Darkness Unknown

by Alexis Morgan

  Jake grinned, but then his smile disappeared. “Oh shit.”

  Chase tore his gaze away from the match. A man in a wheelchair had entered the gym, his movements awkward as he tried to maneuver the chair through the heavy door. Even from this distance, it was easy to tell he’d been badly hurt. Chase watched as he slowly rolled across the floor, skirting the other Paladins. The closer he got to where they were sitting, the worse he looked.

  “What happened to him?” Chase thought he’d whispered the question, but the man’s head immediately jerked in their direction and he pinned Chase with an angry gaze. Obviously Jarvis had been serious about Paladin senses being better than the average human’s.

  Jake didn’t bother to keep his voice down. “Others caught up with Hunter in one of the outlying caverns. They played with him for a long time before leaving him for dead. He looks a damn sight better than he did when we first found him.”

  The man parked his chair a few feet away from them. From the sweat pouring off his face, the effort had taken a lot out of him. Every square inch of skin that showed was that sickly green of old bruises. If he looked good now, Chase was glad he hadn’t seen him before.

  “Hey, Hunter, I’m going to get Chase and myself a bottle of water. Can I bring you one, too?”

  “No.”

  “Pop?”

  “No.”

  “Anything else?”

  “No.” Hunter’s fists clenched and unclenched. “Just leave me alone.”

  “Fine. Chase, I’ll be back in a minute.” Jake loped off toward a cooler in the corner.

  Hunter turned in Chase’s direction. His voice was a rough whisper. “Have you looked your fill, kid, or would you like me to pirouette in case you missed anything?”

  Chase’s face burned hot and then cold. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t meant to stare.”

  “Yeah, right. Just like all those cars that slow down as they pass a bad accident aren’t hoping to see something gruesome to tell all their friends.”

  He’d already apologized; what else could he say? Chase was relieved to see both Jake and Jarvis on their way toward them. Jarvis made it first.

  “Hunter, it’s good to see you up and about. I assume Doc Crosby okayed your being down here.” He wiped his face with a towel and accepted his shirt back from Chase.

  “I don’t need or want his approval. There’s nothing more he can do for me up in the lab.” He glared up at Jarvis from his chair.

  Bitterness and pain dripped from every word, making Chase want to put some serious distance between himself and the angry Paladin. He must have made some move in that direction, because Jarvis caught his eye and shook his head.

  “I don’t blame you for wanting a break from the lab, Hunter, but we both know the rules. No one leaves the lab without Doc’s permission. Overdoing it won’t help you heal any faster.”

  “Like I’m going to heal at all. From what Doc says, I’ll be lucky to get even eighty percent of my mobility back.” Hunter’s voice cracked. Abruptly, he spun the chair around and started back toward the door. Several of the other Paladins approached him, but he waved them off.

  Jarvis’s gaze followed his progress before turning back to Chase. “Son of a bitch, I wish you hadn’t had to meet Hunter right now. Normally he’s one of the best, but he’s not taking his convalescence very well.”

  Jake was still watching Hunter. “Do you blame him? Eighty percent? Doc might as well have—”

  Jarvis threw his sweaty towel at Jake’s face. “Will you shut the fuck up? Nothing is set in stone. Doc’s been wrong before. Look at Trahern!”

  A loud crash had all three of them staring across the gym. Hunter had stopped by the free weights, and they watched in silence as he picked up another dumbbell and heaved it against the wall.

  “Jake, take Chase to lunch and I’ll join you there.” Jarvis headed for the wounded Paladin, who was reaching for another weight.

  Chase stood to pull on his shirt. “Is Hunter a friend of his?”

  “We’re few enough in number that we all get to be pretty close, but it’s worse for Jarvis. Every installation has one Paladin who is more or less in charge. Jarvis has filled that role here for a very long time. He always takes it personally when he loses one of us; and Hunter came that close”—he held his forefinger and thumb a fraction of an inch apart—“to dying permanently. If Doc’s right about his chances for recovery, it might have been better if he had.”

