Just then, almost as if they’d been expecting it, the barrier flickered, going down only long enough for the four of them to escape. Devlin dropped the tip of his sword, his arm tired. He and Cullen stood staring at the restored barrier, too tired to feel anything but relieved.
A movement out of the corner of his eye demanded his immediate attention. Cullen was slowly sinking to the ground. A deep gash along his rib cage was bleeding badly.
“Guard! Get a stretcher!”
He supported his friend until they could get Cullen strapped onto a gurney. His own wound was hurting like hell, but he couldn’t do anything about it until D.J. or Trahern showed up to take over the mop-up campaign. His radio was missing, so he grabbed Cullen’s before they wheeled him away.
“Trahern! D.J.! Phone home.”
The reception was full of static, a common problem so near to the barrier, but he could make out D.J.’s voice. “We’re on our way back.” He mentioned a time frame, but the noise in the background made it impossible for Devlin to make out whether he’d said it would be twelve or twenty minutes. Either way, he figured he could hold up that long. It seemed likely that the fighting was done for the day. He hated that he was going to have to admit to Colonel Kincade that he’d been right to send the Guard along in support.
Had Sergeant Purefoy survived the day? If so, he could make the official report to the colonel, saving Devlin the hassle. He headed over to where the Guard’s medics had set up a triage station to see what he could do to help.
• • •
Laurel’s back ached and she was seeing double from exhaustion. They’d been bringing in the wounded since midday with no end in sight. She had started with two Paladins who required surgery to stop the bleeding. Half a dozen more had major wounds that needed to be stitched up. She’d ordered fluids and antibiotics to speed them to recovery.
At least her patients would all recover. Dr. Neal was tending to the wounded Guardsmen; one of the nurses had told her that several of them would never fight again.
She was afraid to ask how many more Paladins were waiting before they started bringing in the dead, and she constantly wondered where Devlin was. By all reports the fighting had been brutal, with almost no one escaping unscathed. The most severely wounded had already been brought in, leaving only those who had very minor injuries, and the dead. She’d give anything to know which group Devlin was in.
Her feet were killing her, so she sat down while there was a slight lull in the flow of patients. Had it only been half a day since she’d awakened next to Devlin in her bed? She knew she’d been cowardly by leaving without waking him, a decision she now regretted. Chances were he would survive the day, but maybe not. She could have simply said good-bye, or “the coffee’s on,” or even coaxed him into making love one last time. Instead, she’d written a note that was a stupid lie to avoid admitting how much the night in his arms had meant to her.
But when she’d awoken, her body sated and a bit sore from the night’s activities, she’d come face-to-face with a truth she wasn’t ready to deal with. Somewhere along the line, she’d tumbled head over heels in love with Devlin Bane. The sex had been phenomenal, but it was far more than that. In his arms, she felt cherished and safe. He was a hard man, one with problems that might prove insurmountable, but there had been a gentleness in his touch that had brought her peace of mind.
“Dr. Young?”
The tug on her sleeve jerked her attention back to where it should have been. Judging by the puzzled look on Kenny’s face, it wasn’t the first time he’d called her name.
She offered him a weary smile. “I’m sorry, Kenny. I was somewhere else. It’s been a long day.”
“And about to get longer. They’ll be bringing in the dead next. Time estimate is twenty minutes.”
Her stomach lurched and dropped to her feet. “Any names yet?”
“Lonzo Jones for sure. Maybe a couple more.” He looked as tired as she felt.
“Why don’t you take a ten-minute break? I’ll get set up.” She pushed herself to her feet. When he hesitated, she made shooing motions with her hands. “Go on, and take anyone who hasn’t had a chance to drink some coffee or sit down for hours. We’ll need everyone back to peak form when that door opens again.”
“You sure?” Kenny asked.
“Yes, go on. The tables have been set up; there’s nothing else to do until we know how many are coming in.” She prayed that Devlin wasn’t one of the mortally wounded. She tried to push the idea out of her mind; it didn’t bear thinking about.
To keep herself busy, she restocked the trays and double-checked her supply of the special drugs necessary to aid in reviving a Paladin. Most of them could come back on their own, but medications hurried that process along.
Kenny and the others returned, still looking a little worse for wear, but she had no doubt about their ability to care for their charges. She put on a fresh lab coat and made one final check to confirm that the tables were ready.
Two Guardsmen came through the doorway pushing a gurney with Lonzo Jones on it. Her team went into action, transferring him to the closest table and stripping him down, cleaning his body and cataloging his wounds. She began suturing a large gash on his thigh just as another gurney came through the door.
It was Devlin. She couldn’t see his face, but she recognized his shirt. She’d worn it last night when they had raided the kitchen. Kenny and two of the nurses left Lonzo’s table to take charge of Devlin and the Paladin on the third gurney just coming in.
Was he dead again? Last time they’d been terrified that he wasn’t going to make it back. She forced her attention back to Lonzo. The others would get things started for Devlin and the other one. Someone mentioned Cullen Finley’s name. She couldn’t remember a time when this many from one group had been taken down.
