Darkness on Fire Read Free Page A

an eyebrow. “I’d settle for the truth.”
    “If I say no, you won’t believe me anyway. If I say yes, you’ll want details. It’s bad enough you and Bane know that I am here. I wouldn’t think of putting anyone else in danger.”
    His eyebrows snapped together as he considered her answer. Finally he jerked his head in a quick nod. “Fair enough. One Paladin and one Kalith. Works for me—at least for now.”
    Betsy chose that moment to deliver their food. Rather than continue the conversation, Jora toyed with her salad while Penn Sebastian dug into his dinner.
    Okay, so maybe they should’ve guessed that the mysterious woman would turn out to be Kalith. From the records Hunter and his woman had unearthed from her family’s old bed-and-breakfast north of Seattle, they knew that people from Kalithia had been buying their way into this world for a while. Jora could be part of that migration.
    How had she gotten here, and how long ago? No harm in asking, although he wouldn’t be surprised if she refused to answer. “So, have you lived here long?”
    She speared another piece of lettuce before answering. “I’ve lived here most of my life. My parents crossed the barrier when I was an infant.”
    “Where are they now?”
    Her pale eyes turned bleak. “Dead. They both died in a car accident a few years ago.”
    Oddly enough, Penn found himself sympathizing. “My folks are gone, too, so it’s just me and my sister now.”
    Jora abruptly shoved her dinner to the side and set her briefcase down in the space she’d cleared. She pulled out a couple of files and shoved them across the table toward him.
    “I brought these for you to look over. They’re copies, so you can take them back to your hotel room to read. My phone number is in the top folder. Call me when you’re done, and we’ll decide where to go from there.”
    “I’ll read them tonight.” The waitress approached. “Looks like our pie is coming.”
    He studied his wary companion between bites of pie when she wasn’t looking. There was no mistaking her Kalith heritage. Her dark hair hung down past her shoulders with two narrow streaks of silver framing her face. They should have made her look old, but instead they accented her smooth pale skin and light gray eyes. She was pretty, especially if you liked your women petite, and she had plenty of curves in all the right spots.
    He usually went for leggy and blond, but maybe that had changed during his long dry spell. He found himself thinking how cuddly Jora looked, the kind of woman who would tuck in nicely next to him in bed between sessions of mind-blowing sex.
    That image made him choke on his pie. Where had
that
thought come from? Pretty or not, she looked just like all those crazies he’d been fighting his whole adult life. Just the thought of her being Kalith had his right hand aching, his scar burning.
    He stood and picked up the check the waitress had brought with the pie, then grabbed the folders Jora had given him. “I’ll be in touch.”
    Those solemn eyes followed his every move, taking in the uneaten pie and the bill clutched in his hand. “I’ll come with you so Betsy can split the charges.”
    He needed to put some serious space between them. “I’ll take care of it. You can buy next time.”
    He walked away, knowing her eyes followed him each step of the way.
    Three hours later, he’d read through Jora’s reports twice, the first time straight through without stopping. The second time, he’d taken his time, making notes in the margins. Damn, he wished his sister was here. A geologist for the Regents, Lacey had far more technical expertise about what made volcanoes tick—and explode. She’d know better if it was possible to steal energy and send it across to Kalithia.
    He flexed his hands, running through his stretching exercises as he considered his options. At the top of the list was getting some sleep. First thing in the morning he’d call Devlin to see if he’d give Penn