The Golden Bell (13 page)

She hated admitting that, but she was nothing
if not fair. Now, they were stuck. She was stuck, because she’d
willingly given up her ticket off this planet. For what? To soothe
Fallon’s fear. Why had she done that?

Maybe it was because she understood fear. He
had been kind to her. Maybe the only thing he felt for her was
desire, but he’d been generous about sharing that, too. He didn’t
make her feel used, just confused. Weak.

Maybe that’s what scared her most of all.

Fallon returned an hour after he’d left.
Though the lights were out, he had no trouble finding her in the
moonlit shadows of the couch. He sat beside her on the cushions and
traced the tracks of her tears. “Okay, now we try this my way.” He
kissed her gently, then scooped her up and headed for the door.

“Where are we going? I can walk,” she
grumped, trying to sit up. She gave up rather easily when he
tightened his arms.

“Humor me. I feel like carrying you.” The
Haunt guard at his door opened it for them, and this time she
remembered to hold her breath so she didn’t sneeze.

Fallon set her gently on the bed, then knelt
before her, kissed her hand. “Rain? Thank you for laying aside your
own desires this once. I promise to remember it, and I hope to
return the favor sometime.”

She gave him a lopsided smile. “You think
you’ll find an opportunity? It’s a rather large something.”

He kissed her other hand. “Maybe I’ll go for
a series of small somethings.” He joined her on the bed and slid
his hand behind her head, holding her steady for his kiss. “For
now, let me say ‘thank you’ the best way I can.”

“Thank you, huh?” she said dizzily, when he
came up for air.

He skimmed his mouth over hers. “Hm. One of
the best advantages to being married is that I get to comfort you
with my body.”

The man knew aid and comfort, she’d give him
that. Their first night together had told her to expect wildness in
his bed; this night showed her what comfort was. Every caress spoke
empathy, every tender kiss, love. Even if he didn’t feel it, that’s
what came across in his touch. Could a man who made love like that
feel nothing?

Later, she lay drowsing by his side, thinking
nothing in particular. Compelled by a sudden urge, she turned her
head and placed a kiss on his bare chest. “I love you.”

His body jerked. “Come again?”

Fallon’s reaction made her want to laugh. “I
must, you know. Mad as you make me, I haven’t kicked you out of bed
yet.”

He peered down at her, his brow furling as
her shoulders shook. Reassured that she was laughing, he said
gruffly, “Well, I am pretty lovable.”

She laughed some more and made the mistake of
meeting his gaze. His was serious and tender, a little
troubled.

“I’ve never been in love before.”

“You’re not now,” she stated. “That’s all
right.” It wasn’t, but it had to be said. She wasn’t going to force
him into any admissions he didn’t mean.

“You’re wrong about that. I’m something, but
I’m not sure what yet.”

She snorted and settled back down. “Well,
wake me up if you figure it out. I’ve had a hard day.”

His chest rumbled as he chuckled, but he let
her sleep through the night.

The next morning dawned gloomy, and Rain was
out of sorts. Fallon was off doing whatever ex-ambassadors did all
day.

What she ought to have been doing was working
at dumbing down her technology…er, making it more commonly useful.
Saving her hide, as a bonus. Instead she moped around, staring out
the window, dallying over breakfast, taking a long bath.

Fallon hadn’t been in bed when she awoke. Had
she scared him with her talk of love? Well, too bad. He’d seduced
her into his bed, so he could deal with what it had done to her
feelings. It wasn’t like she planned to get sentimental or try to
psychoanalyze him or anything. She had enough problems trying to
figure out what drove her.

Motivated by anger, she strolled to her
rooms, holding her breath as she walked past the Haunt guarding the
hall and the door to her suite. Once inside, she actually got some
work done, but she never really settled. Still edgy, she gulped
some of the vile allergy medicine and braved the hall. “I’m going
for a walk,” she said defiantly to the Haunt outside. “I need air.”
When none of them growled at her, she walked on, trying to ignore
the pair of them trailing behind. Once she’d found a way outside,
she paused in confusion. She knew that the obstacle course was
straight across from her garden wall, but where was she now? She
chose a path to her left, hoping it was the right direction.

