Page 53 of Shadow Warrior
Seventeen
We landed back in Larkin’s room, and I staggered away from Larkin and Kash, hands going to my chest to stem the wave of loss that was threatening to engulf me. My chest was too tight, my breathing shallow. Fuck, how could it hurt so much to lose him when I’d only had him in my life for the blink of an eye?
“Indigo?”
The voice was tentative and confused, but it was undeniably Payne.
I whirled around, latching on to his beloved face. He stood a couple of meters away, swaying slightly, his attention on me.
Larkin and Kash stood either side of him, both looking as stunned as I felt.
He was here … he was really here. But how? I took a step toward him, unsure if this was real. Afraid that if I moved too fast, he’d vanish.
“He must have latched on to us,” Larkin said softly. “It’s okay, Indigo. You did it.”
Payne took a step toward me and winced. “Oh, God, Indigo. I remember. I remember everything.”
“Dad …”
“Yes. I’m your dad.” He held out his arms, and I rushed into them.
“You came for me.” He hugged me tight, and it was like coming home. “You came to find me.”
“Of course I did.” I pulled back enough to turn my face up to his. “I love you, and I’m not willing to lose you.”
A raw sob broke from his throat, and then my cheek was pressed to his chest while he held me to him, his hand on the back of my head.
I had my dad back, but the question was, what would I need to do to keep him.
* * *
It had beentwo hours since Payne’s return and no sign of the weavers. We remained in the sanctuary just in case, though, and Larkin had left to do a sweep of the building. He was keeping his word about making sure we were okay, which was nice, considering I could see he was itching to leave and get back to his own world.
The idea of coming back here, to these dorms, to an absence of Larkin, was strange. He was a fixture here, the voice of reason, the cheeky little fucker.
Would his absence spark questions? Of course. But no one could pin his disappearance on me. Larkin had put the cuff key back into Brunner’s desk. When he left, his disappearance would remain a mystery.
He materialized now and nodded curtly. “No sign of weavers. Everything looks quiet. If they suspected you, they would have sent enforcers by now.”
The knot in my chest eased a fraction. I looked to Kash. “You should call your gran now.”
He nodded.
“Not in here,” Larkin said. “You can’t make calls from in here.”
I squeezed my dad’s hand. “I’m going to go with Kash and make sure everything is okay. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Okay.” He smiled up at me.
Larkin slipped us out of the room, and we found ourselves at the foot of the staircase. “I’ll stay a little longer,” Larkin said. “Payne can use the room for a few more minutes, but once I’m gone, the room will be inaccessible.”
Yeah, he was really going to leave. “Larkin … Why you? Why did the weavers bring you here? I mean … How did they even find you?”
His smile was bitter. “Because my kind has been here before. I’d been here before. A long time ago. You may have seen depictions of us, particularly in a part of the world you call Egypt.”
“The cats in Egypt,” Kash said.
Larkin shrugged. “My people taught humans a lot. We also learned a lot from humanity in our time here. I guess the weavers realized there was more to the images and the icons than a simple love of the domestic cat.”
