Guardian Undone

by Tina Folsom

  Logan waited until most people had gotten off the train, then stepped onto the platform holding Winter’s hand. It was still best to cloak her with his touch, an action that required less energy, since making her invisible with his mind would become less secure if he lost his concentration. And right now he had to concentrate on figuring out the safest place to go.

  By the time Logan had examined the map in the entry hall and found a hotel that would be suitable for their purposes, the sun had set. He looked around. There were cameras in the train station, which meant it wasn’t safe yet to become visible. He led Winter outside. It would have been more comfortable to take a taxi to the hotel, but the CCTV system around the train station could pick them up, and once Manus realized that the trail to Chicago was a diversion, he would ask Pearce to run a facial recognition program against traffic cameras and the like. Logan knew the drill.

  When they were out of earshot of others, Logan whispered to Winter, “We’ll have to walk. It’s about a mile. You gonna be okay?”

  “Yes. We’re still invisible?”

  “Yes. But once we get to the hotel, and I see that it’s safe, I’ll make us visible again.”

  “We’re going to a hotel?”

  “Yes, for tonight. Then we’ll move on.” Where to, he hadn’t figured out yet, but he would. Right now it was important to get off the street.

  Logan was glad when they finally reached the budget hotel he’d spotted on the map in the train station. Checking in and paying cash rather than credit at a place like this wouldn’t be unusual. As much as he would have preferred to take Winter to a better place, he couldn’t risk using one of his own cards to pay for the room. His fellow Stealth Guardians would be able to trace him in a nanosecond.

  The hotel clerk at the front desk didn’t flinch when Logan asked for a room on the second floor and paid cash. Nor did he question the lack of luggage besides the small bag Winter had packed.

  “Is there a place to get some dinner close by?” Logan asked while he took the keycard from the clerk.

  The clerk pointed over his shoulder. “Take the alley behind the hotel. Next block has a good grill.” He glanced at Winter, looking her up and down with interest. “They do takeout, too.”

  “Thanks.” Logan turned away from the front desk and took Winter’s hand again. They walked around the corner to the elevators. “I’ll get you settled in the room. Then I’ll get us something to eat.”

  “That sounds good. I’m starting to feel a little hungry,” she said, a grateful expression on her face.

  The room was clean and functional: two queen beds, a built-in desk with chair, a TV mounted on the wall, a small table with two chairs, and an ensuite bathroom. The curtains were already drawn when Logan entered the room ahead of Winter to make sure it was safe.

  He ushered her inside and dropped her bag onto the floor next to the desk, then looked back at Winter and caught her looking at the beds.

  “I’m sorry, Winter, but I can’t let you stay in a room by yourself. I need to be with you to keep you safe,” he said.

  Her gaze connected with his. “I wasn’t complaining.”

  “No, you weren’t. And I appreciate it. You’re taking all of this without much fuss. Many people wouldn’t.” And that made his respect for her rise even more. She was no shrinking violet.

  “I’m grateful for what you’re doing to help me. You put yourself in danger for me.”

  “That’s my job.” But as he said it, guilt nagged at him. It had been his job to kill her, not save her. Didn’t she deserve to know the truth, to know why he’d really come to her shop? But if she knew, she wouldn’t look at him like she did now, her eyes brimming with admiration and gratitude.

  He was a cad for letting her believe he was a hero, a man of honor.

  “Winter, there’s something you should know,” he started. It was best to wipe the slate clean, tell her the truth, or it would eat him up from the inside.

  She plopped down on one of the beds and let out an exaggerated breath. “There’s a lot I should know. Starting with how you just marched through those turnstiles at the subway station. How did you do that? You could have warned me.”

  “Oh that.”

  “Yeah, that.”

  He shrugged. Maybe in the course of their conversation, he’d get a better opportunity to tell her why he’d been at her shop in the first place. It was best to establish trust between them first, so that she would understand when he came clean.

