Cullen Finley is a Paladin, sworn to protect our world from the Others, crazed men and women from another dimension. Lusahn q'Ark is a Protector, Sister of Barak q'Ark, leader of a Blade of warriors dedicated to keeping the Paladins on their own side of the barrier. But when Cullen Finley crosses over to deliver a message from her brother, she must decide whether to protect him, or kill him as deserves any slayer of her people. The barrier will not come down again for at least 20 days, so he is stuck there for the duration.
Cullen is there to deliver a messgae from Lusahn's brother Barak, but he also hasn't been able to stop thinking of Lusahn since they traded sword blows when the barrier came down in the last book. Lusahn considers Barak a traitor to her people, but he also discovered evidence that someone is stealing the rare blue energy crystals from their world and is bringing them into the human world.
The reason why the others need the energy crystals is that their own sun is dying, and the world is already cloaked in twilight. A few of their people, such as Barak, can make the crystals glow, but otherwise, their world is cloaked in grayness. Someone, however, has been stealing the crystals, and telling people that if they want to go to the human world, they need to bring one of the blue crystals to pay for their passage. Since this is a lie, it usually gets them slaughtered by the Paladins.
Lusahn is horrified to learn of the theft of the crystals from her brother, and that someone is buying them on the human side of the barrier that separates their worlds. At first, she wants to blame the humans, but Cullen's willingness to come to her side of the world does much to convince her that he is not one of the people responsible. Lusahn takes him to her home, where he finds out that she is taking care of two children. They are not her own, but belong to a husband and wife who attempted to cross the barrier and were probably killed by the Paladins. Both children are initially frightened by Cullen, who must hide in what is probably the basement of the house during the day while Lusahn goes on patrol with members of her blade.
Cullen is attracted to the silver-haired Lusahn, and she is also attracted to him. He offers to let her spend the night with him, and she is intrigued enough to accept. Both enjoy the experience very much, and Cullen, in particular, can't stop thinking of Lusahn. When she gets home, they eat together with the children, and after the children are in bed, asleep, again spend the night in amorous pursuits.
The next day, she goes with her blade to the house of her mentor, a former Patroller named Joq. Joq gave up his place in the Guild when he insisted that Lusahn be made a Patroller. The guildmaster, who didn't like Joq, suggested she would only be given a position if Joq was gone. And Joq quit on the spot. This was unexpected, but the Guildmaster lived up to his promises and promoted Lusahn. Joq is the perfect person to talk over the problem of the stone thefts and who could be behind it. When Lusahn does so, she also tells Joq of Cullen. Joq is surprised that Lusahn is protecting the human, who must have killed so many of their people, but he laughs at Lusahn's spirit, and decides to come to town to speak to Cullen himself. He covers up his intentions by telling her Sword that he would appreciate Lusahn's company on the trip into town. Her sword, however, tease her for her preoccupation when she thinks too much about Cullen and the problem of the stone thefts.
That night, they all dine together. Joq seems to approve of Cullen, but also spends time needling him. Cullen can see that Joq has great affection for Lusahn, but it is not at all like that of a father for his daughter. Lusahn only treats him like a father figure and a mentor, so Cullen doesn't mention it to her. Joq says he knows a place where such smuggling is going on, and says he will take them out there tomorrow to show Lusahn something. He returns to his own house for the night, and Lusahn, weary from nights without sleep, falls asleep in Shiri's bed as she is reading the girl a good night story.
Shiri, and her brother Bavi, who first threatened to hurt Cullen if Cullen even touched his sister, have grown accustomed to him, and Shiri even trusts him. She comes to Cullen, who carries Lusahn into her room, takes off her shoes, and puts her to bed fully clothed. When Bavi and Shiri are asleep, he crawls into bed with her. When she wakes up, they make love again, and Cullen must sneak back into his bed in the basement to avoid waking the children. But he finds Bavi awake and offers to teach the boy swordfighting to be able to protect his sister. Bavi eagerly accepts.
