Dark Defender (21 page)

H
ow the hell did they get to him?” Trahern stood over Ritter’s dead body, burning to hit somebody, anybody. Damn it, this wasn’t supposed to happen!

“I don’t know, but I’m damn well going to find out.” Jarvis banged his fist against the wall. “The doctors say the guard should survive, and he might remember something. Otherwise, we’re back at square one.”

“We’ll get them eventually,” Trahern said. “No use in beating yourself up over it.”

“I’ve already got Jake working on the disk again. It keeps his mind off his leg hurting.”

“Thank him for me.” Trahern looked down at the dead Regent’s body, resisting the urge to kick it. “I’ll be heading back to Seattle with Devlin and Laurel’s pet Other. We’ll see what we can find there. One way or the other, we’re going to get some answers.”

“I suspect Brenna is going to take up a fair amount of your time,” Jarvis teased.

It was strange to think of himself as half of a couple. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected her to fall in love with him. That he loved her came as no surprise, though. He’d fallen for her the minute he’d met her all those years ago.

They left the cell. “I worry about her uprooting her whole life to be with me—giving up her job at the college and all.”

“Don’t be a jackass, Trahern; you’ve found something we’d all like to have. Besides, you should have seen the look on her face when Devlin told her about the archives of Paladin history. She can hardly wait to get her hands on it, trying to figure out what makes us tick.”

“She’s sure something, isn’t she?” Blake shook his head in wonder.

Jarvis looked more than a little jealous. “She sure is.”

And she was waiting for Blake back in their room. He was better with actions than with words, and he was looking forward to showing her exactly how he felt about her.

He grinned and took off running.