Primal Law (16 page)
The doctor in question stared at the faery in amazement, mouth agape. Quickly, she regained her shaken composure. “Sariel. It’s good to see you up and about, and willing to talk. Who do we have to thank for this positive turn of events?” Though she sounded sincere, she also appeared a little wary.
Sariel waved a hand at Kira. “My new friend persuaded me to give your hospitality a chance to make a difference for me. I don’t know how long I can impose myself upon you all, but for the time being I will live here and abide by your leader’s rules.”
Dr. Mallory nodded thoughtfully. “I don’t think you’ll be sorry.”
A wave of emotion rolled off Sariel, catching Kira by surprise. Had she really felt a deep, profound regret and sadness emanating from the Fae prince, or was she simply projecting her own feelings? It had happened the first time she’d seen him weeping, his emotions pouring over her like a waterfall.
It had happened when she met Jaxon, too.
Before she could puzzle over this more, Dr. Mallory addressed her. “You must be the new assistant Nick and Dr. Grant told me about this morning. You’re quite the busy bee already.”
While not unfriendly, her tone held a note of censure as she slid a brief side glance toward Sariel. In doing so, she silently made it plain that while she wouldn’t take issue with Kira’s initiative in front of the others, she’d appreciate being kept in the loop in the future.
“I’m Kira Locke. I apologize if I’ve stepped on any toes,” she said, injecting as much sincerity into it as possible. “I simply couldn’t stand to see Sariel so unhappy and I wanted to help.”
“Yes, well, that’s understandable. Nobody wants that for anyone living here. We’ll discuss the other residents of Block R later, all right? I’ll give you some insight on them before you continue your work.” So the doctor was tough, but wasn’t the type to berate her subordinates in public.
Good to know. “That sounds fine. I’ll come down to see you this afternoon, if that’s okay by you.”
The older woman looked satisfied. “Buzz me first to make sure I’m not in the middle of something in the lab or with a patient, but that should work.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Nice to meet you, Kira. Sariel, I want to examine you after you’ve had a chance to settle into your room. How about after lunch. Three hours?”
“As you wish.” The faery leveled the doc with the full force of his brilliant smile, causing her to blink at him a couple of times before looking to Zan and Hammer.
Lust. It was suddenly radiating from the outwardly stoic doc, as well as a distinct wave of . . . fear? Vulnerability? Didn’t anyone else notice? Nobody seemed to. Kira stifled a giggle and thought she must be losing her mind—though if she hadn’t already, she was probably safe.
“Later,” Dr. Mallory said. Then she left, her staff following. Mac waved at Kira and hurried after them.
“Why do I feel like I just passed inspection?”
“Because you did,” Zan said with a chuckle. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gave her a friendly, one-armed hug. “After getting the equivalent of a green light from Melina, the rest will be gravy.”
“If you say so.” Kira paused, recalling something in retrospect. “I sensed a lot of anger in Dr. Mallory. And oddly enough, a feeling of vulnerability, as though she’s not as in control as she’d like others to believe.” She glanced at the men, who were gazing at her intently. “What?”
Hammer crossed his arms over his massive chest. “Does that happen a lot?”
“Does what happen?” she asked, mystified.
“Getting ‘feelings’ from people.”
“No, I don’t think so.” She frowned, remembering. “At least not before I met Jaxon last night. Weird, huh? It’s probably this place and the sudden submersion into all this woo-woo weirdness frying my brain. No offense.”
Hammer looked at his friend and raised his brows, and the two seemed to share the same thought before Zan turned to her.
“Maybe you should mention this to Melina when you meet with her.”
“Why? Other than suffering from delusions because I talk to faery princes and think I see men shifting into wolves, I’m perfectly healthy,” she deadpanned.
Both men gave a quiet laugh, and then Zan answered. “I know you are because I’m a Healer and I’d know if you weren’t. Still, it won’t hurt to tell her and see what she has to say. Since the Institute of Parapsychology was established, Melina has made it her life’s goal to learn what makes every supernatural creature tick. Tell her, and then she can log your information in case it’s important.”
Kira thought he was going overboard, but didn’t see the harm. “Sure. Why not?”
“Have you ever had any leanings toward paranormal ability? Ghosts in your house, seeing things others don’t, anything at all?”
“Not in the slightest.” She frowned, recalling the voice she thought she’d heard when fleeing NewLife with the tissue samples, then dismissed it. Surely that had been her imagination. “But I’m a big fan of
Ghost Hunters
!” They gave her a blank look. “You know, on the Syfy Channel?”
Ghost Hunters
!” They gave her a blank look. “You know, on the Syfy Channel?”
“Um, we don’t watch much TV. And when we do, it’s probably not going to be anything dealing with the paranormal.”
“Kind of like folks who work in an ice cream parlor not eating the stuff because they’re sick of it,” Hammer put in.
“Exactly.”
“Oh. Well, you’ll have to make an exception in this case. Great show. I’m completely addicted; even follow Jason and Grant on Twitter.” She grinned at their perplexed expressions. “Never mind. Baby steps.”
“What are Syfy and TV?” Sariel asked in confusion. Everyone had forgotten him as he tried to follow their conversation.
“Jeez, what do they do for fun in the Seelie High Court?” she teased.
The Fae prince made a face. “Fun? Very little. My existence there was all about pomp and proper behavior. I believe humans call it ‘kissing ass.’ ”
The three of them laughed and Kira patted his arm. “Goes to prove some things don’t change no matter where you are.”
“I can believe that.”
They walked Sariel to a room just a couple of doors from Kira’s. She and the others did their best to reassure the Seelie that he was safe and welcome.
“I’m staying there,” she said, pointing. “Dr. Grant is there, and Jaxon is across the hall. The others are close by as well. Don’t hesitate to knock if you need anything.”
