"Not exactly," she said, frowning. "But I don"t know that they haven"t either. What I need to talk to you about is a bit sensitive, so I didn"t want to take any risks. Besides, it was a good excuse to get out of the office and away from the stacks of financial reports on my desk for a while."
Devlin grinned. "G.o.d knows, I understand that. Despite all the hours I spend on the computer, I"m drowning in paperwork. So what"s up?"
She"d pondered various approaches on the way over without really coming up with anything that felt right. Judging from what she knew about Devlin, she decided to be blunt.
"I"ve been meeting with department heads for the past few days. It won"t come as a shock that I keep hearing different verses of the same song over and over again. The bottom line is that things have been badly mismanaged for some time. I plan to fix that, but I can"t do it alone."
She paused, waiting to see if Devlin wanted to join in the chorus of discontent. It didn"t surprise her when he kept his thoughts to himself and waited for her to continue, maybe to see if she"d hang herself.
"So here"s my thought on the subject. It"s going to take time to sort through all the accounts before I can effectively deal with all the finger pointing that"s going on. However, I will tell you the same thing I"ve told all the other department heads: I fully intend to get to the bottom of the problem."
Thinking back to an earlier confrontation, she sighed. "As I told two angry supervisors this morning, I"ll eventually figure out why one department got a lifetime supply of paper clips and the other can"t get any. But honest to G.o.d, neither of them grasped that, while I understand their frustration, their problem is small potatoes when compared to the big picture."
"Seriously? Paper clips?" Devlin"s mouth twitched as he reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a couple of boxes. "Here, maybe these will help."
He might be teasing, but she took them anyway. "Thanks, that"s one fire out. Now, if only everything else was as easy."
"Glad to be of help."
Devlin leaned back in his chair and propped his feet on the desk, definitely looking more at ease than when she"d first arrived. Time to get down to the business at hand.
"Spit it out, Ms. Willis. The worst I can say is no."
Not that he had the right to refuse any reasonable request, but reasonable was in the eye of the beholder. Feeling she was about to step over a precipice, she took a deep breath and went for it. "Okay, here it is. My focus has to be on whatever makes it possible for the Paladins to function."
Leaning forward, she continued, "You have a reputation of putting your men first, a policy I agree with. Don"t get me wrong. I"ll be reviewing your budget and expenditures to make sure they"re in accordance with the guidelines established by the Regents."
She made direct eye contact, telling him without words that she meant it. "I figure it"s in your best interest to work with me. So, insofar as I"m trusting anyone around here, I"m going to trust you because your men will suffer if we don"t get things under control. To that end, I"d like to invite you and Dr. Young to join me at my hotel suite for drinks."
His bright green eyes saw too much. "I"m guessing the occasion won"t be purely social, that what we discuss will be off the record and in private."
"Let"s just say I have some concerns about the security measures in place. Shall we say tomorrow night at seven? If that conflicts with Dr. Young"s schedule or if the barrier decides to act up, please let me know and we"ll reschedule."
As she stood up, Devlin did the same. To her surprise, he held out his hand. "Thank you for coming, Ms. Willis. I"ll check with Laurel and let you know one way or another."
"Sounds great." Then she gave him a pointed look. "Before I go, do you need time to call ahead to warn anyone else I"m on the loose?"
Then she smiled and walked out without waiting for his response.
Still restless, Sasha had no interest in immediately returning to her office. She"d meant to ask Devlin about a tour of the place but decided to see what she could learn if she wandered around by herself for a little while.
As she walked through the cl.u.s.ter of desks outside Devlin"s office, she could feel the weight of all those suspicious eyes following her every move. No doubt someone was already warning Devlin that she hadn"t headed straight back to her office.
She didn"t take it personally, but neither would she let their suspicious natures impede her progress. She glanced down a narrow hallway and noticed a bank of monitors mounted on the wall, just at her eye level. It didn"t take long to realize that what she was seeing was various views of the famous Seattle Underground.
Although she"d read that the Paladin headquarters were built into the hillside adjacent to the sunken sidewalks and buildings, she hadn"t expected to be able to watch sightseers wandering by on a tour.
What would those people think if they were to learn that the subterranean world they believed long deserted was actually occupied by a secret group of warriors? Probably that they"d stumbled into a science fiction movie set.
The thought made her smile. The movies had nothing on the reality of the Paladins" world. When the last tourist was out of sight, she moved on, although still not ready to get back to her office and that stack of work.
A short distance later, she realized she could hear the faint sound of voices. She paused to listen. They were coming from down the hall on the right. The sign on the door indicated that it was part of the geology department, probably one of those labs that Cullen had mentioned the other day. Curiosity had her heading for the lab door. Rather than barge in uninvited, she knocked and waited to see who answered.
Larem stopped talking at the same instant Barak turned to face the door. For Lacey"s benefit, Larem explained, "Someone"s out in the hall. By the sound of the footsteps, it"s most likely a woman."
