Page 55 of In Darkness Transformed
“Eli?”
Safara looked more pale than usual and worried as hell. Whether it was because of him, her cousin dying, or the fact she was standing there facing two men guaranteed to play into her worst fears was impossible to know. He did his best to shake off his dark thoughts for her sake. Time to get back on point. “So, care to tell me how you and your friends happened along at exactly the right time?”
Lonzo looked thoroughly disgusted. “I’d like to say it was our superior skills and general sneakiness, but it was mostly just dumb luck. We’ve been searching the area for those Kalith, and this just happened to be our next stop.”
He then turned in Safara’s direction. “Deputy Dennell, as you’ve probably guessed, my friends and I are part of the Seattle contingent of Paladins. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. For what it’s worth, we’ve been planning on reaching out to you and your father for some time now.”
Her eyes opened wide in shock. “You have? Why?”
Lonzo gestured toward the other Paladin and one of the Kalith men. “Hunter here has been working with Larem to track down the Kalith who have crossed the barrier to live peacefully in this world.”
She gasped and started to back away. Eli blocked her retreat. “Where are you going?”
He hated the very real fear in her eyes when she tried to sidestep him. “I’ve got to warn Dad and the others. They need time to get away.”
Then she looked past Eli toward Lonzo and his companions. “My people are no danger to you or the humans in the area.”
Lonzo was doing his best to look nonthreatening but couldn’t quite pull it off, especially with seven dead Kalith lying on the ground right behind him. It was understandable why Safara was terrified for her people, but things would never change if someone didn’t take the first step. Eli couldn’t stand the thought of her living in this fear for the rest of her life, especially when he wouldn’t be there to help keep her safe.
“Safara, we need to give the man a chance to explain himself, but not here.”
Her emotions were running hot, but at least she agreed. “I’ll listen, but my father should also be part of this discussion.”
The Paladin was already nodding. “We’ll take care of things here. Unfortunately, we have plenty of experience dealing with incidents like this. Afterward, we’ll meet you wherever you think is best.”
When Safara didn’t immediately offer any suggestions, Eli decided for the both of them. “I’ll give you directions to my cabin. It’s not far from here. Safara, my two friends, and I will meet you there. Hopefully, Chief Dennell will join us as well.”
“Give us a couple of hours. By the way, what do you want us to do with the mystery guy over there?”
“Bring him along. We might as well make a party of it.” He glanced back toward the truck. Their captive had managed to sit up and was watching them.
Hunter joined the conversation. “Any idea what his game is?”
Eli nodded. “He might be part of a group that’s been dogging my heels for a while now. If so, either he or one of his buddies ran my friend off the road earlier today.”
Lonzo rubbed his jaw. “Interesting. Any idea why?”
If Eli expected Safara to give these men a chance, he needed to do the same. “Maybe because I died in a military helicopter crash a few weeks back.”
He had to give it to these guys. His little bombshell didn’t faze them at all. Instead, Hunter smiled as he stepped closer and held out his hand. “I’m guessing you have some questions of your own. We’ll be glad to answer them.”
Eli shook his hand and nodded. “Good to know. We’ll go pick up our friends and head for the cabin.”
Safara nodded toward the tarps. “What will you do with... with them?”
She’d addressed her question to Lonzo, but it was one of the Kalith who answered. “We will return them to Kalithia. We have contacts there who do their best to identify the bodies and return them to their families for burial.”
Her shoulders slumped in clear relief. “The one on the far end is named Tiel a’Lyr. He has parents and a brother still living in Kalithia.”
Larem gave her a solemn nod. “We’ll let our friends know.”
By now Safara was looking more like her usual self. “One more thing. They attacked some civilians. They’re over there out of sight now, but they saw enough. We have to do something about them.”
Lonzo shrugged. “We’ll do our usual song and dance. We have badges we can flash, and the Regents have processes in place that will back us up. Hunter, can you take lead on that while we get busy here before anyone else shows up?”
The other Paladin stepped forward. “Will do. Eli, you want to show me where they are?”
Before they started walking, Barak spoke for the first time. “You’d better leave your weapons with us. I promise to treat them with care and will return them when we see you later. Civilians get a little twitchy when they see folks carrying around bloody swords.”
