The Darkness Beyond

by Alexis Morgan

  Curious, he asked her, “Are you a good cook?”

  She gave the MREs a pointed look. “If I can’t do better than this stuff, shoot me now.”

  Javel’s head swiveled back and forth, probably trying to follow their conversation. He didn’t say anything, but there was a definite twinkle in his pale eyes right up until he took his first taste. The look on his face was absolutely priceless, but he stoically ate every bite.

  After he was through, he got out his own pack and removed what looked like some kind of fruit. He offered one to Reggie and tossed a second one to D.J.

  Reggie studied hers for a second. “Do you think we should?”

  “I don’t see why not, provided he eats his. The Kaliths I know thrive on our food, so it’s probably a safe bet.”

  She nodded her thanks to Javel and bit into the fruit right after he started eating his. Her eyes flared wide, and she quickly took a second bite.

  “This is delicious.”

  D.J. agreed. Javel smiled and nodded, clearly pleased with their reactions.

  With dinner over, it was time to get some sleep. D.J. spread out his cloak for Reggie.

  “I’m going to stand guard for a while.”

  Using words and hand gestures, he conveyed his intent to Javel. The Blademate nodded. He pointed toward the moon on the horizon and moved his hand in a sweeping arch to a point overhead. Then he pointed at himself. Guessing he was offering to split the watch with him, D.J. nodded.

  Javel immediately stretched out on the ground some distance from where Reggie lay by the fire. Like most soldiers, he dropped off to sleep almost immediately. Reggie wasn’t far behind.

  Once they were both settled in, D.J. walked the perimeter a few times. After a bit, he sat down on a rock by the water where he could keep a close eye on their escort and still watch Reggie as she slept.

  The strain of the past few days had done nothing to diminish her beauty or that incredible intensity that was so much a part of her personality. Considering all that had been thrown at her—kidnapping, murder, aliens—she was holding up amazingly well. Maybe there was a major meltdown hovering on the horizon, but so far she’d dazzled him with her strength and determination.

  She stirred and murmured something in her sleep. Her eyebrows were drawn down low over her eyes as if she were concentrating. Her mouth was pursed and unhappy. Whatever was going on in her sleeping mind, it wasn’t good.

  He moved to sit closer and leaned down to brush her hair back from her face. Instantly, the worried lines on her forehead disappeared and she rubbed her face against his hand like a kitten needing a good scratch.

  He froze, the position he was in uncomfortable and awkward. On the other hand, if she needed his touch, he’d pretzel it for the rest of the night.

  Finally, he slid down onto the ground and sat cross-legged beside her, letting her hold his hand next to her face. The small connection soothed him as well.

  Once they were home, he was going to miss this. He was used to being part of a team, but not a couple. One of many, not one half of a pair.

  He couldn’t let himself think like that. Sure, he had friends, people he mattered to—Cullen, Devlin, Trahern, Lonzo, Hunter. He even had friends who looked and talked exactly like that kid sleeping in the grass with his pale eyes and silvered dark hair. That had been a real kick in the ass—finding out that not everyone who lived on the other side of the barrier was a certified whack job.

  Reggie shifted in her sleep again, this time turning away from him. She’d finally settled into deep, peaceful sleep. Evidently she no longer needed his touch to hold the bad dreams at bay. He drew his hand back to his side, missing that small connection. Rather than sit there and dwell on it, he walked the perimeter of their camp and a short distance beyond.

  The hush of the Kalith night eased his restlessness. A light breeze rustled the tall grass with a soft murmur. Occasionally, a bird called out in the night, or a small animal scurried along the edge of the water.

  Glancing up at the sky, he noticed the moons were now overhead. Time for the changing of the guard. He’d debated long and hard about whether to trust the young Blademate with watching over the camp while D.J. slept. Paladins had incredible stamina, but he’d been on full alert for days now. If he didn’t get some serious shut-eye soon, it would start to impact his ability to fight.

