what I was born to do, I pick up my sword again and head right back down to protect the barrier. Without men like me and Jarvis, this world you live in would be choking with the evil filth those crazy Others bring with them.”
He remained silent, no doubt waiting for her to cave in and accept his bizarre story. Well, he was in for a long wait.
After a prolonged silence, he started in again. “I serve in the Pacific Northwest, in the Seattle area. Recently, a friend of mine there was killed once and almost a second time before we caught the guy who was after him. The traitor was a local guard, but he died before we could find out who was paying him. It was obvious he had help from someone higher up in the organization.”
She rolled her eyes. “So why didn’t you wait for him to revive and ask him then?”
“Because the guard was human, not a Paladin. Our genetic makeup allows us to return from what would be permanent death for humans. Once he was dead, he stayed that way.”
“But you wouldn’t have. How nice for you and your friend.” She pushed at his arm, trying to get up. This time he let her.
“Nice doesn’t enter into it, Brenna.” He crossed the room to stare out the window toward the street. Though he looked calm, she could feel the frustration coming off of him in waves. “It’s up to you whether to believe me or not, but you asked for the truth. I called your father with our suspicions that someone was making illegal deals with the enemy, because he’s the only Regent I trusted completely and without question. Within days, he was dead.”
There was no mistaking the very real grief in his words.
“Your father would have hidden any notes or files he had, in a place where he knew one of us would find them. Once we do, we can stash you someplace safe while I hunt down the bastards responsible for his death.”
She wasn’t about to let him shuffle her off to the side while he carried on some bizarre vendetta. Even though she’d like to lash out at her father’s killers, she trusted the legal system to work.
“Any evidence we find will be turned over to the detectives to process, Blake. My father would have wanted it that way.”
“Your father wasn’t murdered by common criminals, Brenna. If he had been, I’d have come to make sure you were okay and then disappeared again. But too many things point at this being a major conspiracy arising from within the Regents.”
“So you’re telling me that my father has known all along where you were, and didn’t tell me?”
Blake nodded.
“And that he lived a double life that he kept hidden from me?”
His hard gaze softened. “For your protection, Brenna. He loved you too much to want you to get caught up in the world he and I lived in.”
She hated what he was telling her, every single word. Even more, she was afraid he was speaking the truth, at least as he knew it. Her father was an honorable man who had believed in old-fashioned values like honor, truth, and protecting the weak and innocent. He would be just the man to join a secret organization to save the world if he believed the threat was real.
Her heart hurt. Because she’d lost her mother at such an early age, her father had worked hard to be both parents to her. They’d been as close as any father and child could be, able to talk about anything and everything. The man she had known would not have hidden secrets from her.
Not unless he’d taken an oath, one he held as dear as the one that had changed him from a prosecuting attorney into a judge. As much as she wanted to deny it, that small voice in her head was insisting she trust Trahern, despite his saying that she’d never really known her own father.
Ignoring the stab of pain, she made her decision. “What are we looking for?”
“Something small—a computer disk, maybe. Or notes.” He glanced back over his shoulder toward her. “I assume he still trusted pencil and paper over a PDA or computers.”
The reminder
He remained silent, no doubt waiting for her to cave in and accept his bizarre story. Well, he was in for a long wait.
After a prolonged silence, he started in again. “I serve in the Pacific Northwest, in the Seattle area. Recently, a friend of mine there was killed once and almost a second time before we caught the guy who was after him. The traitor was a local guard, but he died before we could find out who was paying him. It was obvious he had help from someone higher up in the organization.”
She rolled her eyes. “So why didn’t you wait for him to revive and ask him then?”
“Because the guard was human, not a Paladin. Our genetic makeup allows us to return from what would be permanent death for humans. Once he was dead, he stayed that way.”
“But you wouldn’t have. How nice for you and your friend.” She pushed at his arm, trying to get up. This time he let her.
“Nice doesn’t enter into it, Brenna.” He crossed the room to stare out the window toward the street. Though he looked calm, she could feel the frustration coming off of him in waves. “It’s up to you whether to believe me or not, but you asked for the truth. I called your father with our suspicions that someone was making illegal deals with the enemy, because he’s the only Regent I trusted completely and without question. Within days, he was dead.”
There was no mistaking the very real grief in his words.
“Your father would have hidden any notes or files he had, in a place where he knew one of us would find them. Once we do, we can stash you someplace safe while I hunt down the bastards responsible for his death.”
She wasn’t about to let him shuffle her off to the side while he carried on some bizarre vendetta. Even though she’d like to lash out at her father’s killers, she trusted the legal system to work.
“Any evidence we find will be turned over to the detectives to process, Blake. My father would have wanted it that way.”
“Your father wasn’t murdered by common criminals, Brenna. If he had been, I’d have come to make sure you were okay and then disappeared again. But too many things point at this being a major conspiracy arising from within the Regents.”
“So you’re telling me that my father has known all along where you were, and didn’t tell me?”
Blake nodded.
“And that he lived a double life that he kept hidden from me?”
His hard gaze softened. “For your protection, Brenna. He loved you too much to want you to get caught up in the world he and I lived in.”
She hated what he was telling her, every single word. Even more, she was afraid he was speaking the truth, at least as he knew it. Her father was an honorable man who had believed in old-fashioned values like honor, truth, and protecting the weak and innocent. He would be just the man to join a secret organization to save the world if he believed the threat was real.
Her heart hurt. Because she’d lost her mother at such an early age, her father had worked hard to be both parents to her. They’d been as close as any father and child could be, able to talk about anything and everything. The man she had known would not have hidden secrets from her.
Not unless he’d taken an oath, one he held as dear as the one that had changed him from a prosecuting attorney into a judge. As much as she wanted to deny it, that small voice in her head was insisting she trust Trahern, despite his saying that she’d never really known her own father.
Ignoring the stab of pain, she made her decision. “What are we looking for?”
“Something small—a computer disk, maybe. Or notes.” He glanced back over his shoulder toward her. “I assume he still trusted pencil and paper over a PDA or computers.”
The reminder
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