Guardian Undone

by Tina Folsom

  “In her visions? So the spell is working?” Wes asked excitedly.

  Virginia snapped her head to her husband. “Spell? You did a spell for her? Behind my back?”

  “Oops.”

  “Goddamn it, Wes! You should have told me!”

  “If I’d told you, you would have had to report it to the council. Think about it, babe, I was trying to keep you out of it.”

  “We’ll talk about this later.”

  She directed her gaze back to Logan, and Wes took the opportunity to wink at him. He didn’t seem to be too concerned that he couldn’t talk Virginia out of punishing him too harshly.

  “I’m sorry,” Logan said quickly, “it wasn’t my intention to stir up trouble between you two. But I didn’t know where else to go.”

  “Hmm,” Virginia muttered. “So what do you want?”

  “I need to know how you got into the Underworld.”

  “But you know that already. It was an accident,” Virginia said.

  “That’s what you think. But you must have done something to get down there. Even if you didn’t do it consciously. Something sent you down to Zoltan’s lair. And I need to know what it was. I need to get to Winter. I need to get her out of there.”

  Virginia gave him a strange look. “This is not just about her being a psychic and you trying to correct your mistake, is it?”

  He shook his head.

  “You’re in love with her,” Wes stated.

  Logan looked at his hosts. He didn’t have to nod or say anything, because he knew they could see it in his eyes. “Will you help me?”

  “Okay.” Virginia exchanged a look with Wesley. “When the council compound was attacked by the demons, I was furious. I suspected Wes of somehow having given our location away to the demons—”

  “—which was later proven incorrect,” Wes interrupted quickly.

  “Yes,” Virginia conceded. “But at the time, I was furious. At him, at the demons. I wanted to kill Wes, so I raced to his cell and opened it. I made the mistake of stepping inside the lead cell…”

  Logan nodded. “It diminished your powers, sucked out your strength.”

  “That was my luck,” Wes said, “or I would be dead now.”

  “Anyway,” Virginia continued, “a demon attacked us while we were in the cell. I wasn’t strong enough, but Wes saved me in the end. He proved to me that he wasn’t with the demons.” A tender look passed between them. “When the self-destruct alarm sounded, we raced to the portal. We were the last two people in the building. We managed to get in, but it seemed to take forever for the portal to close. The countdown had already started.”

  “What did you concentrate on when you were in the portal? What location?” Logan asked eagerly.

  Virginia shrugged. “I don’t know. I just wanted to get out of there before the whole place blew. I was angry at the demons. I wanted to kick their asses.”

  “Yeah, we all did when we heard about it.”

  “That’s all I was thinking about, and then suddenly the portal shook, and we got tossed around. At first I thought we’d been blown up with the portal and were buried in its rubble, but we realized pretty quickly that the portal had transported us to the Underworld.”

  “It was a pretty big explosion,” Wes added.

  “Tell me again exactly what you were thinking when the portal blew up,” Logan demanded.

  Virginia sighed. “I already told you. I wanted to kick the demons’ asses. I wanted to go down there and beat the shit out of them.”

  Logan jumped up. “That’s it!”

  Virginia stared at him, saying nothing.

  Wesley asked, “What?”

  “Virginia said she was thinking of going down there to beat the shit out of them. She was furious, full of anger and hate, and then the portal blew.”

  Wes rose. “I think I know where you’re going with this.” Excited, he continued, “The reason we landed in the Underworld were three things: the explosion, Virginia’s anger coupled with the thought of wanting to go into the Underworld to beat their asses, and voila: you’re in the Underworld.”

  Logan nodded. “A strong emotion, a release of massive energy, and concentrating on the location while in the portal. Put these three things together, and you can enter the Underworld.” He looked at Virginia, who hadn’t said a word since Wesley and he had started making their assumptions. “Don’t you think it will work, Virginia?”

  “You mean sticking you in a portal and blowing it up?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “Exactly.”

  “It won’t,” she claimed.

