by Tina Folsom
Finally, Leila opened a door and motioned him inside, Aiden following him. They had entered a massive open plan kitchen, which included a huge kitchen island with barstools, and a den with an eighty-inch plasma screen on the wall and ample couches in front of it.
“Not bad,” Wesley murmured under his breath and motioned to the TV. “You guys know how to live.” The TV was muted on his favorite channel. Drawn by the basketball game on the screen, he moved toward it. “Go Warriors!”
“So you really are from San Francisco,” Aiden said from beside him.
Wes nearly jumped out of his skin. He hadn’t heard or seen Aiden approaching. “Shit! Don’t do that!”
“Just keeping you on your toes.” He paused, then added, “Wesley.”
Behind them, Leila cleared her throat, making them both whirl their heads to her. “Once you’re both done with whatever this is, maybe I could get started on bandaging the wound? I have another patient, you know.” She pointed to the barstool, while she walked around the island and took a bowl from a cabinet.
Wesley hopped on the barstool and watched her fill the bowl with warm water.
“So, Leila,” he started when she returned to set the bowl on the island, before digging into the black doctor’s bag next to her. “You’re not a Stealth Guardian.”
She looked up briefly. “No, I’m not.” She pulled white gauze from the bag and dipped it into the warm water. “But I’m married to one.”
Before he could react to that, she ordered, “Take off your shirt so I can clean the wound.”
He complied, and she went to work. While she concentrated on cleaning the incision, Wes turned his head to look at Aiden, who was watching them, his arms crossed over his chest.
“So you two are together. I figured as much.” When Aiden only grunted, Wes had to grin. “Guess you’re not that different from my vampire friends at Scanguards. They are just as protective when it comes to their women.”
Aiden took a few steps closer, dropping his arms to his sides. “Yeah, you keep saying that you’re friends with vampires. How did that happen?”
Finally, somebody was listening.
“Well, funny you should ask.”
Aiden tilted his head to the side.
Wes lifted one hand in apology. “Okay, not funny. My brother is a vampire.”
“Your brother?” Aiden frowned. “But if he’s your brother, he would have been a witch. Why would a witch—”
“To save us all. Ever heard of the Power of Three?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
Wes felt his chest fill with pride. “My brother Haven, my sister Katie, and myself, we were destined to become the Power of Three. But we were betrayed.”
“Betrayed by whom?”
“By our mother. And later by another witch, Francine. She tried to harness the power for herself, and the only way to stop her was for one of us to die.”
Aiden contemplated Wesley’s words. “A witch’s power can’t reside in a vampire’s body.”
Pleased that Aiden understood, Wesley continued, “My brother knew that. That’s why he sacrificed his human life.”
“But how do the vampires play into that?”
“Long story.”
“Give me the short version.”
“Our mother was killed—and our baby sister Katie kidnapped—by a vampire when we were just kids. Back then, we didn’t know who we were, or that our mother had stolen our powers. Haven became a vampire hunter to avenge her. He searched for Katie for over twenty years, killing every vampire that he came across. But then he was tricked by another witch.” He shrugged. “It was my fault. But that witch, she’d found Katie. She was an actress at that point. The witch managed to get her hands on us, too. And that’s how Scanguards got involved, because Yvette had been assigned as Katie’s bodyguard. We all ended up imprisoned by the witch. We had to work together.” He smiled. “And Haven, he fell for her. For Yvette. That’s how we all became a family. I would trust every single one of the Scanguards vampires with my life. And I would give mine for them if I had to. They’re my brothers and sisters.”
He suddenly noticed that Leila had stopped tending to his wound, and looked at her. “Thanks.” He glanced at his arm. It was neatly bandaged.
“You’re really friends with vampires?” Aiden now asked, his voice still incredulous, yet much friendlier than before. “So there is hope for peace between your two species.”
“They’re good people. They protect the innocent: humans, witches, vampires. Doesn’t matter. They don’t care what the evil looks like and who’s in danger; they don’t discriminate. They’ll protect those who deserve protecting.” And Wes was proud to be part of them.
Leila exchanged a look with her husband. “Just like we do.”
Aiden nodded slowly, then shifted his gaze back to Wesley. “How did you find us?”
“I wish I could tell you. I’m not quite sure about that myself. But I saw a preternatural creature, a man who was invisible. He disappeared in a portal in the woods of Sonoma and—”
“One of the lost portals,” Aiden murmured.
Not knowing what he meant by that, Wes continued, “I found a dagger carved into the stone where I’d last seen him. I did some research and got lucky. I figured out what that man was: a Stealth Guardian. So I talked to my boss at Scanguards and asked him for permission to find you guys.”
“For what purpose?”
“So we could help each other; you know, work together.”
“Hmm.”
Wes lifted his hands. “I know. It was a long shot. But I was able to use witchcraft to give the portal the illusion that I was a Stealth Guardian, so that it would open for me. It did. But once inside, I didn’t really know what to do. I couldn’t find any buttons or anything.”
Leila chuckled.
“Because there aren’t any,” Aiden said, and tipped his finger to his temple. “You can only operate it with what’s up here.”
