Master Unchained (Stealth Guardians Book 2) (27 page)

“Sit down,” Leila added, “and have some food. He’s a really good cook.”

“And that gives him the right to have the run of this place?”

Aiden jumped up from his barstool. “Don’t talk to my wife like that!”

“Damn it, Aiden,” Hamish grunted. “This is against every rule of the house! You can’t just let a prisoner run free.”

His friend braced his hands at his hips. “Like you haven’t broken any rules lately.” His gaze drifted to Tessa.

Ah shit! He’d broken a whole bunch of rules, but at least the rules he’d broken wouldn’t put the compound in danger. He pointed to Wesley, still locking eyes with Aiden. “We don’t know whether we can trust him. He was able to breach our portal. Who knows what he’s planning?”

“Right now I’m planning to make another batch of pancakes,” Wesley interrupted. “Who wants some?”

As if in response, Hamish’s stomach growled. Traitor!

“Ah,” Wesley said triumphantly. He heaved two pancakes onto a plate and slid it over the island. “Syrup is on the counter.” Then he looked at Tessa. “And your lady friend?”

“I wouldn’t mind one or two,” Tessa replied.

“Two pancakes, coming right up,” Wesley said, and turned back to the stove.

“Take a seat, Hamish,” Aiden said and hopped back on his barstool.

Knowing he’d lost this round, Hamish helped Tessa onto the barstool next to Leila, then took the seat next to her. “Did you watch him the entire time he was preparing the food?” he asked Aiden.

“Yeah, why?”

“Just making sure he’s not poisoning us.”

Wesley huffed indignantly.

“It’s safe to eat,” Leila said, rolling her eyes. “And it’s delicious, by the way. Thanks, Wesley.”

Wesley tossed a look over his shoulder. “Appreciate it.”

Hamish reached for the plate and pushed it in front of Tessa. “Here, Tessa, have mine, I can wait. You must be starving.”

She smiled at him gratefully, then took her first bite, chewing contentedly. “Hmm. These are good.” After another bite she said casually, “I didn’t know that you keep witches as prisoners. Well, I didn’t know that witches existed.”

Aiden chuckled with a sideward glance at Hamish. “I’ll let you explain that.”

Hamish sighed. “We don’t normally. Witches are our allies. But when one breaks in here, we take issue.”

At the last word, Wesley looked over his shoulder. “I wouldn’t call it breaking in. It’s not like there was a doorbell or something that I could ring. I explained it all to Aiden.”

Hamish shifted his gaze to his friend. “Wanna fill me in?”

Aiden nodded. “I’m pretty sure he’s genuine. He said he followed a Stealth Guardian somewhere in the woods of Sonoma, California, and found one of the portals. Apparently the person he followed told him to destroy some drugs a bunch of vampires had been producing. Anyway, I’ve sent a query to the compound loop to see which, if any, of our brothers has been running around Sonoma. If a Stealth Guardian can corroborate his story, then I’m willing to accept it. I’m waiting to hear back.”

“Is that all you’ve got?”

“Nope. There’s a lot more. Apparently Wesley here is friends with a whole bunch of vampires.”

“You’re fucking kidding me.”

“Can’t say I am. And guess what these vampires do for a living?”

“Suck people dry?” Hamish grunted.

“They run a bodyguard company. They protect humans and other innocents. From the preternatural. Kind of like us, huh?”

Hamish shot a look at Wesley, who was now putting more pancakes on a plate. “You’re shitting me.”

“Haven’t checked it out yet, since we’re a little short on manpower right now, but as soon as I can free somebody up, I’ll send a guardian to San Francisco to investigate.”

Wesley put a plate in front of Hamish, then a second opposite him, and hopped onto a barstool. “You should just let me call Scanguards and they’ll talk to you.”

“Scanguards?” Hamish asked.

“That’s the company he claims to work for,” Aiden elaborated. Then he looked at Wesley. “And we’ve discussed this already. No phone calls for you until we’ve thoroughly vetted you and have confirmed that neither you nor Scanguards are a threat to us.”

Wesley dug into his stack of pancakes and shoved a fork full of them into his mouth. His stomach growling again, Hamish grabbed his fork and did the same. For a moment there was silence, and all that could be heard in the kitchen was the clatter of cutlery.

Hamish started to relax a little. He had to admit that Wesley presented no danger at present. His witch powers would remain inactive while in the compound, and with no way of getting out, he was at their mercy. After all, without witchcraft, a witch was merely as strong as a human. And Wesley knew that.

