Deadly Lover (3 page)

Longing rushed up and dragged her back to a thousand hugs and a million smiles. Would he be proud?

Sean’s attention shifted to a point over her shoulder and Lily turned to follow his line of sight. Panic tightened her muscles with a jolt.

An Ormney male approaching them.

Big and getting closer.

Seconds ticked by like miniature explosions. Her heart raced, dizziness a danger hovering just out of sight.

She was better than this, damn it. She just needed to breathe. A gasp for air cleared her head, but reminded her why she’d been breathing shallowly. The pain she’d been careful to keep at bay flashed through her and only sheer force of will kept her knees from buckling.

The Ormney stopped within touching distance. He seemed torn between reaching out to steady her and stepping back. He had no way of knowing that his presence acted like a flame on kindling, igniting the lingering fear, bringing the panic back to crackling, explosive life.

She forced herself to still, not to run, not to fight.

Sean stepped forward, clearly at ease with the Ormney. “Law Keeper Jolaj.”

The words, Sean’s calm voice, his nod of recognition, edged away the panic.

“Law Keeper,” Lily acknowledged. She wanted to step back, need more space, but stubbornness wouldn’t allow retreat.

“Jolaj, this is Agent Lily Rowan.” Sean finished the introductions with a hesitation that hadn’t been there in his earlier greeting.

She wanted to explain to them that her own discomfort didn’t come from any sane objection to the Law Keeper’s arrival. Her panic didn’t work on rationality.

He was close enough that she had to crane her neck to see his face. He didn’t, thank God, extend a hand for shaking.

“I regret we meet under these circumstances.” The low bass of his voice rumbled through Lily with the lush resonance of a well-played cello.

He stood at least two meters tall and his shoulders strained against a traditional Ormney cotton tunic. They always wore natural fiber, something that allowed them to take their clothes with them when they
slipped
. An Ormney symbol had been stitched onto his tunic, giving it the look of a primitive uniform.

The name clicked for Lily. “Father Jo?”

He accepted the name with a nod. Faint bands of color painted his face in shades of tan and rust. The subtle patterns drew attention to his eyes and hinted at a masculine beauty that surprised her. His deep auburn hair had been pulled into a single heavy braid that hung across his shoulder and nearly to his hip.

“You have quite a reputation in the local community centers. Father Jo.” Law Keepers were something like a cross between a cop and a chaplain. They had jurisdiction in The Zone but they weren’t often found in The Mixer.

He stood motionless as he spoke. “Many of the young adults in my quadrant volunteer in the centers to promote understanding between our people.”

And Ormney and Earther volunteers alike sang his praises for the programs he helped put in place.

His gaze slid beyond her to take in the crime scene and the dead man then returned to her. “Your title is Agent?”

“I’m a civilian security contractor.”

He frowned, tiny lines appearing on his forehead as he turned to Sean for clarification. “Civilian security?”

Sean laid a hand on the Law Keeper’s shoulder. “Agent Rowan is on scene because... Jolaj... Lanyak attacked a woman and she’s the one who stopped him.”

The dead Ormney on the ground behind them made it clear that Lily had stopped him in a terribly permanent way. She watched Jolaj carefully for a reaction, but he was difficult to read. He was nothing like Kiq had been—before the accident. Kiq had been easygoing and sweet and brotherly. He’d also been at least twenty years younger and Earth born. She had no idea if the differences were generational or individual. How could they have been on Earth so long and still be such a mystery?

Sean leaned in closer to Jolaj in an I’m-your-buddy stance that she knew meant he was trying to interrogate without making the other man aware of what he was doing. “Did you know Lanyak, personally?”

Jolaj nodded, but didn’t elaborate. “How is the injured woman?”

“She’s been taken to South Regional Med Facility. She’s in critical condition. Was Lanyak under any stress—”

“There is nothing.” Jolaj’s voice sharpened. “No reason less than self-defense, that he would ever harm a human.”

Lily understood denial. She kept her arms at her sides—not closed off, not confrontational. “The victim wasn’t much larger than me and unarmed. She wasn’t a threat to him.”

His gaze snapped to hers. “And yet
you
killed
him
.”

