Eternal Nights (28 page)

It didn’t take much thinking to realize he couldn’t let her stew in silence. Kendall would spook herself, and he wasn’t taking any chances, so he searched for some topic to keep her occupied. It wasn’t too surprising that the first thing that came to him was the future. “So where do you see yourself ten years from now?” At her sharp glance, he continued, “Will you be finished with school?”

“I should be. I still owe the army two more years, and I’d have to save up a lot more money to do grad school without taking breaks to just work for a while, but even if I did have to stop a few times, I can’t see not being done.”

“When you have that Ph.D., are you going to teach?”

“I hope not!” she said emphatically, then moderated her tone. “Not that there’s anything wrong with being a college professor, but that’s not what I want to do.”

“Are there any jobs that don’t involve teaching?” He knew more about anthropology than he had before meeting Kendall, but it had never been something they’d spent a lot of time on.

“Yeah, there are. More and more nonprofits are hiring their own anthropologists to better serve their constituents, and there are also positions working for the government or even the military. As we go deeper into space, the Western Alliance is going to continue to run into evidence of alien civilizations. Actually, I’d love to have a job like the social scientists stationed here have.” Kendall’s eyes were filled with passion. “How great would it be to work all around the galaxy studying cultures no one has ever seen before?”

She clasped his hand tightly for a minute, then relaxed her hold, but there was so much excitement on her face that Wyatt wouldn’t have been shocked if she shook free and did a little twirl. He didn’t share her enthusiasm. “What about friends? What about your mother? And what about getting married and having children of your own? That’ll be awfully hard to do if you’re flitting around the universe.”

Kendall looked at him as if he were speaking Swahili. “My mom hasn’t missed a beat since I’ve been on J Nine, but if she got ill, of course I’d return to Earth for as long as I was needed. As for the rest, well, I’ve always made friends wherever I’ve gone, and I’m sure I always will.”

“You left out having a family.” It was all Wyatt could do to keep his tone even.

“Marriage and two point five children, huh?” Bug rolled her eyes. “I’m not much for living a traditional life. What about you, where do you see yourself in ten years? Still in the army?”

“Yeah,” Wyatt said, voice flat, “still in the army. I haven’t found anything else I want to do more. My next promotion will take me out of the field, and I’m not thrilled about that.”

“Since you just made captain before coming to J Nine, you have a lot of time before that’s something to worry about.”

He nodded. She was right about that. Wyatt decided to lay a few things on the line. Bug would completely miss what he was really saying—her blinders were firmly in place—but whether she realized it or not, he was stating his intentions. “Unlike you, I do see myself married. Sooner rather than later,” he told her. “To a woman I love more than anyone or anything, a woman I would kill for if that’s what it took to protect her. And I want kids too, but not right away. First, I want years alone with her, time to simply enjoy my woman.”

“You’ve already met her, haven’t you?” Kendall asked, sounding subdued.

Wyatt paused, shocked. Yeah, he’d been kissing her whenever he could, but he hadn’t expected her to get it. Maybe it was a sign that they’d come further than he knew. “Yes, I’ve met her.”

“It’s Zolianna, right?”

For an instant, he could do nothing but gape at her. Furious, he demanded, “Where the hell did you hear that name?”

Chapter Sixteen

“You’re squeezing my hand,” Bug complained, and Wyatt relaxed his grip at once.

“Sorry,” he apologized, and made an effort to sound more moderate. “You took me by surprise, is all. Where did you come up with the name Zolianna?”

She looked at him oddly. “You said it.”

Oh, no, he hadn’t. He’d been damn careful not to use it from the instant he’d realized Kendall had no memory of that life. “I don’t think so, darlin’. I never bring her up.”

“But you did. When you were starting to come around after the oxygen deprivation thing, you said her name.”

Wyatt stared at her blankly, then memory hit home. Either right before he’d kissed Kendall for the first time or right after, he must have slipped. Shit, maybe he’d thought he was dreaming, and that he was Berkant. It had happened often enough in his teens, but the timing was terrible, close enough to his kiss with Bug that she would have been hurt by it.