“With your mind?” Excitement shot through Wes. “That’s amazing. Fuck! But…” He furrowed his forehead. “Then how did I land here? I didn’t know how to operate the portal. It just started turning and throwing me around like a ping-pong ball in a dryer.”
“Yeah, I guess it would feel like that to you. To anybody but a Stealth Guardian or a demon, the trip in the portal is disorienting,” Aiden admitted.
“You mean it doesn’t feel like that to you?”
He watched Aiden run his eyes over him, assessing him now. “I think you know enough already.” Then he motioned to Wesley’s arm. “And you’re all bandaged up. Time to go back to your cell.”
Wes jumped from his barstool. He had no intention of going back there. He’d have to stall the guy for as long as it took to gain his confidence. “I haven’t eaten anything yet.”
Aiden pointed to the fridge. “Don’t expect me to prepare it for you. Help yourself.”
Wes didn’t wait for a second invitation and marched to the industrial-sized refrigerator, ripping it open. It was fully stocked. “Excellent.” He went to work, pulling out various items, before saying over his shoulder, “You know, Aiden, that glass of Scotch you promised me would be nice just about now.”
Aiden grunted, “Don’t get too comfortable. You’re not staying here.”
Wes grinned to himself. A few glasses of whiskey with Aiden, and the guy might sing a different tune. After all, Wes could charm any vampire. How hard could it be to get a Stealth Guardian on his side?
35
The weightlessness was gone. Tessa was aware of her body again, in fact, she was aware of every single cell of it. She felt strong and full of energy. There was a beeping sound somewhere close by as well as a humming that sounded like an air conditioning unit. Only, she had no air conditioning in her apartment.
She blinked her eyes open. The light around her was blinding, forcing her to squint. Fluorescent lights above her, steel cabinets in her periphery, white glossy walls all around. A hospital roo
m. Immediately, memories rushed back: the demon who’d attacked her, the hypodermic needle, the drug he’d injected her with. Had she made it? Had she survived against all odds?
She inhaled sharply, when she felt movement next to her. She spun her head to the side. Hamish! He lifted his dark head of hair from the edge of the gurney where he’d been resting it.
“Tessa.” His voice cracked. “Finally.”
“Hamish,” she murmured, her throat as dry as the Sahara.
He leaned to the side and reached for something. “Here, drink,” he coaxed, bringing a glass of water with a straw to her lips. She pulled the straw into her mouth, lifted her head off the pillow, and greedily gulped down the cool liquid until the glass was empty.
“I knew you’d come,” she whispered.
He smiled, and only now did she notice that his eyes were red and swollen… as if he’d shed tears. Automatically she reached for him, but he drew back and rose.
“Tessa, as much as I want to hold you in my arms right now, we can’t touch just yet.”
She felt confusion spread at his strange words and searched his face for a possible explanation. “W—”
“I nearly lost you, lass. You were slipping away. There was only one thing I could do to save your life.”
She swallowed hard, fear gripping her once more.
“I had to pour virta into you.”
“Virta?” She didn’t know what he meant. She’d never heard that word.
“My life force. The force that gives me my preternatural powers. I needed to make you strong.”
She exhaled, her pulse beating frantically. “I’m a Stealth Guardian now?”
He chuckled. “No, my love, but you’re nearly as strong as one for a few hours. Look at your arms.”
She lifted them and shrieked when she saw the color of her skin. “I’m golden.”
“It’ll wear off soon.” She noticed how he ran his eyes over her, desire and tenderness colliding in them. “But if I touch you while you’re shimmering golden, you’ll orgasm within a few moments. And as much as I want to give you that pleasure and feel you climax under my touch, we need to talk first.”
In disbelief she kept staring at her arms. “Oh my God, I can’t believe it. But why? How? I don’t understand.” She’d thought she knew everything about Hamish and his race, but there appeared to be so much more.
“Stealth Guardians want to make sure that their lovers are always completely satisfied. We can will our virta to enter our lover’s bodies during sex and—”
Shocked, she sat up. “You had sex with me while I was unconscious?”
Immediately he shook his head. “No!”
“But you just said—”
“When you reacted badly to the opioid blocker Leila injected you with and crashed, I kissed you and poured my life force into you that way. It gave you the strength you needed to fight for your life. I couldn’t let you die, Tessa.” Tears brimmed in his eyes. “You mean too much to me.”
His words made her head and her heart spin. Without thinking she reached for him and stroked his cheek. A tingling sensation spread over her body and traveled to her core. A flame of desire heated her insides and shot to her pussy. Her clit began to throb uncontrollably.
“Oh God!” she cried out, but it was too late to pull her hand back from Hamish’s face. A wave of pleasure rolled over her as she climaxed harder than she ever had, the power of it making her sink back onto the gurney, while her spasms reduced her to a moaning woman in need.
“Tessa,” Hamish ground out, hovering over her. “Damn it, when you do that, I can barely hold onto my self control and not take you right here.” He glanced around. “But this is neither the place, nor the time.” He ran a hand through his hair and reared back again.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, feeling her cheeks flame.
