Where was Barak going with this? "I think she would"ve said something if she had. Why?"
His friend stared at his mate briefly until she nodded. He drew a deep breath before speaking. "Cullen and Lusahn stopped by earlier. We were thinking that if the opportunity presented itself, one of us should try to get to know her, maybe offer to show the Regents" new representative around a bit. The only question was how to do that without raising suspicions."
Suddenly, Larem really wished he hadn"t mentioned his brief encounter with her after the meeting.
Barak kept right on talking, his words coming in a rush as if he couldn"t spit them out fast enough. "Of course, we"d a.s.sumed the new representative would be a man, but the fact that she"s female could actually make it easier for you to gain her confidence. You might gain better insight into how she plans to handle our situation, with the added benefit of her getting to know you as a person before she realizes you are the enemy."
"Why me?" he asked, even though he knew. He still wanted to hear Barak say it out loud.
His friend"s eyes shifted back to Lacey. "You are the only one of us who doesn"t have a mate. If she discovers your ident.i.ty, you could easily move into the apartment over Hunter"s garage until the dust settles."
In other words, Larem was expendable. He couldn"t believe what he was hearing. "What about Devlin"s specific orders that we stay out of sight?"
Lacey joined in. "I"m guessing Miss Willis would have her own reasons for wanting to keep any such relationship under the radar, especially since she thinks you"re one of the Seattle contingent. She"s here to oversee the Paladins and wouldn"t want to give the appearance of playing favorites."
She reached out to take Larem"s hand in hers. "We know this is asking a lot of you, Larem. But Cullen and Lusahn have finally got Shiri and Bavi feeling secure in their new lives in this world. The last thing they want to risk is having to uproot them again."
Not to mention that Cullen himself had to remain near the barrier; the need for that proximity was hardwired into his Paladin nature. Lacey, too, had strong ties to Seattle. Because of her brother, she"d focused her life"s work as a geologist on making the world safer for all the Paladins. It wasn"t likely she"d be able to continue those same studies outside of the Regents" organization. Barak wasn"t just her mate but also her research partner.
By process of elimination, that left Larem. His powerful sense of honor warred with his loyalty to his friends over the idea of deliberately misleading a woman he"d barely met. It wasn"t a decision he could make on the spur of the moment.
He set his cup back down on the counter, barely refraining from heaving it against the wall in frustration.
"Thank you for the tea and cookies, Lacey. You"ve both given me much to think about. I"ll let you know what I decide."
Then he turned his back on his friends and walked out.
Half an hour later, Larem reached his destination. As soon as he stepped inside, he was. .h.i.t by a cacophony of barks, yips, and growls. The musky smell of damp concrete and medicine clogged his head, but he breathed it in without regret. Here, no one knew his DNA wasn"t human or would"ve cared if they did.
All that mattered was that he had a good touch with frightened animals and cared enough to show up when he said he would. The pay was lousy-mostly tentative licks accompanied by a few wags of a tail-but that was enough. He reached for his lab jacket, filled his pockets with some treats, and headed in to see which patients the vet had lined up for him to work with today.
As soon as he stepped into the clinic, Dr. Isaac looked up and smiled. "Larem, my boy, come on in. Your buddy has been watching for you, not that he"d ever admit it."
The old vet nodded toward a pen at the far end of the room where a wary pair of brown eyes watched them both with a great deal of suspicion. Larem didn"t blame the dog for his caution; he had good reason to mistrust humans in general. Of course, there was no way to tell the animal that Larem wasn"t human, and he wasn"t sure it would matter in the least. Trust once lost was slow to return.
Since Larem had some experience with that himself, he didn"t take it personally. Still, he thought he was finally making some real progress with the dog.
He approached the cage slowly, letting the mixed breed catch his scent before speaking. "Hey there, fellow. How are you feeling today?"
Not that he expected an answer, but he was mastering the trick of communicating soothing energy with his voice. The dog stubbornly resisted any friendly overtures. But with each approach, it was taking Larem less time to slip past his defenses.
He knelt down and held out a couple of treats, once again letting the patient set the pace. "Let me know when you"d like these, and then we"ll go for a walk."
For the first time, the dog"s ears perked up. He might not trust humans in general, but he did seem to enjoy the time he spent outside in the run. The last time Larem had coaxed him into accepting a leash, he"d taken the dog for a long walk as a reward.
Judging by the slow tail thumping going on, it was time to try it again. That pleased him every bit as much as it did the dog.