She’d wanted the Law Keeper to focus on her. She’d wanted a better look into his face, those eyes. To see his reaction. Now that she had his full attention, she regretted the stupidity. There was anger in his Ormney eyes, but also sadness. A deep, devastating sadness.

Sean grimly tried to take back control of the conversation, probably trying to divert Jolaj’s anger away from her. “Agent Rowan believes he might have been drugged.”

The Law Keeper’s eyes widened, but the rest of his face remained still, placid. “If you believed him innocent of malice or the will to harm anyone, why did you kill him?”

Sean opened his mouth to intervene, but Lily put up a hand to stop him. “He has a right to some answers.” She lowered her hand and met the Law Keeper’s gaze. “I had to defend myself. He attacked me.”

“He attacked you, yet you aren’t injured badly enough to seek treatment at the med facility?”

“No.” Lily slid her hands into the pockets of her coat, trying to look more relaxed.

His eyes narrowed. “The fact that he died here, in the alley, seems to indicate he tried to flee.”

“Yes, and I followed to try to give Metro his direction. When he heard me, he turned back.” She could hear patience wearing thin in her own voice.

“And your only option was lethal force?”

“Yes. Damn it.” Her voice had edged up in volume against her will. “The only thing I had on me was a pulser. It didn’t give me a lot of options.”

“A pulser need not be lethal,” he said. “They are in fact designed to stun the attacker, are they not?”

Sean shifted, trying to put himself between them. “Law Keeper—”

“Yes.” Lily had no reason to explain herself, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “That’s right, the pulser is meant to stun a human. But that wouldn’t have stopped him.”

“No.” Jolaj’s one-word response hit her like a fleeting blow, enough to leave her reeling without knocking her down.

“No?” What did he mean by no?

“I agree.” All trace of anger had disappeared. He could have been discussing city ordinances.

“You do?”

“Yes. The question remains, if you had no options, why do you feel guilty about your actions?”

Through the whole exchange his voice hadn’t changed in volume or tone. It gave away nothing and left Lily confused and off balance.

“I don’t. I...why would you think that?”

“It’s obvious to see when you look at him.” The relentless Law Keeper just wouldn’t ease up. “Perhaps you believe you could have used a lesser force?”

Regret, guilt, and anger churned around inside her. “No. A standard stun blast wouldn’t have done enough to stop his charge. If he’d have had more time, he would have ripped me up like he did the woman upstairs. As it was, I took a goddamned solid blow to the chest that sent me flying into a goddamned wall.”

“But you don’t require medical attention?” That rich voice delivered the question with grating calm.

“No!” She could only stand there with her mouth clamped shut. Why had he circled back to that? Then he
slipped
, disappearing like a specter. She recognized the telltale disturbance in the air as he
slipped
back to
in-sync
behind her. She started to spin on her left foot, only to be defeated by a sharp pain under her ribs and a debilitating spasm in her lower back.

The world spun and she lost her footing. He caught her, lifted her in his arms, and pulled her against his chest. “You need a med facility, Agent Rowan.”

Sean and the Law Keeper were arguing but they sounded muted and beyond her comprehension. She wanted to fight, to flail and scream, but instead she choked back the panic, the rush of memories. The tension that gripped her only intensified the pain. She focused inward, on her breathing, on her heart rate.

A quick glance at Sean revealed a scowl, but he’d stopped arguing.

He spoke through clinched teeth. “Jolaj is going to carry you to the medics.”

“Yeah, okay.” She managed the two words, but couldn’t push anything more past the fear-squeezed muscles of her throat.

“Breathe, Agent Rowan.” The Law Keeper’s words were low, meant only for her. He hefted her easily and carried her toward the med unit in the street.

“I can walk.” The words were small and ragged.

“No.”

She had fast come to hate that word on his lips. She clamped her jaw shut.

He made a gruff noise at the back of his throat. “Almost there.”

Struggling to relax enough to get air into her lungs, she concentrated on the steady rhythm of his breathing, counted his strides, cursed the embarrassment that made her cheeks heat. He’d seen her fear and she hated that even more than the thought of going to the med center.

