Guardian Undone

by Tina Folsom

  “Just relax, love, I’ve got you,” he murmured against her lips, then captured them and kissed her, pouring every ounce of affection he felt for her into the kiss.

  He felt her rub herself faster against his finger, up and down, until she suddenly cried out. Her pussy gripped his cock tightly, squeezing and releasing several times in quick succession as her orgasm crashed over her. It was the reward he’d been holding on for: feeling her pleasure ignite his own climax. He gave himself over to it, surrendered to the joy of making love to Winter, and shot his seed deep into her tight channel. He wrapped his arms around her and pressed her to his heaving chest, holding her until they both came down from their high.

  Breathing heavily, Winter rested her head on his shoulder, and Logan slowly stood up with her in his arms and carried her to the tub. Gently he lowered her into the warm water.

  She hummed contentedly and smiled up at him. “This is perfect.”

  Logan slid his hands down her body, caressing her breasts, touching her stomach and stroking her legs. “Yes, perfect.”

  “I wish you could be in the tub with me.”

  He smiled and kissed her on the lips. “I’d just be trying to get inside you again. Believe me, you’ll enjoy your bath much more without me.”

  She closed her eyes. “Hmm. Handsome, good in bed, and selfless. What did I ever do to deserve this?”

  “Plenty.” He rose and walked to the shower. After pulling fresh towels from a closet, and placing one next to the tub and hanging one outside the shower stall, he stepped into the shower. While he washed himself, he watched Winter soaking in the tub, her body submerged in the warm water up to her shoulders. The tips of her breasts occasionally peeked through the surface, teasing him.

  He wasn’t sure whether his constant hard-on would ever go down again. He doubted it. In Winter’s presence he seemed to be in a state of constant arousal. Like a stallion in the presence of a mare in heat.

  Logan finished his shower quickly and dried off. He found a pair of sweats and put them on. Then he pulled his bathrobe from the closet and hung it near the bathtub.

  He leaned over the tub, where Winter looked like she was dozing.

  “I’m going to get us something to eat. Are you hungry?”

  She lifted her lids only a little bit. “Hmm, yeah, I think I could eat something. What time is it?”

  He looked at the digital clock on the marble counter. “It’s already mid-morning.”

  Her eyes widened. “Are you serious? I thought it was still night.”

  He chuckled. “That’s because you haven’t slept at all since you left San Francisco. And without windows in the compound it can be easy to lose track of time.”

  “It’s odd that there aren’t any windows.”

  “It’s safer that way.” He rose. “I’ll get us some food. But don’t rush. Enjoy your bath. There’s a fresh towel for you. And feel free to wear my bathrobe.”

  He turned and left his private quarters.

  28

  Only Aiden, Leila, and the twins were in the kitchen when Logan entered. The children were wearing jackets and boots, and Leila had donned a blond wig, a sign that she was leaving the compound. The demons were still after her because of a vaccine she’d created that would be beneficial to the demons’ agenda, so she only left the compound heavily disguised. In addition to the blond wig, she also wore broad-rimmed, dark sunglasses. She looked like a movie star.

  “Where’re you guys going?” Logan asked.

  Aiden motioned to the twins who were chasing each other around the kitchen island. “These two need to get out today or somebody is going to strangle them.”

  “You said it, man, not me.”

  “Yeah, but you’re thinking it, and so is the rest of the compound. You guys are good sports,” Aiden said, “but let’s face it, kids need to be able to roam outside from time to time.”

  “As do I,” Leila added. “As nice as our extended quarters are, I do get cabin fever on occasion.”

  Logan grinned. He couldn’t blame her. Even though Aiden and Leila had taken over almost the entire top floor of the building with their brood, there was no garden, no terrace, no place where the kids could run wild.

  Logan looked at Aiden. “You’re taking every precaution, I assume?”

  “No worries. I’m going as the Invisible Man so no demon can spot us. They won’t recognize Blondie here, nor the kids. We’re good,” Aiden said.

