by Tina Folsom
Tessa let out a shriek. Poppy’s eyes shot to her. For a split second they both stood there, frozen.
“No hiding it now,” Poppy said, her voice suddenly as cold as ice.
An instant later, Poppy charged her and slammed her against the tile wall.
“No!” Tessa cried out, fear freezing the blood in her veins. “Oh my God, Poppy, you’re a demon!”
Pinning her with superhuman strength that made escape impossible, Poppy brought her face within inches of Tessa’s. “Well, surprise, surprise.”
Tessa gasped for air, Poppy’s vice grip cutting off her supply. There was nothing she could do other than appeal to whatever humanity was left inside her. “Please, Poppy, I’m your friend.”
“Friend?” Poppy scoffed. “The friend who always got everything she wanted! While I was just the hanger-on. The less pretty one. The less desirable one.”
“That’s not true, Poppy!”
“Not true?” Poppy hissed and ripped her sunglasses from her face, tossing them aside. Green demon eyes glared at her. “Tell me, am I prettier now, huh? Do you think I’ll get the right guy now?” Poppy shoved her harder against the wall.
Pain radiated down Tessa’s ribcage. “Poppy, you don’t have to do this.”
“But I do! Don’t you get that? They blackmailed me into it. Those demons, they saw me. They saw what I did. And they used it to make me do their bidding.” She threw her head back and grunted toward the ceiling.
“Did what? Please let me help you!”
“You can’t help me! Don’t you understand?” She sounded anguished now. “I was the one who hit Yardley. I was behind the wheel when I shouldn’t have driven that night. I wasn’t seeing clearly, and he just crossed the street.” She shook her head furiously. “It was his fault! Yardley came out of nowhere. He just ran into my car.”
“It was an accident. You could have just called 9-1-1.”
“Damn it, Tessa, don’t you get it? I was drunk that night. Way over the limit. And they saw it. The demons. I didn’t realize at first what they were. I went along so they’d keep silent. I would have lost everything I’d built for myself.”
Tessa shook her head, tears brimming in her eyes. “So you helped them.”
“They told me to write those notes. So you would get out of the race and let Gunn win. They want him to lead this city, not you.”
Tessa swallowed as Poppy confirmed everything Hamish and his colleagues had already assumed. Only it hadn’t been Gunn helping the demons, but Poppy.
“You made the duct fall…”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
Poppy glared back at her. “You should have heeded those warnings I sent and just got out of the race. But no, you had to continue; you had to play the tough one. So I had to act.”
Maybe she could stall Poppy long enough until Hamish came looking for her. “Then why did you get me a bodyguard?”
“Because I needed to make sure nobody suspected me, least of all you... I needed an alibi.”
“Why go to Faldo of all people?” It made no sense. Or did Poppy not know that Faldo worked for the Stealth Guardians?
“Given Faldo’s criminal history, I figured if anything went wrong, I could always blame him.”
“But Hamish saved me.”
“Yeah, that was bad luck. And I’d planned everything meticulously. I even wore that terrible blouse with the silver sequins to make sure nobody noticed how I made the duct fall.”
That confirmed what Manus had suspected. “How could you do that? Why didn’t you come to me? I could have helped you.”
“Helped me?” Poppy shook her head and let out a bitter laugh. “It was too late already. I was in their clutches, and they drew me deeper. I had to do what they wanted. It was me or you.”
But there was a glint in her eyes, and Tessa knew not everything she’d done had been against her will.
“At first, maybe,” Tessa dared to say. She remembered what Hamish had told her once, that when humans surrendered to the demons and accepted their fate, they turned into demons themselves. “You’re a demon now. You didn’t fight it.”
“I gave up fighting. I mean, why not? All those times I had to stand in your shadow and take the crumbs you left for me, the cast-off boyfriends, the second-rate jobs… I was never your equal.” An evil grin spread over her face. “But now I’m better than you. Stronger.”