  Then he clapped Jake on the shoulder. “But Hunter should fine eventually. None of us make good patients, and the longer it takes to heal, the worse we are. Now, how about some lunch?”

  “Sounds good,” Chase lied, trying to ignore the sick feeling that had settled in his stomach.

  As they left the gym, he looked back at where Jarvis was squatting down beside Hunter, obviously arguing with his friend. It was hard to tell from this distance which one came out ahead, but Jarvis stood up and pushed Hunter out the door and out of sight.

  As the two of them disappeared, Chase’s skin rippled with goose bumps.

  Chapter 15

  “Damn it, Jarvis, leave me alone. I don’t need a nursemaid!”

  ”No, Hunter, what you need is your ass kicked. Right now your coloring is the same crappy gray as that limestone wall. It’s bad enough you snuck out of the lab, but did you have to roll yourself all the way down here?”

  Jarvis kept the chair moving fast enough that Hunter couldn’t grab on to the wheels and wrest control away from him. Right now, he was mad enough that his hands itched to smack the wounded Paladin. When they reached the elevator, he let Hunter do the number punching.

  As they waited, Hunter looked up at Jarvis. “So who’s the kid?”

  “His father was Harvey Fletcher, who probably died before your time. I met the kid by accident when I was left cut up and half dead in the woods near Chase’s family farm.”

  “And I’m guessing today was his first visit here.”

  “Yeah.”

  There was real regret in Hunter’s expression. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have…”

  “Don’t sweat it, Hunter. The kid will be okay. It’s you I’m worried about.” He leaned against the wall.

  “Yeah, but the last thing a new recruit needs to see is a chewed-up mess like me.” He pounded his fist on his leg.

  “You’re not going to get any better if you insist on ignoring the doctor’s orders, Hunter. These things take time. It’s not like all you needed were a couple of stitches and a Band-Aid this time.”

  Jarvis wished there was more he could do to make things easier, but there wasn’t. They were born with the instincts of a warrior, with a burning need to serve. A crippled Paladin was only half a man, and they both knew it.

  “Trahern says he has a friend in Seattle with some of the same problems as you have. Let’s see how much Doc can do for you before we go jumping off the deep end. But if you’d like, I’ll get you the guy’s e-mail address.”

  Hunter sneered as the elevator door finally opened and he rolled himself in. “Oooh goody, my very own support group. Maybe we can meet on the second Tuesday of the month over tea and cookies.”

  “All right, so don’t contact him. I’m just saying I haven’t been where you are right now, but this Penn Sebastian has. Maybe talking to him would help.”

  “Yeah, and maybe I can get the Regents to install some artillery on my wheelchair, so I can be the first member of the Paladin artillery division.”

  The doors slid shut, cutting off the conversation as Hunter went back up to the lab. Jarvis closed his eyes and prayed for patience. The last thing he wanted right now was lunch, but he couldn’t abandon Chase for long. He had to work some kind of damage control, to make sure the boy understood that what had happened to Hunter was almost unheard of. But damn, it hurt to see the lines that bitterness and pain had carved in Hunter’s face in such a short time. It couldn’t be easy to hear that the life you’d planned had just taken a major turn for the worse
.

  Which reminded him. He needed to find out where they were on backtracking the tunnel where Hunter was attacked. If there was a hole, they needed to get it plugged up. But right now he had more immediate concerns.

  He thought about calling Doc Crosby to warn him about Hunter’s mood, but decided against it. The Paladin was feeling crowded enough without having Jarvis ride herd on him. Maybe later he’d get Jake to take Chase home, while he kept Hunter company in the lab.

  He pushed off the wall and started for the cafeteria. He’d never been a coward, and he wasn’t going to start now. He’d take Chase home himself because it was the right thing to do. The boy would have a ton of questions he wanted to ask, and might feel more comfortable doing so in the car, when none of the others could hear him.