Hamish motioned to Aiden. “Any news from the guys?”

“Pearce called in earlier. They’ve got a name. Tiffany Jacoby.”

Next to him, Tessa lifted her head. “My twin sister…” With a hopeful sheen in her lavender-colored eyes, she looked at Aiden. “Have they found her?”

“Not yet. I ran her name through the databases. The DMV had an address for her. Pearce and Manus are checking it out right now. But there was a different address on an arrest record I found in the Police Department’s database. I sent Enya to check it out.”

“Arrest record?” Tessa’s hand trembled, and Hamish clasped it to calm her.

“For drug possession. Looks like she’s been in trouble with the law a few times.”

“Oh God, we need to help her.”

The pleading tone in Tessa’s voice made Hamish’s heart ache. “We will. Just as soon as we find her.”

She lifted her gaze to him. “I’m so worried about her. She’s out there all alone. Who knows what the demons did to her.”

That reminded him of something. He looked back at Aiden. “About the demons. It wasn’t Zoltan who attacked Tessa and drugged her.”

Aiden frowned. “What? But—”

“Tessa remembered what the demons said. And from what we’ve pieced together, it sounds like Zoltan’s got a turf war on his hands. Apparently,
The Great One
wasn’t planning on killing Tessa; though I think he was probably responsible for putting that picture in the papers to destroy Tessa’s political career.”

Aiden nodded. “Pearce was telling me that the email came from a Zoel Monnadt, and that it’s an anagram for
Demon Zoltan
.”

“Right. But the attacks on Tessa’s life, they were perpetuated by a different demon. Somebody who wants to remove Zoltan from his throne.” He was sure about this now. It made sense.

“I wonder whether we could use that information to stir up trouble in the demon world,” Aiden mused. “Having them fight among themselves would take the heat off us for a while.”

“It’s possible,” Hamish said. “Let’s discuss it with the others when they—”

The ringing of Aiden’s cell phone interrupted him. He picked it up from the counter and answered it. “Hey Logan.”

Hamish pointed to the phone. “Put him on speaker.”

Aiden complied. “You’re on speaker. I’m with Hamish. Any news?”

“I’m with Gunn. The guy is so giddy right now, he can barely contain himself. He’s practically celebrating his victory already.”

“Bastard!” Hamish hissed.

“Oh I know,” Logan agreed. “But he did seem a little surprised that Tessa hasn’t made a statement yet. He’s waiting for her to officially withdraw from the mayor’s race. He’s been making phone calls all morning trying to find out where she is. If he’s really the guy helping Zoltan, then wouldn’t he know that Zoltan tried to kill Tessa?”

“He might be creating an alibi for himself,” Aiden said. “And by the way, we just figured out that the demon who tried to kill Tessa wasn’t Zoltan, but a rival. Most likely Zoltan planted the drug story to undermine her campaign, but his rival went a step further. So Gunn probably works for the rival, who’s been trying to kill Tessa all along.”

“What do you want me to do then?” Logan asked.

“Stay on Gunn,” Hamish ordered. “Once the others are back, I’ll send Manus to relieve you. If anybody can lead us to the demons behind this, it’s Gunn. Sooner or later, he’ll be in contact with them.”

“Not if they think that they succeeded and their work is done,” Logan said. “For all they know Tessa is dead.”

Hamish spun his head to Tessa, catching her apprehensive look. “Then we’ll have to make sure the right people know that she’s alive.”

39

Hamish gave her an encouraging look, but Tessa dreaded making the call.

“Do I really need to talk to him? Can’t I just leave a message with his assistant?”

“Gunn needs to hear your voice,” Hamish said. “He needs to know you’re alive. It’ll prompt him to contact the demons, and then we’ll be on them like white on rice.”

They were still assembled around the kitchen island. The witch, who actually seemed like a rather easy-going guy, was stacking the dishes into the dishwasher, while everybody else was looking at Tessa.

“Okay.” She took a deep breath and dialed Gunn’s direct line.

“Yeah?” Gunn’s tight voice bellowed through the line.

“Robert, it’s Tessa.”

Clearly stunned, Gunn blew out a breath. “Tessa.” Then he seemed to catch himself. “So you’re calling to concede, are you?”

“Concede? Dream on.”

