He paused to let that little surprise sink in before continuing. “She showed great courage by confronting all the Paladins at once. Her first action was to authorize more funding and personnel to assist Dr. Young with her studies. She also said the scans would only be used as a diagnostic tool. That seemed to relieve some of the Paladins, especially Trahern.”

Barak q’Young nodded. “His readings have been a matter of concern for some time. I was in Missouri when they almost ended Trahern’s life permanently. It was a tough call, one that no one wanted to make. However, thanks to Brenna’s faith in her mate and Laurel’s willingness to give him every possible chance, they saved him.”

Barak sipped his tea. “But that’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to help him if he were to die again.”

Larem cringed. As a healer himself, even if only an amateur when compared to the talented and dedicated Dr. Laurel Young, he shuddered at the thought of having to put down a Paladin warrior who had burned up all his chances. Few people would have the courage to make that kind of decision even if it was necessary and the kindest thing to do.

As if sensing Larem’s distress, Lacey laid her hand on his shoulder briefly. She had better reasons than most to understand the situation, because her brother Penn was a Paladin. No one knew how many times a Paladin could survive the cycle of living and dying without losing the last hold on his humanity. Devlin Bane had been beating the odds for years, but it was highly doubtful his friend Trahern would be so lucky.

“Maybe with the extra support, Laurel will be able to find some answers.” Lacey rubbed her temples, as if she’d suddenly developed a headache.

Should he try to help her? His newly discovered ability to heal was a poorly kept secret, even if no one talked about it much. Larem set his tea aside and angled his stool around to face Lacey.

“Shut your eyes for a few seconds.”

She didn’t question his order. Larem gently spread his fingertips along her forehead and temples, chanting under his breath. Then he closed his own eyes and drew upon the pool of healing light stored deep inside his mind and soul. A small stream of warmth flowed along the hidden pathways written in his flesh and bones. Almost immediately Lacey sighed, letting go of her tension and pain.

He added another small burst for good measure. “How does that feel?”

“Fabulous! Nothing I’d tried touched my headache, but now it’s completely gone.” Lacey’s face lit up with a broad smile. “You, sir, may hang out in my lab anytime. I’ll even make sure to keep a steady supply of cookies and your favorite tea around as bribes.”

“Do I have any say in this?” Barak asked.

“No!” Larem answered, laughing when Lacey said it at the same time.

“That is what I thought.”

Barak didn’t look at all worried, though. He had no reason to be, because the Kalith warrior and the human woman loved each other deeply. Larem wasn’t the only one who was a little jealous of the happiness the two had found together.

For some reason, the image of Sasha Willis popped into his mind. Granted, he hadn’t spent much time in the company of human women other than the mates of his friends. While he liked them all, they were strictly out of bounds for him. So were the few he’d met outside the organization, because of the need to hide his true identity. It was safer for all concerned if he kept everyone at arm’s length.

So what was there about Sasha that tempted him to cross that line, especially after such a short meeting? Part of the answer was obvious—he was drawn to her exotic red hair and simple beauty. But there was also something about her that reminded him of Lacey, Laurel, and even Brenna, Trahern’s woman. All of them were strong, independent females, and he suspected Sasha was much the same.

Not that he had any business to be thinking of her except to wonder what effect her presence would have on his life here in Seattle.

Barak interrupted his thoughts. “Did the new administrator say anything else we should know about?”

“She plans to review all the files on the Paladins, then the guards will come next, followed by other support personnel. She didn’t mention us by name but said she would be dealing with the ‘special guests’ that were living among the Paladins.”

Barak winced. “Interesting. You’d have to wonder what exactly she meant by that. How did the Paladins react?”

“Pretty much as you’d expect. Her remarks about the scans caused a stir, but she refused to take questions, saying she wanted time to review the situation here in Seattle first.”

Barak looked impressed. “That may have been the smartest approach. No one would take it well if she came in announcing a bunch of changes without first learning the lay of the land. It had to come as a relief to all the Paladins not to have to deal with having another scan done just because someone was in a bad mood.”

Larem had been part of the group who had brought down the former administrator in the Seattle area, Colonel Kincade. The bastard had abused his power to torment those who served the Regents, all for his own greedy purposes. No wonder the local Paladins had such distrust of anyone outside their own tightly knit circle.

Barak passed Larem another cookie. “Hunter mentioned he invited you to stay at his place for a while. Are you going to accept?”

“No, not yet. I prefer to face a problem, not run from it. If this Willis woman is going to come after us, I want to be here to defend my new life.”

Barak glanced over at Lacey. “I told you he wouldn’t leave.”

Lacey smiled in approval. “I’m glad, Larem. There’s strength in numbers.”