  Yeah, now that they were on their way to meet up with Berk and his men, the rest of the trip might go smoothly. But his years as a Paladin had taught him not to trust luck or even well-laid plans. Hoping he wasn’t making a major mistake, he carefully approached Javel as he slept. Figuring a Blademate would have a hair-trigger response at being rousted out of a sound sleep by a total stranger—not to mention the traditional enemy of his people—D.J. stopped just short of sword range.

  “Javel, rise and shine.”

  Pale eyes snapped open, full awareness quickly flooding into them. Javel automatically gripped his sword, but at least he didn’t come up fighting. After a second, he sat up and stretched.

  Still unsure of how much English the Blademate actually understood, D.J. kept it simple. “You okay?”

  Javel nodded and stood up. After sheathing his sword, he gestured toward the ground and then toward D.J. Next he pointed at the moons overhead, again indicating the passage of time by pointing toward where they’d be in a few hours, and then on toward the hills in the distance.

  D.J. nodded his understanding. Javel would stand guard until just before dawn. Then they needed to hit the road.

  “Okay, we’ll leave when you think we should.”

  The Kalith disappeared into the darkness, but D.J. could still sense his presence. Time to settle in for the remainder of the night. It was tempting to snuggle in next to Reggie, but he wasn’t sure how she’d feel about it now that they had company. But, damn, just the memory of how it had felt to hold her close had him hard and hurting.

  Common sense won out. If they were to come under attack, either from the Others prowling the area or even their buddy Javel, he needed to be able to move fast and furiously. He couldn’t do that if his legs and arms, or other things, were tangled up with Reggie.

  He made his bed in the spot Javel had vacated. Even so, he turned so that the last thing he saw as he drifted to sleep was Reggie’s pretty face.

  Chapter 21

  Okay, so far, so good. Todd had made it out of the house without his wife doing more than her usual amount of bitching. Something about this unexpected business trip interfering with some plans she’d made. Probably another one of those godforsaken charity functions she was always dragging him to.

  If he had any regrets about leaving her behind, that thought alone pretty much eliminated them. Never again would he have to stand there and listen to his wife and her clone friends prattle on and on about their latest cause.

  He had far more important things to attend to, like retrieving his money and travel papers before hightailing it to the airport. To hurry things along, he helped load his own luggage into the back of the taxi before climbing into the backseat.

  He wished this felt more like an adventure than running for his life. That thought had him spinning around to look out the rear window.

  Stupid to think that someone might be following him, but it paid to be careful. Although what would he do if there was someone tailing him? It wasn’t as if he was armed. Even if he did know how to use a gun, these days, carrying one into an airport was out of the question.

  He took comfort from reviewing his plan, proud of how carefully he’d set everything in motion. He’d told his office assistant he’d be in a little late, but otherwise it was business as usual, including having her set up some meetings he had no intention of attending.

  First up on his real agenda was to stop at the bank. He’d pay the cabbie to wait while he dashed in to retrieve his stash. Then it was off to the airport where he’d made two sets of reservations. He’d be flying from St. Louis to Miami under his real name. Once there, he�
�d dump all of his old identification and become Justin Camp before continuing on to his next destination.

  How would it feel to shed his current life like an old skin he’d outgrown? Freeing? Scary? Not that it mattered. It wasn’t as if he had any choice. Looking back, he should’ve told Ray that’d he’d handle the security breach himself. Trusting that idiot to be discreet had turned out to be a mistake of the clusterfuck variety.

  He shoved away all thoughts of what-might-have-been as the taxi pulled into the bank parking lot and stopped.

  “I need you to wait for me,” Todd said, holding out a ten. “I shouldn’t be gone long.”

  “Thank you, sir. I’ll be right here when you come back out.”

  He opened the door. “There’ll be another twenty in it for you if you get me to the airport in under thirty minutes.”

  The cabbie winked and grinned. “Don’t worry about that, sir. You’ll reach your destination in plenty of time.”

