by Tina Folsom
An instant later, a figure dressed in a long cloak, a hood over the head, showed itself.
“Tell the dog to stop,” she yelped. A woman’s voice!
Logan grabbed the woman and pulled her up.
“Rex, release.” The dog let go of the woman’s leg. “Good dog,” Enya praised and patted its head.
“And who have we here?” Logan asked calmly.
Enya snatched the hood and pulled it off the woman’s face. Blond curls tumbled down.
“Deirdre!” She knew the headstrong council member. She’d looked up to her. “How disappointing.”
Deirdre knew she was caught. Her facial expression said as much. “It had be to done. The council was foolish to let her live.”
“They voted,” Logan said. “It’s not for you to change the outcome.”
“I tried to do what’s best for our society.”
Enya shook her head. “You can’t change the rules just because they don’t suit you.”
“Don’t think you’re any better than I! If you were privy to the information the council got, you would have done the same,” Deirdre hissed.
“Everyone on the council had the same information you did; you were outvoted.” Enya replied.
“Let’s go. I’m sure the council is interested in knowing who’s been going against their orders,” Logan remarked. Then he grinned. “I think the council might soon have a vacancy to fill.”
Deirdre stared at them with wide eyes. “They can’t do that!”
Enya bent closer to her, moving her mouth to the woman’s ear. “They can, and they will. Hope you’ll enjoy your lead prison.”
She took a step when her foot hit something on the floor. She bent down and picked it up. It was a cell phone. “Yours?” she asked Deirdre curiously.
“Yes.”
She exchanged a quick look with Logan. “If she had her phone with her, why didn’t Pearce warn us?”
“Call him. Now.” Logan’s voice sounded tense.
Enya dialed the compound’s number and let it ring. There was no reply. Panicked, she disconnected.
“His cell,” Logan urged.
She speed dialed Pearce’s cell phone, but after three rings it went to his voicemail. She pressed the disconnect button.
Her pulse raced. “We have to get to the compound.”
“We have to deliver Deirdre to the council first. Call Aiden,” Logan ordered and for once, Enya didn’t mind his commanding tone.
THIRTY-FOUR
Leila couldn’t see the face of the man who was holding a dagger to her throat, his other arm holding her in a vice-like grip. The cold blade pressing against her skin was disincentive enough to turning her head.
“Now listen very carefully, or I’ll carve up your pretty neck,” he hissed into her ear.
Her vocal cords clamped down, and she didn’t dare nod; however, her attacker seemed to take her silence as an agreement.
“Good. Into the command room, now. Move.”
He pushed against her back, making her move forward with tentative steps, always aware of the knife that remained at her throat as he held her arms behind her back with his free hand.
“Leila? Where are you?” Pearce’s voice came from the dark room.
Her captor catapulted them inside, just as lights flickered above and suddenly illuminated the room.
“Finally, the backup generator kicked in,” Pearce acknowledged with relief in his voice and turned on his chair.
His expression turned to horror as he saw her.
“Fuck!” Pearce cursed.
“Couldn’t have said it any better,” the men behind her drawled.
“Council member Finlay,” Pearce greeted him with an icy voice, his eyes darting about the room as if looking for something.
Would he help her? Would he be able to defeat her attacker?
“So it’s you.”
“Indeed,” Finlay acknowledged. “But you green boys thought I was stupid and would fall for your little tricks. I’ve been around longer than you, and you think you could put a simple trace on my cell?”
“You found it then.” Pearce seemed calm now.
Was he not going to do anything to help her? Leila gave him a pleading look, but he concentrated on Finlay instead.
“Of course I did. That’s why my cell phone is still at the council building.”
Pearce tipped up his chin. “What do you want?”
“Isn’t that obvious?” He laughed, the cold sound making her shiver despite the jacket she wore. “I want Dr. Cruickshank.”
“To kill her?”
“To trade her. But enough of it. We don’t have much time. Your friends will call in soon and realize you’re not answering. And I want to be far away from here by then.”
“You’ll never get away with it. The council will hear of this.”
Finlay chuckled. “The council? I don’t give a fuck about the council! They have no power.”
Pearce’s mouth dropped open. “They’ll know it’s you.”
“So what? They can’t stop me now. Neither can you. The real power is with the demons.”
“How can you betray us like that? They’re evil.”
“Evil? That’s just a matter of perception. You think you’re so much better than the demons? We all have our agendas. And the Cloak Warriors’ doesn’t suit me anymore. They’re stifling my ambitions.”
He tugged on Leila’s arms, pulling her backwards.
Pearce took a step forward.
“No further!” Finlay warned. “Or I’ll kill her.”
As if to prove his intent, he pressed the knife harder to her skin. She gasped.
“You won’t kill her. The demons want her,” Pearce guessed. “A corpse won’t do them any good.”
Finlay grunted. “A little cut won’t kill her, but I’m sure it’ll hurt.” He moved his mouth to her ear. “Won’t it, dear?”
“I’ll never help the demons,” she professed. She would never betray Aiden like that. She’d promised him that.
“Oh, trust me. You will. They have ways of making you submit.”
