Immortal Cascade 01 Immortal Companion

by Carol Roi

  Captain Banks looked slowly from his best detective to his anthropologist partner. "Sandburg!" he finally barked. "I thought we agreed that we would share information!"

  Blair flushed and began to stammer. "Uh, sorry, Captain. It's just that... that... "

  "That we thought it prudent to check out the information ourselves before pulling you away from your leads," came Diandra's calm voice from behind Banks. She stepped into the group, her trenchcoat hiding her torn, bloody, water-soaked clothes. "While surveying the area, a situation presented itself in which we were able to rescue Ellison."

  Banks looked from the cool and collected woman to the wet and shivering Sandburg. "We being?"

  "Blair and I," she said, her tone daring him to dispute her.

  Simon was in no mood to tangle with her tonight. "So where's Kendall?" he asked.

  The trio looked at each other, but it was Ellison who spoke first. "He's dead, sir. He fell from the top of the lighthouse. Sandburg went down the cliff looking for him, but couldn't find him." Blair smiled inside. Trust Jim to explain away the complex with the fewest amount of words.

  Diandra spoke again. "Captain Banks, I know you have to take statements from all of us, but Detective Ellison needs to go to the hospital."

  Simon took at another look at Jim, and this time he saw the bloodstained clothes and grey complexion. "All right, go. I'll talk to all of you in the morning." He gestured to the paramedics, and they swarmed on Jim, leading him away to the ambulance.

  Blair shot a glance at Dee, and she jerked her head in Jim's direction. He ran after him, stopping outside the rear door of the ambulance. Jim was seated on the gurney inside, trying not to jump out of his skin as they removed the makeshift bandage. "Jim," Blair said, "I'm gonna ride with you, if that's okay."

  "Sure," Jim replied, then he looked past Blair to where Dee leaned against the hood of her Cherokee. Her face was unnaturally white, and as he watched, she started to slide down the truck, but caught herself. "Chief," he said, "Why don't you go with Diandra? There really isn't much room in here."

  Blair paused with his hand on the side of the door. "Okay, Jim," he replied, a little stung by his partner's words. Turning around, he headed for Dee's Jeep, just in time to catch her as she finally did collapse.

  "I'm okay, Lobo," she reassured him. "Just a little wobbly. A couple days sleep, and I'll be fine." She gave him a smile that was more of a grimace. Blair helped her into the passenger seat, then looked toward his partner. Jim nodded at him, then they closed the ambulance doors. Climbing in the driver's side, Blair adjusted the seat, then started the engine and headed for the hospital.

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  At three o'clock in the morning, the hospital emergency room was almost deserted. Simon Banks paused in the entranceway, his quick glance taking in the sole attendant at the admitting desk, and the two people sprawled across several chairs. Sandburg must have sweet-talked some nurse out of some dry clothes, because both he and Diandra Pallas were wearing scrubs. The police observer was seated in a chair, his head leaning against the wall behind him, his eyes closed. Diandra was sprawled across the three chairs next to him, her head pillowed on her folded coat, which rested in Blair's lap. His arm encircled her protectively, and they looked for all the world like a couple of sweethearts asleep in front of the TV. As if Sandburg and Ellison weren't enough trouble already, Simon thought. Blair had to drag another sentinel into the mix, a female sentinel he was obviously very attracted to. Banks wondered if he could get his vacation early this year. He didn't want to be around for the fallout when Mt. Ellison blew.

  Sighing, he crossed the room to the nurse's station, and inquired about Jim. At the mention of the detective's name, Blair opened his eyes. "Hey, Simon," he said. "Any news? Did you find Kendall's body?"

