by Tina Folsom
“Everybody has a price. Even you.”
Leila shook her head. “You don’t know me. You don’t know me at all.”
“I know everything I need to know.” He glared at her.
For a long moment, she faced off with him. As she stared into his chocolate brown eyes, a thought hit her out of nowhere. What if he was a demon himself, and under the guise of wanting to help her, he gained her confidence and thus access to her research? She’d seen his preternatural skill of passing through solid materials. For all she knew, he could be a demon and not the immortal guardian he claimed to be.
“What do these demons look like?”
Aiden shrugged. “They are humanoid in appearance; only once they use their demon powers will you recognize them by their green eyes.”
She swallowed. This wasn’t good. By his description, anybody could be a demon, even he. She had to get away from him. Now.
“I need to take a shower.”
***
Aiden watched as Leila wrapped her arms around her waist as if trying to cocoon herself, guard herself from the danger he’d warned her about. Maybe now she understood.
“You took a shower earlier,” he said without thinking.
Her outraged look confirmed that he shouldn’t have reminded her that he’d been watching her in her apartment. Another stupid move on his part.
With a clenched jaw, she glowered at him. “I feel dirty.”
Great! How had he screwed this situation up so quickly? It had taken him all of an hour to turn his charge against him. That had to be a record, even for him.
But every time Leila had voiced a protest or asked another question, he’d felt like he had to defend his actions. Her combative nature was riling him up, and he felt unable to keep his temper in check when around her. It had started when she’d told him in the car not to touch her. Despite the fact that he deserved her rejection, her words had hurt him. He should have been able to let them wash over him like an insignificant wave, but her words had struck him as hard as if she had slapped him in the face.
“Fine. Take a shower.”
As she slid past him, the aroma of her skin drifted into his nose. She felt dirty? He was in the right mood to show her what feeling dirty really meant. He clenched his fists so he couldn’t reach for her and throw her onto the nearest flat surface to show her what he called dirty.
When she opened the door to the bathroom, remorse for his behavior filled him. He wasn’t angry at her, but at himself, at his lack of control when it came to her.
“Leila, please, I’m—”
She slammed the door without listening. The click that followed confirmed that she had locked the door. Aiden let himself fall onto the bed, lacing his fingers behind his head as he stared at the ceiling. He dreaded the night ahead of him, a night he had to spend alone with Leila. As if being near her wasn’t bad enough. No, if he wanted to make sure she was fully cloaked while he got a few hours of shuteye himself, he would have to keep her in his arms all night. During sleep, a Stealth Guardian’s power to cloak with his mind ceased to function, and only his ability to cloak with his touch remained.
He hadn’t even broached that subject with her yet. Because he could already guess her reaction. She’d fight him tooth and nail on it, question the necessity of it, the science behind it, the ins and outs of how it worked. Hell, he wasn’t in the mood to give a lecture on the special powers of Stealth Guardians. In fact, he should tell her as little as possible. It was bad enough that he’d had to tell her about the demons and show her his power of walking through solid objects.
Anything else, and he might as well give her a tour of their compound and show her how the portals worked.
Fuck, he wasn’t the right person for this job. Everything about this assignment was wrong. He was emotionally involved, and that was never a good thing. His conscience dictated that he hand the assignment over to somebody else who would deal with Leila in a more professional manner than he was capable of. She was getting to him, stirring a part of him that he’d rather leave hidden. She would be safer with somebody else. He was too distracted by his desire for her to be a good bodyguard. Eventually, he’d make a mistake. And then what? Would Leila have to pay the ultimate price for his failure? It was unacceptable. It was better if he took himself off this assignment and made sure she had a protector who wasn’t as conflicted as he. The state he was in right now, he couldn’t trust himself.
He pulled out his cell. When the call connected, Aiden took a deep breath. “Father, we need to talk.”
“Aiden,” his father replied in surprise. “I thought you were on your assignment.”
“I am. That’s what we need to talk about. I’m not the right man for this.” Never before had he shied away from a challenge, but this was different.
“Aiden, you know we have faith in you. You were trained for this,” his father’s calm voice replied.
Trying to convince his father to let him off the hook wouldn’t be easy. He would have to confess his shortcomings. “I lost a charge only a few days ago. I shouldn’t be the one to protect this charge. This case is too important.”
“Unfortunately, sometimes bad things happen. The demons are getting stronger. All reports indicate it. Even the best among us have lost charges, more than usual. Not even your near-perfect record could be upheld. That’s why you need this now. You haven’t had to deal with failure in a very long time. If you don’t battle it now, it will grow in your mind and hinder you forever. You can’t allow it to fester like an infected wound.”
Letting his last assignment replay in his mind, Aiden couldn’t detect any obvious mistakes he may have made. As much as he blamed himself for his failure, there was nothing he would have done differently, except to kill Sarah earlier before she killed the innocent child.
“You don’t understand.” And how could his father really know what was going on inside him? That he couldn’t protect Leila like he was supposed to because he wanted her the way the desert craved water.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Aiden. I know what it feels like to lose a charge. We’ve all been there, but you’ll get past this. We’ve survived much worse.”