As she snipped off the last suture, she sent a prayer skyward that the barrier would hold long enough to get these men healthy and back on their feet. She picked up a new suture pack and started on the next wound, this one on Lonzo’s shoulder. Once the major wounds were cleansed and closed up, they could start his meds and move onto the next patient—Devlin.
Then she heard his voice, complaining loudly about something. Miracle of miracles, he was only wounded! Greatly relieved, she finished the last of Lonzo’s stitches and turned him over to a surgical nurse to bandage his wounds.
Her hands were shaking as she washed and disinfected them. Kenny handed her Cullen Finley’s chart, meaning the triage team thought he was the more critical of the two.
She smiled down at her newest patient. “Well, what brings you here?” She flipped through the notes from triage. Cullen looked too pale and his skin had a clammy feel to it. No doubt shock, brought on by trauma and blood loss.
“Check his blood count and get a unit of blood started. Get me the results stat.” She gave Cullen a pat on the arm to reassure him. “You’re just a bit low on oil, Mr. Finley. Once we get your tank topped off and get that nasty gash stitched up, you’ll be on the mend.”
“Told them it was nothing serious, Doc.” Cullen’s voice was faint, but if he was talking, he’d be walking soon enough.
“I’m going to check on your friend here while they get your wound ready for closure.”
She wrote her orders in his chart and handed it off to Kenny. She drew a deep breath and then turned to face Devlin, who was watching the flurry of activity surrounding Lonzo. There was pain in his eyes that she suspected had nothing to do with the jagged cut on his arm.
“He’ll be fine, Mr. Bane. Lonzo is in good hands.”
Angry green eyes snapped back to glare at her. “Right now he’s dead, Dr. Young. Don’t sugarcoat it.”
She lowered her voice. “I know you’re hurting and you’re worried about your friends, but don’t take it out on me. I’ve been the one picking up the pieces and stitching your friends back together.” She gestured toward the cluster of medical staff surrounding Cullen and Lonzo. “Those peo
ple have been ankle deep in blood since the first gurney rolled through the door. We need support, not attitude right now.”
For a brief second she thought his expression softened, but it was gone so quickly that she couldn’t be sure. He looked past her to where Kenny stood, waiting with yet another suture tray. “Fine. Later.” Then he closed his eyes and turned away.
The gash along Cullen’s ribs took her a long time to close, but with the infusion of blood and fluids, he was already looking better. As long as infection didn’t set in, he should be fully recovered soon.
“Kenny, please move Mr. Finley into the ward.” She mustered up another smile for her patient. “You’re already responding to the treatment, and I’ve given you something to make sure you rest easily. I’ll be by to check on you after I see to your friend here.”
“Don’t let Devlin scare you, Doc. He’s all bark and no bite.” Cullen gave her a ragged smile as they wheeled him away.
He was wrong; Devlin did bite. She had the mark to prove it, but not where she was willing to show it off. The memory brought a smile to her face and gave her the courage to deal with her last patient.
“Let’s see that arm.” She gently tugged at the edge of the temporary bandage that triage had applied. Between the adhesive and the dried blood, it was stuck tight to the skin. “This is going to hurt unless we soak it off.”
“Rip it off, Doc. It’s going to hurt any way you do it, so just get it over with.”
“Brace yourself.”
Devlin gripped the side of the gurney with his other hand while she drew a deep breath and yanked. On the second pull it came free, breaking open the wound again. She let it bleed clean for a bit. What would have caused such a wide, deep cut? It was the wrong shape for a knife wound and too fine for a sword.
“What did this to you?” She deadened the area and held pressure on the wound until the local anesthetic took effect.
“Throwing blade. They were aiming at my neck.” His matter-of-fact tone only made the image more horrific.
“Glad you managed to block the blade.” She began the slow process of bringing the two sides of the wound back into alignment with small, evenly spaced stitches.
“I don’t think you bled enough to need a unit of blood, but I want to give you an IV with antibiotics in it. Once that’s done, we’ll feed you and then see if you’re up to going home.”
She started to turn away, but his hand snaked out to catch hers, his grip firm but gentle. “Laurel.”
Slowly she turned back to face him.
“I was out of line earlier.”
If he could apologize, then so could she. “And I shouldn’t have run out. I’m not used to…” She looked around to make sure no one was within hearing. “I don’t often have guests for breakfast.”
She was afraid she was blushing. She knew it for certain when Devlin’s mouth quirked up in a small grin that came and went in a heartbeat. The wicked gleam in his eyes was still there, though. “Maybe you need more practice, Dr. Young.”
They were playing with fire, flirting within earshot of the others. “Maybe you’re right, Mr. Bane. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on my progress.”
“Get back!” The shout came from across the room where her team was still working on Lonzo Jones. He was thrashing about, and she ran to help subdue the dead Paladin.
“Damn it! Get those restraints in place before he hurts himself or one of you!” She used her full weight to hold down his left leg while one of the others leaned on his right. The sudden fit was over just as quickly as it had begun. It took the last little bit of Laurel’s courage to lift Lonzo’s eyelid to check the color of his pupil.
“His eyes are still brown.”
At least half a dozen people, herself included, sighed with relief at the same time. That struck them all as funny. Their laughter may have had a touch of hysteria to it, but it still felt good.