"Son, I don"t know where you got your magical touch with skittish animals, but it"s been a real G.o.dsend around here. I wouldn"t have given that fellow any chance of ever making his peace with people, not after the way he"d been abused. He still doesn"t like the rest of us much, but at least he"s willing to take a chance on you. That"s something. By the way, that"s the name we"ve been using for him-Chance."
Larem didn"t know what to say to that, but the vet"s validation of his worth meant a lot to him. It had been a long time since he"d felt appreciated for more than just his strong sword arm.
"We"ll be back in a while. Once he"s had a good run, I"ll try to convince him to let you give his injuries a quick check."
"Sounds good." The vet turned his attention back to the small dog he"d been examining when Larem walked in.
Larem tried out the dog"s new name. "All right, Chance, let"s get you out of there for a while."
Chance lurched to his feet, favoring his right back leg. The bones were healing up fine, but it was clear that it still hurt. Larem opened the cage door and set more treats down within easy reach. Eventually, he hoped the dog would accept the offerings directly from his hand, but there was no need to rush things.
The two pieces of freeze-dried liver quickly disappeared, and then the dog walked right up to Larem and rubbed against his legs. Larem reached down to pat Chance on the head and got his fingers snapped at for his efforts. Still, the attempt had been only halfhearted, a reminder that they weren"t yet BFF.
He smiled at the dog. "All right, then, I"ll watch my step. Let"s go."
Outside in the run, he let Chance off his leash and sat down on a bench to watch the dog explore his surroundings. That in itself was a huge improvement. The first time Larem had lured Chance outdoors to one of the runs, the dog had huddled in one corner and growled anytime Larem made a move in his direction.
Larem took it as a compliment that right now Chance was totally ignoring him, meaning the dog sensed Larem posed no threat. After sniffing his way around the pen, Chance slowly walked toward Larem. He stopped a few feet away, his head c.o.c.ked to one side as he considered his next action. Finally, having made his decision, Chance closed that last bit of distance and rested his head on Larem"s knee.
This time when Larem raised his hand to pet Chance"s head, the dog sighed softly and accepted the offer of friendship. Larem lifted his face to the sun, offering himself up as a conduit of its healing warmth. Slowly, the bright, healing light poured through him to soothe the dog"s pain and encourage his leg bones to knit. After a minute or two, Larem eased back on the flow.
His gift was still too new for him to know how much was enough without overwhelming an animal"s ability to cope with the accelerated healing, especially in Chance"s weakened condition. Most of the time Larem settled for easing pain and soothing traumatized spirits. Convincing an injured animal to accept care was half the battle.
He still wasn"t sure what it was about this particular dog that was so special. It certainly wasn"t his appearance, although the dog looked a whole lot better now than when he"d first arrived at the shelter. That first day, the dog had been all bones and dried blood. He"d already put on considerable weight but needed to gain a few more pounds. Standing about thirty inches high at the shoulder with an intelligent face, Chance bore a striking resemblance to a white wolf.
When Larem had asked Dr. Isaac what breed Chance was, the old vet just laughed. "All I can say is that his ancestors weren"t very particular who they mated with. From his build and size, I suspect he"s got some Great Pyrenees in him and maybe some shepherd, but there"s no telling for sure. He"s his own man and a loner by nature, I would say."
Now that Larem thought about it, that a.s.sessment might just account for why he and Chance had hit it off. Both of them had been hurt by those who mattered to them the most and were struggling to find some peace in their lives.
"How about we take that walk now?"
Chance agreed, whining softly as Larem snapped the lead back on his collar. Larem often walked the streets of Seattle, trying to outdistance the restlessness that plagued him more and more lately. At least with Chance trotting along at his side, he didn"t feel quite so alone.
Sasha was about half a second from going stir-crazy. What the heck had happened here in Seattle? She"d spent the past few days reviewing the budget and meeting with various department heads, and so far, it was unanimous: no one was happy. Everyone had their hands out wanting more money, more staff, and more supplies. G.o.d, if she granted even half the requests, the Regents would fire her for incompetence.
However, even at first glance it was obvious that some of the complaints were legitimate. Right off the bat, she"d ordered all departments to inventory their supplies, figuring there was no way to tell what was needed until she knew what they had.
But it was definitely worrisome that she"d heard the same complaints from all corners. Promises had been made but not kept. Less important items had been stockpiled while orders for others, especially those crucial to the well-being of the Paladins, had been either delayed or out-and-out denied. From what she could tell, jealousy and compet.i.tion had been encouraged between the various factions. No wonder the resulting work atmosphere had become so toxic.
It was as if someone had set out to torment the entire Seattle contingent, making it all but impossible for the group to function. Only the dedication and loyalty of the support personnel, not to mention the Paladins themselves, had kept the organization performing at all and the city from being overrun with crazies.