  On his way into the bank, Todd looked back. What was that all about? Right now the guy was on his cell, not paying any attention to Todd at all. For some reason, it reassured him that it was only nerves making him jump at shadows. It shouldn’t take him more than fifteen minutes to clear out his safety deposit box and withdraw his fair share of the savings and checking accounts.

  Then back to the cab and on his way to freedom.

  Lonzo pocketed the ten as he watched Todd dart into the bank. Somehow he doubted he’d be getting that twenty the asshole had promised him for making sure he got to the airport on time.

  “Yeah, Devlin, I’ve got him. Right now he’s in the bank collecting all the nuts he’s been squirreling away. Unless he’s abandoning all of his luggage, he’ll be back. Besides, Jarvis and his men are watching the other doors. They’ll snag him if he tries to ditch me.”

  Lonzo laughed. “You should’ve seen the man watching to see if we were being tailed. Has he never heard of a GPS chip in a cell phone? The guys got here before Todd had time to walk in the door. What an idiot.”

  “Don’t forget that idiot is responsible for putting D.J. and Reggie through hell.”

  “Trust me, I won’t.”

  Devlin was still talking. “Promise me you won’t lose him. When D.J. gets back, he’s going to want to have a personal talk with Todd baby.”

  Then Devlin paused for a long second. “And if he doesn’t get back, I’ll be the one having that conversation with him. I hope the carpet in Jarvis’s office doesn’t show bloodstains.”

  Lonzo understood exactly how the man felt. “Under the circumstances, I’ll spring for a new carpet myself.”

  A movement at the bank door caught his attention. “Oops, gotta go, boss. My fare’s on the way back. He already gave me a ten-dollar tip and promised me a twenty if we hauled ass to the airport.”

  Devlin’s chuckle was a grim rumble. “I’ll spot you the twenty if he doesn’t cough it up.”

  “Sounds good. Keep me posted.”

  Before Lonzo hung up, he had one more thing to say. “Dev, I really hate this shit. After this is over, Jarvis agrees it’s time we clean house around here.”

  “Tell him I’ll buy the brooms. Watch your back.”

  Lonzo slid his cell back in his shirt pocket and started the car. When Todd got in, Lonzo popped the top on a very special bottle of water and held it out to his passenger.

  “It’s a warm one today, sir. I noticed you were sweating quite a bit and thought you might like a cold drink.”

  If Todd refused it, Lonzo would go to Plan B, which involved a big, fat syringe full chemicals to knock the guy out for the duration of the trip. While shoving a needle in the bastard held some appeal, it increased the chance of some civilian seeing what was up and calling the police. They couldn’t risk that.

  But Todd accepted the bottle and immediately took a long swig. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

  Knowing the drugs should kick in within a couple of minutes, Lonzo pulled out of the parking lot and dutifully headed for Todd’s next stop. It was an airport, but a private one. Before the guy resurfaced, he’d be tucked into a special room located far underground in the caves of southern Missouri that housed the Paladin headquarters in the Midwest.

  But just in case the drugs didn’t do their job fast enough, Lonzo flipped a switch that locked both doors in the backseat. Short of chewing through glass and metal, there was no way Todd would escape the confines of the taxi anytime soon.

  Lonzo checked the rearview mirror. Todd was already starting to blink, as if trying to bring his eyes back into focus. Satisfied that his passenger wasn’t going to be a problem, Lonzo cranked up the radio and sang along.

  Sometimes the good guys actually won.

  By late morning, they’d already been following Javel for hours. From where they now stood, D.J. could see the rock Barak had described to him. It definitely sported the profile of an old man, complete with an oversize nose and what could be ears. Allowing for the steep terrain ahead, they should be able to reach it in under half an hour.

  Damn, his backside was definitely dragging, but each step took them that much closer to home. He had to believe that. The alternative was unbearable. It was also hell to be this close to Reggie and not touch her. He craved any kind of skin-to-skin contact and would’ve been content simply holding her hand. If that wouldn’t have slowed down his response time in an emergency, he might have given it a shot.

  Reggie paused to look back at him. “D.J., how sure are you that we can trust him?”