To prove it, Poppy grabbed her and flung her against one of the stalls. The door gave way, and Tessa stumbled inside, hitting her knees on the toilet as she tried to brace her fall. She scrambled to get up and turn around, and just as she did, Poppy blocked the door, a pistol in her hand.
“Time to say good-bye, Tessa,” Poppy said.
“No!” Tessa screamed and barreled toward her.
But she never made contact. Poppy was ripped back. A shot went off. Stucco rained down on them.
~ ~ ~
Hamish slammed Poppy against the sink, surprised by her physical strength. When he saw her face, more specifically her eyes, he knew why. She’d already surrendered to the demons. She was a demon herself now. Beyond redemption.
“Fuck!” he cursed.
Poppy glared at him, pushing herself away from the sink, one hand bleeding green, the other holding the gun, pointing it at him. She clearly didn’t know that the bullets couldn’t kill him. It appeared her demon master hadn’t yet had the chance to initiate her and equip her with the right weapons.
Nevertheless, he had to disarm her so she couldn’t hurt Tessa, who was now scrambling out of the stall.
“Get down, Tessa!” he ordered.
Poppy shifted her gaze and with it, her gun, now aiming it in Tessa’s direction.
“Bad choice,” Hamish hissed and jumped in front of the nozzle of the gun.
It went off. He felt the bullet graze his arm. Wrong weapon and a bad shot, this was his lucky night. He jumped her, slamming her to the ground, kicking the gun out of her hand. She swung at him, but she was a good fifty pounds lighter than he, and had no combat training.
“Who sent you? Zoltan?” he ground out.
She rocked her head forward to use it as a bowling ball, but he was faster and veered back, shifting his position so he could reach into his boot. With his weight shifted to one side, she was able to kick him off, but he’d already managed to pull his dagger from the sheath in his boot.
She lunged for the gun, but he pounced, bringing her down to the ground once more, this time face down. He pulled her head back by her hair, causing her to give a high shriek, and pointed the dagger at her throat.
“Which demon sent you? Name him!”
She kicked out underneath him, but even Poppy had to know that she was defeated.
“What’s his name?”
“I don’t know,” she finally grunted.
“Then you’re no use to me.”
He eased up on her hair and leaned backward. When she lifted her head, he did the only thing he could do with a demon: he sliced her throat open.
Green demon blood spilled on the linoleum floor as Poppy slumped to the ground.
At a sound behind him, Hamish spun around.
Tessa stood in the door to one of the stalls, her hand pressed over her mouth, her eyes brimming with tears.
He jumped up. “Are you hurt?”
Wordlessly, she shook her head, her gaze fixed on Poppy’s lifeless body.
“I had to kill her,” he explained. “She’d already surrendered to them. There’s no way back from that.”
Tessa nodded, but tears started streaming down her face. He pulled her into his arms, holding her close to stop her body from trembling.
“She said the demons blackmailed her,” Tessa choked out between sobs. She lifted her head. “She was the driver in the hit-and-run that killed Yardley. She was drunk.”
“Oh God. That’s how they got to her.”
Tessa nodded. “What are we gonna do now?”
/> Hamish heard footsteps outside the door. “Hush.” He made himself and Tessa invisible.
The door was pushed open and Enya charged in.
“Hamish?”
He uncloaked them. “Thank God you’re here. We’ve gotta get rid of the body.”
“Help is here,” he heard Logan say from the door as he and Manus charged in.
Enya pointed to the door. “There’s no way we’re gonna be able to get her past all those people out there. She’s swimming in demon blood. We can’t cloak that.”
“Enya is right,” Logan agreed. “We need to make sure that nobody gets in here.” He turned to Manus. “There should be a sign we can hang in front of the door that says Cleaning in Progress. Find it!”
Manus charged outside.
“How did you figure out it was Poppy?” Enya asked.
“I ran into her mother,” Hamish said. “I found out she never took a fall like Poppy said.” He looked down at Tessa, still in his arms. “She had no reason to leave you alone in your apartment other than to make sure the demon got to you. She probably let him in through the emergency exit door on her way out.”
