Master Unchained (Stealth Guardians Book 2) (6 page)

Arriving at the stage—a simple wooden construction only about three feet off the floor—Hamish let go of her arm.

“I’ll be watching from here.”

She nodded and took the three steps leading up to the platform where several people were already assembled. She wasn’t surprised to see Gunn there. He was cozying up to the director, Bill Mantle, while Gabriella and a volunteer adjusted the microphone and some cables at the podium. Poppy waved at her, looking all dressed-up and sparkling for the occasion. She wore black pants that flared at her feet and a blouse of the same color covered in silver sequins that reflected the light of the room in rainbow colors. She looked like she’d stepped out of an 80s movie and was going to break into song and dance any second. But before Tessa could go say hi to Poppy, Gunn noticed her, and she had no choice but to greet him.

She nodded to Mantle first. “Nice to see you again, Mr. Mantle.” Then she turned to Gunn. “Robert. Didn’t realize you were attending this event.”

He smiled broadly. “As the mayor—”

“Acting mayor,” she corrected him.

“… acting mayor, I have to attend important events like these.” His smile didn’t waiver. “Besides, I’m a staunch supporter of drug rehabilitation.”

That last sentence was clearly added to butter up the director. But Tessa knew better. Gunn didn’t care one way or another about drug rehabilitation as long as it didn’t take place in his backyard. He didn’t represent the underprivileged in this city. He was on the side of the rich.

“And your support is very much appreciated,” Mantle said before Tessa could find the right words to refute his claim.

Gabriella joined them at that moment. “We’re ready to start. I’ll make the introductions, then Mayor Gunn will speak, then Miss Wallace, and you, Bill, will do the closing.”

“I insist on Miss Wallace going first,” Gunn interrupted. “I don’t want to steal her limelight. After all, she worked very hard to get the City Council to approve this center. I really don’t need to speak at all. I’m happy with just being here, observing.”

Surprised at his words, Tessa raised an eyebrow.

“Are you sure, Mr. Gunn?” Gabriella asked. “We do have enough time allocated for everybody to speak.”

Gunn waved her off. “No, no. Please let Miss Wallace have her day in the sun. It’s all her achievement.”

“That’s very generous of you, Mr. Gunn,” Mantle said and motioned to Gabriella. “Let’s start then.”

Tessa glanced back at Gunn. “Thank you, Robert.”

But in the back of her mind, questions started to pop up. Since when did Robert Gunn surrender the stage to a political opponent?

8

The chatter of the attendees simmered down in anticipation. Hamish listened only halfheartedly while Gabriella introduced the people on the small stage. Instead, he let his eyes roam, perusing the assembled.

He stood near the steps that led up to the stage, where thanks to his height, he had a good view of the crowd. He zoomed in on those in the audience who held cameras in their hands. A few flashes lit up the room. Other people were taking videos with their smart phones. His eyes searched for guns or any other weapons, but he didn’t detect anything suspicious.

Nevertheless he remained vigilant, though he doubted the demons were stupid enough to try anything in such a public venue where bystanders were ready to record everything with their cameras. After all, the demons had to worry about exposure too—and unlike Stealth Guardians, they couldn’t make themselves invisible. So if a demon was indeed here among the spectators, Hamish would eventually spot him.

People who were planning trouble always gave it away—either by acting suspiciously or by trying too hard to fit in. Either way, they stuck out. So he watched for those who didn’t clap when everybody else did, didn’t laugh when a speaker cracked a joke. But most of all he watched for those who kept their eyes shielded, either by wearing glasses or by keeping their gaze on the floor, because there was one physical characteristic every demon had: green eyes.

Their eyes and their green blood was the only outward proof of their demonic nature. The aura that surrounded other preternatural creatures—vampires, witches and the like—and made it possible for Stealth Guardians to identify them, was absent in demons. The Stealth Guardians assumed that this was the case because most, if not all, demons had once been human—before they’d committed acts so atrocious that the underworld had claimed their soul. He’d never heard of anyone who’d been redeemed after surrendering to the demons and joining their ranks—ranks that seemed to grow exponentially the more violence and fear ruled the world.

“… without whose help we could have never gotten this far.” Tessa’s voice penetrated his mind and he glanced at her up on the stage, speaking freely without any notes. “And all of you, who donated so generously to this worthy cause: thank you for your support.”