She blinked away the threat of tears and forced her eyes wide open. She had to face the fear or she would never overcome it. The firm line of his wide jaw and the rust-tinged streak lining his eyes like a faded mask filled her vision. Kiq’s markings had been bright, crisp…terrifying in his fury.

The rational part of her brain knew she was safe. Her pounding heart wouldn’t kill her. The counselor had promised her it wouldn’t, but damn if it didn’t feel like it could.

The tops of the building along the alley leaned in on her as they went past. Faces peered down from the windows like scientists watching rats in a maze. He carried her past the techs, the cops, the crowd of civilians. Ormney faces dotted among the human. They accused her with their cat eyes, seemed to see her fear and find her pathetic, weak.

The Law Keeper shifted her weight in his arms, lifting her onto a gurney. The sharp press of his claws tugged at the thick denim of her pants.

Oh, God—Kiq’s claws had shredded her skin so fast and then the feeling of being ripped open... No! She wasn’t there. She was in The Mixer, on the gurney, safe. Nausea twisted her gut with a violent grip.

Lily swung one arm at the med tech standing there, shoving him hard, as she rolled to her side and spilled the contents of her stomach on the toes of his shoes.

The Law Keeper showed sense enough to step back out of her reach as she let the techs help her lie back. She ignored them as they began their scans. Pushed it all away and instead focused on the Ormney male who watched her as if she might bolt and run. Those blue-green eyes saw everything. Their eyes were better than any humans, but that wasn’t it. Holding her, he must have felt her fear as it gripped her body.

He knew she was terrified. That his touch had bothered her far more than the broken rib the med techs would mend before the day was over. But her fear of his kind, those claws—she’d been trying to overcome it for months and it sure as hell wouldn’t be gone by morning. It pissed her off, him knowing her fear when she knew nothing about him.

She’d thought she’d understood the Ormney abilities. But she didn’t understand his. His
slip
hadn’t fit any of the patterns. To make the kind of
slip
that had allowed him to reappear directly behind her, that kind of precision and ease should have been impossible. And
that
meant she didn’t really know the Ormney at all.

Lily hated med facilities. She felt too exposed, too vulnerable. She’d slept in far less secure places in the field, but at least she’d been able to choose her spot, a spot she could control, a place no one expected.

She twisted the white sheet in her hands, cursing the damn Ormney do-gooder who’d poked his broad nose into her business. She would’ve gone to the Deepwater Med Center in her own time. At least there she could be in and out without her family knowing about her injuries. And it was a hell of a lot more secure.

Her chest tightened as a man in scrubs walked into her room. If she’d let them dose her with meds she’d never have heard him. How was she supposed to get any rest, sleep, when anyone off the street could look her up on the lobby kiosk, walk in and slip something deadly in her IV? How many drug cartels, pirate crews, and petty dictators had she pissed off?

Paranoia.

Most of Deepwater’s STU agents suffered from it to one degree or another. A laugh bubbled to the surface and escaped on a huff of air. At least she was normal in that respect. Reality was she had little to worry about back home.

The man who’d entered her room wore scrubs that were tailored to his leanly athletic frame and his dark hair had been styled to perfection. He looked to be late thirties with aristocratic features and a confident stride. She had no reason to think he was anything other than what he appeared to be.

At her small laugh, he met her gaze with a wide, friendly smile and sat on the edge of her bed, hip to hip. Lily resisted her need to move away. She could feel the heat of the man through the thin sheet. With warm fingers, he lifted her hand from the soft, twisted cloth of the bed covering and adjusted his position, ending with more of his thigh pressed against her. She worked to remain relaxed and slipped into the silent meditation exercises she’d learned to help her cope with the invasive environment of med facilities.

“You don’t recognize me,” he said. “Not that you should. You were only, let’s see, about eight last time I saw you.” His voice sparkled with the overt exuberance strangers use when speaking to small children and his eyes shone with enthusiasm.

He moved his fingers to rest against the inside of her wrist. It was an old fashioned way to check her heart rate and it drew her attention to the fact that he wasn’t wearing the standard ear-receiver that would have fed him her vitals as he walked into the room. Her earlier thoughts echoed back to her.
Anyone could walk in off the street...