  Their Kalith escort had ranged out in front of them, momentarily out of sight as he scouted the trail ahead. It didn’t translate to Javel being out of hearing though. While his understanding of English seemed to be spotty at best, it didn’t pay to underestimate the man. Pretending to not understand their language was one heck of a way to spy on them.

  D.J. kept his answer to a soft whisper. “He’s definitely leading us in the right direction, and he had plenty of chances to attack while we slept. For the moment I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.”

  Reggie nodded. “Any sign of those other guys? The ones who were following us?”

  “Not so far this morning. I’ve been watching behind us and no dust clouds. Of course, they could’ve cut across country same as we did.”

  She held up two fingers and crossed them. He mirrored her actions. “Yeah, me, too.”

  The day had been uneventful so far, but that didn’t mean much. When dealing with the crazies of Kalithia, there was no predicting when hell would break loose. It had been quiet since Javel found them the day before.

  Maybe too quiet.

  D.J. kept a wary eye on the trail ahead, watching for their Kalith escort to return, and never letting more than a minute or two go by without checking behind them. Reggie picked up on his growing tension and was doing her own fair share of scanning the surrounding terrain.

  To break the strain, he struck up a conversation. “So what’s the first thing you’re going to do when we get back?”

  She grinned at him and rubbed her hands together in glee. “Find the nearest coffee shop and get a gallon to go, complete with all the trimmings. Double shots, double cream, double sugar, double foam, double everything. Oh, and sprinkles. Definitely lots of sprinkles.”

  He understood why coffee would be at the top of the list. “Having a problem with caffeine withdrawal, are we? Yeah, I get that. A big greasy hamburger and fries sound good, too. What else is on your agenda?”

  “I haven’t really thought much past the coffee run.”

  Reggie’s eyes slid to the side and there was a definite hint of pink in her cheeks that hadn’t been there before. She was definitely hiding something. Did it involve him?

  “Okay, lady, somehow I don’t believe you. I think you’ve got something decadent planned. Something that involves ice cream and chocolate sauce.”

  He waggled his eyebrows. “Come on, Reggie, ’fess up.”

  Her blush deepened, meaning he’d hi
t a little too close for comfort. Okay, so maybe he should update his own list. Rather than call her on it, though, he changed the subject.

  “So, I’m curious. How long are you going to give me to hide my tracks before you point your boss in my direction? Maybe I’ll borrow your Ruby avatar for a while. Think I’d make a pretty woman?”

  Reggie whacked him on the arm.

  “Darn it anyway, D.J., that’s not funny! After all of this, how could you think I’d turn you in? Not to mention the fact that I’ve probably already lost my job over this mess.”

  He held up his hands in surrender. “Whoa, Reggie, I was just teasing. Seriously, if siccing your boss on me will ensure you keep your job, don’t even hesitate. I can take care of myself.”

  She glared at him and then turned away, but not before he saw the tears welling up in her eyes. Okay, now he felt like a total jerk. But before he could apologize, Javel came running down the hillside, his sword drawn.

  D.J. dropped his equipment bag on the ground, at the same time shoving Reggie behind him. He drew his own blade and pulled his gun out of his waistband. Javel slid to a halt just out of reach, his eyes wide, his breathing ragged.

  He pointed back in the direction they’d come from with his sword. “Kalith!”

  Then he pointed where they’d been heading. “Cave! Close!”

  Right now D.J. would give his left arm for a Kalith/English dictionary. Was the Blademate telling him they were about to be attacked by Kalith warriors? Or that the Kalith hunting party had taken control of the cave? How the hell was he supposed to figure it out? A wrong decision here could easily prove fatal for all of them.

  He held his hands out and shrugged his shoulders, hoping to convey his confusion to the young warrior. “Berk?”

  Javel immediately shook his head and pointed behind them again. “Berk, cave. Kalith come.”

  He held up five fingers and then two more. Okay, that was clear enough. Berk was waiting at the cave. The seven Kalith weren’t his men. Time to find a defensible position. Hard to do when he had no idea how long they had to prepare.