  “It’s one of the skills every Stealth Guardian has. We can dematerialize our bodies and pass through solid objects.” All but lead, but there was no need to expose his people’s vulnerability to her. “It assures that we can enter any building, any location we need to gain access to. It’s come in handy once or twice.”

  Winter chuckled unexpectedly, and it brought out a softness in her face that made his heart skip a beat. “That sounds like an understatement.”

  It was.

  “So why did you make me climb over the turnstile? You could have just—”

  “I couldn’t.” He shook his head. “A human’s body is too fragile. If dematerialized, the cells would never rematerialize in the correct order.”

  “Oh, you mean like in that episode of Star Trek when the transporter was malfunctioning?”

  Not having seen that episode, he said, “I guess. It wouldn’t be a pretty sight. Unfortunately that means we have to make sure there’s always an escape route that our charges can actually navigate.”

  “Your charge? Is that what you call people like me?”

  He wanted to call her other things, but this was neither the time nor the place. In fact there would never be a time or place where it would be appropriate for him to see her as anything other than his charge. “Yes. But now I should get us some food. You said you were hungry.”

  She nodded. “A burger and some fries wouldn’t go amiss right now.”

  “That can be arranged. I’ll be as quick about it as I can. But promise me you won’t leave this room, not even to go to the ice machine down the hall.”

  “I have no intention of going anywhere on my own.”

  “Good. And don’t answer the door for anybody.”

  She suddenly stood up as if she realized something. “And the demons? I mean, can they walk through a locked door like you?”

  Logan smiled at her. “No. The only person who can walk through this door is me.”

  Or one of his brethren. And he was certain that they hadn’t caught onto his trail yet.

  12

  Manus stormed into the command center, fury coursing through every cell of his body.

  “Fucking bastard!”

  Logan had betrayed him. Hell, he’d betrayed not only their compound, but their entire race. And if he didn’t find him fast, Logan would pay for it with his life.

  Manus marched to the computer console, where Pearce was working. “Anything?”

  Behind him more people entered the command center. He knew that Aiden and Hamish, who’d helped with the clean-up at the psychic’s shop and apartment, had followed him. But now he saw Enya, the only female warrior in their compound, enter too.

  “I got something,” Pearce said. “Not sure if it’ll help.”

  “Can somebody fill me in on what’s going on here?” Enya asked and approached.

  “Later,” Manus said and motioned to the computer. “What have you got? Where is Logan?”

  “Well, I can tell you where his car is.” Pearce pointed to a map on the screen. “He parked it right outside the Greyhound station in Philadelphia. It’s still there. Somebody had better pick it up before it gets towed.”

  “Yeah, later,” Manus said impatiently. “What about Logan?”

  “I figured since he left his car outside the bus station, I’d start there. And bingo, a camera picked him up entering the ticket hall with a woman.”

  “And then?”

  Pearce swiveled in his seat. “How about you give me a little bit
more information about what’s going on here. It’s kind of hard to figure out what he’s planning when you’ve only given me half the facts. What went down on your mission? Or is it too super-secret to tell even us?”

  Manus looked back to where Aiden and Hamish were standing. They’d come to get him in Wilmington and helped dispose of the demon bodies, but he hadn’t told them much either, only that Logan had left with the woman.

  “Ah, fuck confidentiality. I don’t know why Barclay bothered.” When he caught Aiden’s raised eyebrows, Manus shrugged. “Your father can be a pain in the butt sometimes.”

  “You’re preaching to the converted,” Aiden said. “Now tell us what’s really going on. Logan wouldn’t just run from demons.”

  “He wasn’t running from the demons. He was running from me.”

  Enya let herself fall into a chair. “Well, this sounds like it’s going to be an interesting story.”

  “What did you do to piss him off this time?” Hamish asked.

  “I’m not the one at fault here.” Manus shook his head. “Logan didn’t follow the order the council gave us.”