  Besides, Jarvis needed to see Gwen. He’d spent so much time and energy warning her that she should keep him at arm’s length, but he hadn’t listened to his own advice. It had almost ripped his heart out to merely wave at her that morning, as if seeing her standing there hadn’t had his pulse racing and his body wanting the sweet touch of hers.

  Cursing himself for a fool, he headed into the cafeteria, hoping his dark mood didn’t spoil the rest of the day for Gwen’s brother.

  Chase had an odd look on his face, and Jake was too busy jawing at one of the other Paladins at the table to notice.

  Jarvis set his tray down across from the boy and sat down. “What’s up? Something wrong with your pizza?”

  “No, the food’s great.” Chase leaned closer. “I keep feeling like something is humming in the back of my head, only it’s more than that. It’s like something is pulling on me, or watching me, or something.”

  “The barrier’s doing that to you because you’re a Paladin. We all sense it, and the feeling gets stronger the more you’re around it. When we serve near a particular stretch of the barrier for a long time, we can sense its moods even from a distance—especially when it’s weakening or about to go down.”

  Chase took another bite of his pizza as he mulled that over. Jarvis waited for him to swallow, knowing he’d have more questions.

  “So, different parts of the barrier feel different? How many places like this are there?”

  “Yes, to the first question. If we were to visit the Pacific Northwest, the barrier would resonate on a slightly different frequency. Up there, the barrier is affected not only by earthquakes but also by the volcanoes stretching from California all the way up into Alaska. The more unstable the volcano, the more unstable the barrier. You can imagine what Mount St. Helens does to it on a routine basis.”

  He popped the top on his cold drink and took a long swallow. “We have installations all over the world, but there are more in regions where the tectonic plates are more unstable, or where there are more active volcanoes. Once you’re trained, you can request a transfer to pretty much anywhere you’d want to go.”

  “Cool! Do guys move around a lot?”

  “A few do, but most tend settle in one area after a while. I’ve served here for over twenty-five years. My friend Trahern trained under me here, and then moved to Seattle for personal reasons—which you can translate as woman trouble.” He smiled. “Sometimes those reasons jump up and bite you on the ass. He came back awhile ago because the woman was in danger. When he returned to Seattle, she went with him.”

  Chase looked around the room full of men. “So there are no women Paladins?”

  “No, it’s one of those chromosome things. Doc Crosby knows more about it, so ask him sometime if you want to learn more. My understanding is that women can carry the gene, but they don’t become Paladins themselves.”

  “Do all these guys live here?”

  “Some do. Some, like me, keep a place up in the St. Louis area or one of the nearby towns. We try to rotate duty so that everyone gets some time off from the barrier, especially when we get a quiet stretch. It’s nice to get away from all of this when we can.” Even if it felt like pulling a giant rubber band that wanted to snap them right back where they belonged.

  “So if some guys live here, is it like the military, where there are separate quarters for men with families?”

  So that’s what was driving this conversation. “Come on. Let’s take a walk.”

  They cleared their trays and left the listening ears behind. When they reached the staircase, Jarvis opened the door. Once they were inside and safe from being overheard, he tried his best to answer Chase’s questions—even the ones the boy hadn’t asked yet and Jarvis had no real answer for.

  “Paladins don’t often have families, Chase. We age slower than most humans, and we aren’t exactly easy to live with. The job demands too much of our time and energy to leave much for the demands of family life. We’re on call twenty-four/seven for life. There’s no retirement, no time off for good behavior. Even though I occasionally take breaks at my apartment in St. Louis, I get edgy and irritable if I’m away from the barrier for too long.”

  Their steps echoed in the stairwell.

  “I’d like to tell you differently, but you’re in this for the long haul. Sure, you can put off joining us long enough to go to college. A lot of the guys pursue other interests even after they start serving here—computer science, medic training, geology. Some even do a stint in the military. If there’s something you’re interested in, go for it. But eventually you won’t be able to stay away.”

  “It’s Gwen who really wants me to go to college. She’s been saving money for my tuition and stuff.”

  That wasn’t a surprise. “I guess the real question, Chase, is what do you want?”

