Purity Read online

  I’d only hurt him—kill him the minute I dared to take off the suit, she reminded herself sternly. And even though she felt less and less for the man who had taught her to feel in the first place, she still didn’t want that. Didn’t want to harm him.

  You will, K. When the time comes you will remember who you really are—an agent of Purity. A Paladin who fears nothing and feels nothing. And then you will act.

  The High Sentinel’s words echoed in her head and K wasn’t so sure anymore. Who knew what she might do when the suit finished leaching away all her emotions? When it had sucked them out of her like the vampiric parasite Boone had always claimed it was. Who knew what would happen if she ever encountered him again?

  Please…don’t let it happen. Don’t let me see him ever again. The tiny prayer hurt, even with the suit dragging at her—it pierced her heart and left a dull pain just behind her breast bone. K tried to ignore it. What else could she do?

  She soon lost track of the days. Pacing back and forth in the tiny cell allotted to her, she tried to clear her mind, to blank out anything but the pure hum of nothingness that surrounded and invaded her. It was easier that way—less painful. And while she tried to forget, the suit did its work. Slowly but surely, the thoughts and dreams of Boone finally began to fade.

  At last, more than a week after he had first appeared, the High Sentinel came back.

  “Well, K?” he said, stepping into her room, the black cloak his office demanded swirling around his tall, lean frame and boney shoulders. “What is it to be?”

  “Sir!” K stood at attention.

  The High Sentinel looked at her closely. “Who are you, K?”

  “I am a Paladin, Sir,” she rapped back, chin up, shoulders back. “Paladin fourth class.”

  “Is that right? Let me see your eyes.”

  K opened her eyes wide and stared straight ahead, knowing what he would find when he looked. The dull silver walls of her prison cell were reflective enough to show that her eyes were almost completely back to normal. Only the thinnest sliver of white remained around their outside edges.

  “I see the new skinsuit has done its job well,” the High Sentinel said approvingly. “Tell me, Paladin, what do you feel?”

  K gave the correct response without hesitation. “Sir, I am a Paladin. I fear nothing, I feel nothing.”

  “Very good.” He nodded. “And what is your mission?”

  “To spread the light of Purity to all corners of the universe and beyond, Sir.”

  “And those who are Impure? The inhabitants of Eros?”

  “They must be purged, Sir.”

  He raised an eyebrow at her. “All of them?”

  “Sir, all of them, Sir.” K still stared straight ahead.

  “Even the giant? This Boone you cared so deeply for?” he demanded.

  K gave him a cold look. “Especially him, Sir.”

  “Very good! Very good, indeed.” The High Sentinel reached behind his back and pulled something long and black from beneath his cloak. He handed it to K.

  “It’s only a blaster,” he said as she took it without comment, checked the charge and load, and then holstered it on her hip where her skinsuit automatically made a place for it. “You’ll get your gauntlets back—or rather, a new pair—in good time.”

  “That time can’t come soon enough for me, Sir,” K said coolly.

  “I concur, Commander K.” The High Sentinel rubbed his long, thin hands together, producing a dry, sandpapery sound. “Well, then, I think we are ready to proceed. We will board my personal gunship and set a course for Eros.”

  “At once, Sir.” K fell into step beside him as the door slid open, letting them out into a long, narrow metal hallway. At last she was leaving her prison. Maybe she could leave the thoughts and dreams and memories behind her. Maybe she could finally forget…

  “Halt! Stop right there.”

  The deep, commanding voice came from the hallway to her left. K jerked her head in that direction and saw that a squad of Paladins was jogging along the corridor on an intercept route with herself and the High Sentinel.

  Or no…not Paladins. At least, not like any she had ever seen. For while they all wore the black skinsuit, these soldiers moved with a free and easy grace that bespoke individual control that was foreign to a true Paladin’s nature. Also, they didn’t run in formation and their movements weren’t exactly identical. Clearly there was something not quite right about them.

  As they came closer, K saw that their suits were marked. There was a red handprint over the left breast of each black suit—it stood out like freshly spilled blood. No Paladin would voluntarily deface their skinsuit. Who were these people?

  The leader of the squad came to a halt before them, blocking the way forward.

  “What do you want, Paladin? And what have you done to your suit?” The High Sentinel’s mouth twitched down in the faintest of frowns. Clearly he sensed something wrong about these soldiers as well.

  “We want the girl—Commander K.” Suddenly a blaster appeared in the leader’s hand. “Hand her over and maybe I won’t blow a hole through that shriveled black husk you call a heart, High Sentinel.”

  The High Sentinel’s eyes widened. “Who are you?”

  “Someone you tried to have purged.” The leader opened his cowl, revealing steel gray eyes and a frowning mouth.

  “Hesler.” The High Sentinel’s eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here? How dare you bring your squad of Tainted among those who are still pure?”

  A hint of a smile played around the leader’s thin-lipped mouth. “I owed a favor to a friend. And I liked the idea of ghosting your boney ass. Now will you hand her over or do I shoot?”

  “I—” But K never got to hear what the High Sentinel would have said. From the back of the squad, a very large figure was pushing his way forward. He wore a skinsuit like the rest but there was something familiar in the way he moved. When he got to the front of the squad, he pressed the tab at the side of his ear and the cowl of the suit slid up revealing light-on-white eyes the color of the ocean.

  “Boone?” K asked, her throat suddenly tight despite her suit. Then the needles bit into her forearms and she felt a cool rush of nothingness wash over her. “What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice cold.

  “I came for you, darlin’.” Boone reached for her. “I’m here to take you home.”

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Boone leaned forward, trying to reach her, but Hesler put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Damn it, giant, I told you to hang back until we had her. You’re just making yourself a target—an almighty damn big one at that.”

  “K won’t hurt me.” Boone spoke with more certainty than he felt. K’s eyes were no longer brilliant purple with triple gold rings—they were black on black—as dark as when he had first seen her. And the look in those eyes was cold…so cold.

  She stepped away from his reaching hand and her own hand slid down to her hip. Boone’s eyes widened when he saw she was caressing the hilt of a blaster.

  “Well, now. This is an interesting development. My dear K, who could have imagined your loyalty would be tested so soon?” The boney old bastard Hesler had called High Sentinel seemed to be enjoying the scene playing out. Though his pure black eyes meant he was supposed to be completely emotionless, Boone swore he could see the corners of his mouth twitching up in a sadistic smile.

  “K,” he tried again. “Darlin’, it’s time to come back now. Time to come home.”

  “A Paladin has no home.” Her voice was as cold as her stare. “We voyage through space purifying the Impure and spreading the light of Purity to all.”

  “That isn’t you anymore. It isn’t what you do,” Boone said hoarsely. “Baby, please, come back to me.” He reached for her again and again K stepped away. Suddenly the sleek, black blaster was in her hand.

  “That’s right Commander K.” The High Sentinel was practically smirking now. “Do your duty. Purge the one who contam