"What else?" Her voice was slow and gentle, the way you would talk to a wounded animal.
"I'm trapped... and I did it to myself." Carlos swallowed hard. "And I'm so sorry for all the things I did to get here. More than you'll ever know." He headed for the door.
Damali nodded. "JL, now you can shut down the exterior lights."
Carlos turned and looked at Damali as she walked up behind him. Carlos shook his head no, and repaired his ripped shirt as he did so.
"Where are you going?" He was beat, mentally wrung out, hungry. He couldn't take any more tonight.
"With you." She folded her arms over her chest, and ignored the stricken sounds of disapproval coming from both teams. "A lot went down. We need to talk - alone."
"Not advisable," Carlos said, truly meaning it.
"You heard the man," Rider said. "He's being honest, so let's not - "
Damali held up her hand. "That's why we need to talk alone. No sidebar commentary. No third-party advice. Me and you."
"You're serious?" Carlos laughed wearily. His gaze shot to her team. "Tell her again, people. It is not in her best interest."
"I'm going," Damali stated plainly. She didn't raise her voice, just walked over to where she'd dropped her sword and calmly picked it up. "You won't kill me, or rip out my throat. That's not what you have on your mind. I can see again, remember?"
Carlos nodded as a shudder of anticipation ran through him. "Then you'd better bring the blade... if all you want to do is talk."
Their gazes met, and she smiled a slow smile, and carefully abandoned Madame Isis on the weapons table, never taking her eyes from his.
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no no!" Rider fussed. "Hell no! You are not rolling out of here without your blade! Are you crazy?"
Damali nodded.
"Let it go, Rider," Marlene said in a weary voice. "Man, for once, just let it go."
"Listen, D, there are watchers everywhere, especially at night," Carlos warned, scanning the terrain outside the cabin safe house.
"If they saw you leave your compound," Father Patrick said, "and get into the Jeep with us..." His gaze darted toward Carlos. "Carlos can then enter the building at will after us - but the watchers will assume that we have taken you to higher ground, that you're on the move, and it won't blow his cover... understood? It has to always appear that he's deceiving us, had found a way in through a weak line梑ut it can never appear that he's colluding with us."
She nodded. She needed to get out of the Jeep, away from these well-intentioned, but babbling men, and into Carlos's arms so badly she thought she would scream. Carlos wouldn't even look at her. She could feel him pick up the thought and knew what it had done to him. She tried to retract the sensation, issuing a mental apology as they sat in brief silence. His hands were almost trembling and he stared out the window at nothing.
Truth was, there was no need for him to travel by Jeep, but he hadn't left her side since she'd walked out the front door of the compound with him. They were both messed up - had been that way for years.
"You should eat first," the cleric named Asula warned, glancing at Carlos with concern. "You've always been trustworthy in this... and our assumption is that the Neteru is sacrosanct with you as well. Therefore, we will have to muster faith that this conversation to purge old wounds and emotions between the two of you will be worthy of such continued trust and faith. Correct?"
"You ask a lot of a dead man," Carlos said, his gaze remaining fixed on the darkness beyond the passenger-side window.
Damali watched Father Patrick's body language. He was tense, but he wasn't nervous.
"Perhaps a better plan would be for our team to take up our post outside the safe house, to guard it for any possible breach by these sniffers you told us about?" The older man smiled. He glanced at the other older priests who smiled and looked away with a nod.
"Yes, this would be best so you may talk and also develop a strategy," Father Patrick pressed on, glancing at Father Lopez who seemed stunned.
"Padre," the older priest said. "Calm yourself and have faith. This is about safety. Our detection systems are not as sophisticated as the Neteru's compound, and I would have felt better if she brought her sword. On my honor, I pledged to her seer guardian that we would return her unharmed. Damali, you should have brought your sword."
"She brought me," Carlos said, his voice a low rumble. "You think I would let anything hurt her?"
The old cleric smiled and shook his head. "I suppose not."
Remember, baby, how it used to be?
When we were just kids and so free.