  “I’m hanging in long enough to graduate high school, but it’s not easy to be cooped up all day.” His shoulders slumped. “I was planning on getting a job for a while and then try school again. Doesn’t sound like there’s much point, if this is where I’m going to end up anyway.”

  “No, Chase. You don’t have to take the weight of the world on your shoulders yet. You’re still only eighteen. No one, least of all me, is pushing you to pick up a sword and join in the fight today. You’ve got plenty of time to make your own choices.”

  “So why have you been teaching me how to fight if you don’t expect me to need those skills?”

  “That was only part of it. Mainly, you needed to learn the control that martial arts and weapons training could give you. We come prepackaged with a whole shitload of aggression. If we don’t learn how to channel it, there’s no telling what could trigger an explosion. Hell, I don’t have to tell you that. And it’s been helping, hasn’t it?”

  Chase nodded. “Yeah. My coach and teachers have all noticed. It makes school bearable, now that kids aren’t cringing every time I walk by them. I hated getting in fights all the time, but it was like something was driving me to lash out at the least little thing. I don’t know how many trash cans Gwen had to pay for because I kicked them to death. Better that than…” His voice trailed off, but his meaning was clear.

  God, they’d barely found Chase in the nick of time. Another few months of feeling crowded and out of control could have ended up in total disaster. And it would have killed Gwen to have her brother end up in prison for killing somebody in a fit of uncontrolled rage.

  How many of their kind were out there with no one to bring them into the fold? The Regents kept an eye on the medical records of the military, watching for any hint that someone had healed faster than expected or had survived what should have been fatal wounds. More than one Paladin had been discovered among the ranks of the armed forces, especially special ops. A few more had channeled their abilities into serving in law enforcement and fire departments.

  But none of them had had an easy time of it out in the world. At least they’d found kindred spirits and a home among their own kind with their fellow Paladins. They lived together, fought together, and died together, saving the world in their own secret war.

  They’d reached the bottom of the stairs. “Okay, kid. Hold your breath and be prepared to be daz
zled.”

  “Was I right?” Jarvis stood beside him, letting him absorb the glorious colors of the barrier.

  “Heck, yeah. It’s amazing.”

  He had no names for the colors that swirled and billowed in the wall of energy that ran from the ceiling to the floor throughout the length of the enormous cavern. The cave itself was enough to leave him speechless, but it was nothing compared to the barrier.

  “How far does it go?”

  Jarvis shrugged. “It winds all throughout this area. Like I told you earlier, there are bits and pieces of it scattered over the world where the tectonic plates come together or the volcanoes are active. The good news is that there are only a few places where the Kalith cross regularly. This seems to be one of their favorites, although Seattle is right up there with us.”

  “How often does it go down?” Chase peeled his gaze away from the barrier long enough to briefly look at Jarvis.

  “Too damned often. We get long quiet spells followed by total chaos. It has to do with the type of earthquakes in this area. Although there’s occasionally a big lurch, we usually get swarms of shallow quakes that can go on for weeks. Individually, the shallow ones are too weak for humans to detect, but they play hell with the barrier’s stability.”

  The colors were changing again, this time shades of deep blue and purple fading into reds and oranges. Chase had to clench his hands into fists to keep from reaching out to make sure the barrier was real. Jarvis had already warned him that one touch carried enough voltage to melt the fillings in his teeth. Not to mention that it would fry his brain and burn out his nerve endings at the same time. Evidently there were a few injuries that even Paladins couldn’t come back from.

  Which brought the Paladin in the wheelchair back to mind. “What’s going to happen to that guy Hunter? I mean, from what you’ve told me, nothing makes the need to be near the barrier go away completely.”

  Jarvis stared at the barrier for several seconds before answering. “I don’t know. Our bodies can heal almost anything over time, so I’m hoping that Doc’s wrong about Hunter’s chances. There’s another Paladin with similar problems out in Seattle, so I’ve been in touch with my friend Trahern to see how that guy’s doing.”