The Golden Bell (14 page)

“Maybe,” she said cautiously.

He sighed. “What sent you off?”

She thought about it, looking uneasy. “I
don’t know. We were isolated, and the woods…I just got this
feeling. Then there was this blue stone in one of the wer—er,
Haunt’s swords, and I…” She trailed off, frustrated.

Fallon tried to contain his temper, knowing
it was born of worry. “Blue gems are very, very common in our sword
hilts. I could find you a dozen of them in as many minutes. Now if
you’d said a red stone, I could have done something with that.”

She grunted and chose not to comment.

Chewing on the inside of his cheek to contain
the scalding rebuke he longed to deliver, he took her hand instead
and awkwardly stroked it. “I chose the men who guard you very
carefully.”

“They’re not men,” she muttered, refusing to
look at him.

It took a quick breath to keep from snapping
at her. “Would you still feel that way if they took a bullet for
you? Would you still despise Kial if he were bleeding out right
now? Those men put their lives on the line for you! For that
matter, I don’t understand your prejudice. You’re one of us.”

The medic came in just as Rain drew breath to
scorch him.

“My lord? You were asked not to excite our
patient. For her sake, would you please leave until you can control
your temper?”

“A fine idea,” he snapped, flinging a last
look at Rain. “We’ll continue this when we’re on equal
footing.”

“You won’t win,” Rain said sullenly. A hot
red flush rose in her cheeks, making the rest of her face dead
white in comparison.

While sympathetic, Fallon also felt
frustrated. He’d mistaken her acceptance of them, of their
relationship, as an acceptance of who she was and the Haunt in
general. Now he knew better, and he couldn’t address the problem
the way he wished. When it came to his wife, he had no
patience.

Keilor had remained in the waiting room, the
familiarity of years perhaps, making him think Fallon would need to
talk some more. He took one look at Fallon’s face and smiled
sympathetically. After all, he had a wife. “Want to discuss it over
a drink?”

An hour and two stouts later, Fallon was
beginning to relax. “She’s stubborn, cuz. I never would have
thought having a wife would be this taxing.”

“I hear you,” Keilor said, still nursing his
first beer.

Fallon sighed. “It doesn’t have to be this
hard. She’s just trained herself to run at every opportunity.”

“Sounds like she had reason,” Keilor said
reasonably. “I’ve had vets like that. Look at some of the older
soldiers, the ones who’ve really seen action. At least we give them
a chance to decompress.”

“She can’t go on like this,” Fallon insisted.
“I can’t let her keep running.”

Keilor stretched out a leg, getting
comfortable. “So retrain her; it works on the stags. Don’t see why
you can’t recondition her to get more at ease around the things she
fears.”

Fallon thought about it. Rain wouldn’t
appreciate that approach, but it might work. If it kept her from
leaping off cliffs, he was all for it.

CHAPTER 8

Rain opened her eyes and found that she was
alone. Lovely. She’d had unpleasant dreams and would have welcomed
a distraction, even if it were Fallon’s scowling face. Not that she
could blame him. She felt a creeping embarrassment that she’d
thrown herself over a four-story waterfall without a good reason.
She shifted and winced. She must have hit every rock in that
blasted river.

The current had been fast, and she was amazed
that she’d survived. There had been a couple of times she’d been
sucked under and nearly drowned. Maybe somebody upstairs was
watching out for her, because there was no way she should have made
it out of that river.

If a higher power had saved her though, she
couldn’t fathom why. Fallon was mad at her, for one. You’d think
he’d have a little sympathy for his half-drowned wife.

As she lay there feeling sorry for herself,
the devil himself popped in. Bearing flowers, he handed the bouquet
to her and kissed her on the cheek. “Hello. How did you sleep?”

“Terrible. Why are you so happy?” He looked
like a man who’d had good news. Feeling hopeful, she asked, “Did
Azion die in his sleep?”

He laughed. “No. But you’re alive, the sun is
shining and the medics say you’re allowed to go home. How about it?
Would you rather lie on your own couch or here in the
hospital?”

“It is a little boring here.”

“Great! Let me get you a chair.” He turned to
go.

“Hold it! There’s nothing wrong with my one
leg. Crutches will work fine.”