There were a few people on the stone paths,
but her surly expression and the Haunt soldiers trailing her must
have discouraged conversation, for nobody tried to talk to her.
Just as well—she wasn’t in the mood for chitchat.

Once she’d thought it, she suddenly felt
lonely. Great. Fallon was mucking with her head now. Fine, it was
one more thing to blame on him.

Maybe it was dumb luck, but her ramblings
brought her to the obstacle course. To her dismay, it was swarming
with soldiers doing exercises. Even if they’d have welcomed her,
she didn’t want company. Muttering something foul, she stomped off
toward the woods across the way. There looked to be a park off to
their right and an orchard beyond that. Maybe by the time she’d
done the loop she’d have worn out enough to enjoy a solitary
lunch.

The park was too crowded, though by no means
full. She felt exposed as curious eyes tracked her progress. It was
as she entered the orchard and achieved the seclusion she’d hoped
for that she began to worry. Something wasn’t right. Shouldn’t her
bodyguards have said something by now, questioned her choice of
wandering in the woods? She expected someone to appear, ready to
chew her out.

A familiar pain gripped her as the change
came over her, lengthening her nails, sharpening her teeth and her
senses. This time she rode it out, using her nose to test the wind
before the change dulled it, blessing the ears that picked up sound
unavailable to mere human ears. She stood still, looking, scenting
as shiny red fruit swayed gently in the breeze. Something…

Her guards picked up on her unease and looked
around warily. One reached for his dagger…and she saw it. A hilt
just like that, one with a pale blue stone, had been raised to
smash into her father’s face that night long ago. The memories
slammed back like a freight train rushing through her mind,
triggering the panic. With an animal snarl, she turned on her heels
and ran.

She was back in the night, alone, afraid,
with blood on the wind. The monsters were chasing her, would kill
her like they’d killed her father. They were going to get her.

But nobody ran like Rain. Nobody had ever
been able to catch her when she’d started to move; could leap as
high, dodge as fast. She might not have all the fur of a
full-blood, but she had all the speed, plus some. Even so, she
didn’t dare look back.

“Trouble! Backup! She just took off like
she’d been shot from a gun. Kial’s trying to catch her…”

She heard the words and put on a burst of
speed. There were more of them coming now.

Ahead, she could hear the thunder of a
waterfall. Water had saved her last time. She’d used a canoe to
steal away, letting the water mask her scent, then docked at a
waterfront restaurant and taken a cab to the bus depot, just like
she’d planned with her dad. There’d be no bus today, but the water
could still take her away. She ran to the head of the
waterfall…

“No!” her guard yelled franticly behind
her.

…and jumped without looking at the
landing.

Fallon paced slowly along the river’s edge,
staring out over the foaming water. It was only two miles from the
waterfall to the mouth of the ocean, but those two miles were half
a mile wide and filled with fast, dark water full of boulders. The
falls Rain had jumped from were over four stories tall and the pool
at the bottom had rocks the size of Volkswagens. Things that went
over that fall did not survive the drop. If by some miracle they
did, the river rode over it, dragging away any slim chance for
life.

Rain was dead.

They were combing the banks and boats were
braving the swift currents at the ocean’s mouth, but it was a
formality. Nobody expected to find the body.

Her guards didn’t know what had gone wrong.
Kial had almost grabbed her before she’d jumped and had to be saved
from overbalancing. He and his partner, Brack, were searching
obsessively, unwilling to give up. They’d never lost a charge
before, and to have a woman die on them like this…

Fallon looked away from them.

His companion, Keilor, both Master of Hunt
and his cousin, clamped him on the shoulder. “Don’t give up
yet.”

Fallon merely looked at him. Keilor knew the
odds. As the commander of Jayems’s armies, he’d seen long odds
before, and he’d seen death. Today had brought another one.

Fallon hadn’t expected it to hurt so
much.

“Sir, they’ve found her!” One of Keilor’s
soldiers came up, holding a com unit. “One of the fishermen pulled
her on board. She’s hurt, but alive.” News passed rapidly among the
men, resulting in a few scattered cheers.