  “But it worked for you and Wes,” Logan protested. “We just need to try. It has to be it. It has to work.”

  “You’ll end up dead,” she said.

  “You can’t know that.”

  Virginia shot up from the couch. “I do know.”

  Her words made him pause for a second. “What? What are you saying?”

  Virginia huffed.

  “What are you not telling us, babe?” Wes asked, walking toward his wife.

  Virginia looked at Wes then back at Logan. “Goddamn it! We tried, okay? The council figured it out after we got back from the Underworld. When I was debriefed, I met with the brightest minds of our species and we dissected what had happened to me and Wes. And we figured it out. But it didn’t work.”

  “How can you know it didn’t?” Logan asked.

  A sad look appeared in Virginia’s face. “We had a volunteer, a guardian who was willing to be our guinea pig. He did exactly what you’re suggesting now. He walked into a portal, concentrated on his hate for the demons, and we blew him up.” She blinked as if the memory was too horrific to bear. “We found his body blown to bits within the rubble of the portal. He didn’t make it, Logan, it didn’t work.”

  Logan sighed and dropped his head. “And he did everything you did at the time?” He lifted his head and saw Virginia nod.

  “I’m sorry, Logan. But I can’t allow you to risk your life so recklessly.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me about that, babe?” Wes asked.

  Virginia looked at her husband. “The council wanted to keep this under wraps. A failure like that would have had demoralizing effects.”

  Logan squeezed his eyes shut. “But Winter, she saw that I was coming. She saw that I would rescue her.”

  “Her vision must be wrong,” Virginia said.

  Logan turned away, fearing that his emotions would overwhelm him. How could he give up now, when Winter meant everything to him? She owned his heart. She was his heart. The love he felt for her…

  He spun around. “Love,” he murmured, then stared at Virginia and Wesley, suddenly remembering something. “Drake said that love is the strongest emotion, that it can move mountains because of its infinite energy. Your volunteer… all he had was hate, and it wasn’t in a situation of life and death. It was an experiment. Do you think he could really put himself into a state where he had sufficient hate to make the portal respond? I bet that was the problem. But when you and Wes escaped the compromised compound, it was a life and death situation. Your emotions were running high. Your hate was at a fever pitch.”

  “This is nuts,” Virginia said.

  Logan shook his head. “Maybe, but it’ll work. I love Winter. And love is stronger than hate. Love is more powerful. It will send me to the Underworld. Because it has to. Winter needs me. She’s waiting for me.”

  “You’re absolutely fucking crazy,” Virginia said. “Hell, even if it works, there’s no guarantee that you’ll ever make it out of the Underworld alive.”

  “You made it out. Winter and I will, too.”

  Or they’d die together.

  31

  The small cave-like cell was dimly lit. It wasn’t cold, but Winter shivered nevertheless. Her jacket was gone, and with it the dagger in its pocket. The floor beneath her feet was rough, the ceiling jagged. The shape of the cell wasn’t symmetrical, but created by nature, by the shifting o
f tectonic plates. There was oxygen down here, but it was cut with the intense stink of Sulphur and other gases that were released by the active earth underneath through crevices in the rock. Geothermal energy heated this place, and most likely provided it with energy to use for whatever purposes the inhabitants of this underground maze deemed necessary. She knew where she was. She’d seen it in her visions many times. Feared it. This was the Underworld, the place the green-eyed demons called home.

  Everything she’d seen in her visions was coming true. Only it was worse. In her visions, she’d seen Logan slay the demons for her. But she knew now that he wouldn’t come. Not now that she’d found out that he’d killed her grandmother. He had no reason to come for her now. He wouldn’t risk his life for a woman who hated him. His betrayal hurt more than anything she’d ever felt. He’d lied to her, lied all this time to hide his cruel act.

  The sound of heavy boots hitting the stone floor made her snap her head to the thick wooden door that looked like it belonged in a medieval castle. A key was turned in the lock, and a moment later the door swung outward and a demon appeared, filling almost the entire frame. He wasn’t the same demon who’d dragged her into the vortex.

