The Darkness Beyond Part 24

She laid back in the gra.s.s and put her feet in the creek to let the water wash them clean. "All right, but next time we get stuck in an alien world, I get to be the hero."

"Fair enough."

d.a.m.n, he loved her s.p.u.n.k. Might even love her. And wasn't that a h.e.l.l of a shocker?

Chapter 20.

Todd gripped the phone in a stranglehold, wis.h.i.+ng his hand was wrapped around Ray's throat instead.

"I don't give a flying f.u.c.k who you think is after you! I told you not to call me again. Ever. Now forget you ever knew my number or even my name."

Todd slammed the phone down in the cradle, fighting the urge to jerk the d.a.m.n thing from the wall and heave it out the window. With his luck, it would land on somebody and they'd sue him.

Well, only if they could find him. Good luck with that.

It would be nice to believe that it was Ray's pain medication making the stupid b.a.s.t.a.r.d so d.a.m.n paranoid. For sure, it was making him careless enough to call Todd's direct line. Last night he'd even left a rambling message on Todd's home number. It had been pure luck that he'd been able to erase it before his wife heard it.

Unfortunately, Todd had a horrible feeling that Ray was right, and the Paladins were in fact breathing down the man's neck. Drugged or not, Ray had always had a sixth sense when it came to saving his own a.s.s. If those sword jockeys did get their paws on the coward, he'd cave in a heartbeat, and they'd be beating on Todd's door in the time it took to drive from Ray's house to his.

He could kick himself for not emptying his safety deposit box on the way home just in case everything went south. Now he'd have to wait until morning to access his stash of money and pa.s.sports. After that, he'd fly out of town under his real name.

Then he'd become Justin Camp.

It wouldn't be enough to head to a country the U.S. didn't have an extradition treaty with because there were Paladins stationed all over the globe. He had a sick feeling they'd have the att.i.tude that a threat to any of them was a threat to all of them. If Devlin Bane put out an all-call on Todd, those deadly b.a.s.t.a.r.ds would come after him with weapons drawn no matter where he went.

Again, but only if they found him. In the next two days Todd Bedford would simply cease to exist.

He'd already told his wife he was leaving town on business. She was too caught up in her little charities to notice if he packed more clothes than usual. How long would it take her to figure out that he wasn't coming back? He wished he could be a fly on the wall when she realized her meal ticket had been canceled.

Prince that he was, he wouldn't completely clean out their bank accounts, but only because he was afraid it would send up too many red flags. She'd have enough to live on until she got a divorce and found some other poor b.a.s.t.a.r.d to support her.

For now, though, he had to maintain appearances. They were scheduled to have dinner with one of the Regents tonight.

With luck, by tomorrow evening he'd be winging his way to someplace with sunny beaches and beautiful women. As long as he concentrated on the good things maybe he wouldn't worry so much about waking up with a sword at his throat.

With that chilling thought, he poured himself another stiff scotch. It was hard to swallow around the solid lump of fear in his throat, but he drank it anyway.

If the terrain didn't get easier to cross, they might have to give up and head back to the trail they'd been following earlier. With all the d.a.m.n boulders and vertical drop-offs, they'd walked twice as far to get half the distance. If D.J.'s legs were aching this much, he could only imagine how Reggie was feeling, but she kept trucking right along.

He slowed down a bit, hoping she wouldn't notice. The last time he'd tried to accommodate her shorter gait, she'd ripped into him but good. She sure was a fierce little thing, the kind of woman who'd make some lucky guy one h.e.l.l of a life partner.

Okay, Reggie with another man was an image he didn't want to think about. Especially her getting naked with someone else, even if it was some nice guy who lived a normal life. h.e.l.l, no, he'd gut the b.a.s.t.a.r.d before he'd let him touch her. D.J.'s hand had strayed to the pommel of his sword and pulled it halfway out of the scabbard. He shoved it back in and jerked his hand back to his side.

Unfortunately, Reggie had noticed.

"D.J., what's wrong? Did you see something?"

d.a.m.n it, D.J., get your head in the game.

"Uh, no. Just checking my weapons."

That was his story and he was sticking to it. At least Reggie seemed to accept his explanation. He stopped and waited for her.

"Why don't you take a break while I see what's over that next rise?"

It was a testament to how tired she was that she simply nodded and leaned against a nearby rock with a heavy sigh. When he looked back from the cover of the trees, she was sipping her water, her face a study in pain. d.a.m.n, maybe they should stop for the night even though they still had hours of dim suns.h.i.+ne in which to travel.

He'd been slowly working their way back toward the trail for the past hour. If he could determine where the Others were, it might be worth the risk to use the trail long enough to reach the hills. They'd definitely make better time that way.