As he slowly moved the knife downward, fear and pain collided. She felt a burning sensation, then liquid trickling down her skin. He’d cut her.
“No!” she begged.
“Stop!” Pearce ordered.
“Well, then we’re all in agreement, aren’t we?”
Finlay’s nonchalant tone seemed to infuriate Pearce.
“No, we’re not in agreement, council member. You’re a traitor, and you will pay for this.”
Her attacker simply laughed at Pearce’s warning. “Get real.”
Clearly scrambling to buy more time, Pearce made another attempt at engaging Finlay. “What are the demons promising? What is it that you don’t already have as a council member?”
“Power.”
Leila couldn’t see Finlay’s eyes, but she imagined how they lit up now.
“Yes, power. Real power. The council has no true power. All they do is talk and vote and discuss everything ad naseum. I’m sick of nobody ever taking real action. We could have taken over the world long ago, made the humans work for us instead of the other way around. What are we? Servants? Why should we devote our lives to this ungrateful race?”
Leila swallowed hard, almost choking on the lump in her throat. She felt the hatred rolling off him in waves, the frustration that must have built up over years if not centuries. And now she was at his mercy.
“Why me?” she whispered, careful not to move her neck to avoid being cut again.
He pulled on her arms, making her bend her head back.
“Because you’re the key to world domination. When I deliver you, I’ll become their leader. Nobody will be more powerful than I!”
An ice-cold shudder ran down her spine, chilling her to the core. He was crazy. Consumed by delusions of grandeur.
“Finlay, don’t do this,” Pearce warned.
“We’ve wasted enough time,” he sudd
enly said and motioned toward Pearce. “It’s the lead cell for you.”
Pearce’s eyes flashed in panic.
A chuckle was Finlay’s response. “You didn’t think I’d leave you here so you could alert your friends, did you now?” Then he moved the knife in an unmistakable gesture. “Now, lead, or I’ll carve her up.”
“What’s a lead cell?” Leila asked.
“Shall I explain it to her, or would you?” Finlay answered.
Pearce gave her a resigned look. “It’s a room lined with lead. If a Cloak Warrior is locked up there, it drains all his powers, making it impossible for him to walk through walls or make himself invisible. If left there for too long, the loss of power is irreversible.”
Her breath hitched. People were being hurt because of her. She couldn’t allow this.
“Don’t do it, Pearce. Let him kill me.”
“So heroic all of a sudden?” Finlay hissed at her ear. “And here I had you pegged for a coward. Or maybe you’re just bluffing. I know a thing or two about that. Trust me, once you’re in the demons’ hands, you won’t be that brave anymore. Once you stare death in the face, you—”
Finlay’s voice died as Pearce unexpectedly charged him. In the same instant, Leila felt Finlay’s arm push her away from him with such force that she lost her balance and slammed against the wall. As she scrambled to get up, pain radiating up her side, Pearce and Finlay were already engaged in a fight. An uneven one, she realized with horror, because Pearce had no weapon.
Yet that didn’t seem to stop the younger Cloak Warrior from fighting as ferociously as if he were armed to the teeth. With cunning Karate kicks and blows, he kept Finlay’s dagger at bay. But the traitor was strong and agile. Evading yet another kick, he whirled sideways, managing to slice Pearce’s bicep open with his dagger.
Leila witnessed as blood gushed from the wound, but Pearce didn’t even stop for a split-second and launched another blow at his opponent. Angry grunts and groans accompanied every blow and kick, every punch and strike.
She wanted to run and get help, but the two fought too closely to the door, making her escape impossible. Her heart beat frantically as she had no choice but to watch the fight.
All of a sudden, Pearce seemed to gain the upper hand, knocking Finlay off his feet with a vicious kick. But even lying on the floor, Finlay didn’t give up. As Pearce moved in to finish him off, the council member’s dagger hand lashed out with lightening speed.
Pearce’s scream filled the room.
Confused, Leila watched as he fought to keep his balance, but lost the struggle and fell to the floor. When his hands went to his foot, she finally saw what had happened: Finlay had sliced through Pearce’s Achilles tendon. Blood gushed from the wound.
Triumphantly, Finlay jumped up.
“Bad move, boy. Hope you’ll enjoy your lead cell.”
Leila shivered and cast the wounded Cloak Warrior a sad look. Now another person was hurt because of her. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
Pearce motioned his head toward Finlay, his face a mask of pain. “It’s not your fault, it’s his.”
A tear loosened from her eye and rolled down her cheek. “Tell Aiden, I’ll never betray him. Please.”
Finlay let out an evil laugh. “Oh, you will betray him. Trust me on that.”
The hatred that fumed in his eyes chilled her to her bones.
THIRTY-FIVE
“Pearce is not responding.” Aiden felt his heart stop when he heard Enya’s words coming through the phone.
“What do you mean?”
“We tried the compound and his cell. He’s not replying. And he never warned us about Deirde’s approach. Something is wrong.”
Aiden cast a quick glance at Hamish and Manus, whose concerned looks told him that they’d overheard Enya’s words.
“We’re heading there right now.” He pressed the disconnect button and shoved the phone back in his pocket.
“There could be all kinds of reasons why he’s not picking up,” Hamish tried to calm him, but it didn’t help.