“Keep him isolated for now and keep those restraints in place twenty-four/seven until further notice. I’ll want reports every fifteen minutes for the next two hours and then we’ll reevaluate.”
“Yes, Doctor.”
She made the necessary notes in his chart and handed it back to the nurse, intending to check Devlin’s vitals one more time. Her footsteps faltered when she saw that his gurney was empty. Where had he gone?
She looked toward the door. He was on the other side, watching her through the small square window. Turning his head slightly, he focused on Lonzo briefly before meeting her gaze again. His face turned stony and his eyes jade cold, as the distance between them stretched so much farther than a few feet. He shook his head and then turned and walked away.
Hurt made her feet leaden as she tried to cope with the loss. Someone was bound to notice if she stayed rooted in one spot, numbly staring at the doorway, but neither could she face her coworkers. Rather than risk embarrassing herself, she caught Kenny’s attention and nodded toward the door. She hadn’t taken a real break in hours; no one would question her disappearing for a few minutes.
Outside of the lab, she took a quick look around. There were half a dozen or more armed guards stationed along the hall, but there was no sign of Devlin. No doubt he’d either charged past the guards or else lied and said he’d been released. With all the commotion around Lonzo, they probably had believed him or were too busy to notify her of his departure.
On any other day, she would have reported them for the lapse. But they were dealing with the loss of several of their own compatriots, and she didn’t want to add to their burden. If Devlin had left the building there wasn’t much she could do except to change his chart to cover for him. She had a feeling that Colonel Kincade wouldn’t take kindly to having a Paladin waltzing out of Research without proper clearance.
“Can I help you, ma’am?” The closest Guardsman, looking impossibly young, stepped away from the wall to catch her attention.
“Did Mr. Bane go this way?” She stuffed her hands in her lab coat pockets to hide how shaky they were.
“Yes, he did. We escorted him out the front door about three minutes ago.” Then he frowned. “He was cleared, wasn’t he?”
She hated lying, but short of calling out reinforcements to drag Devlin back, she really had no choice. “Everything’s fine, Corporal. I just forgot to tell him something. I’m going out for a breath of fresh air. Maybe I’ll be lucky and catch up with him.”
The sun was just setting to the west, painting the scattering of clouds overhead in shades of peach and orange as she stood on the top step and looked in both directions.
Devlin was gone.
Her shoulders slumped in defeat. Seeing Lonzo go through the throes of death and revival had clearly hit too close to home. That could have just as easily been Devlin they were strapping down, and his eyes they had been afraid to look at, for fear they’d turned Other.
And he’d known that if so, she would have reached for the needle and ended it for him, just as she had that poor Paladin who had died yesterday. What kind of relationship could they have, when she held the power of life and death over him?
The answer was obvious: no kind of relationship at all. Not if it was going to mean more than the occasional dinner together. Although she didn’t regret what they’d shared, it only made it harder to face a future without Devlin. He’d shown her a side of himself she bet few people had ever seen.
She turned abruptly to return to the lab, and ran smack into Blake Trahern. He reached out to steady her when she backed up too quickly and almost tumbled down the steps. He looked down at her, his silvery eyes expressionless, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking or what kind of mood he was in.
He wouldn’t have been her first choice to ask a favor of, but he could track down Devlin and make sure that he was all right.
“Mr. Trahern, can I speak to you for a minute?” She tugged him over to the side and out of sight of the doorway. “Mr. Bane has left my lab without permission.”
“So? He’s a bi
g boy.” He started to walk away, but froze when once again she put her hand on his arm.
“I just need to know that he’s all right. Lonzo died in the tunnels today. When my staff was working on him, he reacted adversely.”
“You mean he lost control.” Just as Trahern had, it went unspoken.
“He hasn’t revived yet, but we had to restrain him, yes. He wasn’t consciously trying to hurt anyone, and his eyes are still human.” Unless she was mistaken, there was a lessening in the tension in Trahern’s stance.
“When I went to finish Mr. Bane’s care, he was gone. I know he’s a big boy, as you say, and he should heal just fine without the antibiotics I would have given him.”
“But?” Trahern stared down at her as if she were some new species he’d never before encountered.
“But I just need to know that he’s all right. Can you check on him and let me know?”
“Will do, Doc. He won’t like it, though.” Surprisingly, Trahern smiled, for an instant bringing warmth to those icy gray eyes. “But even Devlin Bane needs to get shaken up a bit once in a while.”
Her jaw dropped open in amazement. To add to the surreal experience, Blake crooked a finger and pushed her chin up to close her mouth. “Don’t want you to catch flies, Doc.”
Then he stepped around her and disappeared up the street, leaving her stunned and speechless.
Chapter 8
He was being followed and didn’t like it one damn bit. His arm hurt like hell, leaving him in no mood to put up with Ordnance’s games. If they wanted him back in Laurel’s lab they could damn well ask. Then he could tell them all to go to hell and be done with it.
He marched through the Seattle waterfront, daring all comers to bring it on. He was running on adrenaline and sick fury, but still had enough strength to take down a handful of guards if necessary. In fact, he was looking forward to pounding something or even someone.
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