He raised his brows. “They said you strained
your shoulder, too.”

He had her there. The stupid shoulder
throbbed if she worked it and she could barely raise the thing. It
was going to cost her if she insisted on walking with crutches.

However, her left shoulder was fine, and that
was her lame side. “One crutch will do it.”

Fallon considered her a moment. “All right.
If you want to hobble up three flights of steps, a quarter mile of
flagstone paths and another quarter mile of hallways on top of
that.”

She sagged into the mattress, exhausted just
thinking about it. “Okay, you can bring a chair. Just this once,
though.”

“Of course. Let me help you get dressed.”

Thanks to the jarring of the wheelchair, she
was feeling grouchy with pain by the time they reached their rooms.
The sneezing wasn’t helping, either. She couldn’t help glaring at
their Haunt escort, knowing they were the source of her
discomfort.

“Let me get you some medicine,” Fallon said
as he helped her settle onto their couch.

She sneezed in answer and glared at him just
because she could.

He grinned and got the bottle.

Once she’d eaten and napped (amazing how
tiring pain could be) he settled down for a discussion. She could
tell what was coming when his face got serious. She tried to head
him off. “Now’s not a good time.”

He shook his head. “I’m not going to lose my
temper. I’ve dealt with your near-death experience and I’ll be okay
now. The important thing is that I help you to cope with your
fear.”

“I don’t need help.”

“You’re going to be here for a long time. We
need to make you more comfortable with your surroundings and your
heritage.”

“My heritage died back on Earth. I’m an
American citizen unlawfully transported. End of story.”

“Beginning of story. Your life got more
interesting, is all. It’s my job as your husband to help you with
the transition.”

“Is it now?” she asked sarcastically. She
didn’t care for his cheerful attitude or the feeling that he was
looking forward to this.

“Absolutely. I figured we could work on
proximity first.”

She quirked a brow, trying to distract him.
“I think we’ve covered that.”

He smiled and kissed her. “We’ll get back to
that later. You need to relax around the Haunt, at least enough so
you don’t jump out of your skin every other day.” He leaned back
and looked at her. “Granted, Haunt soldiers are intimidating. We
train hard to be…but your fear is beyond what’s reasonable. I’ve
thought of a way to fix that.” He waited.

Not that she was interested in his cure, of
course, but curiosity finally drove her to ask, “What?”

He smiled. “I’m going to let Kial into the
room. He’s going to hang around for a while until you get used to
seeing him.”

“He’ll get fur on the furniture!” she
snapped, reaching for an excuse. “I’ll be sneezing all day.”

“It’s leather. It’ll clean,” he said
confidently, and went to the door.

She drew in a sharp breath as the Haunt came
in. Was it her imagination, or did he look equally wary?

“So, Kial. Anything interesting happen to you
today?” Fallon asked.

Kial responded with sign language, surprising
her. Well, maybe it shouldn’t. Normal Haunt lost the ability to
speak when they changed. Sign language was one way to solve
that.

Fallon gave her an ironic look. “He says ‘no,
not since yesterday’.”

She glowered.

Fallon looked back at Kial. “So, what did the
wife have to say about that?”

She blinked. Kial had a wife? It was hard to
picture. The idea made her uneasy.

“Really? How old is your son now? Two?”

The unease grew. The werewolf had a son. So?
Makes sense that he could reproduce. It didn’t mean he had any
fatherly feelings. She looked aside, her thoughts making her
vaguely ashamed.

With barely a glance at her, Fallon lead the
Haunt closer. She could feel her nails digging into the couch. A
silent growl trembled on her lips.

They reached the armchairs opposite her. Just
as she was poised to climb over the back of the couch, they
stopped.

“You know how she is about sneezing, so if
you don’t mind changing before we sit down…”

Kial did as Fallon directed. The change
itself wasn’t dramatic, just a simple melting of form, accomplished
in seconds. Underneath all that fur, Kial was an unassuming
brunette of average height and looks. His expression was a little
hesitant as he addressed her. “Good morning, my lady.”

She stared at him without blinking, wary as a
kitten suddenly dropped into a box of pit bull puppies. Her abused
muscles were screaming at her to relax, but her mind wasn’t
listening. She’d run hurt before.

