by Tina Folsom
“Damn it, Tessa, I’m just trying to help,” Poppy said.
“I know, but I won’t admit to something that’s a lie.”
“But we have to give the press something, otherwise they’ll make up their own shit. You know how the press is. They’re like piranhas. Just give them something! We can always amend things later when you can prove that it’s not you in the photo,” Poppy begged, her pen hovering over her notepad.
“And why would they believe me then if I lie now? No, Poppy! I thought you understood me. That’s why I hired you—because you get me.” She cast her old college friend an imploring look.
“I do get you. But sometimes we have to do things we don’t want to do to survive. We might not like it, but we have no choice.” She pointed her finger at Tessa. “You might not like it, but, girl, what choice do you have? At least try to save what you can. If you come out with a big, heartfelt apology, it might even help your campaign.”
Tessa huffed. “How would claiming that I’ve taken drugs help my campaign?”
“It’ll make you more human. It shows that you struggle with much the same issues as your electorate,” Poppy explained.
“But it’s not true. I’m not a druggie, and I won’t admit to it.”
“Tessa, just think this through—”
The ringing of a cell phone interrupted her. Poppy reached into her handbag and lifted her phone from it. She pressed a button. “Yes?” As she listened, her expression changed. “Oh, God, no!” She stared at Tessa, her eyes widening all of a sudden. “No, where? How bad is it? Where did they take her?” She nodded. “Okay, I’ll be there as soon as I can.” She disconnected the call.
“What’s wrong, Poppy?” Tessa asked immediately, full of concern for her.
Poppy shot up from the couch. “My mother. She fell down the stairs.”
“Oh my God! How badly is she hurt?”
Poppy shook her head. “I don’t know. They couldn’t tell me. She’s at the hospital now. I have to get there.” Then she hesitated. “But Hamish isn’t back. I promised him I’d—”
Tessa rose and put her hand on her friend’s arm, stopping her. “You have to go. He’ll be back soon. I promise I’ll stay in the apartment.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. Now go. Your mother needs you.” She motioned to the door.
Poppy collected her things and rushed to the door, looking over her shoulder at Tessa. “I’ll let myself out. Go and rest until Hamish is back. I’ll call you once I know more.”
A second later Poppy was gone, the door falling shut behind her. Tessa sighed, hoping Poppy’s mother was fine. As an only child, Poppy only had her mother left. Her father had died of cancer a few years earlier.
Tessa turned toward the kitchen. Maybe a cup of tea would do her some good. A frantic knock at the door made her whirl around. Had Poppy forgotten something in her hurry? She rushed to the door and ripped it open.
“Poppy, what—” The words got stuck in her throat.
Hamish had claimed she’d know demon eyes when she saw them. He was right, because right now, green demon eyes were staring straight at her. They belonged to a tall man of muscular build. But that was all she made out, before her survival instinct kicked in and she tried to slam the door in his face. She didn’t succeed.
One of the demon’s legs was already wedged between door and frame, preventing her from shutting it. She braced herself against the door with all her weight, but she knew immediately that it was futile. The demon kicked against the door, opening it fully and slamming her against the wall. The impact dazed her for a short moment, but it was long enough for the demon to enter and close the door behind him. She screamed. Maybe somebody would hear her; maybe Poppy was still in the stairwell, though if she’d taken the elevator down, she probably wouldn’t hear anything. Or worse, maybe the demon had killed Poppy on his way in.
Oh God, somebody had to hear her. Anybody, please!
Her scream was cut short when the demon’s hand wrapped around her throat and squeezed. She started choking, gasping for air. Was this how she would die? She tried to fight him, kicking her legs at him, hitting him with her hands, but he didn’t release her from his chokehold. All her strength started to leave her, but suddenly he eased up on his grip, allowing some air into her lungs.