It took him about fifteen minutes to reach a point where he could see the trail below. For the moment, there was no one in sight, not even the telltale sign of dust floating in the air. He retreated down the slope and took off running back to Reggie. He'd been gone longer than he'd meant to and didn't want to worry her.

She was just where he'd left her. That was the good news.

The bad news? She wasn't alone.

There was one thing this whole experience had taught Reggie and that was the taste of fear. She suspected that D.J.'s need to scout ahead was an excuse to let her sit for a while. She'd been too tired to argue the point; a couple of minutes of not having to move had sounded too good to pa.s.s up. After a long drink of water, she'd closed her eyes to give them a brief rest. Really, that's all she'd meant to do.

Evidently her exhaustion beat out her good intentions. She had no idea how long she'd actually slept, but she'd been jerked out of a deep sleep by someone kicking her foot.

She'd woken up furious and ready to rip into D.J. for his heavy-handed technique. Unfortunately, the man standing in front of her wasn't D.J. Heck, he wasn't even human. Her throat immediately closed up, preventing her from screaming for help. She just hoped that D.J. wasn't walking back into an ambush.

Her captor made no move to touch her once he was satisfied she was awake. Was he waiting for his buddies to catch up with him before the party started? G.o.d, she didn't want to think about it.

Then he actually smiled at her. "Reggie? D.J.?"

His accent was so heavy that it took her a second to recognize her own name. How did he know who she was?

"I'm Reggie," she said, pointing at herself since he seemed to be waiting for a response.

"D.J.?" he said again, making it sound like a question.

Did she out her friend or claim ignorance? It wouldn't exactly be a lie since she really didn't know where he was at the moment. He'd already been gone far longer than she'd expected him to be.

She settled for a shrug, holding her hands out palms up. She had no idea how well nonverbal communication translated from one world to the next. Under other circ.u.mstances, she would've found that idea fascinating, but right now, not so much.

But her taciturn companion evidently understood because he nodded and moved a short distance away. As soon as he did, she scrambled to her feet. When he started back toward her, she froze in place. She'd never outrun him, but she felt less like a prisoner standing up. Maybe it was stupid to feel that way, but there it was.

This Kalith was a definite puzzle. He was dressed in a manner similar to that of the others she'd seen, but there were differences, too. She'd guess he was younger, but that wasn't it. He stood ramrod straight, almost military in his stance. His clothing was uniformly dark except for an ornate insignia sewn to the front of his tunic.

He didn't seem inclined to talk, so she didn't try. Maybe he didn't speak English. He s.h.i.+fted slightly, his attention riveted on the other side of the clearing. What had he heard or seen that had him on full alert? Please, G.o.d, don't let D.J. come charging into an ambush. Maybe she could distract this guy.

She hesitated, but the Kalith's attention remained fully focused on that same spot. He held his weapon by his side, not exactly a threat but definitely ready to act if necessary. When he took a step forward, she bolted and ran in the opposite direction.

He hollered and charged after her. When she looked back, he'd sheathed his sword and was gaining ground on her quickly. That was all right. As long as he was concentrating on her, D.J. was safe. She put everything she had into getting away, but after the day she'd had, she was running on fumes. After just a few seconds, he was breathing down her neck.

Then in one fell swoop, he scooped her up in his arms. That did it. She totally lost all control, preparing to scream her lungs out, flail her arms, and kick as hard as she could. She tried to break free but nothing worked. The Kalith slapped his big hand over her mouth and just waited until she'd exhausted the last of her energy.

When she hung limp in his arms, he quietly carried her back to where she'd left her pack and gently lowered her to the ground. Once again he stepped back, holding up his hands as if asking her to stay put. Then he drew his sword again.

"D.J.," he said, pointing across the clearing with the tip of his blade.

She held her breath and prayed he was wrong.

Once again Cullen was going to leave it up to Cody to explain their findings. It felt almost as if the Paladin was showing off his star pupil. Cody could only hope that Devlin and the rest were even half as impressed as Cullen was by what Cody had dug up on those two guys in St. Louis.

They'd gathered in Devlin's office again. Cullen distributed hard copies of the information while Devlin spoke.

"Okay, everybody, listen up. Cullen tells me that Cody here has found the nails to seal the coffin on those two a.s.sholes in St. Louis. He's going to go over the highlights with us. The good news is, Sasha has already agreed to contact her father with the report."

Then he nodded in Cody's direction. "You're up."

Cody started at the beginning, careful to follow Cullen's advice not to drown them all in geek speak. He stuck to the facts, starting with Ray's e-mail to Reggie and going from there. By the time he got to the part where Todd had a flight booked to Miami the next afternoon, the room was unnaturally quiet.

Not bored quiet either. Deadly quiet was more like it. Ominous, even. If he'd had any doubts about the true nature of these men, they were pretty much laid to rest now.