Fallon took the com unit like a sleepwalker
and held it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Hello! We’ve got the lady and we’re heading
for the docks. We’ve already got a medic coming to meet us.” There
was a spate of cursing in the background, breathless and feminine.
There was a pause and then the man said uncertainly, “She wants me
to tell you she’s fine.”

“Put her on,” Fallon ordered, relief making
him terse. She was alive!

“Uh, I would, but she’s out again.”

Fallon cursed, tossed the unit to the soldier
and bolted for his stag beast. The ugly reptile looked like a horse
on steroids crossed with an ankylosaur, but it had speed to match
its grouchy temperament, and that’s what he needed.

He reached the docks in record time and had
to shove his way through the crowd that had formed as news of the
rescue spread.

The fishermen carefully transferred Rain to
the medic’s anti-gravity stretcher, wincing as she groaned.

“Watch that knee,” he advised the medics.
“It’s the worst.”

“Yes, that one, idiot!” Rain gasped as the
medic lightly touched the offender. She dug her nails into his hand
and then let go with a groan. She shivered. Her hair was plastered
with salt water and her face held a ghastly pallor. She bit her
lip, causing bright beads of blood to well as they jostled the
pallet.

“Hey, enough of that,” Fallon ordered her,
taking her hand as they moved toward the Citadel.

Her eyes flew open to look at him. “It’s not
that bad.”

“I see that.”

She tried to smother another groan. “Stupid
rocks.” She muttered something incoherent and tossed her head.
“That water’s cold.”

“Why did you jump?” Fallon’s throat was
tight. He was afraid of the answer. If she’d tried to deliberately
take her life…

“There was something wrong.”

“What?”

“Wrong…” she trailed off, breathing
shallowly.

“My lord, later,” one of the medics snapped
at him. “Let’s make sure she lives first.”

“I’ll live,” Rain muttered, but it was clear
she wasn’t fully sensible.

They wouldn’t let him inside the operating
room, so Fallon paced. Keilor joined him, keeping silent vigil as
they waited for news.

“Maybe a flashback?” Fallon offered, when
over half an hour had crawled by. “She has panic attacks around
Haunt.”

While Keilor had not yet met Rain, he’d
listened just that morning as Fallon had spilled his guts about his
wife. “Maybe.”

“I know Kial and Brack are reliable. I
wouldn’t have assigned them if they hadn’t been.”

“I know.”

“She’s not going to die. She’s too stubborn
to die.” Fallon looked at Keilor, almost begging.

He received a glimmer of a smile. “From your
description, that’s true. I’d focus on what you need to do in the
future to prevent these panic attacks, if that’s what it was. It’s
a dangerous habit in someone who can outrun her guard.”

Fallon blew out a breath, still amazed at
that. He’d never heard of a woman being able to outrun a fully
changed, adult male. If asked, he’d have sworn it couldn’t be
done.

He hated learning things about Rain
behindhand. All he wanted was a nice tame married life, yet what he
got was fireworks going off under his feet. He certainly couldn’t
let her keep jumping off cliffs! Yet he didn’t want to smother her.
There had to be a way to achieve some equilibrium.

An hour after they’d taken Rain into the ER,
a medic came out to get Fallon. “You can see her now,” the medic
advised, “but don’t make her talk too much, and don’t get her
upset. She’s lost some blood; not enough for a transfusion, but
she’ll be a little weak. There’s a few cuts and bruises, a bump on
the back of her head and of course, her knee. Other than that,
she’s doing remarkably well, considering.” A touch of awe came into
his voice. Apparently, Rain’s stunt was destined to become
legend.

“What’s wrong with her knee?” Fallon asked, a
little sharply. As far as he was concerned, her behavior was cause
for alarm, not admiration.

“Oh, just a bad sprain. It could have been
far worse.”

“Yeah? Well, stand by. I’m not done with
her.” His cold words aside, Fallon was relieved to find Rain
resting quietly. Apparently the painkillers were working fine.

She sent him a glance. “I’m fine. Don’t look
so grim.”

He raised a brow as he took the chair next to
her. “This is fine?”

She shrugged, then winced as she thought
better of it. “Well, I’m not dead.”

“A near thing, but I’m glad.” He tried to
hold his tongue, found he couldn’t. “There was nothing chasing you,
you know.”