“No more screaming, you stupid bitch,” he growled and pulled something from his pocket. A moment later, he slapped a broad tape over her mouth, preventing her from making another sound. Finally, he released her neck, but she knew her ordeal wasn’t over. He grabbed her, lifted her up and carried her to the bedroom.
Oh God! This monster was going to rape her. Tears stung her eyes. But she had to be strong now. She had to get through this. She’d been through a different kind of torture before, and she’d survived. She would survive this, too. And if she could stall him long enough, Hamish would be back. And he would save her. She held onto that hope, while the demon tossed her on the bed.
“Never thought I’d get such an opportunity handed to me,” he said, pulling something from inside his jacket.
Her heart almost stopped when she saw what it was: a rubber tourniquet and a hypodermic needle.
“Noooo!” she tried to scream, but the sound was muffled by the tape. She rolled to the other side of the bed, but he’d anticipated her and was already there. She pushed him with her hands, kicked him relentlessly, but he simply grabbed her legs and twisted her so she landed on her stomach.
He jumped on her back and pinned her down. “A veritable wildcat. Who would have thought that Councilwoman Wallace had so much fight in her? So very different from all the others.”
She didn’t know who he was talking about, and she didn’t waste her energy trying to figure it out, because now the demon was wrapping the tourniquet around her right bicep. She tried to pull her arm away, but he was too strong. Stronger than any human. When the tourniquet was tightly knotted around her upper arm, the demon lifted himself halfway off her, but only to roll her back around so she faced him.
He pinned her arms with his knees, rendering her immobile. His green demon eyes stared down at her, and an evil laugh rolled over his lips.
“You’re hard to kill. Twice already you’ve escaped your fate.” He lifted the needle in his hand, drawing her gaze to it. “Not today.” He grinned. “Your death will cement my superiority over the Great One. He was never supposed to be the leader. I was!” The last word was almost a shout.
Tessa’s fear and panic ratcheted higher. Not only was he a demon, he was also crazy.
“But enough talking.” He bent closer and pressed her arm deeper into the mattress as he lowered the needle. “They’ll find you dead of a drug overdose, and nobody will even blink. Not after that nice little picture in the news.”
She cried out against the tape over her mouth. Then she felt the sting of the hypodermic needle as it broke her skin and entered her vein.
“They’ll think you killed yourself because you were found out…”
As the drug entered her bloodstream, she felt a lightness come over her. Everything began to blur, and the demon’s voice grew distant.
“I don’t leave loose ends, not like that weakling Zoltan… thought he could solve the problem without killing you…”
She didn’t want to hear any more. She only wanted to sleep. To forget. To drift away. To a place where she was safe.
Hamish…
Darkness encroached, and all pain and fear vanished. She surrendered to it. There was no more fight left in her. It was time.
31
Upon his arrival at Tessa’s apartment building, Hamish noticed several reporters still camped out in front of it in the hopes of catching Tessa and asking her to comment on her alleged drug use. Knowing that they probably knew his face from the incident at the Center for Drug Rehabilitation, he pulled around the back and parked close to the emergency exit. After reassuring himself that nobody saw him, he cloaked himself and exited the car.
Shit!
He raced up the final flight of stairs and charged toward the door to Tessa’s apartment. It was closed. Up here too, the light had burned out. Still invisible, he passed through the door, entering the apartment. He remained silent, didn’t call out Tessa’s name. The living room and kitchen were empty. Neither Poppy nor Tessa were where he’d left them. The door to the bedroom stood open. Treading lightly but rapidly, he approached and peered in.
His heart stopped. Tessa lay on the bed, a tourniquet around her right bicep, a hypodermic needle next to her arm. Her eyes were closed. She wasn’t moving.
“Tessa! Oh God no!” he cried out and ran to her. He felt for her pulse, while he let his gaze roam. She was alone. No sign of Poppy or the demon who’d somehow gotten in. Because this had to be the work of demons. Tessa would never do this to herself.