“Or use the phone,” Zan put in. “There’s a list of extensions beside it.”
The faery stared at them helplessly. “The what?”
Zan smiled. “It’s a communication device that looks like a box. Come in. We’ll show you.” He led the way and Sariel trailed him, taking in his surroundings.
Zan gave a short tutorial on how to use the phone, while Sariel studied the thing as if it were a strange insect and declared that in his world there was no need for such a contraption. They simply used Mindspeak or flashed to another location to talk in person. Then he looked sad and she figured it had reminded him that he’d lost his home and people.
Afterward, the trio spent some time showing the wide-eyed Fae some more earthly devices, like the oven, microwave, and refrigerator. Their new friend began to look more and more dejected.
“I cannot cook,” he murmured. “I don’t know how.”
“No worries.” Hammer clapped his shoulder. “The kitchen and appliances are here only in case you want to eat in private. We have a cafeteria and the cook is real fine. You won’t go hungry.”
“And that reminds me,” she began. “I heard you haven’t been eating.”
A slight flush colored the prince’s pale cheeks. “I wasn’t hungry. But I will not continue to shun your hospitality.”
She figured that meant he
had
been hungry and was too damned proud to admit it.
had
been hungry and was too damned proud to admit it.
“Lunch is in a couple of hours,” Zan told him. “Why don’t you rest and I’ll make sure someone comes to get you right before we eat?”
Sariel nodded. “I would like that.”
“Will you be okay here?” She couldn’t help but worry. When she’d seen him earlier, he’d been the picture of abject misery, and now he was almost too calm. She hoped that didn’t mean he planned to do something drastic the minute their backs were turned.
“This will be most comfortable. Thank you.”
Zan started for the door. “We’ll get out of here, then. If you get tired of being alone, just come on out and go for a walk. You’re bound to see someone who can point you toward wherever you want to go.”
He swallowed hard, and looked to each of them, including them all in his next words. “I appreciate your kindness and I’m indebted. Somehow I will repay you.”
“Let’s not worry about that, huh?” Zan winked. “We’ll let you get some shut-eye.”
As they left, Kira glanced back over her shoulder to see Sariel standing in the middle of the small living area looking very alone. She didn’t really want to leave him but he needed time to adjust. He wouldn’t want someone hovering over him constantly after he’d given his word he wouldn’t harm himself. It would be a breach of trust in his eyes.
In the hallway, she voiced her concern as they walked. “What if he tries to leave?”
“We can’t stop him,” Zan answered. “And we can’t keep him caged. After you got him to open up, anyone could see that wasn’t right. But if he tries to walk out, he won’t get off the grounds without us knowing. We can try to persuade him again to stay.”
“If he translocates, though, he’s gone,” Hammer said. “Nothing we can do about that.”
Zan attempted to reassure her. “Try not to worry. He said he’d stay and he seems like a man of his word.”
She hoped so. The thought of such a gentle soul facing exile by himself was not acceptable.
Kira thanked the guys for their help and they told her to call on them again if she needed to. She said she would and headed in the direction of the recreation room, forcing herself to look on the bright side. Sariel was liberated from that awful cell, and though bewildered, he would adjust. He’d be fine.
What should she do with herself until lunch? Dr. Mallory had made it crystal clear she wanted to speak with Kira before she took on any more of her duties. And really, she wasn’t officially an employee until Nick said so. She wasn’t worried about the background check as it was a simple formality. Not even an unpaid parking ticket marred her record.
Until last night, her life had been critically boring to the point it needed CPR.
In the rec room she froze. Jax was sitting on the sofa, arms crossed over his chest, shit-kickers parked on the coffee table. He was watching a talk show on TV, but from his glazed expression, she had her doubts that he even knew what the topic was.
God, he was so wickedly sexy, her heart beat faster simply being near him. Short black hair sort of stuck out in that messy, spiky style that wasn’t as easy as it looked to pull off. Did he use gel? She’d love to offer to do the job for him, run her fingers through the black silk and mess it up real good.
While he kissed and licked his merry way down her body, making places tingle that hadn’t in ages and desperately needed to—
“You going to come in or stand there all day?”
She hated when people threw out challenges like that. It was tempting to turn around and leave, but then she’d look like an ass. “Coming in, I guess. I’ve done my good deed for the morning and I don’t dare do any more without Dr. Mallory’s blessing.”
His eyes met hers as she moved to the sofa and plopped down. “Why? What’s going on?”
She shrugged. “Sariel is out. Zander and Hammer helped me.”
He frowned. “Who’s Sariel?”
“Oh, that’s right.” She snapped her fingers and glared at him. “You don’t know because you weren’t here to help me in Block R like you said you would!”
“Wait. You went there alone?”
“I just said your friends helped me. And Sariel is the name of the winged guy. He’s a Fae prince who was outcast from the Seelie Court. The lousy asswipes tossed him through the gate, and only because his daddy is some Unseelie guy with nasty eating habits.”
“You found out all of this while I was gone?” He eyed her in disbelief.
“Yep. All I did was talk to him, and I guess he was ready to get out of there.” She was pretty proud of herself for that one.
“He’s
out
?” Jax sat straight up in alarm. “Where is he?”
out
?” Jax sat straight up in alarm. “Where is he?”
“Relax. He’s fine. He’s staying in the living quarters two doors down from me and across the hall from you. We got him settled in after he promised not to try and harm himself again. Said he couldn’t really do much damage, anyway, because the Fae aren’t easy to kill.”
“And you all believed him? Kira, he’s despondent,” he said in concern. “If he wants to die, he’ll find a way.”
That led to a horrible thought. “You don’t think he’d give himself up to his father, do you?”
“Hell, how should I know? He’s never said a word until you came.”
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