Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1) (29 page)

“I’m afraid you’ll need to break some rules this time. We have no lead on who on the council is responsible. We have to narrow down the field. Whoever voted to eliminate Leila is a suspect in the attempts on her life. And somebody who voted to protect her, must work—”

“—for the demons,” Pearce concluded.

“Explain your reasoning,” his father requested.

“The first is easy: the person voting to eliminate Leila wanted to make sure neither she nor her research falls into the demons’ hands. He or she tried to steal the research data, killed Leila’s boss and wiped the data off her laptop in the process. That same person is responsible for sending the dogs on us at our safe house.” Aiden knew his reasoning was solid.

“And the traitor? Why would he have to be someone voting to protect her?”

“Because Leila’s drug is only in its final stages. She’s still needed to refine it. It is in the interest of the demons to keep her alive if they don’t want to end up with a drug that might in the end not work. They had to keep her alive.”

“And you think somebody on the council was responsible for sending this Zoltan and his thugs after you in Sonoma?”

Aiden nodded. “Yes. By that time they’d realized that all known copies of the data were destroyed, and now they had no choice but to snatch Leila if they wanted the drug. Nobody knew we were there. Only Hamish, Leila and I.”

“And you trust Hamish,” his father asked.

Was his father doubting his friend? “Implicitly. He helped us escape the safe house, and he was the one finding the lost portals.”

“Good. You should trust your gut more often.”

“So, will you help us?”

His parents exchanged looks. Then his mother gave him a soft smile. “Of course, he’ll help you.”

“Then who voted to protect her?”

Anxiously, Aiden leaned forward. One of the names he’d receive was the traitor who worked for the demons.

“I did,” his father confessed. “But then, you knew that already. Besides me, there were Cinead, Riona, Finlay, and Norton. The others voted to eliminate her.”

“Thank you.”

“How are you going to trap the guilty party?”

“I need you to call an emergency council meeting.”

“What do you want me to put on the agenda, son?”

“You need to tell the council members where Leila and I are hiding.”

Stunned, his father stared at him. “You want to turn yourself and your charge into bait?”

“There’s no other way.”

THIRTY-TWO

Barclay watched as the last council member finally took his seat in the chamber before he let the gavel drop onto the table to ask for silence. He knew he would have to go slowly in order to give Pearce and Aiden sufficient time to upload the tracking software to all council members’ cell phones. Beyond the closed doors of the council chambers, the two of them were already working on the cell phones, Barclay having made sure that the council assistant would be called away from his post at the door so the two could work unobserved.

The knowledge that he had violated the rules of the council by giving away how the members had voted, made him feel uneasy; but, as his son had insisted, it was the only way.

He glanced at Cinead, his gut clenching at the thought that he could be a traitor. The Scotsman was his oldest friend, his opinions valued by all, his character beyond reproach. As he looked into the round, the thought of any of the others turning out to be a traitor didn’t suit him any better. All members of the council were honorable men and women, chosen because they were just leaders.

Yet, Barclay trusted his son, although something about him had been different when he’d visited. He appeared less angry than usual, despite the seriousness of the issues at hand. Almost as if something or someone had a calming influence on him.

“I’ve called this special meeting to update you on the case of Dr. Cruickshank.”

Murmurs went through the room. It was rather unusual to discuss individual cases once a vote had been taken and the charge assigned to a Stealth Guardian. He would have to be careful not to raise any suspicion as to his true agenda: to set a trap for the traitor.

“There have been some setbacks. I’m afraid after an attack on their safe house, Aiden and his charge had to flee.”

“Are they unharmed?” Riona asked.

“For now, yes. However, I am surprised at Aiden’s decision of how to go forward.”

Cinead raised an eyebrow. “Your own son’s? Weren’t you the one to convince us that he was up for the job?”

Barclay bowed his head. “I don’t always agree with his ideas. However, there might be some merit to his decision. He’s taken her back to their last hiding place, figuring it will be where the demons won’t look for him again.” Cautiously, he glanced around, searching for tell tale signs in the eyes of his fellow council members. Would somebody take the bait?

