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.They d probably been raised from birth hearing horror stories about the Paladins. I won t hurt you. He doubted they understood his words, so he kept his voice soft and even, hopingto reassure them that he meant them no harm.Bavi wasn t buying it.Keeping his eyes carefully on Cullen, he motioned for the girl to escape to thekitchen.When Shiri stopped and smiled at Cullen, her brother barked an order at her.She gave him astubborn look and took her own sweet time sashaying out of the room.Once she was out of sight Bavi backed toward the kitchen, leaving Cullen alone.He shivered, feelingcolder than the temperature warranted.Was this how Barak felt all the time? How had he stood it solong?He closed his eyes and sank back against the wall.The long hours until Lusahn would return stretchedout before him.Back home, his duties as a Paladin kept him busy.He wasn t used to being acomplication rather than an asset.Feeling frustrated, he reached into his pocket for his deck of cards and cleared a spot on a nearbytable.After shuffling the deck several times, he quickly dealt a game of solitaire and began playingthe black cards on the red.Whether he won or lost didn t matter; he found relaxation in the familiarroutine.After about five minutes he got that itchy feeling on the back of his neck, the one that warned him hewas no longer alone.Was his little friend back?He gathered the cards back into a pile and picked them up.Careful to keep his eyes on the table, hestarted shuffling the cards again, fanning them out and using every showy trick he knew.The soft whisper of cloth over the tiled floor stilled his hands briefly as his lips twitched.Flashymoves were the right bait for this particular trap.He risked a quick look up, which sent Shiriskittering back a step or two.He went back to shuffling, listening for signs that his audience wasdrawing nearer.When he saw a pair of small feet at the edge of his peripheral vision, he stopped shuffling and beganbuilding a house out of the worn cards.At four stories tall, it collapsed.The little girl giggled aroundthe thumb in her mouth.He winked at her and started over, this time with more success.When he d reached about as high asshe would be able to reach, he held out a card and motioned for her to try.Naturally, the cardscollapsed.Her eyes were huge as she held out the card to him. That s all right, sweet pea.I knock them down all the time myself. Once again he regretted that hedidn t speak her language. Let s try it again. He built the base and then gestured for her to give it another try.This time the cards held as she carefully placed the one he d given her.Her bright smile over her success warmed places inside himthat he hadn t realized were cold.Together they alternated placing cards until her brother stormedinto the room, grabbed Shiri by the arm, and began dragging her away. Stop pulling on her! Cullen forced himself to stay seated, knowing any aggressive moves wouldonly worsen the situation.Bavi glared at him, although he did ease up on Shiri s arm.He gave his sister her marching orders intheir language before rounding on Cullen again. My sister.Not yours.Stay away, human. His accent was so strong that it took a second or two for Cullen to realize that the boy was speakingEnglish.Even if the pronunciation was off, the meaning was clear.He looked Bavi straight in the eyes. I mean her no harm. Bavi stubbornly shook his head and repeated himself. My sister.Not yours.Stay away, or Lusahnwill kill your heart. He pantomimed stabbing himself in the chest before walking away.So Lusahn would kill Cullen s heart if he bothered the children.That sounded like a promise shewould have made to Bavi.Cullen wasn t sure how he felt about that.It was only logical that shewould choose to protect her newfound family from an outsider.Trouble was, despite their briefacquaintance, he didn t feel like an outsider.Rather than torment Bavi anymore, he picked up his cards and went back downstairs.The light fromthe two narrow windows did little to dispel the gloom in the room, but he didn t want to riskattracting the neighbors attention by opening the door or burning the candle while Lusahn wasn t athome.He began pacing the floor, wishing he d brought something to read or even his laptop with him.Hecould have at least done some work on the security program updates that he and D.J.were workingon.Inactivity didn t set well with any of the Paladins, and Cullen was no exception.For lack of anything else to do, he removed his scabbard and began going through his usual exerciseregimen.It would help him keep in shape, but also take the edge off his mood.If he worked hard, hemight get tired enough to take a long nap to pass the time until Lusahn returned.It was better than doing nothing at all, but not by much. Where were you yesterday? Lusahn ignored the sinking feeling in her stomach as she considered how to answer her Blademate squestion.She settled on part of the truth. I was home with the children yesterday evening. The ploy failed miserably.Larem shook his head. No, earlier.Didn t Bavi tell you that I stopped by? No, he must have forgotten
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