Throwing a temper tantrum would do little to alleviate the situation, no matter how appealing the thought might be. The real problem was that she had no idea if this had all been part of Kincade"s determined efforts to screw with the Paladins or just a series of unrelated events that had come together to make a total mess of things. Clearly the entire sector had suffered from the lack of a responsible Regent overseeing the day-to-day management.
Right now, she didn"t have time to investigate the history of individual problems in any depth, not if she wanted to get things back on track as quickly as possible. Once she made some progress in restoring basic services, then she"d start digging.
At least the Regents had authorized a certain amount of discretionary funds for her to draw upon as she saw fit. Although substantial, it wouldn"t even come close to covering all the gaps.
She walked over to the window, needing a few minutes to collect her thoughts. "Prioritize, Sasha, prioritize."
Yeah, right. Great idea, but every department head she"d spoken to had pointed out how crucial the missing items were. The real difficulty was in determining which requests were more urgent than others, and who could be counted on for sound advice on the subject.
All things considered, Devlin Bane was the obvious choice. After all, he knew firsthand what directly impacted his men"s ability to fight and survive the devastating injuries they were subject to. She would"ve talked to him before now, but so far he"d avoided setting a time and date for their first one-on-one meeting.
Granted, she couldn"t blame him for the instability of the barrier, but her gut feeling was that he was determined to duck her as long as possible. Okay, she got that he had no reason to love the Regents interfering in his business, but the situation wouldn"t improve if he didn"t even give her a chance.
She didn"t want to come down too hard on him, though, not if she could avoid it. After weighing and discarding several possible approaches, she"d finally decided it would be best if she invited him and Dr. Young to her suite for drinks, safe from the prying eyes that followed her every move here at the office.
Rather than extend the invitation by e-mail or by phone, she"d deliver the invitation in person. Maybe she was being a bit paranoid, but everyone knew there were several world-cla.s.s hackers among the Paladins. With the current atmosphere of mistrust, she wouldn"t really blame them for illegally monitoring her e-mails and phone calls. There"d been no sign of that happening, but she sure wouldn"t put it past them.
She"d grab some lunch along the way and then go knock on Devlin Bane"s door. The Paladin might not appreciate her showing up unannounced, but he"d get over it once she made it clear that she needed his input on how to further improve things for his men.
So far, she"d barely spoken to Devlin, but he and Jarvis, his Missouri counterpart, both had reputations of fighting long and hard for those who served under them. If anyone knew what the Paladins needed, he was the man. The fact that Bane"s wife, Dr. Young, was one of the more forward-thinking physicians among the Paladins" Handlers was a definite bonus. If Sasha couldn"t trust their judgment when it came to the Paladins, they were all screwed.
She grabbed her jacket and headed for the door.
Chapter 3.
Larem leaned against the wall, honing his boot knife and listening to the ongoing discussion. So far no one had said anything of much use. Finally, Devlin held up his hand, signaling it was time for everyone to shut up and pay attention.
"Okay, here"s how I see it. I"ve been ducking Ms. Willis, but eventually I"ll have to meet with her. By all reports, she"s spent her time doing exactly what she said she"d do: reviewing personnel files, meeting with department heads, and scheduling more of the same. It"s too soon to tell where all this is going-"
Before he could finish that thought, his phone rang. Grabbing the receiver, he barked, "Bane here, what"s up?"
He listened briefly before responding, "Thanks, I owe you one."
"Speak of the devil. d.a.m.n it, just what I needed." Devlin slammed the phone down and looked around at the men gathered in his office. "Sorry to break up the party, but we have seconds at best to clear out before Sasha Willis gets here. That was the guard calling to say that he just let her in through the alley door."
Devlin immediately shoved a stack of paperwork out of sight into a file drawer. Then he glared at everyone, making it clear they weren"t moving fast enough.
"d.a.m.n it, make yourselves scarce. I"d just as soon she not see all of you here. Don"t want anyone to get the impression we"re plotting against the establishment."
Although they had been. Devlin had called them together to discuss emergency plans in case the Regents decided to come down hard on anything, especially on the subject of the Kalith living among the Seattle Paladins. Trahern led the parade out the door, followed by Cullen and Lonzo, leaving Barak and Larem bringing up the rear.
By the time Sasha Willis was due to appear, the Paladins were all back at their desks and looking busy. Larem, on the other hand, had some time to kill before heading to the shelter. He followed Barak across the office.
Barak picked up on his situation. "If you need a place to hide, you can join Lacey and me in the lab."
