Caught between two worlds, a powerful warrior must choose between impossible destinies when he meets a woman whose love will either make or break him. . . .

As the daughter of a Regent, Sasha has long known about the secret underworld of the Paladins and their work protecting her kind from the dark forces on the other side of the energy barrier. So when she is sent on her first solo investigation, on the path to becoming the first female Regent, she is determined to get the Seattle Paladins in line. Offering sanctuary to their Kalith enemies is simply unacceptable! But when she meets Larem, she is inexorably drawn to a dark and valiant warrior who is not at all what he appears to be. As the power struggle between Regents and Paladins rages on, someone starts making attacks on her life. Sasha must choose between loyalty to her own kind and the warrior she loves . . . with the very fate of humanity hanging in the balance.

About the Author

Originally from St. Louis, Alexis Morgan and her husband live in a small town near Seattle. An avid reader, she grew up reading gothic romances and westerns and developed a love for flawed heroes who hold to their own code of honor--whether fighting rustlers at gunpoint, or standing shoulder-to-shoulder with their fellow warriors, swords at the ready.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1

Slamming his fist into the wall wasn’t the smartest thing he’d ever done, but it was that or punch his roommate. Since the current situation was none of Lonzo’s fault, Larem aimed his temper at something that wouldn’t bruise—or hit back—although right now a good down-and-dirty fight held some appeal. The pain was slow to register, but his blood stood out in stark relief against the white paint.

“Damn it, Larem, was that really necessary? I hope to God you didn’t break anything. It’s your night to do the dishes.” Lonzo’s comment was an equal mix of worry and disgust. “We both know Devlin has no choice in the matter. Besides, it’s only temporary.”

Larem flexed his hand gingerly. Nothing broken. Nothing solved. He was still caught between two worlds, neither of which particularly wanted to lay claim to him.

“Yeah, why not make it easier on everyone concerned and tell the Regents to make one big cage and stuff all of us into it?”

Swallowing hard against the bitter taste of his rage, he slowly turned to face his worried friend. “Or better yet, shove us back across the barrier. With any luck, our own people will solve the problem of what to do with us with a few swings of a sword.”

Lonzo had his own temper and shoved Larem hard enough to send him bouncing back against the wall. “Larem, don’t be such a dumb ass. You know that none of us would let that happen.”

Larem got right back up in his friend’s face. “Correction, Lonzo. None of you would want that to happen, but you’re paid to follow orders. Once the Regents decide they want us gone, what can you do to stop them? If you refuse to rid the world of a few inconvenient Kalith, they can always find someone who will.”

A deep voice joined the discussion. “You’re wrong, Larem. That’s not happening. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever. We owe you and the others too much.”

Larem wanted to believe Devlin Bane. He really did, but he’d been betrayed too many times by his own kind to easily accept that his former enemies would behave any differently. Before he could respond, another Paladin came out of the conference room and headed straight for Larem.

“This new policy is nothing but crap, and you know it.” Hunter Fitzsimon glared at Devlin, his green eyes blazing with pure rage. “I have more reason than most to hate what comes boiling across the barrier at us, but Larem is different.”

Devlin rolled his huge shoulders, no doubt trying to shrug off some tension. “Listen all of you. You’ll get no arguments from me on that score, but until this new rep from the Regents is actually here, I can’t do anything about it. Arguing by e-mail won’t get the job done, but when he gets here, I’ll make our case.”

“Yeah, right, and if he doesn’t buy it? What then?” Hunter turned his attention to Larem. “Pack up your things. You’re coming home with me and Tate. The apartment over the garage is yours as long as you need it.”

Devlin looked as if he wanted to argue some more, but then the big man shut his mouth and shrugged. “He’s right, Larem. I can’t promise the new guy will listen to me. If you’ll feel safer putting some distance between yourself and this pencil pusher, I wouldn’t blame you. Better yet, go camp out with Penn and Jora in Wyoming if you want, at least until the dust settles and we know more what we’re dealing with.”