“Don’t be,” he said, “you’ve just given me something to look forward to.” In his eyes, she saw a promise, and she intended to hold him to it.
“Me, too.”
He smiled, then he pulled the chair close to the gurney again and sat down. “Tell me what happened,” he said gently. “Everything you can remember.”
“He was a demon. His green eyes… I recognized them immediately. I’ll never forget that color. I tried to slam the door in his face, but he was so strong…”
“You opened the door for him?”
Tessa felt her heart beat into her throat as she relived the most frightening moments of her life. “I thought Poppy had forgotten something.”
“Poppy left you alone, after what she promised me?” Hamish ground out.
“Don’t be mad at her. She got a call. Her mother fell down the stairs, and she needed to get to the hospital. She didn’t want to leave me alone, but I forced her to go.”
Hamish nodded. “That explains why she wasn’t at your place. At least she’s fine.”
“We don’t know that,” Tessa said, shaking her head. “Not even a minute after she left, there was a knock at the door. I thought it was her. I thought maybe she’d left something in her rush to get to the hospital. So I opened the door without looking through the peephole.” It had been careless. “What if he caught her on the way in? And hurt her?”
“There was no evidence of a struggle anywhere in the stairway. More likely the demon waited for Poppy to leave and snuck into the building after her—before the front door could snap in.”
“I’m worried about her. We need to check on her. Please.” She shot him a pleading look.
Hamish sighed, then nodded. “I’ll send Enya to her apartment.” He looked at his wristwatch. “It’s almost five in the morning. She should be at home if nothing happened to her.”
“Thank you.”
“I know this is hard for you, but I need to know what else happened. Anything you can remember about the demon, what he looked like, what he did and said.”
“He kicked the door open and slammed me against the wall. When I tried to scream for help, he choked me, until I almost fainted.” Even now she felt her airways constrict and had to gasp for air.
“Easy, my love, he can’t hurt you anymore,” Hamish murmured.
There it was again: he was calling her my love. As if it were the most natural thing in the world. As if he truly meant it.
She nodded, recalling the horror again. “He put tape over my mouth then, so I couldn’t scream anymore. Then he tossed me over his shoulder and carried me into the bedroom. I thought he was going to rape me…” She stopped, then looked down at herself—and sighed in relief. She still wore the same clothes as earlier. The only difference was that somebody had put sensors underneath her top. Her eyes shot to the monitor, from which she heard a steady beeping. Then she looked back at Hamish.
“Leila, Aiden’s wife, took care of you. She’s a doctor, well, a researcher. But she did what she could. I brought you here…”
“Where is here?”
“Our compound. All Stealth Guardians assigned to Baltimore live here.”
“Like in a commune?”
He smiled. “Kind of. We’re protected here.”
“And the demons?”
“Nobody, no demon, no human can find this place. It’s invisible to all but us. It’s safe.”
She let out a breath, nodding. “The demon, when I saw what he pulled from his pocket—a hypodermic needle—I tried to fight him, but he was so strong. So strong.”
“No human has ever been able to overpower a demon. Physically they’re too strong. The only way a human can fight them is by outsmarting them.”
“And Stealth Guardians? Are they stronger than the demons?”
“We’re about equally matched. But as you know we have a couple of aces up our sleeves.”
She immediately remembered the fight outside her apartment building. “Yes.” She swallowed and continued, “He pinned me and then he started injecting me with the drug.”
“Can you describe him?”
She shrugged. “Tal
l, dark hair, scary looking.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. All I saw were his demon eyes.” Tears shot to her eyes again.
“It’s okay, Tessa.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “Did he say anything before you passed out?”
She frowned. Words were tumbling around in her mind. “A lot of things. I’m not sure they make sense.”
“Try and recall what he said.”
She closed her eyes for a moment. “He said they would find me dead of a drug overdose. And nobody would question it. They would all think I took my life because of the scandal.” She met Hamish’s eyes. Understanding shimmered back at her. “He said I was hard to kill. That I’d escaped twice already.”
“So he’s responsible for both the attacks: the duct falling, and the demons attacking us the night after your parents’ party.”
“I think that’s what he meant. He said this time I wouldn’t escape and my death would finally make him superior.”
“Superior?” Hamish’s eyebrows snapped together. “Did he say anything else?”
“Something about the Great One,” she said, but couldn’t recall the exact words.
Hamish slammed his fist on the gurney. “Zoltan himself. That fucking bastard!”
“Zoltan?” Why did that name have a familiar ring to it?
“Yes. I found out who sent that photo to the press. There was an email by somebody named Zoel Monnadt. Only the name turned out to be an anagram. When you shift the letters around you get Demon Zoltan. He sent the photo to Meredith Durant to discredit you and destroy your campaign.”
Excitement raced through her when she realized something. “So you can prove that the photo was altered, right?”
To her surprise, Hamish shook his head. “The photo is real. I had Pearce check it out. It wasn’t altered in any way.”
“But—”
The doors to the medical center suddenly opened, and she spun her head toward them. A man in his thirties marched in, a file in his hand. She’d never seen him before and tensed automatically.