  Banks shook his head. "No, search and rescue is still looking." He had stayed quite a while at the crime scene, trying to make sense of it all. It certainly hadn't happened the way Jim had described. Sure, maybe the railing had given way, but not before someone bled all over the catwalk. And the destruction! The door to what must have been Jim's prison was literally blown off its hinges. The lens room looked like a tornado had hit it, windows broken, glass everywhere. Not to mention the fact that the entire lighthouse's electrical system had been cooked. That information he had gotten from a Coast Guard engineer, who had been frantically trying to get the lighthouse running before some ship ventured too close to shore.

  The nurse, who had gone to check on Jim, returned. "Dr. Parker decided to keep Detective Ellison overnight. He's lost a lot of blood, and the doctor wants to give him a couple pints before letting him go. There's also a good possibility of infection with such a bad injury. He's been taken upstairs to room 312. You can go see him but only for a couple minutes."

  Thanking her, Simon turned back to Sandburg, who was gently shaking Diandra awake. "Hey, Dee, wake up."

  Yawning, and stretching slowly, Dee sat up. Brushing her tangled hair out of her face, she said, "Hmm, what's up?"

  "They're keeping Jim until tomorrow. I'm going to run up and see him. You wanna come?" Blair rubbed the tired Immortal's shoulders.

  Dee yawned again. "No, that's okay. I'll just wait down here for you."

  "Are you sure?" Blair asked. "I know you're really tired, Dee. Maybe Simon can take you home." He shot a pleading look at the tall man.

  "No, no, I'll be fine," she said. "Go see your partner. I'll be here when you get back." Nodding, Blair kissed her cheek, then headed for the elevators.

  Simon thought about following him, but decided he could wait and see Jim in the morning. Still, he would stick around and see if Dr. Pallas needed a ride. Picking up a magazine, he took a seat across from her. She gazed at him for a moment, then refolded her coat, and lay down again, quickly falling back asleep.

  She didn't know how much later it was when she awoke, but Captain Banks was no longer in the waiting room. She sat up, trying to figure out what had woken her. Her chest hurt, she realized, and she rubbed her hand over her heart. The pain came again, and she realized it was not so much physical, as it was emotional. She turned up her hearing, searching for Blair's heartbeat. When she found it, it was racing out of control, and the tightness around her heart increased. Angry words reached her ears now, and she was on her feet, moving for the stairs, responding to the Champion's strongest instinct: protect the Companion.

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  Jim moved restlessly in the hospital bed, trying to find a position that wouldn't irritate his side. The possibility of finding one was highly unlikely. He could feel every one of the 113 stitches the doctor had used to close the long cut, each one itching and pulling with its own unique sensation. The local anesthetic he'd been given wasn't doing a damn thing, and his attempt to turn down the touch dial met with only partial success. If Sandburg were here, he knew he'd have no trouble controlling the pain, but Blair was with her.

  He'd had a lot of time to think, during the two hours he'd spent lying on that table in the emergency room, listening to the two of them just outside. They hadn't said much, they hadn't needed to. He couldn't help but hear how their own bodies betrayed them, their hearts beating in slow synchronous rhythm. He could hear when Sandburg's fingers slid through her hair, could hear her little sighs of pleasure as she snuggled closer to his guide.

  Part of Jim felt a burst of satisfaction at the knowledge that he'd been right, that she was a trouble-making bitch, but that information had come too late to help him. His guide, his guide was with her now. How could he have been so blind? All the signs had been there, his instant dislike of Diandra, his partner's fascination with her... And Sandburg, how could Sandburg have done this to him again? Blair knew how much his relationship with Alex Barnes had bothered him. Why, why would he work with another sentinel behind Jim's back again? Jim swallowed past the sudden lump in his th
roat. That's what hurt most of all, the feeling that Sandburg had betrayed him yet again. No! He wasn't going to feel sorry for himself! Shaking his head, Jim forced the heartache back, squeezing and twisting and transforming it into something he could use: Rage. When he got out of here, when he was back on his feet, he would kill her. He didn't know how he would manage that with a woman who was able to come back from the dead, but he would find a way. And when she was gone, he would go after Sandburg.

