Free Darkness Unknown by Alexis Morgan

wouldn’t be at all happy about a civilian getting involved in Paladin business, but that wasn’t Jarvis’s problem. If the bastards staffed the local sector adequately, he wouldn’t have been out in the woods hunting an Other all by himself. Considering the fact that there’d been a pack of those crazed killers running loose, the Regents were lucky not to have lost Jarvis permanently.
    When he passed through the cave that revealed the largest stretch of the barrier, he paused to study its condition. For the moment it appeared to be stable, but that could change from one second to the next. He’d defended his world with steel and with blood too many times to count, and he’d continue to do so until he lost the battle to hold on to his humanity.
    It wasn’t much of a future to offer Chase Mosely, but facing his choices head-on was a damn sight better than always fighting against his true nature. With help, Chase would learn to manage his temper and strength, funneling all of that aggression against an appropriate target.
    The barrier shimmered and thinned. Son of a bitch—it was on the verge of going down! Jarvis hit the alarm button on the wall to summon the troops. Running to grab his sword in his room, he tossed the file on his bed, sending the papers flying everywhere. There’d be time to clean the mess up after the battle—if he lived through it.
    Â 
    â€œJarvis isn’t answering his cell.” Chase dropped the phone in its cradle with almost enough force to break it. “I’ve been trying for three days already.”
    â€œI don’t know what to tell you, Chase. That’s thenumber he gave me.” Gwen studied the sweater she’d been working on and decided that the new pattern was working out. If it turned out as well as she expected it to, she’d make a tidy profit on marketing the design. “He said he was staying in the area for the summer, but maybe he got called back to St. Louis for some reason.”
    â€œMaybe, but that doesn’t explain why he’s not answering his cell phone. That’s the whole reason people carry them, so they can be reached anywhere, anytime.”
    Deciding she’d done enough knitting for one evening, she set the project aside, then stretched her arms and flexed her fingers to get the kinks out. “He doesn’t seem like the kind of man who would go back on his word. He promised to teach you, so I have to think he will.”
    â€œYeah, well, how much do we know really know about him?” Chase paced the floor, his long legs eating up the distance in jerky steps. “We never did find out who cut him up that night.”
    â€œIf you’re that worried about it, ask him.”
    She was so not in the mood for this, wishing Jarvis were right there in front of her so she could give him a piece of her mind. If he’d changed his mind about helping Chase, all he had to do was call. As disappointed as she and Chase would be, at least they wouldn’t be jumping every time the phone rang, hoping to hear Jarvis’s voice.
    â€œI’m going to bed.”
    â€œGood night.”
    â€œYeah, whatever.”
    Chase clicked off the television and stomped out of the room. She didn’t need his attitude, but right now she didn’t have the energy to deal with it. Even if he did have a legitimate gripe with Jarvis, he shouldn’t take it out on her.
    She needed to lose herself in some mindless television before facing her bed. Alone. As the opening music for the nightly news came on, she realized that it wasn’t just Jarvis’s broken promise about the martial arts that had her upset. No, it was the promise of that single kiss that hurt the most. As handsome as he was, Jarvis probably had women lined up from here to St. Louis and back, all wanting a piece of his action.
    It hurt to think that the kiss that had curled her toes and fried her brain had meant so little to