  “Could you be any more cryptic?” Pearce asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

  Manus tilted his head to the side, grimacing. “Fine. Here’s the deal. Logan and I were tasked with eliminating a psychic.”

  Several gasps filled the room.

  “Yeah, and before you all start talking at once, I’ll tell you what you need to know. The psychic, a woman named Winter Collins, is apparently unaware of her psychic abilities. She’s mentally unstable, and she displays drawings of her visions in her shop.” He motioned to Aiden and Hamish. “I mean, you saw it. We had to wipe down the runes she’d scribbled on the door frame with chalk. And the pictures she’d hung on the walls, we had to take them down. Anybody coming into her shop could see them. That’s probably how she drew the demons’ attention to herself.”

  He sighed. “Anyway, Logan was supposed to go in and slip her the poison, kill her quickly. I was waiting in the car outside, and I saw the demons break in. I rushed after them as quickly as I could. And when I got there, Logan was fighting them, and the psychic was still alive. He hadn’t killed her.” He looked at his colleagues. “We fought the demons together. Killed them all except for one, who escaped through a vortex. But I knew they’d come back. We’d been lucky to defeat them at all without them snatching the psychic. So I figured, I’d do the deed myself, since Logan hadn’t managed to.”

  Manus huffed angrily. “And what the fuck does he do when I’m about to slice her throat? The asshole attacks me! Me! And puts me in a chokehold until I lose consciousness.”

  “Mmm,” Aiden hummed. “I don’t understand why he would do that. I mean, it was an order from the council. They voted, right?”

  Manus nodded. “Five to four to eliminate the psychic.”

  “Bit odd that they’d vote to kill her, when she could be of use to us,” Enya threw in.

  “Apparently the council didn’t think so,” Manus griped.

  “And Logan?” Hamish asked.

  “When I called the asshole, he gave me this whole spiel about how useful she could be, that she has visions about the demons and could help us destroy them. Don’t you think the council didn’t discuss that before they took their vote? But no, Logan thinks he knows better. He said he has to save her. That he’ll prove to the council that she’s worth more to us alive than dead. Idiot! They’ll never change their vote!”

  Enya shrugged. “Given the right evidence, they might.”

  “Oh please!” Manus glared at her. “Are you going soft, or what?”

  Enya narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t you—”

  “Stop, both of you!” Hamish ordered. “Your bickering isn’t gonna help us find Logan.”

  “Hamish is right,” Aiden said. “We have to find him. Quickly, before the council gets wind of this and figures out that he ran off with the psychic instead of killing her. That’s treason. And I’m not letting my friend go down for treason.”

  “I’m not either,” Pearce confirmed.

  “Same,” Enya said tightly.

  Hamish only nodded.

  Manus snorted. “Yeah, well, I’m not letting him do that either. But he’s still an asshole!” Asshole or not, Logan was his friend, and he couldn’t let his friend be tried for treason, an offense punishable by death.

  He turned to Pearce. “Did you run Logan’s credit cards already to see if he used them at the bus station?”

  Pearce nodded. “Yep. No hit. He wouldn’t be so stupid as to use his credit cards if he’s trying to evade us.”

  “Then check the woman’s. Winter Collins. Maybe they used hers.”

  “Give me a second to find her records.” Pearce started typing on his computer. Windows popped open, then closed again. It seemed to take an eternity, when in reality it probably took Pearce only several minutes to located the woman’s credit card and review her latest charges. He pointed to the screen. “Here. Purchase of two tickets on the Greyhound bus from Philadelphia to Chicago.”

  Manus stared at the entry. “Why would he want to go to Chicago? It doesn’t make sense. Why travel by bus?”

  Pearce met his look. “I get it. Why risk being exposed for so long, when he could just go to the next portal and travel anywhere without us being able to track him?”

  “Exactly,” Manus said. “He meant for us to track him. But why?”

  “Can we check if he even got on that bus to Chicago?” Hamish asked. “How about his cell phone? Can you ping it?”