“She wasn’t a demon then. Her eyes, they were still—”
“It takes a while until a human turns completely to the dark side. But that final act, giving the demon access to you, so he could kill you, was probably what sent her over the edge.” He remembered something now. “When she made the statement on your behalf, remember? We saw it at the clinic. She wore sunglasses. She’d probably already turned by then.”
“I thought she was my friend.” Tessa’s voice was thick with tears. “We’ve known each other since college.”
Manus reentered the ladies room without opening the door. “Look what I found in the janitor’s closet.” He lifted his hand that held a gray plastic tarp. “If we wrap her in this and make sure all demon blood is concealed, we can cloak the body and ourselves and carry her out of here.”
“Brilliant idea,” Hamish said.
“There are also cleaning materials in the janitor’s closet,” Manus said with a look at Enya.
She huffed. “Well, that’s just great! You get to dispose of the body, and I get to play cleaning lady.”
“I’ll help,” Hamish said. “After all, I was the one who made the mess.”
45
“Congratulations on becoming mayor,” Leila greeted Tessa, when she, followed by Hamish entered the kitchen of the compound.
Everybody else was already assembled. After disposing of Poppy’s body, Enya, Manus, and Logan had returned to the compound, while Sean, Jay, and Aiden had stayed until after the race had been called for Tessa. After Tessa’s acceptance speech, she’d left with Hamish by her side, making a stop at her apartment to pick up more of her things.
She’d told Hamish everything Poppy had said in her final moments. Her betrayal had been a shock, nevertheless, Tessa felt sad about the loss of her friend. How had she not seen what was going on inside of Poppy? How had she missed the signs?
“You okay?” Hamish murmured next to her.
She glanced up at him. “I will be.”
“Tessa did it,” Aiden said, putting an arm around his wife. “We should celebrate.”
Tessa was about to decline, still feeling too agitated from her escape from death, when a female voice from the door interrupted.
“Celebrate what? The fact that this compound constantly ignores our rules? Or maybe that your security protocols are so loose that a witch was able to breach your defenses? Or maybe the fact that you just don’t give a damn that no human charges are allowed here? Enlighten me!”
The woman who stood in the door wore black leather pants, a black T-shirt, and a black leather jacket. Her tall boots reached to her knees and gleamed as if somebody had polished them for hours. At her hip sat an ancient dagger. Long red hair fell over her shoulders in soft waves.
Instinctively, Tessa reached for Hamish’s hand.
“And you are?” Hamish asked.
“Virginia Robson, newest member of the Council of Nine.”
A few mumbled curses sounded behind Tessa.
“Oh crap,” she heard Manus choke out.
“To what do we owe your visit?” Hamish asked diplomatically.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You must be Hamish. I would have expected better from you than bringing a human charge into the compound.” Her jaw tightened. “Not to speak of letting a witch run wild here.” Her gaze shot to the couch where Wesley stood as if frozen. “But all this is about to change. I’m here to clean up.”
Tessa felt a shiver run down her spine and Hamish’s arm come around her waist, pulling her to him.
“Starting with the human,” Virginia continued. “She has no right to be here. You’ve compromised the security of this compound by having brought her here. We’ll have to abandon this place and relocate everybody.” She stepped closer to Hamish. “You’ll answer for this before the Council of Nine.”
“He didn’t do anything wrong!” The words were out before Tessa realized that she had enough courage to oppose the intimidating woman.
“What did you say?” Virginia hissed.
“I have the same right to be here as Leila, Aiden’s wife.”
Virginia tilted her head to the side, perusing her with suspicion. “Are you telling me that you’re Hamish’s mate?”
Tessa swallowed. To get Hamish out of trouble, she’d say whatever she had to. “Yes.”
Virginia narrowed her gaze on Hamish. “And why has the Council not been informed of this?”