Lacey looked at both males in disgust. "I hate it when you two go all spooky Kalith on me."
She set down her clipboard just as the mystery woman rapped on the lab door. "No one around here ever knocks."
Larem rose to his feet, his internal alarms going off-he knew exactly who it was. "Lacey, it"s probably Sasha Willis, although I thought she would"ve left the building by now."
"What could she want? I heard she"s talking to the department heads, not lowly employees." Lacey started for the door. "Not that it matters. I"ll go let her in."
Larem quickly blocked her way. "Let me handle this. Maybe she"s gotten lost. I"ll act as if I were just leaving and guide her back toward the exit."
Barak stopped him. "So you"re going ahead with our plan?"
"That depends on whether she"s learned that I"m Kalith. If not, I"ll see what I can do. One thing, though, if she sees the two of us together, she"s more likely to figure it out."
"You"re probably right," Lacey agreed. "But if she insists on seeing my lab, let her in. We have orders to cooperate within reason."
Larem braced himself and opened the door only far enough to look out. Just as he suspected, it was Sasha Willis. When she recognized him, she took a step backward and then another, which irritated him no end. He"d made no threatening moves. Why was she acting as if he had?
"Ms. Willis, are you lost?"
Without waiting for her to answer, he closed the door behind him and headed off in the direction of the exit. "If you"ll follow me, I can show you the way out."
She looked past him at the door briefly before falling in step beside him. He automatically adjusted his strides to make it easier for her to keep pace with him. Fortunately the geology lab was only a short distance from the exit. At the end of the hall, he stopped.
"The door to the outside is in that direction," he said, pointing to the left. "Devlin Bane"s office is back the other way."
"I know. I was just doing some exploring and heard voices."
Looking up at Larem, she finally smiled. "However, this is the second time you"ve offered to come to my rescue, Mr.-um, I"m sorry, I guess we haven"t actually been introduced. I"ve been trying to put faces with names, but I haven"t figured everyone out yet. After all, there"s only one of me and a whole lot of you guys."
So he"d been right. She"d a.s.sumed he was a Paladin. "My name is Larem q"Jones."
He deliberately softened the beginning of his last name, hoping she wouldn"t pick up on the prefix that would label him as Kalith. He wasn"t ashamed of his heritage, but neither would he flaunt it right now.
Rather than continue the conversation, he stepped past her to lead the way the last little distance to the exit. He pushed the heavy door open and stood back to let her walk out ahead of him as he debated whether to pursue the unexpected opportunity to spend more time in her company. For the sake of Bavi and Shiri, Lusahn"s children, he"d make the effort and see where it led him.
That he"d like to get to know her for his own selfish reasons was beside the point.
His decision was further solidified as soon as he spotted the guard on duty. Duke had made it abundantly clear that he had little use for any of the Kalith. The man turned at the sound of the door opening and frowned when he spotted Larem standing with the new administrator.
If Larem relinquished his escort duties now, leaving Sasha Willis on her own, Duke wouldn"t hesitate to give her an earful about the Kalith in general and him in particular. That was the last thing Larem needed, especially under the circ.u.mstances.
He was reasonably sure Duke wouldn"t say anything right in front of him. All of the guards had a healthy respect for Larem"s ability to wield a sword. If the man shot his mouth off now, he had to know he"d pay for it the next time they faced each other in weapons practice.
She interrupted his thoughts. "Thank you, Mr. Jones."
"Please, call me Larem, and actually I was about to leave when you knocked on the door. I have to be somewhere soon anyway."
As they pa.s.sed Duke"s position, he sensed the hatred coming off the guard in waves. The man probably felt justified in feeling the way he did, but Larem had never done anything to warrant such hostility. Luckily, it appeared that his companion was unaware of the situation.
Or maybe not. When the two of them had turned the corner, she looked back and frowned. "Weird. That"s the same guard who was on duty when I arrived, but he seemed much friendlier then."
What could Larem say to that? The answer was simple. On the way in, she hadn"t been in the company of the enemy. If Duke and the others like him thought the new administrator was soft on the issue of the Kalith, they wouldn"t take it well. Their previous boss, Colonel Kincade, had done his best to instill a great deal of animosity between the guards and both the Paladins and their Kalith allies.
Sasha continued speaking. "He wouldn"t be the only one who wasn"t happy to have me underfoot around here. I know my presence makes a lot of the people uncomfortable."
Larem glanced back at Duke, resisting the urge to smirk. "Maybe he"s just having a bad day."
And Larem"s presence had surely made it worse.
"Maybe." She sounded doubtful. "I don"t know how anyone could be having a bad day when the weather is so beautiful."
She smiled up at the sky as they walked along. "I"d heard that Seattle was always gray and gloomy, but it"s been sunny every day since I arrived. I"m hoping I can squeeze in some of the tourist things while I"m here. What would you recommend, Larem?"
Larem smiled to himself. When was the last time he"d had the opportunity to spend even a few minutes enjoying the company of a beautiful woman, simply soaking up the warmth of a late summer afternoon? Especially a woman who wasn"t the mate of one of his friends? Never in this world and only rarely in his own.