Larem shook his head. "That"s all right. Cullen set me up with a desk where I can hang out until I need to leave for the shelter."
"Okay, but the offer is always good." Barak quickly disappeared, going the opposite direction from the lab, probably taking the long way around to avoid pa.s.sing Sasha Willis in the hall.
Larem poured himself a cup of tea before settling in at his desk with one of the medical texts that Sworn Guardian Berk had been slipping across the barrier from Kalithia to him. Hunter had brought him the latest stack when he"d driven down to Seattle for the first meeting with their new administrator.
Normally, Larem found the writings of other Kalith who shared his rare healing abilities fascinating, but right now, he could hardly force his eyes to stay focused on the page. Instead, his attention kept wandering toward the other side of the office.
He would"ve been torn over the idea of cultivating the administrator"s friendship under false pretenses no matter what, but he was especially so with Sasha Willis. He hadn"t seen her again since that first day and so avoided making a decision one way or the other. He suspected his time had about run out unless he took the coward"s way out and hid. But the others were depending on him, so given the opportunity, he"d have to act.
d.a.m.n it, why did she have to show up while he was still there? More importantly, why hadn"t he left while he had the chance? The answer was simple: he wanted to see her again, to see if his memory of her held up to the reality.
That she"d want to meet with the head Paladin wasn"t a surprise, but it was clear that Devlin hadn"t been expecting her. Glancing around the office, Larem realized he wasn"t the only one staring down the hallway. Several of the Paladins, even those whose desks weren"t in this particular area, were hanging around and pretending to be busy.
As soon as the woman came into sight, all pretense of getting any work done ended. Larem had to give her credit. Once again, having all those male eyes focused solely on her didn"t faze her in the least. She calmly headed straight for Devlin"s office door and knocked. While she waited for him to answer, she did a little staring of her own.
Her gaze swept across the room. Her mouth briefly softened into a smile when she spotted Cullen, one of the few who"d actually spoken to the woman. When the Paladin jerked his head in a sharp nod of acknowledgment, she smiled more broadly before her eyes continued scanning the men.
When she spotted Larem, there was a brief flare of recognition, and he could"ve sworn he felt a brief surge of warmth from all the way across the room. Once again, he was struck by her beauty. The deep green of her blouse set off not only the red in her hair but also her creamy complexion. Was her skin as soft as it looked?
After a second, her expression settled into a puzzled frown. Had he stared too long, or had she suddenly figured out who-or rather what-he was?
Either way, it wasn"t his problem. He deliberately broke off the silent exchange and forced his focus back to the book he was reading. Far better that he spend his time satisfying his curiosity about his gift of healing than worrying about the opinions of one human female, even if she was a beautiful one.
And if he tried hard enough, he might just convince himself that was true.
"Don"t just stand out there pounding on the door. Come in."
At Devlin"s bellow, Sasha tore her attention away from the men scattered about the office and back to the one she"d come to see. Even so, she found herself reluctant to look away from that guy seated in the back corner. He was one of the two men who"d helped her find her way out of the building on that first day.
Now that she was working her way through the Paladin files, she readily recognized Cullen. From what she"d read, his nickname of "The Professor" certainly fit with the first impression she"d had of him. He"d been quietly helpful when he"d shown her the exit, making sure to introduce her to the guard stationed out in the alley.
But it was the other man who aroused her curiosity. There was just something different about him. Even from a distance, he stood out from the crowd. She didn"t know why, but he did. Eventually she"d run across his file and perhaps find some answers.
Rather than get caught staring, she opened Devlin"s door and poked her head in. He glanced up from the pile of papers spread out on his desk and tried to look surprised to see her. Cute.
She hadn"t missed seeing the guard hitting a number on speed dial as soon as he let her into the building, although she didn"t fault him for making the call. It was his job to monitor who came and went. Her only concern was what Devlin had been up to when the guard called to warn him of her approach.
Now wasn"t the time for inquisitions, so she"d let it pa.s.s-this once.
"Ms. Willis, come in and have a seat." He rose to his feet. "Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea? Or maybe a bottle of water?"
"Water sounds good. I"ve already had way too much caffeine today."
While he got two bottles out of the small fridge in the corner, she sat down, choosing the chair that offered a clear view of the door. Odd that it seemed important, but it did. Safer somehow, although she didn"t sense any kind of threat coming from Devlin himself.
He handed her the water and then returned to his own side of the desk. After popping the top on his own bottle, he asked, "So what brings you to our neck of the woods?"
"I wanted to discuss something with you, but not over the phone." She took a long drink of water, giving him time to consider the unspoken message behind her comment.
His dark eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You think someone has bugged your line?"