  “You! Come!”

  The words weren’t an invitation. She had no choice but to do what he said. He let her exit the cell then motioned her down a corridor, sticking to her heels like pesky toilet paper to a wet shoe. Every so often, his hand shot forward to direct her toward another corridor, grunting his displeasure when she didn’t react quickly enough. She’d seen the corridors before. In her visions. This was the vast tunnel system of the Underworld. She’d drawn it.

  “Stop!” The command was like a slap in the face.

  Her heart began to thunder.

  The demon squeezed past her, his vile body rubbing against her and making her want to gag. He knocked at a door that she would have missed. A voice from inside invited them in, and the demon opened the door wide, but Winter couldn’t see past him into the interior.

  “The psychic, oh Great One.”

  “Send her in.”

  The brutish demon stepped aside and grabbed her upper arm, shoving her into the room not too gently, almost as if he had to prove to his superior that he hadn’t treated her with any kindness or consideration. Not that he had. But now, he made this fact abundantly clear.

  “Dismissed,” the demon behind the massive desk said.

  Winter barely heard the door close behind her, because her focus was on the demon the other one had called Great One. He had to be their leader. She perused him carefully. Just like the other demons she’d encountered previously, his eyes were poison-green. He was a large man, broad-shouldered, muscular, strong. His dark hair was short, his face clean-shaven, though a dark shadow around his chin and mouth indicated that if he wanted to grow a beard, it would be just as dark and thick.

  He was dressed in the clothing of a guerilla fighter, reminding her of Fidel Castro in his younger years. He exuded confidence and power. But there was something else about him that she hadn’t expected to see in a demon. He was handsome. Movie-star handsome.

  She tried to shake off the notion. It couldn’t be that she found this vile creature attractive. Was she hallucinating?

  He rose now and walked toward her, an easy smile forming on his lips. “Miss Collins, I apologize for your rough treatment at the hands of my subjects,” he said with a deep, soothing voice that would make any radio personality jealous. “I’ve tried to teach them manners, but alas, it’s useless. I’m having more luxurious quarters readied for you as we speak.”

  He reached for her hand, and she was too paralyzed to refuse it. His touch was warm and gentle. With it, she realized that this demon was more dangerous than any of his underlings. This demon had charisma and knew how to use it. Just like so many serial killers who’d lured their unsuspecting victims into a trap. But she wouldn’t fall for it. She knew better. She knew what the demons were capable of.

  “It’s a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance,” he said, squeezing her hand before releasing it again. “You may call me Zoltan. May I call you Winter? Such a pretty name. So unusual, yet so fitting for a special woman like you.”

  Oh God! Was he flirting with her? Did he think this was a date rather than a kidnapping? This was sick! Absolutely sick!

  “You kidnapped me!” she ground out with a clenched jaw.

  Another charming smile, but behind it she saw his barely leashed anger. “Now, now, Winter, let’s not start our new friendship with accusations.”

  “I’m not your friend! I’m your prisoner.”

  His eyes narrowed a fraction, but then he seemed to relax again. She’d never seen a man who had such iron control over himself, when she knew he wanted to crush her resistance with brute force. But this demon, this Zoltan as he called himself, was smart. He had a plan.

  “I’m going to rectify that. As I said before, my subjects are a little on the rough side and don’t know how to deal with honored guests.” He motioned to the door. “But it’s time to eat. I’m sure you’re hungry. I’ve brought in a chef specially for you.”

  “You shouldn’t have bothered,” she sniped. “I’m not intending to stay long.”

  A belly laugh suddenly filled the room, bouncing off the uneven rock walls.

  There was even a sparkle of mischief glimmering in Zoltan’s eyes. “And I, my dear Winter, intend to change your mind.” He stepped a little closer, his face serious now, his eyes cold and hard. “I always get what I want.”

  There was an underlying growl in his voice that sent a chill through her bones. Yes, Zoltan was dangerous, because he knew how to manipulate others. But she was prepared for it. She wasn’t stupid and wouldn’t fall for his tricks. Instead, she would try to learn as much as she could about him. And somehow, she would make it out of here. Or she would die trying.

  “I believe dinner is served. Shall we?”

  She swallowed her disgust and gave a tight nod. She had no choice but to obey.

  It took several minutes walking through the maze of interconnected tunnels to reach another cave. This one had several access points, though there were no doors. A chandelier with at least two dozen candles hung from the ceiling, where a long table served as the centerpiece of the room. At least ten chairs surrounded the stone table, but only two places were set at one end of it. Like a gentleman, Zoltan pulled back the chair for her and motioned her to sit. But she wasn’t fooled. This was all part of him playing the civilized man so he could seduce her to his side.

  Winter sat in the proffered chair and watched Zoltan take the seat at the head of the table.

  “So, this is all yours,” she said. “Your kingdom. What do they call you? The devil? Lord of the Underworld?”

  He gave a half-hearted smile and unfolded the napkin, laying it across his lap. “They call me the Great One. And no, I’m not the devil. But I am Lord of the Underworld.” He made an all-encompassing motion with his hand. “It might not look like much to you, but this is a vast empire, one I’m expanding with each day.”

  Clearly, Zoltan liked to talk about his accomplishments, just like any despot did. Good. She would keep him talking. “How vast? Are we talking a few acres? Like a small European principality?"

  He cast her an assessing look. “Nothing about me or my empire is small. You’d do well to remember that.”

  She didn’t miss the sexual innuendo in his words. She lifted her chin in disdain, ready to come back with a retort, but footsteps coming from one of the entrances distracted her and made her turn her head.

  “Ah, dinner,” Zoltan said.

  Two demons carried trays, looking entirely uncomfortable, as if they’d never done this before. They placed the trays awkwardly on the table, lifting the covers from the various bowls and plates. Delicious smells drifted to her. And not only that. The presentation of the dishes was something she would only expect in a fancy restaurant.

  “The chef has a Michelin star,” Zoltan e
xplained.

  She snapped her head to him, annoyed that he’d noticed her appreciation. It had been a reflex, and it would have no bearing on how she felt about the Underworld or the demons.

  “I didn’t know the Underworld gave out Michelin stars.”

  “We don’t,” Zoltan said. “But I wanted only the best for you. So I convinced this chef to work for me.”

  “Convinced?” She could imagine what that had looked like.

  A chuckle came from Zoltan. “Don’t worry, I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”

  “How original. So your favorite movie is The Godfather?”

  “You’re very witty. I’m glad. It will make for many animated dinner conversations. I’ve lacked good company down here.” He motioned to the two demons who still stood near the table, waiting. “What do you still want?” he growled, his voice like that of an angry dictator. “Get lost!”

  The two demons replied, “Yes, oh Great One!” then hurried out of the dining room.

  “Apologies,” Zoltan said. “It’s hard to train them.” When she didn’t answer, he pointed to the plates. “Please, help yourself.”

  They began eating. Winter wasn’t particularly hungry, but forced herself to take a little bit from each plate so as not to anger her host. Zoltan on the other hand had a healthy appetite and devoured large amounts of food.

  “My subjects tell me that the Stealth Guardians were trying to turn you against us with their fake news about us.”

  “Fake news?” Was he serious?

  “It’s not all black and white like the guardians would have you believe. The demons aren’t all bad, nor are the guardians all good. Even they kill when it’s in their interest.”

  “You mean they kill people like you. Demons. Monsters.”

  “Oh, they do that, yes. But they kill others too. Innocents. People that might expose them. People that they deem a danger to them. They claim it’s for the greater good. But who decides what the greater good is?”

  He looked at her as if he really sought an answer from her, as if it wasn’t a rhetorical question. She took the bait. “The victors write the history books.”