  “Blondie?” Leila chuckled. “So you like my blond hair?”

  He put his arms around her. “I like everything about you. I’ll show you how much later.”

  “Guys!” Logan admonished. “Not in front of the kids! They’ll be scarred for life!”

  Aiden and Leila laughed.

  “Come on, Xander, come, Julia,” Leila called out to them. “Let’s go out!”

  The kids charged toward her, almost mowing Logan over on the way.

  Ten seconds later, peace and quiet descended on the kitchen. Logan went about pulling together a tray with snacks. Thanks to Leila, there were lots of delicious treats in the refrigerator. While she rarely ever went to the supermarket herself, she wrote out detailed shopping lists, and one of the guardians at the compound did the shopping for her. The choice of food at the compound had definitely improved since Leila had moved in. He couldn’t believe that almost four years had passed since that day.

  When Logan entered his rooms again, tray in hand, he found Winter lounging on the sofa, dressed in his bathrobe. She’d dried her hair, and her skin looked rosy, her face refreshed.

  “You didn’t have to rush your bath,” he said and set the tray on the coffee table.

  “I didn’t.” She leaned forward to inspect the tray. “Hmm. This looks wonderful. Who does the cooking here?”

  “Mostly Leila.”

  “Remind me to thank her. I’m not much of a cook, you know.” She shrugged. “But I like to eat.”

  “Help yourself. I brought a bit of everything, but if there’s something else you want, I’m sure I can find it in the fridge. Just let me know.”

  “Oh no, this is perfect.”

  Logan took a seat next to Winter, and they filled their plates and started eating. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was.

  “So, how come you don’t cook?” he asked. “I mean, not that I expect every woman to be able to cook just because she’s a woman. But people who like to eat well normally learn how to cook.”

  Winter gave him a sad smile. “My mom was the one who always cooked for me and dad. She wouldn’t let anybody in the kitchen. It was her domain.”

  “Didn’t she want to teach you?”

  “She never got a chance. I was only nine, when she and Dad died.”

  “I’m sorry, I should have realized that when you mentioned it the other day. I shouldn’t have asked.”

  “That’s okay.”

  “What happened to you after your parents’ death?”

  “My grandmother raised me.”

  “I’m glad you had family to take care of you.” He couldn’t imagine what it would have been like for a nine-year-old to go into the foster care system.

  “Yeah, I had Grandma.” Despite the positive words, there was a sadness in her voice that made Logan look at her. “But then she died, too. I was fourteen.”

  “Only fourteen?” Logan put his hand on her arm and squeezed it. “I’m so sorry.”

  “She wasn’t that old, you know, for a grandmother.”

  “Cancer?” he guessed.

  To his surprise, Winter shook her head. “Something with the heart, they think. After her death, I went to a foster family. When my foster father got transferred to Wilmington, they petitioned the court to let me move out of state with them. So I left Detroit behind. Never went back.”

  “So you’re originally from Detroit? Wasn’t it hard to leave everything behind, your friends, the memories of your family?”

  The smile she gave him was bittersweet. “Not really. The
earlier memories, those were good ones. But the time with my grandmother…”

  “Didn’t you like her?”

  “I loved her. But things were difficult. She was sick. Or at least the doctors thought she was sick. They diagnosed her with some mental illness that has a Latin name I can’t pronounce. But after everything that happened in the last few days, I don’t believe anymore that she was mentally ill. I think she was a psychic, too. I think I inherited my gift from her.”

  Logan’s heartbeat accelerated. “What makes you think she was a psychic?”

  “She was always talking about seeing things that weren’t there. The doctors thought she was having hallucinations. I mean after what Wesley and Charles said, I think “psychic” would fit the bill, don’t you?”

  He nodded slowly. Unfortunately, Winter’s grandmother also fit the description of somebody he knew. “How long ago did your grandmother die?”

  “It’ll be twenty years this December.”