Aiden shook his head, wanting to repress the bad memories that resurfaced at his father’s words. He didn’t want to be reminded of his greatest failure. “It would be a more efficient use of my time to give this charge to somebody else and let me look for Hamish.”
“We’ll handle Hamish. You concentrate on your job!” The order was clear.
Aiden reared up from his position on the bed, frustration surging. “Please reconsider.”
There was a short pause, and he only heard his father’s breathing. “What is this really about?”
Aiden rubbed his eyes with his free hand. “I don’t think I can protect her.” Not when lust controlled him like this. A woman like Leila deserved better.
“Are you saying you don’t want to protect her?” his father shot back.
“Yes . . . no . . . I don’t know. What I mean is, what if I fail like I have before? Or worse, what if can’t do what needs to be done because I . . . ” His voice trailed off. He couldn’t tell his father. He couldn’t admit to him that there was something going on inside him that bothered him. That it appeared as if rasen had taken hold of him and was making him unpredictable.
“You’re questioning the council’s decision to assign you to this case? Are you telling me that we were wrong to trust you with this?”
“Circumstances change.”
“And what circumstances are those, Aiden?”
“You heard me earlier: I lost a charge. She killed an innocent child before I eliminated her. If I’d killed her earlier, it wouldn’t have happened. We knew she was weak and susceptible to the demons’ influence. We knew how much they wanted her for her skills. You should have voted to eliminate Sarah, not to protect her. Some humans are just not worth protecting. They represent too much danger. They’ll turn against us and their own kind.
They can be too easily seduced.”
And they could do things that put Stealth Guardians in danger. It had happened before. But it was only half the truth, the other half, he couldn’t confess to his father.
“That’s nothing new. We’ve always known about the risks. So, why are you making this an issue now?”
Aiden shot up from the bed and paced to the window. “I’m out there every day. I see what’s going on. You know yourself what’s been happening at all compounds. More charges are being lost. The demons are getting stronger. I don’t think we have the luxury of preserving one human’s life if it means jeopardizing millions because of it. We have to adjust our thinking to that.”
Yet even as he said it, he knew if he were given the order to kill Leila, he wouldn’t be able to execute it. And that was the reason why he had to hand this assignment over to somebody else.
“You have to give humans a chance. Can they never redeem themselves in your eyes? Every life it worth saving,” his father claimed.
Before Aiden could stop himself, the words were out. “So was Julia’s.”
At the other end of the line, his father pulled in an audible breath. “Don’t bring your sister into this. This is not about her.”
“It is. It’s always been about her. Nothing has changed.” Julia would be alive today if he hadn’t failed. If he’d acted earlier. If he hadn’t hesitated in killing his charge. He had his sister’s blood on his hands. It still stained his hands even after all these years. And it haunted him day and night.
“Then I suggest you make an effort to change. It’s time to move on and let the past lie where it belongs. We all grieved, but you’re the only one who’s never closed this chapter.”
“And how do you expect me to move on? I’m responsible for her death.” Aiden felt old pain well up in his chest. “I know in my gut that I’ll fail her.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end before his father spoke again. “Fail Julia or fail your charge?” His father sighed. “I think this assignment is exactly what you need. Don’t fight it. Whatever your gut is telling you, follow your instincts. You won’t fail her—neither of them.”
Aiden opened his mouth to ask his father what he meant, but didn’t get a chance.
“Good night, son.”
The click in the line confirmed that his father had disconnected the call.
Why had he not had the guts to tell his father outright that he couldn’t remain impartial when it came to Leila? Was it because deep down he didn’t want to be pulled off this assignment after all? That he wanted to continue to protect her because he wanted to be near her? How would he make it through this night, let alone the assignment, knowing what his body craved yet his code of ethics forbade?
Like an electric shock, a thought suddenly jolted him. Lifting his head, he listened. The shower was still running. With a jerk, he moved to the bathroom door. He’d been to this motel before. It was old and run down, but it served its purpose. However, the water supply in this dive left much to be desired. Aiden glanced at his watch. She’d been in the shower for half an hour. There couldn’t possibly be any hot water left.
“Leila.” He knocked to be heard over the running water. “Are you okay?”
There was no reply. He strained to hear whether she might be crying, but apart from the sound of the water, his sensitive hearing couldn’t discern any other noises.
“Leila!” he called out again.
What if she had hurt herself? Or had she overheard his conversation with his father? Damn it, he had to get in there and make sure she was okay. She’d probably be pissed at him for barging in on her, but he could live with that.
He passed through the door and stepped into the steam filled room. His eyes adjusted instantly and honed in on the window above the toilet. It was open.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” he cursed himself and rushed out of the empty bathroom.
He’d fallen for the oldest trick in the book. And he only had himself to blame.
TWELVE
Leila had noticed a sign for a subway station when Aiden had driven up to the hotel. Her handbag clutched tightly to her body, her limbs shaking from the cold night air, she ran, or rather limped, toward the entrance as fast as her aching ankle allowed. She fumbled for some quarters and dropped them into the ticket machine. The clinking of the coins as they made their way through the machine echoed in the empty entrance area.