Tessa noticed how Hamish gave her a sideways glance. He seemed to hesitate for a moment. “It only just happened. I was about to inform the Council but we had to deal with a demon attack instead. I apologize for my tardiness.”
Virginia pressed her lips together, clearly annoyed that her accusation didn’t stick.
“Very well. I suppose congratulations are in order.” But her voice didn’t sound very congratulatory.
“Thank you,” Hamish said, his voice just as icy. “If you don’t mind then, my mate and I would like to retire. It’s been a long night.”
“Not so fast!” Virginia snapped and pointed to Wesley. “There’s still the matter of the witch.”
“Name’s Wesley,” Wesley introduced himself, a charming smile on his lips as he approached.
“Stay where you are!”
~ ~ ~
When Virginia’s hand went to her dagger, Wes stopped walking. For now. He didn’t mind strong women, and if this gorgeous redhead wanted to give him a few orders and tell him what to do, he wasn’t at all opposed to it. For all he cared she could strip him naked, tie him up, and ride him into oblivion. And he wouldn’t protest. No, he’d encourage her, spur her on.
“Whatever you want,” he said, running his eyes over her. “Anything, really.”
What a body! Long legs that looked strong and toned. A slim waist, flaring hips, firm boobs. Just the right curves everywhere. And then that hair. Flaming red. Just what he liked best. He’d always associated red hair with passion and lust, and instinctively been drawn to women whose hair looked like the smoldering embers of a fire.
He shifted his gaze to her face. Hazel eyes with flecks of green glared at him, her luscious plump lips pressed together in obvious contempt.
“You’ll be interrogated. In the meantime, you’ll be locked up.”
Hamish cleared his throat. “Wesley helped us with our mission. Without him, we might have never been able to thwart the demons’ plan to destroy Tessa’s political future. He’s no danger to any of us.”
Virginia tossed a dismissive look at Hamish. “That remains to be seen. Anybody breaching our defenses is a danger. And you and your compound mates should have notified the Council of Nine immediately when the breach occurred. We had to find out from a guardian at another compound.” She made an all encompassing motion to the other Stealth Guardians in the room. “This has not gone unnoticed. Together with the previo
us infractions of your motley crew, you’ve exhausted the Council’s patience.”
“Oh,” Wesley murmured to himself. Because of him the Stealth Guardians were in deep shit. He sighed. “Listen, Virginia, I—”
“That’s Ms. Robson to you!” she snapped.
“Ms. Robson then.” He shrugged. “Listen, it’s really not their fault. Don’t punish them for what I did.”
Within the blink of an eye, her face was only inches from his. “You, witch, listen to me. I’m the one giving the orders. If you think you can wrap me around your little finger like you’ve clearly done with these dimwits, you’re wrong. I’m your worst nightmare.”
Nightmare? More like a wet dream. But maybe it was better not to come back with that kind of response just yet.
Instead he grinned. Virginia wouldn’t be an easy conquest, that was certain. She would be a challenge, but he didn’t mind. She was worth it. Worth the extra effort to get her into his bed.
And he didn’t care how long it took before she was beneath him, panting in ecstasy, because one thing was certain: he was in lust!
46
Hamish shut the door to his quarters behind Tessa and leaned against it, watching how she placed her handbag on the coffee table in the sitting area.
“Phew, that woman is a piece of work,” she said and turned to him.
He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “What just happened out there?”
She raised her eyebrows. “Well, you saw it. She was accusing you left, right, and center.”
Her protectiveness of him was downright endearing.
“So you figured you’d propose to me, hmm?”
Tessa’s chin dropped. “Propose?”
“Yep. Couldn’t leave it up to me, could you? No, you had to take the reins, Ms. Mayor, didn’t you? Is that how it’s gonna be between us? You bossing me around until you get what you want?”
“But I didn’t want her to punish you. I mean…”
She stopped herself, because Hamish couldn’t keep a straight face any longer. A smirk spread on his lips.
“You, you—”