  Blair chose that moment to stick his head inside the hospital room. "Hi, Jim, how are you doing?"

  Jim's eyes were flat and cold as they gazed at the younger man. "You smell like her," he growled.

  Confusion flashed on Blair's face for a moment, then he chose to make light of Jim's comment. "Yeah, well, she did carry me up that cliff. Can't get much closer than that. I smell a lot like dirty seawater too." He gave his partner a grin.

  "How long, Sandburg, how long?" was Jim's only response.

  "Is it just me, or is it suddenly cold in here?" Blair said, feeling icy fingers tightening around his heart.

  "HOW LONG! Or were you ever planning to tell me she is a sentinel?" Jim roared.

  "Jim, man, just chill out. It's not like I'm trying to hide anything from you... ." Blair tried to explain, but Jim cut him off.

  "How stupid do you think I am? I may be a little slow, but I get the picture. All those weeks of running with her, of being too busy to do things with me? I thought maybe you were finally getting your act together, knuckling down and finishing that paper of yours. All that time, all that time I ignored the evidence I saw with my own eyes, your sudden interest in her, you coming home smelling of her... "

  Jim continued to rant, as Blair felt the walls closing in. He couldn't breathe, he had to get out of there, but his feet were glued to the floor. It wasn't supposed to be like this... He was supposed to sit down with Jim, and Dee, and talk this over. Everything was supposed to be okay... .Tears blurred his eyes, and he blinked to try and clear them just as Jim said, "How long have you been screwing her?"

  Blair covered his mouth with his hand, knowing he was going to be sick. And then she was there. He didn't need to turn to see her in the doorway; he felt her presence behind him like a furnace blast against his back. When he did look, she was a vision from a dream, a dark avenging angel in surgical scrubs, blue eyes glowing with an inner, raging fire.

  The first words out of her mouth were not anything Jim or Blair could understand, but they got the idea. Her hand raised, index finger pointed accusingly at Jim, she repeated her comments in English. "You are a disgrace to our kind. The Companion is sacred; he is our reason for being; we exist to protect him. What you have done is unconscionable; you have intentionally harmed your Guide. What kind of Sentinel are you, that you can't feel his pain? I could hear him calling from three floors and the other side of the building away! You are in the same room with him, and yet can't feel his distress?" She shook her head, then looked at Blair. He took that as his cue to leave, exiting the room and scurrying down the hallway, not knowing where he was going, only that he needed to be away from there.

  Stunned, Jim simply stared at her, his senses overwhelmed by the energy he could feel pouring off of her. Sentinel or not, whatever she was, it wasn't human. He turned his attention back to her words, as she spoke again. "I have no doubt Blair will forgive you for the things you said; it is in his nature. I will not. You have belittled him and undermined his self-confidence and judgement for the last time. You hurt him again, I will tear your throat out." With that warning, she left the room, leaving Jim to wonder exactly what had just happened.

  Diandra followed the frantic flight of the guide easily, tracking him to the parking lot, where he leaned against the side of the Cherokee, arms wrapped tight around himself, head bowed. She approached him slowly, feeling his heartache as her own, longing to pull him into her arms and comfort him, to take away his pain.

  His head lifted as she stopped a few feet away from him. His face was a mask of agony, his eyes wet with tears he would not allow to fall. He took half a step toward her, then Jim's words rang in his head. "You smell like her!" Silently, he turned his back to her offer of solace, feeling his heart break a little more, and climbed mechanically into the truck when she unlocked the door.

  The ride to the loft was silent, as was the trip up in the elevator, and the short walk down the hallway. Neither said a word as they unlocked their doors, and went inside, though she stood in her doorway watching him until his door shut behind him. Letting out a long shuddering breath, Dee closed her own door and sagged against it, wanting to cry, wanting to scream, wanting to break something. Instead she took the bag of wet, dirty clothes that she'd somehow ended up with into the utility room and dumped them in the washer, adding soap and pressing the start button. She hung up her coat next, and removing the katana, took it into the studio and cleaned and oiled it thoroughly, not wanting the ancient weapon to rust from its exposure to salt water. Sliding it into its scabbard, she hung it on its hook on the wall.