“That is against protocol,” Geoffrey piped. “Once a safe house is compromised, it will never be used again.”

Barclay raised his hand to pacify his old friend. “I understand, however, Aiden has gone to radio silence, and since he selected his last safe houses anonymously, I have no way of contacting him. We’re in the dark.”

“What about Manus, his second?” Finlay asked. “He would know where the safe house is.”

“I’m afraid I’ve already checked into this avenue. Aiden cut off contact with Manus before claiming the safe house. Manus never knew where Aiden had taken her,” Barclay lied.

“That’s highly irregular,” Finlay said. “Are you sure your son hasn’t gone rogue like his friend Hamish? What if he’s kidnapped his charge and is now using her as a pawn?”

Barclay felt anger about Finlay’s accusation boil up in him. “My son is doing what’s best for all of us.”

“Primus, your son is putting us in danger,” Deirdre snapped. “Without his second and any support from us, how does he expect to defeat any demons when they attack?”

“They won’t find him. By using his previous hiding place, he’s outsmarting them. They’ll never go back to where they’ve already found him earlier.”

Wade rose from his seat. “I agree with Deirdre. I think Aiden should be pulled off this assignment. We can’t risk his erratic behavior endangering us all.”

Barclay glared at Wade. “Aiden will remain on this assignment. I might not always see eye to eye with my son, but he is a capable Stealth Guardian and can protect his charge without our help.”

“You’re making a huge mistake.” Deirdre rose and glared at him. “Have you forgotten what can happen when our guardians don’t comply with rules?”

“What are you implying?” Barclay ground out. “Are you questioning Aiden’s abilities?”

“What if I am?” She thrust her chin up in open challenge. “Has he not cost us dearly once before?”

Barclay gasped, shocked at what she was hinting. “You’d better let the past remain where it belongs, Deirdre.”

“You know as well as I do that I can’t do that. I was Julia’s godmother, I loved her like a daughter. I—”

Barclay shot from his seat. “No further! I’m warning you!”

“You shouldn’t be warning me, you should be warning your son. He’s putting us all in danger. He’s being irrational just as he was then,” Deirdre continued from between clenched teeth.

“My son is a fine guardian—”

“Yet you have no influence over him,” Finlay suddenly interjected, “just like you can’t control anything else, not even as Primus. Sad, really, to hold such a powerful position in our society, yet to be so powerless.”

Barclay shifted his attention to the council member. “Is there something else you have to add on the powers of this council? Or are you quite done?”

“Since you’re asking,” Finlay gritted, “yes, there’s more. All we do is sit, debate, and vote. But we take no decisive action. We let the guardians dance on our noses. You can’t even control your son. How do you expect to lead our race?”

The words surprised him. He’d never realized that Finlay harbored so much discontent.

“Maybe you would like to become Primus instead.”

Finlay scoffed. “I hold no such ambition.”

“Anybody else who doesn’t like the way the council operates?” He glared into the round.

Murmurs rippled through the chamber.

***

Aiden stood watching over Pearce’s shoulder as his friend looked at the different colored dots that moved on the digital map on the monitor in the command room.

“Everything set up?”

Pearce nodded. “I’m locked onto them. It’s time to move. I’ll send you word as soon as anybody is on the move.” He pointed at the dots. “Looks like the council meeting is just breaking up.”

“Are Enya and Logan in place?”

“Yes, they’re waiting. Time for you, Hamish, and Manus to go.”

A door opened behind them. Aiden turned to see Leila slip in, followed by Hamish. When he saw her, he felt his body fill with warmth. She smiled at him and walked toward him. Without hesitation, he put his arm around her and pulled her to his side.

“You’re back,” she whispered.

He pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. “Not for long. We need to leave now. Pearce is the only one to stay. He’ll protect you while I’m gone.”

“Can’t I come with you?”

“No. You’re safest here. I want you nowhere near the demons.”

She pressed herself closely to him, and her gesture of trust strengthened him. Everything would be all right. He knew it in his gut.

“Let’s go!” Hamish ordered.

With a last glance at Leila, he followed Hamish out the door. Outside the portal, Manus was already waiting for them, weapons in hand.