  Logan swallowed away the lump that was rising in his throat. Twenty years. “And she lived in her home in Detroit at the time?”

  Winter shook her head. “She wasn’t at home anymore. They’d put her in a mental hospital. They thought she’d get better…”

  Logan didn’t hear the rest of the sentence, because his heart was thundering in his ears. The psychic he’d killed was Winter’s grandmother. Because of him, because of what he’d done, Winter had ended up in foster care. Without family.

  Guilt barreled into him. Pain slammed on top of it, suffocating him.

  What had he done?

  He’d killed the grandmother of the woman he loved. Winter would never forgive him for this. Still, he had to tell her. He had to confess what he’d done. He couldn’t let her sit next to her grandmother’s murderer without her knowledge.

  “Winter…” His voice trailed off.

  “Oh, what’s that?” She suddenly bent down to pick something up from underneath the coffee table.

  He recognized the stuffed toy in her hand. “Oh, one of Julia’s toys,” he said automatically.

  “Oh God, no!” Clutching the toy, Winter shot up.

  Alarmed, Logan jumped up and gripped her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

  But Winter wasn’t looking at him. She was looking through him. He knew instantly what it meant. She was having a vision.

  Her face distorted in horror, her eyes widening, tears brimming in them, while her lips quivered. “No,” she murmured. “No, please, no!”

  Whatever she saw had to be horrible, but Logan didn’t dare shake her out of it. She had to go through this, had to see everything the vision could reveal. All he could do was hold her, let her know he was there, even though he didn’t dare speak in case he broke her concentration.

  Winter’s head moved from side to side, as if she was searching for something, while her arms twitched, one arm reaching out, trying to grab something, but only gripping air, while in her other hand she held on to the toy.

  All of a sudden, Winter dropped the toy and wailed, tears streaming down her face.

  His heart broke for her. He hated seeing her in pain like this and wished he could take the pain upon himself. He felt her hands on his bare chest and realized that her eyes were focusing again.

  “You have to save them, Logan,” she begged, choking the words out amidst tears. “The twins, you have to save them.”

  Logan’s heart stopped. “Aiden’s and Leila’s twins?” He involuntarily gripped her shoulders tighter as panic charged through his body. “What did you see?”

  “The demons, they’re attacking them. Aiden, and a blond woman. She looked familiar. And the kids they’re right there, crying, screaming, scared.”

  “A blond woman? With dark sun glasses?”

  She nodded. “How do you know?”

  “It’s Leila. She disguises herself when she leaves the compound. I saw them earlier in the kitchen, getting ready to leave with the twins.”

  “You have to call them back, now! Or the demons will get them.”

  Logan rushed to the nightstand and picked up the receiver, hit the pre-programmed number for Aiden’s cell phone and let it ring. Once, twice, three times.

  “Damn it, pick up!”

  “It’s Aiden. Leave me a message,” the pre-recorded voice said.

  “Fuck!” Logan cursed. “Aiden, you’ve gotta get back to the compound with Leila and the kids. The demons are going to attack you. Winter had a vision. You hear me? Come back immediately!”

  He disconnected the call and pressed the button for the intercom next to his bed that connected to the command center. “Pearce, you there?”

  “Yo, what’s up?” Pearce replied through the crackling line.

  “Track Aiden’s cell phone. I need to know where he is.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Winter had a vision of him, Leila, and the kids being attacked. I saw them leave the compound less than an hour ago.”

  “Shit! I’m on it.” There was more crackling on the line.

  Meanwhile Logan rushed to his closet, pulled out a pair of pants and a fresh shirt, and started dressing. “Winter, get dressed.”

  He didn’t have to tell her, because she was already rushing into the bathroom to grab her clothes.

  “Shit!” Pearce’s voice came through the intercom again.

  Logan pressed the button. “Where is he?”

  “I don’t know. But his phone is in the compound.”

  “Fuck!” Logan grabbed socks and slipped them on, then reached for his shoes. “Alert everybody, get them to suit up. We have to find them. I’ll be down in the command center in a minute.”

