Darkness Unknown Read Online Free Page B

her brother dearly and enjoyed having him around. However, that didn’t mean she wasn’t grateful that he’d found part-time work with the neighbor for the summer. It kept him in spending money and gave him something constructive to do with his time and overabundance of energy.
    Jarvis finished his own meal. “That was terrific, Miss Mosely. If I ate like that every day, I wouldn’t be able to fit through the door.”
    â€œPlease call me Gwen.”
    He nodded as he picked up his plate and headed for the sink.
    â€œI can clean up in here later. Please sit down.”
    â€œLet me earn my keep, Gwen. It won’t kill me to do a few dishes.”
    He cleared the table with quick efficiency, leaving her nothing to do but sip her coffee and enjoy the view. The man did a great job filling out those jeans.
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    He hoped Gwen never took up poker for a living. She’d starve to death, because every thought was right there on her expressive face. Right now, she was working herself up to ask him something important.
    When he’d been in the shower, he’d tried to figure out why she hadn’t gone to the police when she’d found a half-dead stranger in the woods. Especially one whose wounds had closed up and healed in a matter of hours.
    But one look at her younger brother had answered that question. He was a dead ringer for a Paladin who’d served in the area just about the time Chase would have been born. Chase might not know it, but one day soon he’d be picking up a sword and learning to fight. If he didn’t, his life would be hell, and his pretty sister would suffer right along with him. It was obvious that the two siblings were close, and Gwen wouldn’t like hearing her brother was a born warrior destined to die over and over again, fighting the same secret war that Jarvis did.
    It was a bitch of a way to live, but it was written in their blood and their bones. Somewhere in their past, alien beings the Paladins called Others had crossed from a dark world known as Kalithia into this one and left their mark on the human gene pool. It was ironic that those distant ancestors had helped create the Paladins, whose job was to drive the Others back into the darkness of their own world.
    While Jarvis kept his hands busy drying dishes, he tried to decide how much he could safely tell Gwen about her brother. Not much. He would also have to insinuate himself into their lives long enough to get Chase started on the path to becoming a fully trained Paladin, without his sister realizing what he was up to.
    Being around Gwen certainly wouldn’t be anyhardship. The problem would be to avoid any messy emotional entanglements. He was too old, too tired, and too close to the end to get involved with a woman, no matter how tempted he was to find out if she had freckles all over that luscious, creamy skin. The mere thought made him harden.
    Great—how was he supposed to hide his erection now? He turned away from the sink and dried his hands on the dish towel, keeping the terrycloth in front of him until he was safely seated at the table. Stretching out his legs, he leaned back and waited for the inquisition to begin.
    It didn’t take long.
    Gwen’s green eyes looked troubled. “You were hurt pretty badly last night,” she began.
    â€œYeah, I was.”
    â€œBloody and cut to pieces.” She worried her lower lip with her teeth while she waited for him to respond.
    â€œI don’t remember much about it, but I’ll take your word for it.” He wasn’t about to tell her that he’d been fighting a pack of ravening monsters within spitting distance of her backyard.
    â€œYet here you are, no more than twelve hours later, with barely a scratch on you.”
    â€œTrue.” He reached behind him to snag the coffeepot and refilled his mug. “Want some?”
    There was a small flash of temper in the way she shook her head. She suspected he was