For the first time since Devlin had called the morning meeting to order, Larem didn’t feel quite so alone. As tempting as it was to take off with Hunter or even to pay a surprise visit to Penn Sebastian, the thought of hiding out didn’t set well with him. A warrior both by training and by nature, he would not run.

“I’ll wait to see what happens. Besides, I’m not the only one affected by this order.” Larem nodded down the hallway to where Barak q’Young stood with his sister, who had two Kalith children at home. “We can’t all go into hiding.”

Devlin sighed, clearly tired of dealing with all the “bureaucratic bullshit” as he usually called it. “This guy is supposed to show up by the end of the week. I’d suggest we do business as usual until then.”

Like anything had been usual for Larem in a long, long time. “Are we done? If so, I’m out of here.”

Without waiting for an answer, he headed for the gym, intent on working off some anger banging blades with someone, anyone. A few seconds later both Hunter and Lonzo caught up with him. He’d rather have been left alone for a few minutes, but couldn’t fault them for trying to show their support. The least he could do was show his appreciation by bruising them up some.

They walked into the gym and headed straight for the rack of practice weapons. Larem reached for one of the blades the armorer had recently added to the collection specifically for the Kalith warriors to use. After a few warm up swings, he stripped off his shirt and faced off against his two friends.

“All right, gentlemen, who wants to bleed first?”

Hunter’s wolfish grin was a mirror reflection of Larem’s own. With a quick salute the battle was on.

“Look, I know you have your orders. But you do know that it’s not too late to change your mind, right?”

It wasn’t a question and they both knew it. Sasha was used to her father issuing edicts and expecting her to obey them to the letter. That didn’t mean she liked it, especially when in this case where her father wasn’t the one in charge of her current mission.

“Yes, Dad, it is.” She kept her voice level and met his gaze head on. “I wish you’d accept that.”

Her father sat at his desk, staring at her over his steepled fingers, ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness. She wasn’t going to back down now just because he wanted her to.

These days she took her orders from the Board of Regents as a whole, not just him and that did not make him at all happy. The group oversaw the Paladins and their ongoing mission to protect the world from invasion by the dark forces from the opposite side of an energy barrier. She’d known about the Paladin’s secret world of death and violence since her early teens, although her knowledge was largely secondhand.

From the minute she’d graduated from college, Sasha had pushed and prodded, trying to convince her father to let her join the organization. Finally, another Regent and family friend had intervened on her behalf. Slowly, she’d worked her way up the ladder, earning the trust and respect of those around her. Now she was finally going to get the chance to make a difference in how things were done.

Another party entered the conversation from his seat across the room. “Chaz, lay off the girl. You know as well as I do that she is well qualified for the job, and she deserves the chance to prove herself.”

Her father didn’t even glance in his old friend’s direction. “Shut up, George. She’s my daughter. That gives me the right to interfere when I think it’s in her best interest.”

“And who’s to decide what’s best for her? She’s worked long and hard to get this opportunity. Don’t screw it up for her because you’re not ready to cut the apron strings. She’s all grown up. It’s time you realized that.”

Sasha hid her smile. George was her honorary uncle and godfather. He was also one of the few men who could chastise her father and get by with it.

“I don’t doubt my daughter’s abilities, George. But as both her father and a Regent, I have some misgivings about what kind of situation we’ll be sending her into. We both know Kincade made a mess of things.”

George strolled over to perch on the side of her father’s desk. “You’re thinking he wasn’t working alone.”

“I’m thinking we don’t know. Neither of you can blame me for not wanting Sasha caught up in any fallout.”

“Oh, Dad, come on. I’m going to go through files and reestablish some positive communication between the Paladins and the Regents. Once I’ve got a feel for where things went wrong, I’ll be in contact with the Board with recommendations. It’s not like I’m expecting to become anyone’s new best friend.”

“Yes, well, when it comes to the Paladins, what we expect and what we get are often two different things.”

She noticed the time and stood up. “I’d better get going.”

“Do you have everything?”

Her bags were packed, and she had her one way ticket in hand. In two short hours, she’d board the plane that would carry her to her new home in Seattle. The Regents probably intended that her assignment...

Bound by Darkness

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