He met his friends’ worried looks head-on. “I agree. We all have a lot to lose if the Regents decide that our presence is detrimental to the organization. I’d rather we stand our ground than hide like cowards.”

Lacey walked over to her mate. “No one could possibly think Kalith are cowards. Not when all of you have proved your worth over and over again.”

He hoped she was right, but he had a bad feeling about the whole situation. Even if Sasha Willis had good intentions, that didn’t mean those above her in the organization would support any of her decisions. That made it all the more important that he find a way to exist in this world without depending on the Paladins for anything.

Barak was frowning big-time. “How sure are you that she didn’t immediately recognize you as Kalith?”

Where was Barak going with this? “I think she would’ve said something if she had. Why?”

His friend stared at his mate briefly until she nodded. He drew a deep breath before speaking. “Cullen and Lusahn stopped by earlier. We were thinking that if the opportunity presented itself, one of us should try to get to know her, maybe offer to show the Regents’ new representative around a bit. The only question was how to do that without raising suspicions.”

Suddenly, Larem really wished he hadn’t mentioned his brief encounter with her after the meeting.

Barak kept right on talking, his words coming in a rush as if he couldn’t spit them out fast enough. “Of course, we’d assumed the new representative would be a man, but the fact that she’s female could actually make it easier for you to gain her confidence. You might gain better insight into how she plans to handle our situation, with the added benefit of her getting to know you as a person before she realizes you are the enemy.”

“Why me?” he asked, even though he knew. He still wanted to hear Barak say it out loud.

His friend’s eyes shifted back to Lacey. “You are the only one of us who doesn’t have a mate. If she discovers your identity, you could easily move into the apartment over Hunter’s garage until the dust settles.”

In other words, Larem was expendable. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “What about Devlin’s specific orders that we stay out of sight?”

Lacey joined in. “I’m guessing Miss Willis would have her own reasons for wanting to keep any such relationship under the radar, especially since she thinks you’re one of the Seattle contingent. She’s here to oversee the Paladins and wouldn’t want to give the appearance of playing favorites.”

She reached out to take Larem’s hand in hers. “We know this is asking a lot of you, Larem. But Cullen and Lusahn have finally got Shiri and Bavi feeling secure in their new lives in this world. The last thing they want to risk is having to uproot them again.”

Not to mention that Cullen himself had to remain near the barrier; the need for that proximity was hardwired into his Paladin nature. Lacey, too, had strong ties to Seattle. Because of her brother, she’d focused her life’s work as a geologist on making the world safer for all the Paladins. It wasn’t likely she’d be able to continue those same studies outside of the Regents’ organization. Barak wasn’t just her mate but also her research partner.

By process of elimination, that left Larem. His powerful sense of honor warred with his loyalty to his friends over the idea of deliberately misleading a woman he’d barely met. It wasn’t a decision he could make on the spur of the moment.

He set his cup back down on the counter, barely refraining from heaving it against the wall in frustration.

“Thank you for the tea and cookies, Lacey. You’ve both given me much to think about. I’ll let you know what I decide.”

Then he turned his back on his friends and walked out.

Half an hour later, Larem reached his destination. As soon as he stepped inside, he was hit by a cacophony of barks, yips, and growls. The musky smell of damp concrete and medicine clogged his head, but he breathed it in without regret. Here, no one knew his DNA wasn’t human or would’ve cared if they did.

All that mattered was that he had a good touch with frightened animals and cared enough to show up when he said he would. The pay was lousy—mostly tentative licks accompanied by a few wags of a tail—but that was enough. He reached for his lab jacket, filled his pockets with some treats, and headed in to see which patients the vet had lined up for him to work with today.

As soon as he stepped into the clinic, Dr. Isaac looked up and smiled. “Larem, my boy, come on in. Your buddy has been watching for you, not that he’d ever admit it.”

The old vet nodded toward a pen at the far end of the room where a wary pair of brown eyes watched them both with a great deal of suspicion. Larem didn’t blame the dog for his caution; he had good reason to mistrust humans in general. Of course, there was no way to tell the animal that Larem wasn’t human, and he wasn’t sure it would matter in the least. Trust once lost was slow to return.

Since Larem had some experience with that himself, he didn’t take it personally. Still, he thought he was finally making some real progress with the dog.

He approached the cage slowly, letting the mixed breed catch his scent before speaking. “Hey there, fellow. How are you feeling today?”

Not that he expected an answer, but he was mastering the trick of communicating soothing energy with his voice. The dog stubbornly resisted any friendly overtures. But with each approach, it was taking Larem less time to slip past his defenses.

He knelt down and held out a couple of treats, once again letting the patient set the pace. “Let me know when you’d like these, and then we’ll go for a walk.”

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