In Darkness Reborn (21 page)

“That as well.” Then he turned the tables on her, doing a little exploring of his own.

She giggled and surrendered to his superior forces. “Take me, Barak. Take me again.”

He rose above her, settling in between the welcoming cradle of her legs. “You are so beautiful.”

She knew that wasn't true, but she accepted that he believed the words to be true. Every move he made, every touch he gave her, made her feel cherished. He leaned down to kiss her, his tongue and taste driving her up and up until all that existed was him.

“You honor me with your welcome, Lacey,” he murmured near her ear. Passion made his accent more pronounced, sending shivers of pleasure through her.

As he took her, she wrapped her ankles around his waist and held on for dear life as the two of them rode out the cresting waves of passion. “Yes, that's it, like that,” she gasped as he filled her with his strength.

“Come for me, Lacey,” he demanded, their bodies sliding against each other, sweat-slick and hot.

“Only if you come with me,” she said, straining up to take more of him, more, and yet more.

Then the night shattered around them in light and heat and joy.

I
can't! He won't let me near him.”

Ben pulled at his collar, trying to loosen its chokehold. Those further up the food chain had ordered him to find a weak spot among the Paladins for them and he'd done his best, but none of those scary killers were about to get chummy with the likes of him.

Not even that bastard Penn Sebastian, which pissed him off. Who was he to look down his nose at Ben? It was one thing to act all superior when you carried a sword and skewered those freaky Others for kicks. But Penn was out of the game, which made him no better than anyone else—worse, because at least Ben could
do
the job the Regents paid him to do. It wasn't their fault that he didn't make enough to support his gambling habit.

But the voice on the other end of the line clearly didn't care about any of that. One guard and one Regent had already died for not getting the job done. He needed to keep that in mind.

“All right. I'll see what I can do.”

Obviously that wasn't good enough. He held the phone away from his ear and let the man rant some more. More money didn't matter. No amount was worth losing his life for, but the cold fear in his gut screamed that it was too late to worry about that. Either he roped Penn into spying for them or Ben would die. Trouble was, if Penn wasn't the weak link they thought he was, Ben would die anyway. It was all a matter of who would make him suffer the most.

He shuddered, knowing he'd done this to himself. “Yes, sir, I understand, sir. I'll bring him into the fold. I promise. I may need some muscle, though.”

Judging by the immediate offer of names and numbers to call, he'd finally managed to get something right. After a few more last-minute instructions, he hung up. Asking for muscle had been a stroke of genius. Now he just needed a plan for how to use his new assistants.

He couldn't risk another fiasco like last night. The events of the evening were pretty hazy, but he'd woken up sporting a few bruises he hadn't had when he'd left work. Memories of the first three bars he'd checked while looking for Penn were crystal clear. It was the fourth one, where he'd finally found the Paladin, where things went to hell.

Sebastian had not been happy to see him; that was certain. If memory served correctly, Penn had gotten up to leave as soon as Ben had arrived. Fear mixed with too many beers had been a bad combination, and Ben suspected he'd shot his mouth off about Lacey Sebastian.

Even if she
was
boinking the Other, her brother hadn't wanted to hear about it. If Ben had really said it. He shifted his jaw from one side to the other, wincing at the dull pain. If he really
had
been stupid enough to say that, he was lucky he was alive.

What he really didn't remember was driving home or how he'd gotten upstairs into his apartment. A couple of empty bottles by his bed might account for that—not that it mattered. Right now, he needed to formulate a plan to force Penn Sebastian to betray his fellow Paladins.

If he succeeded, it would be one for the history books; there'd never been a breath of scandal connected to the Paladins. But the scam ripping off the blue stones from the Other world could stay hidden for only so long. Eventually, Devlin Bane or one of those other bastards would figure out what was going on and decide to put a stop to it.

And God help them all when that happened.

But for now, Ben needed to figure out how best to use Penn Sebastian's weak point. As far as Ben knew, the only person Penn cared about was his sister.

If someone were to threaten her, Penn would do anything to keep her safe. Anything. Now Ben just had to find a way to use that bit of information. Maybe he wasn't a dead man quite yet.

Lacey sighed and leaned into Barak. They seemed incapable of going more than a few minutes without touching, kissing, breathing each other's air. Out on the edge of the wilderness, they were free to be just another couple. The few people they'd encountered on the way up the mountain had smiled or waved, each intent on their own enjoyment of a beautiful day.

“Kiss me.” She smiled up at him, her eyes full of promised heat.

He tucked a stray lock of hair back behind her ear, basking in her warmth. His lover was a wonderfully demanding woman. As their lips came together, he sought out the sweetness of her mouth with his tongue, pleased with her murmured encouragement as he took on a new energy from his head to his toes. Then the ground rolled under his feet, almost sending him to his knees. He froze, hoping against hope that the sudden surge came from the strength of their shared passion.

But a wise man never lied to himself, especially about something that could get them both killed. He gently broke off the embrace, wishing he could trust Lacey with his secrets. Once she found out, she'd expect him to use his sensitivity to the moods of the mountain to help the Paladins, at the expense of his own kind and his honor.

The dilemma made him sicker than the shifting of stone beneath his feet.

“We'd better be going, don't you think?” He gave Lacey a gentle push in the right direction: down and away from the mountain's anger.

“What's your hurry?” She tried to step right back into his arms.

Desperate times. “The sooner we get back to your place, the sooner we can have some of that leftover lasagna.”

She giggled. “Are you sure that's all you're interested in?”