Fallon gestured for Kial to sit. “So tell me,
are you still thinking about getting your red sash? You’re more
than eligible.”

“I don’t know if I want it. I’m happy and
content where I am, and so is my wife.”

“You know I can’t promote you without
it.”

“I’m not worried about it yet.”

Rain found it was difficult to maintain rigid
muscles for extended periods, especially when she was hurt. Despite
herself, she was also following the conversation. Fallon’s nagging
was beginning to wear on her.

“There’s more money for captains. Think what
you could do with that,” Fallon urged.

Rain rolled her eyes.

“We have simple needs. The promotion would
mean less time with my family. We’re not ready to sacrifice that,”
Kial said firmly.

“Yes, but…”

Rain couldn’t take it any longer. “For
heaven’s sake, Fallon! Give the man a break. He doesn’t want the
promotion.”

The men looked at her, surprised. Fallon even
smiled, very slightly. “He’d really make a good addition, hon.”

She scowled and peeled herself from the
couch. Reaching for her crutch, she snapped, “He already said no.
Why are you so stubborn? Can’t you just take a ‘no’ once in a
while?” She hobbled to the bedroom door and slammed it behind her
for good measure.

Fallon looked at Kial and smiled. “So, when
are you taking the test?”

Kial smiled back. “Next week.”

“Good man! You’re going to make a good right
hand for Rykarr.” Fallon grinned. Rain had taken the bait. Now all
they had to do was think up a stage two.

Rain was drowsing in her garden, minding her
own business, when she heard a low growl. It sounded like a puppy
at play, somewhere on the other side of her garden wall. She was
about to drift off again when she heard the sound of a grunt, then
a pitiful whine.

The hairs rose on the back of her neck as she
reached for her crutch and scrambled up on the bench to see over
the wall. A circle of three young boys were ganging up on a
young…well, he was young. The boys were roughly eight years old,
and she guessed that the…kid…on the ground was about the same age.
One of the boys was sitting on the furry kid, pummeling him with
his fists while his buddies cheered him on. It wasn’t until she
spoke that Rain realized that the kid on top was a girl.

A sense of outrage made Rain’s blood boil as
she took in the sight. “Hey! Get off him, you little snot! It’s not
fair to kick a guy when he’s down.”

The girl looked up in surprise while the
hairy fellow lay there, panting. She was missing her two front
teeth. “He was teasing me!”

Rain swung up on top of the wall, grimacing
as her knee throbbed. “Yeah? Well he’s down now, so get off him
before I boot you in the butt. My word! In my day we beat up the
boy, but we didn’t need our girlfriends helping, too.” She raked a
scathing look at the boys, making them blush.

A dark-haired boy, also missing a front tooth
and sporting silver bracelets, scowled at her. “We weren’t helping.
That wouldn’t be fair.”

“Whatever.” Rain swung down from the wall and
carefully got her balance. She poked the girl with her crutch when
the kid just stared at her. “Get off and run along. Go find another
girl to beat up.” Rain shook her head at her own words, then bent
down and gingerly hauled the hairy kid to his feet. “You okay,
mate?” Funny how her time in foreign countries came out when she
was under stress.

On his feet, the little guy came up to her
chin. If he was eight, he was tall for his age. He looked at the
girl, who hadn’t bothered to leave, and glared.

Rain felt her mouth twitch. Her nervousness
toward the miniature werewolf were fading fast. “Not allowed to hit
girls, eh?”

The kid hunched his shoulders.

Rain rotated her aching shoulder and made a
stab at acting like the adult. “Well, were you teasing her?”

“DJ jumped out and scared her,” the boy with
the bracelets reported helpfully. “Carri hates it when he does
that.”

Rain took a closer look at the freckled
little girl with the orange bush of hair. Maybe it was a case of
puppy love, maybe not. “Whatever, we don’t hit people. I should
tell your parents.”

The girl hung her head.

Yeah, she should, but that would be too much
trouble. Rain decided to cut them a deal. “Fine. If you can behave
yourselves for the rest of the day, especially when I’m trying to
nap in my garden, then I suppose I could let you off the hook. Now,
apologize to each other.” She poked the hairy kid. “You! Change
back so you can speak up.”