Larem kept his eyes focused on Hunter and Tate, but he was all too aware of Sasha’s movements as she drifted from group to group. Right now she was laughing at something D.J. had said. The jerk! He should—

Hunter’s gravelly voice interrupted his thoughts. “Is something wrong, Larem?”

“No, why?” he asked, aiming for calm and failing miserably.

His friend smiled and pointed at Larem’s hands. One was curled into a tight fist while the other clutched his drink hard enough to dent the sides of the can. “You’re looking a bit tense there. Who’s pissed you off this time?”

“It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

“Sorry, but I’m not buying that.” Tate angled her head to look past him. “Who’s the redhead?”

Hunter answered for him. “That’s Sasha Willis, the new administrator assigned here. Rumor has it she’s hoping to be promoted to Regent status and stay permanently.”

Great, and here Larem had been hoping she’d go back to where she came from any day now. Of course, she probably wanted the same for him.

“The one who got herself trapped down in the tunnels?” Tate looked to Larem for confirmation. “The one you rescued?”

And killed his own people in the process, but he kept that to himself as he nodded. “That’s her.” Then he steered the conversation in a safer direction. “So how is your book coming along?”

Tate blushed. “It’s almost done. I’m doing the final polish before I start querying agents to see if they’d like to represent me.”

“It’s really good, too!” Hunter bragged. “Although I’m still trying to decide if I was the inspiration for the lawman or the gunslinger in the story.”

He looked down at his fiancée. “The sheriff doesn’t get the woman, but then the gunslinger gets shot.”

Tate looked outraged as she punched Hunter. “Hunter Fitzsimon, you promised you wouldn’t read it until I was completely finished!”

“Yeah, well, I lied,” Hunter said, rubbing his arm. “I wanted to know what it was about those two guys that made your eyes go all dreamy. Besides, you let Mabel read it.”

Mabel was one of Tate’s neighbors and a close friend. Larem was fond of the elderly woman and her two sisters. He asked, “So what did Mabel say about the book?”

Hunter snickered. “She said it needed more hot sex, but otherwise she liked it.”

Tate’s face turned rosy. “That’s enough, Hunter. Let’s talk about something else.”

Larem smiled at the exchange. It sounded exactly like something Mabel would’ve said. She might be old, but she was definitely feisty. He also enjoyed seeing Hunter so happy. It hadn’t been that long ago that he had raged out of control and tried to kill Larem with his bare hands just for being Kalith. The Paladin might still have his demons, but their hold on him had faded considerably since Tate had entered his life.

A man could face almost anything with the right woman by his side. Larem automatically sought out the corner of the yard where Lusahn q’Arc stood beside Cullen Finley, his arm draped across her shoulders. For once, the sight of her looking so happy with her human lover didn’t send a shaft of pain twisting deep inside Larem’s chest. In fact, he was glad for her. She’d created a nice family for herself with the Paladin and the two Kalith orphans she’d adopted.

At that moment, she happened to look in his direction. He smiled at her and nodded. Yes, she’d made decisions that had ripped his life apart. But looking back, he knew she’d done the best she could under difficult circumstances. The next time he caught her alone, he’d tell her that he was pleased that she’d moved on and built a new life in this world.

Which meant it was time for him to do the same.

Before he could pursue that thought or wonder why he’d been keeping track of Sasha’s movements ever since she’d arrived, Lacey announced that dinner was ready. Everyone converged on the tables of food in one big rush, with the usual good-natured pushing and shoving among a few of the Paladins.

A couple of the idiots bounced into Sasha, sending her stumbling backward. Larem stepped out of line and caught her by the arm just in time to keep her from hitting the ground.

“Whoops, sorry, pretty lady,” the closest Paladin said as he shoved his friend back out of the way, almost hitting her again. “Jerk, see what you made me do?”

Larem planted himself in front of Sasha and glared at the two fools. “Must you act like children?”

“Hey, I said I was sorry.” The young Paladin took a step forward, his buddy moving up beside him. “Mind your own damned business.”

“She is my business, so back off.” Larem ignored Sasha’s gasp of surprise—or maybe it was outrage—at his outlandish claim. Before he could deal with her, he had to do something about the two punks.

“And if we don’t want to back off, Other, what are you going to do about it?”