That day, Lusahn and Cullen join Joq in looking for the cavern where the stones may be being smuggled to the human side of the barrier. Joq once again spends time verbally poking Cullen, apparently wanting to elicit some kind of reaction, but Cullen is able to keep himself in check. They are followed, though, by Larem, one of Lusahn's blade, and Lusahn allows him to accompany them in exchange for his silence on Cullen's presence. Larem is sulky, but he agrees. In the small cave, they find a barrier, and also camping goods that are definitely human-made, along with sneaker prints. Cullen is suspicious. Joq could merely have told Lusahn about the evidence and she would have believed him. Why was it necessary to drag them up there? Joq protests his innocence, and says he came on the cave in his wanderings, and that is all. Lusahn also finds it suspicious, but she accepts Joq's word, and once again swears Larem to secrecy. Larem agrees, but makes it clear he doesn't like Cullen, telling Cullen that he is going to get Lusahn killed.
A day later, Cullen and Lusahn go back to the cave, looking for any clues or hoping that they will find the perpetrators. They finds that someone made a fire in the cave and stayed there, but no humans are there now. Cullen also finds a fresh set of sneaker prints and and they follow them back to Joq's house, which is a mess and has been apparently ransacked. There is no sign of Joq, but there is blood. They hurry back to Lusahn's house, only to find one of her blade lying dead in a pool of blood under some bushes in her yard.
Joq and Larem have taken over Lusahn's house, putting the children in their bedrooms while they plan to ambush the pair. Cullen fights Joq while Larem remonstrates with Lusahn, complaining that she chose a human man over one of her own race. When Lusahn asks about the dead member of their blade, who was Larem's brother, Larem is upset and asks Joq about it, who replies that sacrifices must be made. Joq is, if not one of the leaders of the stone-thieving and smuggling ring, one of the members.
Cullen kills Joq and Lusahn defeats Larem and knocks him out. Cullen ties up and gags Larem, and he and Lusahn get the children and run for the cave in the hills, knowing they have very little time. Lusahn has a little of her brother's power to bring down the barrier, but it is a long, slow process, and even now they are being hunted by the guild. Lusahn manages to bring down the barrier, and then she and Cullen fight the guild to keep them away. She tells Cullen to bring the children across himself and she will follow, knowing that having Cullen with them stands the children the best chance of not being killed. As he does so, she is captured and dragged away. He tries to go back for her, but the barrier snaps back up, imprisoning him on the human side of the barrier.
Meanwhile, on the Human side, Cullen's disappearance is a source of concern for his fellow Paladins. When he reappears with two Other children, his fellows question him, and he quickly tells them his story before insisting that they go back and rescue Lusahn. They realize the signs... he's fallen in love, and agree to go back with him, and they take Barak, Lusahn's brother with them. But can they rescue Lusahn from the guild, where she is under a death sentence from the guildmaster?
I read the book before this one in the series, "Dark Protector" about Barak and Lacey, sister of the leader of the Paladins. This book continues the story in that book, starting with Cullen carrying Barak's message because he was nearly killed at the end of the last book by an earthquake. It was quite a wonderful change to have as a heroine someone who is just as kick-ass as her chosen mate, a Paladin, and who can also wield a sword. The character of the Others is also fleshed out, and we learn their true name for themselves, the Kalith. The secret of who is actually behind the thefts on Kalith and who is selling them and smuggling them in the human world is still unrevealed at the end of the book, but the story is a good, satisfying read that keeps Lusahn's strengths as a woman without rendering her weak and unable to defend herself, as some romances do.
Neither was Cullen the bastard-y Alpha Male some romance writers love to use. While he is surprised to find himself trading blows with a woman in "Dark Protector", he never tries to take her sword away, although he does try to protect her as much as he is able. When he fights Joq at Lusahn's house, for example, the only reason why she doesn't join in is because the room where they are fighting is too small for three combatants at once. She also keeps it together when Larem is yelling at her when they are both imprisoned, and under threat of death from the guildmaster. The coming together of Cullen and Lusahn is believable, and you get the feeling that these two do genuinely come to care for each other, even though they are together only for about a handful of days.
A wonderful series and I am definitely looking forward to seeing the next one when it comes out.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment