TWENTY-THREE
Aiden sank back into the comfortable couch as Leila excused herself to freshen up in the bathroom. Personally, he didn’t want to wash her smell off him. He could still taste her kiss, one she’d had every opportunity to deny him, yet had openly participated in. However, as much as he wanted to daydream about it, there were more important things to think about.
“How did you ever find that portal?”
Hamish, who sat opposite him, popped the lid off a beer bottle and gulped down half of it before answering. “By accident. On one of those occasions when I thought I was being followed, I ended up in that strip club. I thought I’d seen somebody disappear into the basement, so I followed. But nobody was there. Instead, I found the portal. The dust was disturbed where the symbol was; that’s why I even noticed it.”
“So you think it was a Stealth Guardian who followed you and then disappeared through the portal?”
“Most definitely. I would have known if it was a demon. There are way too many neon signs in that club not to notice the presence of a demon.”
Aiden had to agree. It would have been impossible for a demon to sneak past Hamish without destroying all the lights. But the thought that somebody on the council was aiding their enemies was still too disturbing a thought.
“Are you suspecting anybody in particular?” For a moment, he held his breath. When he met his friend’s gaze, he already knew the answer.
“Nobody is above suspicion.” Hamish paused. “Not even your father.”
Aiden jumped up and walked to the kitchen, pulling a beer from the fridge.
“I’m sorry to be so blunt, but it could be anybody. And just because he’s your father doesn’t make him immune to the influences of the demons.”
Aiden twisted the cap off the bottle and tossed it in the trash before turning back toward the open plan living area. “My father is a strong willed man. He would never allow the demons to influence him. Besides, he’s got everything he wants. What could they possibly tempt him with?”
The only thing anyone in his family could be tempted with was to have Julia back, but even the demons couldn’t resurrect the dead.
Slowly, he walked back to the couch and slouched down.
“If I knew what went on in the head of each council member, trust me, I wouldn’t be sitting here wondering about it. I would be taking the a*shole down. Whoever it is, he is betraying all of us. And putting us in danger,” Hamish said
“What do you propose to do about it, considering you’re a wanted man right now?”
Hamish grinned. “Now that’s where you come in.”
“Why do I get the feeling that I’m being used?”
“What are friends for? Besides, didn’t I just save you and your charge’s ass? And what a lovely ass it is.”
Aiden glared at him. “Leave her out of this.” He wasn’t in the mood to discuss Leila’s assets with him.
“So I wasn’t mistaken then. You do have the hots for a human. You never cease to surprise me.”
“It’s not like that. And it’s not up for discussion either.”
Particularly because he didn’t want to face the facts: with every minute he spent with her, the thought of having to hurt her one day sickened him more and more. He couldn’t remain objective about her and treat her like he’d treated every charge before her. The indifference and emotional detachment that had served him so well in the past had deserted him on this assignment. If he wasn’t careful, he’d form an attachment to her that he would have a hard time severing later.
“Can we change the subject? I believe we were talking about how to ferret out the traitor.”
“Very well. Let’s start with who knew you were at the safe house.”
“But as we both know, the attack on the safe house wasn’t staged by the demons,” Aiden explained. “Ergo, this won’t lead us to the traitor.”
“We can’t know for sure. Maybe they didn’t want to kill your charge but capture her instead. I know who she is.”
Aiden sucked in a quick breath. “How much do you know?”
“Most of it: that she’s a talented researcher, and that her boss just got killed and she’s somehow involved,” Hamish admitted.
“That’s only the half of it.” He leaned forward. As he filled Hamish in on the details of why the demons wanted Leila, he listened to the sound of the shower down the hallway. He blocked out the thought of it, and concentrated on giving Hamish all the information he had.
When he leaned back a few minutes later, Hamish took another sip of his beer and set the empty bottle on the coffee table. “No shit!”
“Yep, that’s it in a nutshell.”
“So we’re up against two enemies: the demons who want her drug, and since no copy of it exists anymore, they have to get her; and somebody else who wants to eliminate her before the demons get to her.”
Aiden twisted the bottle in his hands. “And since the only people who know what threat she represents are sitting on the council, whoever wants to eliminate her, is also on the council.”
“Two birds to catch then. One traitor, and one, let’s say, misguided council member who doesn’t like the fact that he was outvoted and is now taking matters into his own hands to ensure the desired outcome.”
“Exactly.”
Hamish rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s one other person who knows what kind of danger Leila represents.”
Aiden blinked. “Manus.” He slammed his hand into the sofa cushion. “He was the only other person who knew where we were. He came to switch out the cars. He even brought Leila some chocolate for her birthday, which proves he’s read her file from cover to cover.”
“It’s a possibility. But don’t forget that besides Manus, the council could have checked into your location log and found where you were.”
He shook his head. “No. They couldn’t have known. When I claimed the safe house, the request was anonymous, and I hadn’t checked my position in with central command yet.”
“After being at the house for what, at least eight hours?” Hamish sent an incredulous look his way.
“I know it’s against procedure, but there were circumstances that prevented me . . . ” Ah, hell, who was he kidding? He’d forgotten to send his position to central command. He’d been too preoccupied with Leila. A great Stealth Guardian that made him.
“So that confirms it,” Hamish agreed. “The only one who knew you were at the Thai massage parlor was Manus. That means he’s the one who sent the dogs after you.”
“Shit!” Aiden cursed.
“No!” Leila’s voice came from the corridor as she stepped into the living area. “It’s not Manus’s fault. It’s mine.”
***
Leila collected all her courage and stared past Aiden, unable to look him in the eye right now. Yet she couldn’t keep silent about this and let an innocent take the blame for what she’d done. It had bugged her ever since Hamish had shown up at the safe house and said that a phone call could have been traced back to it.
“I’m sorry, I just meant to . . . my parents, I didn’t want them to worry when they heard the news about what happened to me. I had to tell them I was okay.” She pulled the belt of the bathrobe she’d found in one of the closets tighter around her waist.
“You did what?” Aiden leapt from the couch.
“I called them from the safe house.”
Aiden closed his eyes for a moment and clenched his jaw together. She noticed how his hand curled into a fist as if he wanted to punch somebody, presumably her.
When he opened his eyes again, they blazed with anger. “Do you want to die? Do you? Because you’re making it damn hard for me to protect you.”
“But they needed to know. I couldn’t—”
“You couldn’t what? So you’d rather put yourself and everybody else in danger because of what? Sentiments? I’m afraid you don’t have that luxury.” He marched toward her, his steps slow like a tiger ready to attack.
“That’s not fair!” she bit back. Maybe he had no parents to care about, but she did.
“Fair?” he yelled. “Life isn’t fair! Those demons aren’t fair, and neither is that Stealth Guardian who’s after you to eliminate you!”
“What?” she echoed. Had she heard correctly? “The Stealth Guardians want to kill me?” Instinctively, she took several steps back and hit the wall behind her.
Aiden slammed his fist into the wall beside her head, jolting her. She’d never seen him so angry.
“F*ck, yes! Everybody is after you.”
“Stop it, Aiden!” Hamish jumped up and went to his side.
Aiden ignored him. “Not only are the demons after you. Whoever tried to attack you today, or last night for that matter is one of our own. And you worry about what your parents think?”
Leila shivered, not understanding why he still blamed his colleague. “I’m sorry, but I told you it wasn’t Manus’s fault.”
“I’m not talking about Manus!”
Hamish put a hand on Aiden’s shoulder, then looked straight at her. “It appears that somebody on our governing council would rather see you dead and your research die with you than risk that you fall into the demons’ hands.”
Her mouth fell open and her heart pounded into her throat. “But those are the same people who sent you, aren’t they?”
Both nodded.
Her voice shook, when she continued, “Then did they order you to kill me now?”
Aiden let out a breath, sounding somewhat calmer as he continued, “No. Whoever wants you dead is a rogue and is working against the council’s orders.”
Leila swallowed away the rising bile. She felt all power drain from her. She wasn’t safe anywhere, not even with him. “So not only do I have the demons after me, your own people want me dead.”
“Only one of them,” Aiden answered.
“You can’t know that. How many voted to eliminate me?”
“We don’t know.”
Hamish ran his hand through his hair. “But most likely only one of them is actually doing anything about it. And we’ll find him.”
“He’ll use anything to get to you, I can promise you that,” Aiden added.
At his words, she instantly realized where she was most vulnerable. “My parents. You have to make sure they’re okay. They have to be protected. If anything happens to them . . . ” She would never forgive herself for it.
“We don’t have the manpower to protect your parents. Not when we don’t know who we can trust.”
“Please,” she pleaded and took a step closer to Aiden, tears threatening to overwhelm her. “I need to know that they’re all right. Please.”
She looked at Aiden, then at Hamish, hoping that one of them would give in to her.
“Don’t you have parents? Don’t you know how much this hurts not to know if they are okay?”
“Okay, I’ll go,” Hamish relented.
Instantly Aiden slapped his palm on his friend’s arm. “No, I’ll go.” Then he stared back at her. “I need some air.”
He turned away from her, but she caught his resigned look nevertheless.
She didn’t know what suddenly made her want to know, but she couldn’t stop the words leaving her lips. “If you were on the council, how would you have voted?”
He hesitated, his voice shaking slightly when he finally answered, “I’m not sure about that answer anymore.”