Finally a pulse, but it was weak. He shook her. “Tessa, can you hear me?” But there was no response. Panic charged through him, but he knew he couldn’t allow it to take a hold of him. He had to remain calm to save Tessa. “You’re gonna be alright, lass, I promise you.” Because he couldn’t allow her to leave him.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and pressed Aiden’s number, taking Tessa’s hand while he waited for his friend to pick up. Her hand was clammy. How much time did she have left?
Oh God, don’t let it be too late!
“Hamish? What’s up?” Aiden’s voice came through the cell phone.
“Where is Leila?”
“Right here with me, why?”
“Put me on speaker.”
“You’re on.”
Then Leila said, “Hey Hamish.”
“Tessa is unconscious. Somebody injected her with drugs.”
“Shit!” Aiden cursed.
“Do you know what kind of drug?” Leila asked in her calm doctor voice.
“Not sure. An opioid, most likely heroine or something else. What do I do?”
“Does she have a pulse?”
“Yes.”
“Is she breathing?”
“Very shallow.”
“Okay, listen carefully. She doesn’t have much time. You won’t make it to the hospital—at the best of times it’s a good half hour from where you are.”
Hamish wanted to scream.
“You need to bring her to the compound. I have Naloxene here. It’s a morphine blocker; it’ll work on any opioid. If I can inject her within the next fifteen minutes, she’s got a chance,” Leila said.
“Hamish,” Aiden interrupted, “there’s a portal only five minutes from Tessa’s apartment building. I used it when I left her place earlier.”
“I know which one you mean. I’ll be at the compound in ten minutes. Get everything ready.”
Hamish disconnected the call, shoved his phone back in his pocket and put the hypodermic needle into another pocket in case Leila needed to test what Tessa had been injected with.
Then he lifted Tessa into his arms and carried her out of the apartment, extending the cloak to her so she was invisible, too.
“Hold on, Tessa, please hold on.” Just a few more minutes.
He ran down the stairs with her and headed for the emergency exit, pushing the door open when he reached it. The moment he’d placed Tessa on the backseat of his Mercedes, he raced to the location of the portal Aiden had mentioned. It was located in the basement of an old warehouse that the kids in the neighborhood were now using for skateboarding. Several youngsters were practicing. He stopped the car behind a stack of old pallets and got out. As soon as Tessa was back in his arms, he carried her toward the entrance, still invisible. He found the stairs that led into the basement and took them.
“Almost there, my love, almost there,” he murmured to her when he finally reached the portal.
To a human it looked like a wall, but Hamish recognized the carving in the stone: a dagger. He pressed his hand against it and felt the spot warm under his touch. A second later, the wall was gone. He charged into the dark cave that had opened up. With his mind, he willed the portal to close and concentrated on his destination. He held Tessa closely against his chest; everything seemed to spin around him, but he knew it was only an illusion. In reality, he wasn’t moving. A few seconds later, it was over. They’d arrived. The portal opened up. Hamish stepped out of it.
Aiden and Leila were waiting for him with a gurney.
“Put her on here,” Leila ordered.
Gently he laid Tessa onto the hospital bed. Leila was already checking her pulse. Hamish searched her face. When Leila nodded, he let out the breath he’d been holding. Leila pulled a hypodermic needle from her lab coat and removed the cap. As she swabbed Tessa’s skin and stuck the needle into her vein, she said, “Naloxene works very quickly. If she has opioids in her bloodstream, this will block them.” She pushed the liquid from the needle into Tessa’s arm slowly and then pulled it out. “We’ll know within the next fifteen minutes. Now let’s get her to the medical room. I need to hook her up to the monitor to get her vital signs.”
Hamish held onto Tessa’s hand, while they pushed the gurney down the long hallway and through the double doors into the room that Leila had equipped as a mini medical center. Several monitors, a crash cart, and other equipment Hamish didn’t recognize stood along one wall, while an operating table and steel cabinets took over the other side of the room. A large sink was located in one corner, a decontamination shower next to it. The University Medical Center Hospital wasn’t any better equipped than their compound.