  Turning to climb the stairs to her bedroom, she wondered how her companion was doing. She caught herself as she called him that, then realized it was true. For better or worse, she was a Champion once again, had accepted that role when she had challenged Kendall, giving her title as "Diandra of Delphi, Champion of Cascade." She snorted. How pompous was that? But it was true, and she couldn't see it changing anytime in the near future. Oh, goddess, Blair! She hadn't meant to choose him as her Companion, it had just happened. She remembered that afternoon, when she had bonded with him, shared her Quickening with him, and made him part of her. They would never have found the jaguar in the spirit world if she hadn't... but she regretted it if it brought Blair pain. Though as she thought about it, she realized the fates had led her along a path from which no other trails diverged. She could think of nothing she could have done to prevent what had happened, with the exception of her having never come to Cascade in the first place, and that would have meant Blair's death the night they'd met. No, there had been no other choice.

  Reaching out with her hearing, she listened to Blair's muffled sobs from across the hall, each one a knife through her heart. Damn Ellison! Damn him! The heavy workout bag hung near the stairs, and she punched it as hard as she could, once, twice, and then she was a blur of motion, blows and kicks striking the bag in rapid succession. She didn't know how long she kept it up, but it was long enough for her to finally burn up the last of the adrenaline she had been running on ever since the scene at the hospital. Tears streaming down her face, she collapsed on the floor, sobs wracking her tired body.

  Gentle hands lifted her into a sitting position, and strong arms cradled her against a warm chest. One hand stroked her hair tenderly, and her companion's voice whispered over and over, "I'm sorry, Dee, I'm sorry."

  When she finally ran out of tears, she gazed up into Blair's face, taking in the red, swollen eyes, and blotchy complexion that must be a match for hers. "No, I'm sorry," she said. "If I'd known this would happen, if I'd known he would hurt you, I would have done things differently, I don't know how, but I would have."

  Blair shook his head. "It'll be okay, Dee. Jim and I, we'll work things out, we always have. He just needs some time to cool off. When he's ready, he'll listen to me."

  Dee nodded, trusting his judgement on this. He knew Ellison far better than she did. With an effort, she got to her feet. Sniffing, she said, "I need a shower, and then about a week in bed. Thanks for coming to check on me, Lobo. Good night."

  Blair made no move toward the door, watching his bare toe trace a knot in the wood floor. "Dee," he said slowly, "I came over because, well, because I knew something was wrong. The same way you knew at the hospital that I was in pain." He looked up at her, his blue eyes full of wonder, and something else. "Tonight, out there at the lighthouse, you said something to me, and then took off before I could answer you." He took a deep breath, gathering all his courage. "I love you, Dee," he said softly, "and
the things Jim said to me tonight, well, they made me feel there was something wrong with that, that I was wrong for loving you. And I realized, when I felt your pain, when I felt the connection between us, that Jim was the one who was wrong. Love is beautiful, love is strong, love can only make things better, not worse."

  She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. "Oh, Lobo, I am so lucky, so blessed to have you in my life." She pulled back, leaning her forehead against his, seeing the love shining in his eyes. He kissed her tenderly, then taking her hand, he led her upstairs.

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  Dee awoke first the next morning, the bright sun shining through the skylight over her bed having awakened her. Yawning, she stretched, feeling the fading ache in her muscles. Immortality had its advantages, but even it couldn't fully compensate for the abuse she'd put her body through yesterday. It would probably be a couple days before she was back to full strength. Rolling onto her side, she regarded her bedmate warmly. Blair had been through just as much stress as she had, if not more, but his face, relaxed in sleep, showed no signs of it.