Larem sensed more Paladins approaching, but they were allies, not enemies. Lonzo stood to his right, Hunter to his left. Lacey would not soon forgive him for turning her barbecue into a brawl, but it wasn’t in his nature to run from a fight. If anyone gave ground, it wasn’t going to be him. His two friends would happily provide backup, but he wouldn’t need their help with these two.

Devlin Bane shouldered his way through the crowd. “What the hell is going on here?”

Larem kept his eyes focused on his opponents. “These two children almost knocked Ms. Willis down—twice. I was about to teach them some manners.”

“Listen, you freaky-eyed alien, I’ll—”

Before the youngster could finish, Devlin had him by the throat. “Not one more word, Craig. You hear me? Not one more word.”

When the kid managed to nod, Devlin shoved him backward. “I don’t know what started this and don’t care, but it stops now.”

Devlin shot a quick glance in Larem’s direction. “You free Monday afternoon?”

“I am.”

“Good.” He reached over to brush a fleck of dust off the young Paladin’s shoulder. “Monday at one, you and your buddy here will report to the gym for some quality practice time with Larem. Just to keep things interesting, if there’s anything left of you when your lesson’s over, you can each log some additional training with me.”

Trahern had joined the group. “Not fair, Dev. How come you and Larem get to have all the fun?”

Devlin’s smile was a scary thing indeed. “Fine, we’ll take turns.”

Lonzo and Hunter both chimed in. “Sounds like a good time. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Larem in action. Who knows, maybe Barak will join us.”

By now the two young Paladins were wide-eyed and pale. “But, sir, he’s just a . . .”

Devlin got right back in his face. “Just how damned stupid are you, Craig? Larem is a close friend of half the men here—a friend they trust to have their backs. Do you have any idea how rare that kind of friendship is? Shut your mouth and leave now, both of you, while you still can. And on your way out, stop and apologize to Lacey and Barak for screwing up their party. Got that?”

“Yes, sir,” they both managed to stammer.

“Good, now get out of my sight.”

Devlin waited until they were gone before he walked away, shaking his head in disgust. Larem bit back the urge to tell the Paladin that he could handle his own problems, but he was all too aware of Sasha listening to every word of the heated exchange.

If she’d thought the Kalith were universally accepted by the people stationed in Seattle, she now knew the truth. But for every punk like Craig, there were two like Lonzo and Hunter, men who’d fought and bled beside him.

Gradually, the other guests turned their attention back to the food. Larem braced himself to face Sasha, expecting to see nothing but anger reflected in those big eyes of hers.

“Sasha, I—”

But she cut him off. “Don’t sweat it. Jerks are jerks wherever they are. Luckily, those two are still young, so maybe there’s hope for them. I am sorry, though, that they were so rude to you.”

Okay, so he hadn’t seen that one coming. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, although suddenly I’m starving.” She looked past him toward the people working their way along the buffet. “I think we’d better get in line before the food is all gone.”

Not sure if he was supposed to stick right with her or not, he hung back long enough to let a couple of other people go ahead of him. If Sasha missed him, she gave no indication. Pretending that it didn’t bother him, he picked up a plate and started piling on the salads.

When his plate was full to overflowing, he grabbed a plastic fork and looked around for a place to sit. Hunter had evidently been watching for him, because he stood up and waved Larem over. Relieved to have a place where he knew he’d be welcome, Larem threaded his way through the throng toward his friend.

To his surprise, Hunter and Tate weren’t alone at their end of the long table. Lonzo and D.J. sat flanking Sasha, leaving the only open spot directly across from her. There was no way to avoid sitting there without drawing even more attention to himself.

D.J. took a swig of his beer and set it aside. “Hey, Larem, I’ve got a question for you.”

Larem braced himself. When it came to D.J., there was no telling what he’d ask. More than once he’d heard one of the other Paladins say that sometimes there was a complete disconnect between D.J.’s mouth and his brain.

“Go ahead and ask, but no promises that I’ll answer.”

Hunter laughed. “Perfect response, Larem.”

Lonzo leaned forward to look around Sasha at D.J. “And remember there are ladies present.”

The man in question gave them all a disgusted look. “Get off my back, Lonzo. I know how to behave in public. I just want to know if he dances.”

What could Larem say to that? “Not with you. No offense, you’re good looking, at least by human standards, but I don’t make a habit of partnering with men.”