She flashed him a grateful smile. “Thanks.”
Rand scanned the empty office. “Melinda talk to you yet, Asher?”
“No.” His thumb absently stroked the back of her neck, making it a little hard for her to concentrate. “She wasn’t here when we walked in.”
“One of your—” Rand interrupted himself by clearing his throat and strode to the tidy desk located to the left of the door. “You got a call earlier. She took a message.”
“It’s okay,” Asher said. “Olivia knows about me.”
Rand turned to stare at her, his eyes narrowing slightly. She couldn’t tell if he was just surprised or if it pissed him off.
“If it hadn’t been for Ash, I’d have been…” She struggled for the right words without telling him too much. Asher may trust the man, but she hardly knew him. “In a very bad situation.”
“And I can say the same thing about you,” Asher said.
Rand scowled at them, then rummaged around for something on the desk. “Mel took down the number, but fuck if I can find it. Hold on. Let me get her.” He disappeared around a corner.
“He seems angry about us,” Olivia said once he was out of earshot.
Asher shrugged it off. “Nah. That’s just Rand. Like most of the guys here, he’s a little rough around the edges.”
Olivia wasn’t sure if that was the case or not. “Does anyone else here know about you or is it just him?”
“Just him, although I think a few of the guys have their suspicions. But they all have their own reasons for hating the army, so no one asks too many questions.”
She could appreciate being around people like that. Fewer questions meant fewer lies had to be told. “Was it one of the men you work with—another Iron Guild warrior—calling for you?”
“This is one of the places where they know they can reach me.”
There was a lot about his world she didn’t understand. “Why don’t you have cell phones? I mean, I know you don’t have them over there, but wouldn’t they make your lives easier over here?”
“Sure would,” he agreed.
He moved toward a glass trophy case mounted on the far wall and stared inside, but she had a feeling he wasn’t really looking. He’d probably seen these photos and awards many times. They showed a younger Rand in motocross gear, standing and grinning in front of mud-covered bikes and holding up various trophies. “But we didn’t grow up with technology like you have here, so things like cell phones and computers—even cars—aren’t things many of the men are comfortable with.”#p#分页标题#e#
“But you are.”
“Unlike the majority of them, I spend most of my time here.”
“Why is that?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Not much for me over there.”
“You don’t have family?”
“I haven’t spoken to them in years. Let’s just say my stepfather and I aren’t very close and don’t see eye to eye on many things. My little sister left home shortly after I did. Heard she joined a convent and I haven’t seen her since.”
“And your friends?”
“My friends are my fellow warriors.”
She wondered what had caused the rift in his family, but decided not to probe further. “Modern technology would make your lives easier. And you could, you know, coordinate your efforts better.”
“True. But most of us don’t stay on this side as long as I do or have a place to keep more than just a few meager belongings.”
“Why don’t you just take it back with you?”
He turned and put his hands on her shoulders. “Because you can’t take objects through the portals. Everything disintegrates. If you need to use something here, it needs to stay here.”
“Oh,” she said, finally understanding.
Rand came around the corner just then with an extremely pregnant woman leaning heavily on him.
“Asher, grab a chair,” he barked. “Mel’s gone into labor and needs to get off her feet.”
“No,” the woman protested, trying to stiff-arm him away. “Jeff will be here any minute.” She closed her eyes and grimaced in pain. “It hurts too much to sit in one place. Let me…walk around till then.”
“What can I get you?” Olivia asked, springing into action. “A sip of water? A cold rag for your forehead?” She used that opportunity to touch the woman’s shoulder. All her vitals looked good and Olivia didn’t pick up on anything abnormal. She wished she could do something to help with the pain, but since Mel’s body was functioning normally, no healing was needed. It was all just a natural process. She marveled at the way the muscles were contracting around the baby, getting ready to deliver a new life into this world.