This was no time for teasing, but he couldn't resist. “Fishing for compliments, Lacey?”

“Yeah, maybe.” Her eyes twinkled with good humor and the satisfaction of a woman who knew her man wanted her.

“All right. If I give you one, will you get moving down the mountain?”

“Yes.” She planted her feet to wait him out.

He pretended to give the matter grave consideration. “Fine. You make great lasagna. Best I've ever had.”

Her laughter rang out in the summer air. “Ooooh, you sweet talker. That kind of sweet talk will get you a piece of cold lasagna and not much else.” Then she kissed his cheek and dutifully set off down the path ahead of him, adding a little extra swing to her walk for good measure.

Barak waited until Lacey turned the corner ahead of him before reaching out to touch a nearby boulder, hoping that he was wrong. The connection was always stronger with his eyes closed; the stone immediately told him its truth.

The mountain thrummed with dark energy; it was about to unleash some of its fury by tossing bits of itself down toward the valley below. Barak muttered under his breath, wishing the ground below his feet could be soothed with his words.

But right now, wishes weren't going to be much help.

He withdrew his contact from the stone and picked up his share of the lab equipment. For the sake of speed, he considered leaving it behind, but that would involve questions he couldn't answer. By the time he caught up with Lacey, his senses were reeling with the increasing pressure building below his feet.

They weren't going to make it all the way down in time unless they started running. Did he risk their safety for the sake of his secrets? The question wasn't even worth considering.

He set down the cooler and toolbox. “Lacey, drop the equipment and start running!”

She looked at him with understandable confusion. “Why would I do that?”

He latched onto the kit in her hand and yanked it away from her. “Drop it and run. I'll explain later.”

Not that he'd need to. If they didn't get moving right then, it would be too late for explanations. “Run!”

They'd only gone a short distance when the first surge of energy rolled down from above them, sending a shower of loose gravel skittering past them on the path. “What's happening?” Lacey cried, but she knew because she finally started running as much as the steep path allowed.

The second wave hit when the trail hit a switchback turn, almost sending the two of them sliding down a steep drop-off. Barak kept to his feet, but Lacey wasn't so lucky. She fell hard, landing with her ankle twisted underneath her. Barak grabbed her arm and pulled her back from the edge.

It was too late to get away; the next best choice was to get to some cover, away from loose rock and trees that could be uprooted. He hauled Lacey up off the ground, wrapping her arm across his shoulders, and supported her as they stumbled down the path toward a small overhang just ahead. He quickly lowered her back down to shield her body with his. They hugged the rock wall and waited the mountain out.

The next rumble was smaller, pelting them with a stinging spray of small gravel. It quickly faded away. When the mountain remained silent for several minutes, Barak closed his eyes once again and reached out to test the mood of the rock and stone. It was a relief to feel nothing but a faint echo of the last few rocks settling in their new homes.

He slowly sat up and lifted Lacey's booted foot onto his lap. “Let me check your ankle. Does it feel broken?”

She winced when he moved it gently from side to side. “No, I think it's just sprained. I should be fine as long as we go slowly.”

She started to stand up, but he stopped her. “Wait here while I go back up for our equipment.”

Maybe if they kept moving, she wouldn't start to wonder how he'd known when they'd needed to start running to get out of the way of the rockslide. He trudged up the path, knowing each minute he was away from Lacey was time for her to start thinking, but there wasn't anything he could do about that but hurry.

Their cooler had fallen over but was otherwise unharmed. The toolbox had been knocked open, and a few tools had spilled out. The more fragile equipment that Lacey had been carrying hadn't fared as well. Two of the meters were now bits of broken plastic and bent wire, having been in the direct path of a rather large boulder. Lacey wouldn't be pleased about losing two such valuable pieces of equipment, but at least the monitor they'd been carrying was intact.

There was no way he could carry it all and help Lacey walk. He'd have to get her down the trail to her truck and then come back for their gear. She wouldn't like leaving anything behind, but too bad. Well, the madder she was, the less likely she was to ask too many questions.

His skin itched from a combination of sweat, dust, and fear for what was about to happen. As soon as he made the last turn back to Lacey, he knew that luck wasn't with him. She had spent the short time he'd been gone adding up details and coming to only one conclusion.

She pushed herself up off the ground. Bracing herself against the overhang, she turned angry blue eyes on him. “You knew, didn't you? Somehow you felt the earthquake coming long before it hit. That's why you were trying to hustle me off the mountain.”

The betrayal in her eyes dared him to deny it. He could pretend not to understand, but why bother? “Yes, I knew.”

“How?”

He set the equipment down on the side of the trail. “I won't answer that. Now, let's get you out of here.” When he reached out to take her arm again, she jerked away from him even though the sudden movement hurt her.

She fought for balance. “Don't…touch…me.”

“Lacey, use your head. You can't make it down from here without help. The rangers won't appreciate having to come get you just because you're mad at me.”

“Mad is
way
too weak a term for what I'm feeling.” She hobbled a few steps away to pick up a tree branch to use as a cane.

“Lacey—”

“
No!
Damn it, Barak, what goes on out here is my life's work, not some little hobby. I've spent years trying to figure out how to predict earthquakes and eruptions. You've been working beside me every day in the lab, watching me beg for enough money to figure out how to make my equipment even one percent more sensitive. And that whole time, you've already known the answers to those questions.”

She stumbled on, rage coming off her in waves. “Year upon year, my brothers and his friends have lived on the edge of battle, dying over and over to defend my world. You must think it was a riot watching foolish me trying to keep them safe.”