She cast a look over her shoulder, scanning her surroundings, hoping that Aiden was still at the motel, thinking she was in the shower.
Her eyes tried to penetrate the dark but couldn’t. She saw nobody and hoped she was alone.
A coin dropped from her trembling fingers. She bent to retrieve it and inserted it into the slot. In the distance she heard a voice over the loudspeaker.
“Next inbound train in one minute. Platform two.”
Leila hit the ‘purchase ticket’ button, but nothing happened. Frantically, she pressed the button again, but no ticket emerged from the slot.
“Shit, shit, shit!” she cursed.
Footsteps behind her made her reach into her bag and grip the can of mace she still kept there as she spun on her heels, ready to defend herself. Her heart beat into her throat, choking off the air to breathe when she saw a dark figure approach. As soon as the light from the station engulfed him, she released a shaky breath.
A tall teenager dressed in a hoodie and worn jeans, his posture slouching, entered the ticket area. He glanced at her before approaching the turnstile, then jumped over it, not even checking if a station clerk was watching or not.
As he sauntered toward the stairs, she focused her attention back on the machine. She’d put the correct amount of coins in, so why wasn’t that damn thing spitting out her ticket? Angrily, she hit her foot against it, hoping to un-jam the darn machine. Suddenly, all the coins she’d inserted landed in the little receptacle for change.
“Yo!” a deep voice behind her jolted her.
Leila pulled the can of mace from her bag in a flash and whirled around to her would-be attacker. She’d never felt so jumpy in her entire life.
A tall black guy the size of a football player took a deliberate step back, lifting his hands in the process. “Hey, sis, no harm.” He motioned his head toward the machine behind her. “Fuckin’ thing’s broken again. Ride’s free tonight.”
Then he slowly walked toward the turnstile, watching her as he did so.
Leila lowered her can of mace, now breathing again, and watched him as he too jumped over it.
“Train approaching on platform two,” the voice from the loudspeaker announced.
“Uh, screw it,” she mumbled to herself and rushed to the gate, lifting herself over it much less elegantly than the guy before her had. She had no time to lose. If she didn’t catch this train, who knew when the next one was due. For all she knew, it could be the last one for the night.
She ran down the stairs, using the handrail to keep the weight off her injured foot, and saw the train that had already opened its doors.
“Doors closing,” the next announcement sounded.
“Hold it!” she screamed and ran as fast as she could, ignoring the pain shooting up her leg now.
Panicked, she saw the doors closing and lunged for them. A hand emerged from the train, pushing between the closing doors. Shrill beeps sounded as the doors reopened.
Leila hurtled inside, past the black guy who’d held the door open for her, the same who’d told her the machine was broken. As she took a steadying breath, she turned her head to him. “Thank you.”
He simply nodded. “No prob.”
She slunk into a seat next to the door, realizing only now that her heart was beating like a jackhammer and her breath had once more deserted her. But she’d made it, she acknowledged with relief. Now that she was on the train, she was safe.
For a few moments she relaxed and allowed the rumbling sounds of the train to lull her into a sense of security. The fli
ckering lights as it changed tracks and moved from one tunnel to the next, felt almost soothing, comforting. It was something she knew, something familiar. Something so unlike what had happened tonight.
She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, trying to stop her body’s trembling. Maybe she’d been in shock all this time, but suddenly things were hitting home: Aiden, a stranger, had followed her home and broken into her apartment. He’d watched her doing . . . that . . . and then kidnapped her. The things he’d told her about demons and guardians, supernatural beings and immortals seemed so surreal now, so totally unbelievable.
Yet, she couldn’t deny that she’d seen him pass through the door of her bedroom and through the car. But that didn’t mean that anything he’d told her was the truth. He could be a demon—the very thing he pretended to warn her of. She didn’t know what to think anymore. If he was really an immortal bodyguard as he claimed, why hadn’t he said so when they’d first met? Why had he snuck into her apartment in the middle of the night? Yet at the same time, she had to admit that he hadn’t harmed her even though he’d had plenty of occasions to do so.
But did that mean she could trust him? Or was it simply a ploy to gain her trust? And he was playing dirty, using the sexual attraction that sizzled between them to slip past her defenses.
Her cheeks still burned at the thought of him watching her. Kissing her. Oh, God, and she’d been so numb from the shock of having escaped her burning apartment that she’d responded to him like a common slut. This wasn’t her. She wasn’t like that: wanton, lusty, reckless. But this man, this stranger, had turned her into a person she didn’t recognize. A person she didn’t want to be.
Liar, a tiny voice in her head whispered. You liked it.
She tried to protest, but all strength seemed to have drained from her tired body and mind. Defeated, she lowered her head into her hands, trying to hide from the world, and more so from herself.
By the time she looked up a few minutes later, the train was approaching her stop. She was about to get up when she realized one thing: she couldn’t get off here. Her apartment was in cinders, and there was no way she could stay there tonight. She slumped back in her seat. Where could she hide for tonight?