his wound.

“No problem.” Lonzo eyed the bandage. “Looks like you took one for the team. You okay?”

“I will be when we catch the bastards behind these attacks.”

Larem rolled his shoulders and lifted his arm, testing its mobility. The pain was already starting to fade as his healing ability kicked in.

“Devlin has Cullen and D.J. tracking the guards through their e-mail accounts to see if we can pick out the culprits. Penn and Craig are manning the alley so we can get you and Sasha into the building safely.”

“Good.”

While they were talking, Sasha looped her arm through Larem’s and rested her head against him. Lonzo’s eyebrows shot up, but then he grinned.

She smiled back at him and then asked, “How about my father?”

“I told Devlin we’d pick him up on the way. Speaking of which, we’d better get a move on.” Then Larem gave her a quick hug. “Sasha, can you tell Doc we’re leaving?”

“Sure.”

All three men watched until she’d disappeared into one of the exam rooms. Hunter punched Larem lightly on his good arm.

“So, you and the boss lady?”

“Yeah, me and her.” Then softly he added, “And a baby.”

“Holy shit!” Lonzo stumbled back a step. “Okay, I so didn’t see that one coming. How in the world did that happen?” He slapped his forehead. “Wait, forget I asked that.”

Hunter just grinned. “Congratulations!”

Then his eyes flicked past Larem in warning that Sasha was on her way back. “I guess now’s not the time to talk about this.”

“No, but if anything happens to me . . .”

The good-humored Paladins disappeared, replaced by two of the deadliest warriors on the planet. Hunter’s voice thickened with emotion, making it sound even rougher than normal. “You know we will. Now let’s go get the bastards.”