They all had their eyes pinned on Cody, looking pretty d.a.m.n fierce. It would've been scary if he'd been the real target of their anger. All of it was directed toward the two men who'd jeopardized an innocent woman's life for their own selfish reasons. That was bad enough, but the Paladins also stood to lose one of their own if D.J. didn't make it back from Kalithia with Reggie.

Cody concluded with the last few details and then turned it over to Devlin. The big man stood and looked around the room before nodding at Cody with a brief smile.

"Okay, guys, like I said, Sasha is going to contact her father immediately. She's asked that we hold off any direct confrontation until the Regents are notified. However, I've already called Jarvis and filled him in about what's going on. He's got men on the way to keep an eye on both targets until we get the official go-ahead. Either way, Lonzo and I are on a flight to St. Louis in three hours."

Then Devlin smiled again, but there was nothing friendly about it this time. "Jarvis has also promised that they'll take the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds down if they try to bolt before the Regents decide to act. It's such a shame when communications break down."

The laughter in the room was edgy and dark, but Cody found himself joining in. His first concern was getting Reggie back safely, but they also needed to make sure she stayed safe once she was home. Besides, he wanted the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds to pay for putting her through h.e.l.l, not to mention everyone else who'd been drawn into this mess.

"Any questions?"

"I've got one." It was Trahern holding up his hand.

"Ask away."

Trahern briefly turned his icy eyes in Cody's direction before speaking.

"I was wondering when we're going to put my young friend here on the payroll. He's earned it. The rest of us have been sitting on our collective a.s.ses while he and Cullen have done all the work."

Now all eyes were on him. Cody expected Devlin to tell Trahern to b.u.t.t out. Instead he was nodding.

"I've already spoken to Sasha about it. I was going to talk to Cody after the meeting. For now, let's just say we take care of our own."

Okay, a whole new cotton crop popped up in Cody's throat, spreading to his lungs and making it hard to breathe and impossible to talk. Payroll? Seriously?

Devlin tossed his empty cup in the trash. "Okay, everybody out of here. It's business as usual until you hear otherwise. Cody, stay where you are."

D.J. drew his sword and slowly started forward, fighting the urge to charge in and ask questions when the dust settled. Two things stayed his hand, the first being that the Other was making no threatening moves toward either of them at the moment. The second was that the b.a.s.t.a.r.d stood between him and Reggie.

"D.J.?"

Okay, how did that guy know his name? There was only one way that he could think of.

"Berk?"

The Other nodded. "Sent me."

D.J. still hesitated, but lowered his sword slightly. "What else did he tell you?"

"Barak. Hunter. Berk. Cave. Safety. Trust."

The Kalith repeated the words as if he'd memorized the speech without really understanding the complete meaning. Even so, it was the best news D.J. had heard in days.

He sheathed his sword and started forward, nodding his head as he went. "Trust. Come with you."

To keep the conversation going, he pointed at his chest and said, "I'm D.J. She's Reggie." Then he pointed at the other man. "You?"

The Kalith smiled and laid his hand on his own chest. "Javel."

D.J. finally locked eyes with Reggie. "I think this guy is a Blademate of Berk, that Sworn Guardian Devlin and Barak were going to contact."

He walked past Javel to offer Reggie a hand up off the ground. "Are you all right?"

"I am now. He scared the stuffing out of me. I'd fallen asleep, so I don't even know where he came from."

When she brushed her hair back from her pretty face, he saw dried tracks of tears. He immediately enfolded her in his arms, despite the risk of turning his back on Javel.

"G.o.d, Reggie, I'm sorry. I promise we'll get past all of this. Someday you'll look back and wonder if it even happened."

She snuggled closer. "Yeah, right. Like I could forget staring up at twin suns or all these guys running around with swords."

Was he one of the guys she was talking about? Selfish as it was, he really hoped so. If she was going to haunt his dreams for years to come, it was only fair if he got equal time in hers.

Javel cleared his throat, a not-so-subtle hint that they had more important things to be thinking about at the moment.

"Guess that means we'd better get moving." He kissed her forehead before stepping back. "If this guy is on the level-and I think he is-things are definitely looking up for us."

"All right, if we must."

She turned her bright smile on the Kalith warrior and wiggled her foot. "I'm sorry I kicked you."

It wasn't clear how much English the guy understood, but he obviously knew what to do when a beautiful woman smiled at him. He tipped his head to the side and bowed slightly from the waist. His smile was a tad hotter than D.J. liked.

D.J. stepped forward, placing himself firmly between the Kalith and Reggie. The d.a.m.n kid actually laughed. He might not speak D.J.'s language, but he definitely got the message.

Having made his point, D.J. held his hands palms up and out to the sides. "Where to next?"