He chuckled. “Come on, Tessa, you know you’ve got no chance now. The press is crucifying you, and your prim and proper voters are deserting you by the thousands.”

“They’ll come back once they hear the truth.”

“The truth? Tessa, wake up! You got caught.” He laughed. “Who would have thought that under that holier-than-thou exterior you had a dark side? Not even I could have dreamt that up. Jesus, Tessa, drugs? You? You fooled us all. But thanks anyway. The election is mine now. And not even your crooked little campaign manager can fix this like she fixed everything else.”

“I know what you’re doing! You can’t hide it much longer.”

There was a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. “Watch yourself, Tessa. You’re biting off more than you can chew.”

“You fucking little shit!” she cursed, but the phone was slammed on the receiver. The call was disconnected. “Argh! That jerk! He’s gloating!”

She felt Hamish’s hand on her arm. “Let it go, lass, he’s gonna get what’s coming to him very soon. I promise you.”

She sniffled. “Thanks.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “You’ve done well. You should talk to Poppy now and have her draft a statement. We can’t afford any more of your voters deserting you.”

She knew that. “What shall I tell her?”

“Have her draft an apology assuring your voters that you’ll be coming out with a full explanation as soon as you’ve cleared up a few things,” he suggested.

“An apology?” She shook her head.

Hamish cupped her shoulders. “I know it feels wrong, but until we’ve found Tiffany it’s the best thing we can do. Have her draft it so it’s as vague as possible, so you don’t actually admit to anything, okay?”

She sighed. “Are you sure?”

“Trust me.”

She did. “Okay. I’ll—”

The door being opened stopped her. Manus marched in, followed by Enya and Pearce.

“Hey guys,” Manus greeted them, before his eyes fell on the witch. “What the—”

“We’ve been through this,” Aiden said. “The witch is no threat.”

“Why does it smell like pancakes in here?” Enya asked.

“I’ll make you some,” Wesley offered immediately. “Anybody else?”

Pearce shrugged. “Sure.”

Manus nodded. “If you’re making some anyway.”

Impatient, Tessa interrupted, “Did you find Tiffany? Where is she? Is she safe?”

A regretful smile passed over Manus’s face. “Sorry, she was at neither of the two addresses we checked. There are no employment records we could find as of yet.” He exchanged a look with Pearce. “Pearce will search for her social security records to see where she worked last. Maybe we can get a lead that way.”

Pearce nodded. “We’ll be canvassing the neighborhood, too. It looks like the address that Enya checked out was her last one. We’ll start there. Maybe somebody saw something.”

Tessa felt a sob work its way up her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her lips together, trying not to cry. “He killed her, didn’t he? Zoltan killed her.”

Hamish pulled her into his arms. “If Zoltan didn’t try to kill you, he has no reason to kill your sister.” He brushed a hand over her hair. “We won’t give up.”

“Want some help?” Wesley suddenly said.

All heads turned in his direction.

“I mean, you do know that witches can scry for people, right?”

“Scry?” Another word she didn’t understand.

“Yeah, it’s like GPS.”

Tessa looked up at Hamish. “Do you know what he’s talking about?”

To her surprise, Hamish nodded. “Witches have the power to find people as long as they have something to guide them. You know, like a bloodhound with a scent.”

“I need a bit more than a scent,” Wesley amended. “I heard you say earlier that it’s your twin you’re looking for?”

Tessa nodded.

“Identical?”

“Yes, why?”

“Identical twins have identical DNA. All I need is a few drops of your blood, and I’ll be able to scry for your sister.”

Hope bloomed in Tessa’s heart. Was this truly possible?

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Aiden suddenly asked, drawing Wesley’s gaze on him. “While you’re in here, you have no power.”

“Ah, I was coming to that.” He grimaced. “It would of course mean you’d have to let me step outside these four walls so I can access my powers.”

“Ah, fuck,” Hamish hissed.

Tessa gripped his biceps. “Please, Hamish, if this is how we can find her, let’s do it.”

“Tessa, once he’s outside, he can use witchcraft against us.”

She shook her head. “But if we wait, it might be too late. What if she’s hurt somewhere? What if she’s dying? I could never forgive myself for not having tried everything to help her. Please, Hamish.” She felt tears shoot into her eyes, and this time she was unable to hold them back. “If you love me, then please do this for me.”

She felt Hamish’s chest rise. He released a heavy sigh, then looked past her. “One false move, witch, and you’ll feel my dagger in your heart.”