Bound By Darkness

Most of the people around her scattered to get out of the dog’s way, understandably leery of an animal with teeth that would give the average alligator a run for its money. Not to mention the fact that he probably tipped the scales pretty close to where Sasha herself weighed in.

She’d been so intrigued by the dog, she hadn’t yet noticed the owner. The dog came to an abrupt stop right in front of her. When she looked up, she couldn’t believe her eyes, and her heart lurched in her chest. Larem. Despite their earlier encounter, she badly wanted to touch him, if only to make sure he was all right.

“Larem? Aren’t you supposed to be resting?”

His reaction to seeing her was interesting. If she had to guess, she would’ve said he looked embarrassed or maybe guilty. “I had things to do.”

She held her fingers out to the dog to sniff. “I can see that.”

“Be careful, Sasha. Chance isn’t particularly fond of people.”

But in direct contradiction to Larem’s warning, Chance gave Sasha’s fingers a quick lick and then plopped his backside down on the sidewalk, clearly in no hurry to get away from her. Moving cautiously, Sasha reached out to scratch the dog’s chin, laughing when he groaned and leaned into her hand.

His easy acceptance made her smile. “See, you’re not so tough, are you, big guy?”

Then speaking to his two-legged companion, she added, “Would you like me to watch him while you get a cup of coffee?”

It was clear that Larem was hesitant, but finally he handed her the leash. “I’ll be right out.”

“Take your time. We’re doing fine.”

Larem really hadn’t wanted coffee, but it gave him an excuse to get away from Sasha for a couple of minutes. For sure, he shouldn’t have left her alone with Chance. The dog was too unpredictable even if he had been on his best behavior since they had left the clinic.

While waiting for his order, Larem kept a wary eye on the pair outside on the sidewalk. The sunshine brought out the gold highlights in Sasha’s hair as she talked to the dog. Chance had his head cocked to the side, looking as if he understood every word she said. With his tail doing a slow sweep back and forth on the sidewalk, Chance was happily soaking up every bit of attention she was offering.

Larem should be pleased the dog was capable of bonding with a human after all he’d suffered at his former owner’s hand. But in fact, what he was really feeling was jealous. He should be ashamed of resenting the badly abused animal’s ability to charm Sasha, but he wished like hell he was the one she couldn’t keep her hands off of.

But he also recognized lonely when he saw it. After all, he lived with it on a daily basis himself. He appreciated the friendship so freely given by Hunter and Lonzo, but that didn’t mean he really fit into their world. Sasha had much the same problem. No matter how good her intentions, those she most wanted to help viewed her as an outsider. Trust and friendship might be slow in coming.

“Sir, your coffee.”

“Thank you.” His respite was over.

After dropping a couple of dollars in the tip jar, he headed for the door. As soon as he walked outside, Chance stood, his wagging tail picking up speed.

“He’s a nice dog.” Sasha handed the leash back to Larem. “Would you mind if I walked with you?”

Yes, he would, but not for the reasons she might think. But he’d always preferred to face his problems head-on, and she was definitely a problem for him.

“We’re not going far. Chance needs exercise, but I don’t want him to overdo it.” Not to mention Larem’s own leg wasn’t back to full strength.

“I noticed he favors one leg. What happened?”

“His former owner used him in dog fights for money.”

Sasha gasped. “That’s awful! The bastard should be gutted for that!”

Larem agreed with her bloodthirsty reaction. “The police and Animal Control got a tip and were able to break up the ring. Unfortunately, some of the dogs were too far gone to save. Chance was almost one of them. The vet was able to repair the damage, but the dog’s lack of trust for anyone on two legs made it difficult to treat him after the anesthesia wore off.”

“He obviously trusts you.” She hurried her steps long enough to be able to pet the dog’s head. “I can’t imagine mistreating an animal like that.”

“It’s taken a lot of hard-fought battles for me to get him this far. You’ve gotten closer to him in the past fifteen minutes than I did in weeks.”

“But you laid the groundwork.”

Even so, Sasha seemed pleased by his assessment as they continued down the street. At the end of the block, she stopped. “I’d better go. The past few days have put me behind on a few things. But D.J. and Cullen have managed to make progress on Colonel Kincade’s files. He sure left things in total chaos.”

No surprise there. “That man was a monster.”

One who had played games with lives on both sides of the barrier. His involvement in the theft of the blue stones from Kalithia had led directly to the series of events that destroyed Larem’s old life and forced him into this one. Instead of serving his world as an honored warrior, here he was walking a dog. He drew great satisfaction from being able to soothe the wounded spirits of Dr. Isaac’s patients. But life in this world wasn’t the same and never would be.