“Yes, and I don’t like any of those reasons. I have to make sure Leila is safe.” She was his first priority. Nothing else mattered, not even the fact that leaving the house in Sonoma now meant they would have to set another trap for the traitor later.
“We can’t just leave here. This is our best chance to catch the demons,” Hamish protested.
Aiden sought his friend’s gaze. “Would you think the same if this were the woman you once loved?”
Hamish’s eyes flared. Aiden noticed the cords in his neck bulge, betraying the struggle raging inside him. Seconds passed until his friend finally nodded. “Fine, you win.”
They headed out the door into the warm September night and rushed to the car. The ride to the portal stretched for too long—long enough for Aiden’s mind to conjure up one terrible scenario after another of what could have happened at the compound.
He should have never left her there. It was a mistake. She would have been safer with him.
His heart racing, Aiden charged toward the portal the moment the car came to a standstill. His friends ran after him. The instant he stood in the portal, he concentrated on the compound’s location and transported, not even waiting for his fellow Cloak Warriors. They would be only seconds behind him.
When he exited the portal at the compound, he barreled up the stairs and ran down the long corridor to the command center. The door was wide open, the lights were on, but the chair in front of the console was empty, as was the entire room.
“Leila! Pearce!” he called out.
Behind him, footsteps approached. He turned, only to face Hamish and Manus. At the same time his eyes fell on a spot on the floor where something had splattered. His heart stopped.
“Oh, God, no!” He took a shaky breath, inhaling the metallic scent of blood. His heart clenched painfully. What had happened? Was this Leila’s blood? Where was Leila? He should have never left her side.
“Shit!” Hamish cursed. “There must have been a fight.”
Manus darted his head out the room, then turned back. “There’s a trail leading down the corridor.”
“We have to find them,” Aiden pressed out and rushed out of the room, following the trail of blood that looked as if somebody had been dragged. He tried not to think of the worse, and instead continued running until the trail ended—in front of the lead cell.
Each compound had a cell in order to lock up Cloak Warriors who’d infringed on their laws. Theirs had never been used before.
“Aiden unlocked the heavy door and jerked it open. “Leila! Pearce!” He peered into the darkness.
“Aiden, here,” came Pearce’s voice.
“Pearce!” Aiden rushed into the cell and found Pearce cowering on the ground. “Where is she? Where is Leila?”
“I’m sorry, Aiden. He had a knife to her throat. I tried to fight him, but I was unarmed.” Pearce pointed toward his leg. “He cut my Achilles tendon.”
Aiden felt the air leave his lungs, virtually choking him. “No!” He stared at Pearce’s injury, knowing his friend had done what he could, but without the ability to move on his feet, he couldn’t have done any more.
Manus and Hamish entered behind him and helped their friend up.
“Finlay is the traitor. He took her.”
“Did he hurt her?” The thought of Leila in pain made bile shoot up from his gut.
“He didn’t,” Pearce alleviated his concern.
Aiden took a deep breath, trying to regain his wits. He had to get her back, somehow. And he could only do that if he could think clearly, something that seemed impossible right now.
“What happened?”
Pearce let out a long breath. “Finlay somehow caught onto us. He knew we had a trace on his phone. He left it at the council building, so I didn’t know he was on the move. He transported in and cut the power. By the time the backup generator kicked in, he’d already gotten to Leila and threatened her.”
Aiden slammed the door shut behind them.
Pearce glanced at Hamish. “Deirdre? Shit, I would have never thought she’d go that far. So she was the one trying to kill Leila?”
Hamish nodded.
“We’ll deal with Deirdre later,” Aiden acknowledged impatiently. She would be punished—and severely, if he had a say in it. But what was more important now was to find Leila. “What does Finlay want with her?”
Pearce’s look turned to stone. “Trade her to the demons. He’s crazy, Aiden.” He shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it himself. “He thinks the demons will crown him as their leader if he brings them this prize. He wants the power.”
“I won’t allow it. We’ll get her back!” Aiden felt his anger rise. Nobody would take Leila away from him. He’d get her back even if he had to follow the demons into their lair and rip her from their claws. “She’s mine!”
Three pairs of eyes stared at him.
“Well,” Manus said deadpan, “that clears that up. I would extend my congratulations, but considering the bride is absent, I’ll postpone that.”
Aiden lashed a furious glare at Manus for his flippant remark.
Manus immediately lifted his free arm in a show of surrender. “No harm meant. We’d better get to work on finding your mate.”
Manus’s last word sank deep into Aiden’s chest. Even though he’d never used it when thinking about Leila, he knew it was the truth nevertheless. Nothing had ever felt so right. There was no denying that rasen had finally caught up with him and delivered the only woman who could ever be his. Now all he had to do was get her back.
He nodded. “We have to figure out where Finlay took her.”
Pearce motioned toward the stairs, his arms around Manus’s and Hamish’s shoulders for support. “Let’s go to the command center. Your father can get us access to his file to see where he owns property, who he knows, where he goes. If somebody can bring me his cell phone, I might be able to trace where he’s been before. Maybe we can find his meeting place with the demons that way.”