He considered her question. "I enjoy the water more than the mountains myself. Recently some friends and I went whale watching on the Sound up north of here. Orcas can be amazingly playful."
He and Hunter had spent the day out on one of the excursion boats with Hunter"s mate, Tate Justice, and three of Tate"s elderly neighbors. It had been an incredible experience for all of them.
"That sounds wonderful," Sasha said, smiling. "I"ll definitely keep that in mind. I also want to go to the zoo. All through college, I used to volunteer in the nursery of the St. Louis Zoo. When things settle down a bit, I might look into doing something like that again."
As they strolled along the sidewalk, it occurred to him that they might actually have a few things in common, starting with a shared love of the sun and working with needy animals. And even if she didn"t know it, like her, he was mistrusted or even hated by a good portion of the people he came into contact with on a daily basis. Not that he could tell her that without revealing his true origins.
That small connection had him really hating the idea of using her, even to protect the Kalith children. Not to mention how much worse it would be when she figured out that she"d been spending time with an Other. No doubt that friendliness in her dark eyes would quickly be replaced by revulsion.
The words slipped out of his mouth before he chickened out altogether. "Do you have time for a cup of coffee?"
She checked her watch. "Sure, why not?"
Even fearing it was a mistake of major proportions, he couldn"t bring himself to regret the invitation. After all, one latte didn"t translate into a long-term commitment; he was just testing the waters. They headed into one of the coffee shops that dotted the Seattle landscape. After placing their orders, they found a table next to the window.
Sasha sighed as she sat down. "This was a great idea. It"s been a long day already, and I still have a lot left on my to-do list. Thanks for suggesting we stop."
"You"re welcome." He wrapped his hands around his venti coffee and absorbed its warmth.
She sipped her vanilla steamer. "Eventually I"ll settle into a routine, but there"s a lot for me to figure out. And it"s not just the job. You know what it"s like when you move to a new city. Everything is so different."
She had no idea how different it had been for him, but now wasn"t the time for that particular conversation. "True. I"ve only been here a few months myself, but there is a lot I like about this area."
Sasha tilted her head to one side as if to study him. "I"ve been trying to place your accent, but I can"t."
How best to answer that one? He settled for a version of the truth. "I"ve served near the barrier in several different locations over the years. How about you? I hear you moved here from St. Louis, but is it where you"re from?"
"Nice dodge there, mister," she said with a smile. "I won"t press for details. I know how Paladins like to keep their secrets."
As did Kalith warriors, but he didn"t correct her a.s.sumption. "It comes with the territory."
"And understandably so. But to answer your question, my father has served as a Regent in the Midwest most of my life. I grew up and went to school in the St. Louis area, so this is my first big move."
Her dark eyes looked a bit sad as she toyed with a paper napkin. Could she be as lonely as he was even though surrounded by a crush of people? Almost of its own volition his hand settled over hers, taking as much comfort from the brief touch as it was meant to give.
"You"ve got a lot to deal with right now, but soon things won"t seem so strange. At least that"s been true for me."
Her eyes met his, her smile a bit shy. "You"re a nice man, Larem Jones. At least now I feel like I have one friend here."
He slowly withdrew his hand, knowing he had no business trying to be her friend, much less touching her. When she found out that he was Kalith, she"d probably scrub that hand raw to remove any trace of his. But right now all he could think about was how soft her skin was and how kissable her mouth looked.
It was definitely time to put some distance between himself and temptation. "I should be going or I"ll be late."
She nodded and stood up. "Yeah, me, too."
They walked out the door together. He stopped at the next corner. "This is where I leave you."
Her smile warmed his day. "Thank you again for the coffee break. I definitely needed it. Next time will be my treat."
He just knew he was going to regret this, but for the sake of Lusahn"s kids, he had to try. "Actually, I come by here most days about this time. You know, if you happen to be in the area."
"I"d like that. I can"t tomorrow, but the day after would work for me."
"Then it"s a date." Not really.
She held out her hand for him to shake. His hand dwarfed her much more delicate one, but there was unexpected strength in her grasp. He should let go, but she didn"t seem to be in a hurry to break their small connection either. The heat of the sun had nothing on the intense awareness he was feeling at the moment. It was all he could do to maintain even a small distance between them, when what he really wanted was to find out what would happen if they did more than shake hands.
When she finally tugged on her hand, he smiled and let go. "Enjoy the rest of your day, Miss Willis."
"I thought we"d gotten beyond the formal stage, Larem."
"Sasha, then. I"ll see you in a couple of days." Then he bowed his head slightly before walking away.
Chapter 4.
Duke"s day had truly sucked big-time. He hated patrolling the alley outside the Paladins" headquarters. It was hard enough to be polite to every Paladin who strolled by, but it really burned his a.s.s to put up with those d.a.m.ned Kaliths acting as if they owned the place.