“I won’t argue that. Unfortunately, Kincade managed to hide his activities so well that no one even suspected what he was up to.”

Larem disagreed. “The Paladins certainly knew, but either no one wanted to hear what they had to say on the matter or someone was covering for him.”

“Why do you say that?” Sasha came to an abrupt halt. “Do you know something specific or are you just guessing? My father and the other Regents would’ve done something if they’d known.”

All right, either she was gullible or too innocent to see the darkness in others. He suspected it was the latter.

“Sasha, the man got away with robbing my world for years. He had to have left a trail, especially when it’s obvious that he wasn’t working alone. There was the guard who tried to kill Laurel, and that Regent in Missouri who shot Trahern. Not to mention whoever killed that very same Regent before Jarvis and the Paladins were able to interrogate him.”

Sasha’s pale skin took on an ashen hue. He reached out to steady her, but she jerked back out of his reach. “You’re not privy to the inner workings of the Regents.”

“No, I’m not.” He stepped closer, deliberately crowding her. “But I have personal experience in dealing with what happens when someone decides the rules don’t apply to him. If it weren’t for Kincade’s unbridled greed, I wouldn’t be stuck here with you.”

Sasha’s eyes briefly widened in obvious shock, then narrowed in anger. “Well, I’m sorry for burdening you with my presence.”

Chance whined, clearly confused by the sudden change in the atmosphere. He looked from Larem and then back to Sasha. Larem hadn’t meant his comment to be an attack on her, but he didn’t regret the blunt truth he’d spoken.

“You’re not the Regents, Sasha.” But she was their representative, and they both knew it.

“No, but I hope to be one, and I respect the work they’ve done and what they stand for.”

He flexed his hands, trying to control his temper. “Don’t ask me to cheer them on when their successes are written in the blood of my people.”

She stepped closer, getting right in his face. “If your people would stay where they belong, there’d be no need for the Regents at all. And what about the Paladins? You seem to have no problem with them.”

“No, I don’t. They are honorable warriors.”

In fact his problem at the moment was how much he wanted to wrap this woman in his arms to protect her from everything dark and ugly in this world. She was both strong enough and resilient enough to handle anything that might be thrown at her, but he hated to see her idealism get battered and bruised.

He busied his hands petting Chance’s soft fur. “I’m sorry, Sasha. I didn’t mean to pick another fight.”

It was obvious her own temper was running hot, too, but finally she sighed and retreated a step. “Yes, well, like I said, I have work to do.”

He stayed where he was, watching her walk away and wondering how things had spun out of control so quickly. It didn’t help that Chance tried to follow her, fighting to break free of the firm grip Larem had on his leash.

“Down, boy.” He tugged Chance back by his side. “We have to let her go.”

Finally, Chance whined and gave up, his head down and his tail drooping. Larem knew exactly how the big dog felt—it was as if the sun had dimmed and its warmth faded. Both males stood and watched Sasha until she disappeared around the corner. Frustrated and weary, they made their way back to the shelter.

God, Sasha so didn’t want to be having this meeting right now, but neither did she have a good reason to postpone it any longer. Devlin would’ve come to her, she supposed, but she’d decided that he might appreciate her meeting him on his own turf. It would be interesting to see how this played out. Right now, she’d be grateful if they just got through the next hour without any bloodshed.

Okay, that was an exaggeration, but she’d had a crappy weekend, thanks in part to the fight she’d had with one Larem Jones and his buddy Chance. She wasn’t mad at the dog, but she certainly had to question his taste in humans. No, make that his taste in humanoids. Chance probably didn’t care about the distinction, but right now it was an important one to her.

If she were being honest about it, she forgot about that distinction herself whenever she and Larem were together, at least right up until he shoved the truth in her face again. Like yesterday when they’d been having such a nice time and then their conversation totally derailed.

Well, now she got it. He hated everything that was important to her. Maybe she shouldn’t be so defensive about the Regents, but Larem shouldn’t lump them all in with criminals like Kincade.

Granted, he had made a couple of good points. Obviously Kincade hadn’t been functioning in a total vacuum. Someone else had to have known he’d been up to something, and the memories of the rogue Regent operating in Missouri and his subsequent murder didn’t do much to reassure her.

But right now she had more immediate problems to deal with. She slowed as she reached the alley, smiling at the guard on duty, who was unfamiliar to her. His hand strayed to his weapon, leaving it there even when she flashed her identification badge. After a quick glance at it, he jerked his head toward the door before turning his attention back to the street.