“I’m sorry.” Damn, how many more times was he going to need to apologize to her today? “I didn’t remember.”

Kendall shrugged one shoulder. “That’s okay. You were mostly unconscious. But that’s why I knew about Zolianna and guessed that she’s the woman you love.”

“You’re wrong.
I
don’t love Zolianna.” He stressed the
I
as hard as he dared. “She’d make me insane pretty dang fast. She was too passive, didn’t stand up when she needed to, but drifted along with events.” Wyatt gauged Bug’s reaction, and decided to continue. “I want a woman with more fire. A woman who’ll fight when something’s important to her.”

“Who is it then,” she asked slowly, “if it’s not Zolianna?”

“When you figure it out, we’ll talk. Now let’s get moving.” Wyatt looked over at Bug for a moment and had to press his lips together to keep from growling at her. It irritated the hell out of him that she believed he could kiss her with the intention of having sex and be in love with another woman. The only thing that prevented him from being royally pissed was that he knew her attitude had nothing to do with him personally.

He was still aggravated when they rounded a corner about ten minutes later and hit another dead end. Wyatt did snarl then because he had an excuse, then wished he hadn’t when Kendall apologized for making another mistake. “Darlin’, don’t worry about it, okay? I’m not mad at you, just the situation.”

“Maybe you should pick the hallway when we reach a spoke. I still haven’t figured out which stones will lead us to an exit.”

He was staring at the pattern of concentric circles made from a rainbow of colored gems when her words turned on a light bulb in his brain. “Am I remembering wrong, or have we only hit a wall coming out of a hub of corridors?”

Kendall appeared thoughtful for a moment, then said, “I think you’re right. You think this is a key to the maze?”

“Maybe.” He shrugged. “It won’t help much, though, since we could still pick the wrong hallway.” Wyatt lifted her hand. “It’s also interesting that your palm buzzes when we see gems on the walls.”

“I know.” Kendall sounded glum. “I don’t understand why.”

“Me either, but it’s something to think on since there’s gotta be a reason.”

“I have been thinking about it.”

Wyatt started back down the corridor, but he had to tug Kendall to get her moving. “Reach any conclusions?” he asked when she was at his side again.

“Not yet, but you never give me enough time to study the mosaics. Like now, you just pulled me away.”

“For a damn good reason—we’re being hunted. What do you think our chances would be if we’re trapped in a dead end?”

Bug sighed loudly enough for him to hear. “I know, but I’m curious, and the pics on the digicam aren’t good enough. It’s frustrating not to have time to figure it out.”

He understood frustration; he’d been living with it for four solid months. “We’ll be stopping for the night soon, and you can study the wall in whatever room we hole up in.”

“It won’t help,” she said. “These corridor patterns are different from what we find in the rooms.”

If anyone would know, it would be Kendall, but damn, he hated her ties to the temple. “Once the smugglers are caught, I’ll personally escort you back here, and you can study it to your heart’s content. Deal?”

With a faint smile, Bug said, “Deal.”

*** *** ***

Kendall paced her chambers impatiently. Where was he? Surely, her lover should be here by now.

With a sigh, she slowed. Things hadn’t been the same since the first murders outside the walls of their city.

It was unsafe to leave the fortification, but simply being near the walls could be dangerous. And as fear ran rampant, the Guard’s lack of progress had led to unrest among the citizens. The people wanted results, wanted to return to their serene existence. But Kendall didn’t know whether such was possible even once the murderer was captured. Too much innocence had been lost.

This should make her own situation seem negligible. Truly.

But what would Wyatt say when she told him?

Fear rose, one that had little basis in reality. He’d loved her for decades, just as she loved him. Never would he abandon her, and most certainly not when she needed him most. But even should he stand with her, her situation—their situation—would be difficult. This she knew with certainty.