The three of them would go to the old farmhouse where they’d been attacked by the demons earlier—but this time, they’d be lying in wait for them.

Pearce would record the council members’ movements and alert them to their positions.

THIRTY-THREE

Leila shivered and wrapped her arms around her torso as she watched Pearce at the console.

He cast a look over his shoulder. “Sorry, it has to be cold in here because of the computers. Why don’t you get yourself a jacket from Aiden’s room?”

“I think I’ll do that.” She walked toward the door when she heard Pearce’s chair scrape along the floor.

“But come right back. I’ve promised Aiden I’d watch out for you.”

She hesitated, wondering whether to ask the question that was bothering her. Curiosity won out. “When I arrived here, Enya said I shouldn’t be here. But isn’t this the safest place to hide your charges from the demons?”

She turned halfway and noticed how he watched her. “It is. But no humans are allowed here, because they can betray us to the demons. And if they ever find the location of our portals, they can destroy us. It was foolish for Aiden to have brought you here, I won’t deny that… ”

Leila sensed a hesitation in him. “There’s a ‘but,’ isn’t there?”

“There’s always a ‘but.’ The rest of us here at the compound discussed this while you were in his quarters with him. We know that Aiden will hesitate to kill you should you be influenced by the demons, but let me make it perfectly clear to you: the rest of us won’t.”

Her breath hitched at the unveiled threat. It shouldn’t surprise her, however, she had not sensed any hostility from Pearce before.

“Don’t get me wrong, we all want Aiden to be happy and you seem a nice enough woman, but if you betray our race, there’s only one course of action.”

She nodded, her vocal cords freezing. She might be a coward, but she wouldn’t betray Aiden again. After the trust he’d shown her, she knew she’d rather die than do anything to hurt him. “I understand, but I won’t betray any of you.”

“Good.”

Pearce turned back to his console, and Leila exited the room. As she walked through the silent hallways that were adorned with strange symbols and artwork, she suppressed the sense of foreboding that crept up her spine. She was worried about Aiden. What if this time Zoltan came back with more than just two other demons to finish them off? Already, the first time they’d attacked, they had been so strong that Hamish and Aiden had barely been able to defeat them.

Biting her fingernails, she entered Aiden’s rooms. In his closet she found a bomber jacket. She slipped into it and inhaled. A faint smell of Aiden hung in the air, helping calm her nerves. When she closed the closet, her eyes fell onto her handbag, which lay on the dresser where she’d left it hours earlier. It was all she possessed now. Even the clothes on her body weren’t hers.

Enya had lent her a pair of jeans with plenty of metal buttons and clasps on it that weren’t really to her taste. But, she figured, beggars couldn’t be choosers. At least she was glad that Enya’s clothing size was identical to hers, so the jeans fit like a second skin. She’d been surprised that the female Stealth Guardian had lent her anything at all, considering the hostility with which she’d treated Leila. While the men in the compound had been polite enough, Enya had not made it a secret that she wanted her gone.

Leila opened her handbag and peered inside. She realized immediately that her cell phone was missing. Her wallet was there, together with a pair of sunglasses, a notebook, and her can of mace. She reached for it, remembering the evening she’d met Aiden and how he’d told her at the Irish bar that anybody who knew what he was doing could easily wrestle the can out of her grip. He’d proven that he could. She sighed. So much had happened since then. The things she’d been afraid of then had blended into the distance and become insignificant. There were greater dangers in this world than a few muggers who wanted her money.

And she’d thought that she could never date a policeman or a military guy because of the danger they faced every day. Funny, how she now considered these choices to be safer than losing her heart to a Stealth Guardian who battled demons on a daily basis. And she was in danger of losing her heart to Aiden, even though she knew there could be no future for them. He was an immortal. She wasn’t. End of story.

Leila shoved the can of mace into her jacket pocket, not really knowing why. Stupidly enough, it made her feel safer in Aiden’s absence, even though she knew that the can could never defeat a demon. She’d felt Zoltan’s strength, and had she not at the time had Aiden’s power in her, he would have overwhelmed her.