  “Got it.”

  As he laced his boots, he looked at Winter, who was almost ready too.

  “In your vision, did you see where they were?” he asked.

  “It looked like a store, maybe a shopping mall. I couldn’t read the name of the shop.” She slipped into her shoes. “But I’ll recognize it when I see it. We just have to get in the general vicinity.”

  “We?” He shook his head. “You’re not coming with us. There’s no way I’m putting you in the path of the demons.”

  “You have no choice, Logan! I saw where they were. You need me.”

  “Then describe to me what the place looks like. You don’t need to come.”

  “I can’t possibly describe everything I saw. Do you really want to risk the twins’ lives? Damn it, Logan, I’m coming with you. I can find them.”

  He grumbled to himself, but he knew she was right. Without the name of the store where Aiden had taken his family, they had nothing to go on. They had to rely on the fragments Winter had seen in her vision and hope she would recognize them when she was confronted with them again. Whether he liked it or not, she had to come with them.

  “You won’t leave my side. Is that clear?”

  “Crystal,” she said.

  He handed her a jacket. “Put this on and let’s go.”

  29

  By the time Logan and Winter reached the command center, Hamish and Manus had already joined Pearce.

  “Where’s Enya?” Logan asked.

  “She got called in as a second for an injured guardian in Seattle for the day,” Pearce informed him.

  “Damn! What did you find on Aiden?”

  “Aiden’s cell phone is charging in the kitchen. He must have forgotten it,” Hamish said.

  “I tried Leila’s phone,” Pearce said, “but it’s not switched on. She probably left it upstairs in their quarters.”

  “Fuck,” Logan cursed once again. Then he motioned to the computer. “Can you pull up every major shopping center within forty-five minutes of here?”

  Pearce looked at him. “Can you narrow that down a bit? There’s gotta be hundreds of shops within those parameters.”

  Winter approached the console. “I saw clothes. For kids.”

  Pearce nodded and started typing something on his keyboard. “Okay, kids’ clothing stores. That h
elps a bit.” He pointed to the screen where a map had appeared. A cluster of red dots was strewn haphazardly over the map as if somebody had tossed a sack of marbles on it.

  “Too many,” Winter murmured.

  Pearce punched another command on his keyboard, and several blue lines appeared going outward from the location of the compound, stopping at various distances from it. “Taking into account traffic conditions, these lines represent the maximum distance you could travel from the compound by car within the last forty-five minutes.”

  “Okay, that’s better,” Logan said. “Can you hide the shops that he couldn’t have reached?”

  Pearce tapped on his keyboard, and a large number of the dots disappeared. At the same time, he made the map larger, providing a closer view of the different locations.

  “Can you do a satellite view of that?” Winter asked.

  “Sure.” Pearce clicked the mouse, and the streets disappeared. The red dots and blue lines were now superimposed over satellite imagery of buildings, green spaces, and other terrain.

  “It wasn’t a strip mall,” Winter said. “When I looked out of the store’s window, there were no cars.”

  “Okay, an indoor mall,” Logan suggested and pointed to two spots on the map. “Pearce, are these the only two indoor malls within range?”

  “Yeah, pretty sure.”

  “Zoom in on this one,” Logan ordered, then turned to Winter. “Anything familiar about the structure?”

  She shook her head. “Sorry. From above they all look the same.”

  “Hold on,” Pearce said and switched to another window. “I can pull up the website for the mall, see if they have pictures you can look at.”

  Within a few seconds, Pearce had pulled up the website and navigated to the gallery. He scrolled through the images slowly, while Winter perused them. She kept shaking her head.

  “None of this looks familiar.” She looked up. “How about the other mall?”

  Pearce searched for the second mall on the browser, but a 404 Error came up. “Something is wrong with their website.”

  “Shit!” Logan cursed. He locked eyes with Winter. “Are you sure that you recognize nothing in the first mall?”