Hope finally blossomed in Hamish’s chest. Tessa had a chance now. Thanks to Leila. Hamish lifted his eyes and looked at Aiden’s mate, who was now placing sensors on Tessa’s chest and an oxygen monitor on her index finger. Then she put an oxygen mask over Tessa’s nose and mouth.
“I don’t know how to thank you, Leila.” He felt unshed tears sting his eyes.
Leila smiled. “I’ll do everything I can. But she’s not out of the woods yet.”
Hamish squeezed Tessa’s hand and looked down at her pale face. “I can’t lose her.” He was certain of it now. His heart wouldn’t survive it. She meant too much to him.
He felt Aiden’s hand on his shoulder and turned his head to his best friend. They exchanged a wordless look, and he realized that Aiden understood what was going on inside him.
Suddenly, a loud high-pitched noise blared through the compound, accompanied by flashing strobe lights overhead. Through speakers high up in the ceiling, a computer voice announced, “Intruder detected. Portal breached. Intruder detected. Portal breached.”
“Shit!” Hamish cursed. Had a demon followed him because he’d been careless, only concerned with getting Tessa to the compound as quickly as possible?
“Demons!” Aiden grunted. “Fuck!”
“They must’ve followed me.” He tossed a look back at Tessa, torn between staying with her and responding to the intruder alarm, while Aiden was already running toward the door.
“Go!” Leila shouted. “You can’t do anything here anyway.”
When Aiden pushed the double doors open, Hamish charged after him, drawing his dagger.
“Let’s get those fuckers!” he ground out and ran to catch up with Aiden.
32
Disoriented, Wesley felt his feet touch solid ground. He exhaled sharply and pressed a hand to his heart. It was beating like a jackhammer. He felt like he’d been tumbled around in an industrial-sized dryer. At least his racing heart meant he was still alive. However, now his ears were ringing as if an ambulance were chasing him.
Shit, if this was what St
ealth Guardians went through every time they used one of their portals, then he wasn’t envious at all. He’d take a first class flight on a commercial airline anytime. Or on Scanguards’ private jet.
Suddenly dim light illuminated the dark space he’d been thrown around in, and he realized that the portal had opened in much the same way as it had when he’d gotten in. For a moment he couldn’t see anything. Shit, had the damn thing even worked, or was he still in the woods in Sonoma? Would his vampire friends at Scanguards, the security company he worked for in San Francisco, have a right old laugh when he returned, having to admit he’d failed in locating the Stealth Guardians?
His boss, Samson, an over two-hundred-and-fifty year old vampire, had been skeptical when he’d told him he wanted to investigate these preternatural creatures after encountering one in the woods of Northern California. But Samson had relented after Wesley had made his case, arguing that in today’s volatile world it was good to have allies. He wanted these Stealth Guardians and the vampires of Scanguards to work together in defeating evil.
And he had no intention of disappointing Samson.
Wesley now took a step forward and let his gaze roam. Grinning, he pumped his fist in the air. “Yes, I did it!”
Because he wasn’t in the forest anymore; he was in a building. Thick stone walls, a stone floor, sconces on the walls that provided light. Outside of the portal, the sound grew louder, indicating that it wasn’t his ears ringing, but some sort of alarm that had gone off.
He didn’t need to speculate whether it was meant to alert the occupants of the building to his arrival. Two men were already barreling down the long corridor toward him.
Crap, make that armed men, because unless his eyesight was failing him, they both held weapons in their hands, some kind of dagger or machete. When they saw him, they seemed to run even faster.
“Shit!” Wesley hissed under his breath.
It didn’t look like either of these guys had any intention of giving him time to explain why he was here. They looked like the kind who killed first and asked questions later. Not a good scenario. But Scanguards had taught him to play the cards he was dealt, so he prepared himself for his not-so-friendly welcome committee.