Page 30 of Atone in Darkness
•••
HOURS LATER, THEentire team had gathered in a conference room in the Paladin headquarters, which was located adjacent to the Seattle Underground. Eli and Doc stood watching a monitor that displayed the tourists making their way through the underground passages on a tour. The people had no idea that they were beingwatched as they oohed and aahed over the remains of structures that were built back in the 1800s.
Doc glanced over at Lonzo. “Do you ever get the urge tomake weird noises to see if you can convince tourists that the city is haunted?”
Larem looked up from where he was sharpening the blade on his curved sword. “A few ghosts would hardly be the scariest thing that lurks under this city.”
He shouldknow. His people had been crossing into this world through the barrier that ran throughout the area. An armed Kalith warrior, especially one out of his head with the light disease that plagued their people, was a terrifying prospect. Eli had faced off against enough of them to know.
Doc just laughed. “Yeah, I guess that’s true.”
Their conversation was cut short when Lonzo entered the room. Hewas followed closely by Devlin and another man Eli was willing to bet was Jarvis Donahue. He was not only Chase Mosely’s boss but his brother-in-law as well. A few seconds later, another man came in along with Cullen Finley and DJ Clayborne.
Lonzo took charge. “Cullen, DJ, and Jake Beck here have managed to track the source of the e-mail to someplace in the middle of nowhere in the North Cascades.We’ll be heading in that direction pronto, so get ready. We debated whether to go by chopper or ground transportation. Even though it will take longer, we’re going to drive. That will allow us greater flexibility all around. Headquarters will have a helicopter on standby, though, if we should need a fast extraction.”
In other words, it all depended on what kind of shape Chase was in when theyfound him.
Lonzo met each man’s gaze head-on. “Pack whatever weapons and ammunition you think you might need and then double that amount. We’ll have the room, and I’d ratheroverpack for this outing than run short.”
Devlin sought out Doc in the crowd. “Are you sure you have everything you need?”
The medic nodded, looking confident. No surprise there. This wasn’t his first rodeo when it cameto combat medicine. “Yeah. Dr. Young and I went through everything together, and she’ll be on call if I need to consult with her at any point.”
Meanwhile, Lonzo glanced at his watch. “Three vehicles are gassed up and ready in the garage. If there aren’t any more questions, we’re good to go. I’ll see you there in twenty minutes.”
No one said a word. As one, they all stood and picked up theirgear. Game faces were on. Favorite weapons were loaded. The Paladins were on the hunt.
•••
CHASE FOUGHT BACKthe urge to laugh. His blunt reminder about the bed situation had definitely left his keeper speechless. He could’ve let her stew for a while, but that would be mean.
“I plan to sleep on the floor. I just thought you’d like to know.”
Marisol’s eyes narrowed. “You couldn’t have ledwith that?”
“Yeah, maybe.”
He gave in and laughed, then waited to see if she’d punch him again. She didn’t, but he’d bet anything she considered it.
They both turned to study the two club chairs and simplewooden bench that were the only furniture in the living room area. There was no way they’d make a comfortable place for her to sleep, much less a man his size. It came down to the floor orconvincing her to share the bed with him. He doubted she’d think that latter one was a good idea.
“The floor will be fine.”
After all, more times than he liked to remember he’d slept on the rock floor of the cave where he and the other Paladins fought to defend this world from the crazies from Kalithia. The wooden floor of the cabin couldn’t be more uncomfortable or colder than the caves. Infact, considering their enemy could reappear at any second, it would seem like old home week.
Marisol was still frowning. “There’s one problem, though. I didn’t see any extra blankets in the closet.”
So? Was she worried about him getting cold or that he’d steal the blankets off the bed to make himself a pallet?
“I said the floor was fine. I’ve slept on worse.”
His keeper clearly didn’t believehim. Why not? At the very least, she’d found him passed out on the floor of his cage more than once. For a long second or two, she stared up at him and then slowly nodded as if she’d just made up her mind about something.
“Maybe we could share the bed.”
Okay, that put all kinds of wrong ideas in his head, ones that involved generating their own heat in a tangle of arms and legs and tongues.Not to mention it was only a double bed. There wouldn’t be enough room for them to completely avoid each other even if he was on his best behavior. When she retreated half a step, already looking as if she regrettedmaking the suggestion, he quickly did his best to look innocent.
“If you’re sure you want to do that, I promise to be a perfect gentleman. We’d both sleep warmer, that’s for sure.”