And it wasn’t just this that made her uneasy. Her powers were gone. She had no more ability than the average citizen. Because of her connection to the temple, these ordinary skills had been enough to perform her daily duties, and she’d managed to conceal her loss from others, but it terrified her. Was this why priestesses were supposed to remain chaste? Would her powers return or had she lost them forever?

Nerves drove her to the mirror, and Kendall smoothed her hands down the front of her robe before she froze in place. It was her—she knew it was her—and yet she looked nothing like herself. She leaned forward, but the image reflected wasn’t hers. This woman was shorter than she was, and she had much darker, much longer hair.

Dreaming. She was dreaming.

The realization took her partially out of the scene. While most of her remained in front of the mirror, studying her appearance, some of her consciousness played observer, standing at a distance.

Her alter ego resumed pacing, and she felt more of her awareness return to the woman. Perhaps she should contact him again, make certain that he understood she needed him. Kendall paused in front of the calling glass, but surprise held her in place. The piece closely resembled her wind chime. How could that be?

Dreaming. Yes, this was all imaginary. She was creating her reality, so certainly she’d add things that meant something to her like her chime.

She decided not to bother him again. He’d come when he could, she knew that with her entire being. Wyatt had never let her down, and he’d not do so now.

With a sigh, she walked to a wall in her bedchamber. The inlaid gems formed patterns across the stone, and she pressed her hand against a triangle that fit perfectly within the pyramid on her palm. The rock became transparent, allowing her to gaze upon the city she loved. Her temple stood taller than any other building, and she could see all the way to the outside walls.

She lowered her hand to her side and examined what lay before her. In the heart of town, lights blazed, illuminating the night, but near the outskirts—the area closest to the fortification—there was darkness.

It frightened her to the depths of her soul to realize that the guardsmen were continually at risk. They were the ones required to step outside the city to recover the bodies. They were the ones who patrolled the edges of the town, trying to prevent the foolish from lingering. And they were the ones who responded to reports of the killer.

If anything happened to her love, a piece of her would die with him. He was her heart, her very soul.

Kendall pressed her hand against the wall once more and it returned to its usual opacity. She felt his presence then. Turning, she found Wyatt standing there, watching her. Again, she paused. This was Wyatt, she knew that beyond doubt, and yet he too, looked quite different from his usual self. Like her, he was shorter, and his hair brushed his shoulders. His eyes weren’t their navy color, either, but a yellow that seemed more catlike than human. She remembered her puzzlement at his appearance in an earlier dream as well.

Dreaming, she reminded herself. Just go with it.

His lips turned up in a smile as he caught her gaze, but she could read the weariness on his face, and she hurried to him. As Kendall put her arms around him, she feared the burden her news would add. Already he was exhausted; could she lay one more problem at his feet? And yet what other choice did she have? He would be angered if she did not share this with him.

Slowly, gently, he kissed her, then simply put his arms around her. “I’m glad you called me,” he told her. “I’d have stayed away, kept working, but simply holding you brings me a peace I’ve not had in far too long.”

“It’s been almost a full lunar cycle since we were last together, my love.” She stroked his back. “I have fruit in the outer chamber. Do you hunger?”

“No, I’ve eaten. What I need is to hold you.” Wyatt eased away far enough to see her face.

“Whatever you need, I freely give to you. I love you.” Stepping free of his embrace, Kendall took his hand and led him to the settee. When he was settled, she seated herself beside him, nestling close to his side. She rested her head upon his chest, and her marked hand on his waist, but she didn’t truly become comfortable until his arms surrounded her.

For a long time, neither spoke. She had no need to bombard him with questions; the guard commander regularly updated her. Nor had she a need to fill the silence with idle chatter.

Her fingers flexed at his waist. She was in no hurry to tell him. Closing her eyes, she luxuriated in his closeness. From the warmth of his body, she gleaned strength, contentment, and a simple, basic joy.

“I love you,” she told him again, voice barely above a whisper. She needed him to know how dear he was to her.