Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1) (31 page)

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 Stealth Guardian 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 Stealth Guardians. 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 Stealth Guardians 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.”

“That explains why Logan and Enya didn’t get a warning about Deirdre showing up at the massage parlor,” Hamish interjected as he and Manus helped Pearce out of the cell.

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.”

As Aiden made a motion to follow his friends who assisted Pearce in negotiating the stairs, he heard a sound coming from the corridor leading to the portal.

He turned and saw Logan and Enya come toward them. He waited for them.

“We dropped off Deirdre with the council guards and came as fast as we could,” Logan announced.

Aiden gave both a grave look. “Leila is gone. Finlay took her; he’s the traitor.”

“Shit!” Logan exclaimed.

“Well, let’s go trace them and ambush him,” Enya said and headed for the stairs.

Aiden felt the hopelessness of the situation crash over him once more. “We have no way of tracing Finlay. He’s left his cell behind.”

To his surprise, Enya grinned.

“What the—?”

“Just as well that I lent her my jeans then.”

Confusion roiled through him, but before he could voice it, Enya put a hand on his forearm.

“No offense, but I didn’t trust her, so I put a tracker into one of the metal buttons on the jeans. If she’s still wearing them, we’ll find her.”

He didn’t believe his ears at first, but when the words sank in, he couldn’t help but hug his compound mate until she pushed against him, wanting to be released.

“You can let me down now!”

He let go of her and took a steadying breath. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

Enya grumbled under her breath. “It’s not by groping me, that’s for sure. Try that again, and you’ll find my dagger in your gut.”

At any other time, Aiden would have started a fight with Enya about what was considered a friendly hug and what constituted a grope, but at this moment he couldn’t care less. His thoughts were with Leila, the only woman he wanted to touch for the rest of his life.

THIRTY-SIX

The sun had already set when Finlay had kidnapped her from the compound, but after hurtling through the portal and emerging at the other end, Leila saw the glow of late afternoon sun. It had to mean that they were somewhere on the West Coast. The portal behind them was hidden in a hillside, heavy brush disguising its location. Looking down the hill, Leila noticed the trees surrounding them: mostly pine trees, mixed with other varietals she didn’t recognize. She inhaled, taking in the dry air. While it was still warm, it wasn’t humid, another indication that her captor had transported her to the West Coast rather than the South or East. California, if she had to guess.

“Let’s go, no time for sightseeing,” Finlay ordered gruffly and clamped his hand harder around her upper arm.

“Where are we going?”

“Meeting your new master,” he snarled and tugged on her arm, dragging her down a dirt path.

“Please, why are you doing this?”

“You would never understand! Humans are so small-minded when it comes to the important things in life. Your brain can’t comprehend the grand things I’m planning for this world.”

Leila snorted. “Grand? You’re planning to destroy humanity. There’s nothing grand about that.”

He tugged at her arm, yanking her toward him. “You have no idea what I’m planning. This will be a brave new world with an order that gets things done, not your stupid little democracies that fight among each other. Your idiotic political parties that can’t agree on anything. No! My new order will make things right.”

“You mean tyranny.”

“Call it what you will, but only a strong ruler with absolute power can make a difference. You’re just too brainwashed to see that.”

“It will never work,” she spat.

He slapped the back of his hand over her cheek, whipping her head to the side.

“Enough. You’re just a human. I told you you wouldn’t understand.”

Then he turned and dragged her with him.

As they hiked down the mountain and through the forest that surrounded it, Leila couldn’t help but think about the mistakes she’d made. Had she not lied to Aiden about the data in the pendant, this might never have happened. He would have had no reason to go after the demons to get it back and would have been at the compound to protect her instead.

But there was no use crying over spilled milk. The damage was done; now all she could do was put an end to it. No help was coming. By the time Aiden even noticed her disappearance, she would already be in the clutches of the demons. How long would she be able to fight against their mental influence? Or would they torture her physically this time to get what they wanted? Would they hurt her so much that she would give away the secret in the pendant only so they would stop?

She shuddered at the thought. She had promised Aiden and herself that she wouldn’t betray him, but could she actually keep this promise? Was she strong enough?

The longer they walked through the woods, the grimmer her mood turned. She had to face the facts: she was a coward when it came to physical and mental pain, and the demons would apply both to get what they wanted from her. She would crack. It was only a matter of time.

A silent sob worked itself up from her gut into her throat. She clamped her mouth shut so it couldn’t escape. She had to be brave.

The hike through the forest took over an hour. When they cleared it, they reached what looked like a deserted parking lot, if she could trust her eyes. The sun had set during their march, and it was now pitch black. Out in the countryside were no street lights, and only the stars provided the tiniest of illumination on the moonless night.

Undeterred, Finlay pushed her forward where a hut of some sort stood out against the darkness. A faint light on its outside illuminated a board. As her captor dragged her past it, she quickly tried to read the notice. All she could catch was
Mercer Caverns
and a list of times and prices. Frantically, she searched her memory. Somewhere she’d heard that name before. She knew she’d never been here before, but at the same time the name sounded familiar.

But she had no time to think about it further, her feet so tired by now that she stumbled more than walked as Finlay led her past what seemed like an entrance, then wedged himself between two bushes and pulled her with him. Branches swiped her, getting caught in her jacket. She heard a ripping sound as he pulled her into the thick without stopping. Then one branch grazed her face, making her cry out, its ends catching in her hair, tangling it. She jolted backwards.