  Pearce turned back to the screen. “I did it earlier, but couldn’t get a good reading. He might have been in an area with bad reception. Let me try it again.”

  A few moments later a map appeared on one of Pearce’s screens. A red dot flashed.

  “He’s moving,” Pearce said. “Currently outside of Pittsburgh. That’s the route the bus would take from Philadelphia to Chicago. Looks like he’s on the bus.”

  Manus shook his head. Something wasn’t right. He turned to his compound mates. “Tell me something, if you were on the run from us, would you leave your cell phone switched on, knowing that we can trace it with our software and find your location?”

  All of them shook their heads.

  “That’s what I thought.” Manus grumbled. “Fucking bastard. He’s laid out breadcrumbs for us to follow, leading us on the wrong trail. He’s nowhere near Chicago.”

  “Then where?” Aiden asked.

  “He’s making his way to a portal so he can disappear.” Manus turned back to Pearce. “Get me a list of all known lost portals within reach of the public transport system of Philadelphia. Because unless Logan stole a car, he couldn’t have gotten far. He would have had to use the rail system. And check reports about any stolen cars in the area, just in case.”

  Pearce tapped away on his keyboard, then cursed. “Shit, there are too many portals. Their rail system is too extensive. There’s no way that between us we can have a man at every portal in the area to lay in wait for him. And we can’t ask another compound for help. Nobody can know about Logan going rogue. We need to narrow down the number of portals.”

  “How?” Aiden asked.

  “We have to put ourselves in his shoes,” Pearce said. “What would Logan do?”

  13

  The food had been just what Winter needed. She felt better after filling her belly with the burger Logan had brought her. While they’d eaten, she’d asked Logan more about the demons and their ultimate goal.

  “World domination?” she echoed.

  “Nothing less.” Logan grabbed the paper plates and food scraps and put them in the plastic bag in which he’d brought the food. He tied a knot in the top, then walked to the bathroom.

  She heard him place the trash in the bin, then wash his hands.

  She rose and walked toward the open door to the bathroom. “And you and your fellow Stealth Guardians have been fighting them for centuries without success? When y
ou fought against those four, you held your own. I can’t believe that you can’t defeat them. You’re so strong.”

  Logan dried his hands. Their eyes met in the mirror. “They’re just as strong.”

  “But you can make yourself invisible and walk through solid objects. In a fight, that gives you an advantage.”

  “That’s true, but there just aren’t enough of us. There are too many demons. And their numbers are growing by the minute.”

  She made a face. “You mean they can reproduce?” That thought made her feel sick to her stomach.

  “Not in the traditional sense, although we’re not even sure about that. No, their numbers grow because whenever they turn a human to their evil ways, whenever they make a human commit an atrocity in their name, the human turns into a demon, their soul lost forever. That’s how they grow their ranks. There’s so much evil in this world, so much anger, so much division, even just in our own country. Add to that the wars all over the world, and you’ve got a perfect breeding ground from which to draw your next demon.”

  She stared at him wide-eyed. “A never-ending supply.”

  Logan walked out of the bathroom, and she stepped aside. She followed him as he leaned his butt against the table and gave her a sad smile. “It’s a never-ending battle.”

  “How do you not lose hope in the face of such overwhelming evil?”

  He shrugged. “I take one day at a time. Kill one demon at a time. That’s all I can do.”

  She shook her head and moved closer to him. “And now you have to take care of me.” She sighed. “I’m sorry.”

  She took his hand and squeezed it. He stared at her in silent surprise. What she’d meant as a gesture of comfort suddenly felt different. Logan’s eyes turned molten, and she lost herself in them. Such beauty, such power. Winter lifted her hand and ran her knuckles over his cheek, feeling a shiver go through her at the touch. It felt as if electricity was charging through her. Not realizing what she was doing, she drew closer to him. Logan’s lips were slightly parted and looked more tempting than anything she’d ever seen. She took a breath and leaned in.