Applause followed Tessa’s heartfelt words and grew louder with every second. The noise seemed to turn more grating in his ears, almost metallic. Something didn’t feel right.

A prickling sensation traveled up his spine, and he scanned the crowd, then stared back at Tessa who still stood at the lectern, drinking in the adoration of the crowd. Tears seemed to shimmer in her eyes, and she wiped them with her hand. Light was dancing on her face, reflecting off the disco ball that was still turning at the other end of the room. The silver bracelet around her wrist caught some of it, too.

Involuntarily, Hamish looked up at the ceiling.

“Shit!” he cursed and charged up the steps to the podium.

He heard it starting—a ripping sound, metal snapping—and he didn’t stop even for a split second. He vaulted toward Tessa, his feet barely touching the ground, his arms stretched out, reaching. He pushed her away from the lectern, hurtling on top of her as she tumbled to the floor. Behind Hamish, metal crashed onto the wooden podium, but Tessa was covered by his body, shielded from falling debris.

Cries of shock and horror echoed in the room as the applause died instantly.

“Tessa, you alright?” he managed to ask.

Beneath him, Tessa trembled. He could feel her heart thundering, or was it his?

“Yes.”

“I’ve got you, lass, I’ve got you,” he murmured in relief.

Slowly he lifted his body off her and looked over his shoulder to where Tessa had stood only seconds earlier. The lectern had been obliterated by a heavy metal duct—probably part of the air conditioning system. Had Tessa been hit, she would have been severely injured, if not killed.

Shit, shit, shit!

His heart raced uncontrollably.

He’d been watching the people, but neglected to check whether the stage or its surroundings had been rigged to cause an accident.

“Oh Tessa, no!” Poppy screamed.

“Oh my God, how horrible!” Gabriella cried out, her voice high-pitched and panicking.

“Tessa, are you okay?” It was Gunn who came running now, followed by Mantle. Others climbed onto the stage.

“Stay back!” Hamish ordered, lifting his arm to underscore his command. “I’ve got her. She’s alright.”

“You’re a hero!” Gabriella exclaimed, and others repeated her words.

But he didn’t care about any of that. All he cared about was Tessa’s safety. She was still on the ground, trying to sit up now, and he was still crouched down next to her. He reached for her and pulled her into his arms. When she finally met his gaze, sheer fear was reflected in her beautiful lavender eyes.

“Hamish…”

“What a terrible accident!” Gunn said from behind him. “Mr. Mantle, there’s no way you can open the center now. You’ll need to get all the construction inspected again. I insist. It’s not safe.”

Hamish couldn’t hear the reply as Mantle pulled Gunn to the side, talking to him in hushed tones.

“I’m taking you home.”

Tessa didn’t protest when he helped her up, but she flinched when he set her back on her feet.

“Are you hurt?”

“Do you need anything, Tessa?” Poppy interrupted. “I can drive you home.”

Tessa shook her head. “I’m just a bit bruised.”

Hamish looked her up and down and noticed an abrasion on one knee. “You’re bleeding.”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

“I’ll clean it up for you when we get you home.” Then he looked at Poppy. “I’ll take care of her. Thanks, Poppy.”

He put his arm around Tessa and led her toward the steps. Gabriella walked with them, a worried look on her face.

“We should call an ambulance,” she suggested.

“Thanks Ms. VanSant, but I’ll take care of Tessa.”

Gabriella looked at Tessa for confirmation and received it in the form of a nod.

“I’ll call you tomorrow to see how you’re doing,” Gabriella called after her, “and we’ll have an inquiry into how this accident could have happened.”

Amidst a few camera flashes, Hamish ushered Tessa from the stage and to the nearest exit as quickly as he could. Time was of the essence now. He needed to contact his colleagues so they could investigate this attempt on Tessa’s life before anybody had a chance to destroy evidence.

Because this was no accident.

9

Numb, Tessa allowed Hamish to walk her to his car and help her into the passenger seat while bystanders took pictures with their cell phones and talked excitedly. So many voices overlapped each other that she couldn’t even hear what they were saying. The resulting noise felt deafening, and only when Hamish finally slunk into the driver’s seat and slammed the car door shut, did a semblance of calm settle over her. Only now could she hear her heart beating frantically, and feel the cold sweat that beaded her neck and spine.

She looked at her hands; they were trembling. She clasped them together to make the shaking stop, but it didn’t.

“We’ll be home soon. You’re safe now.” Hamish’s voice was soothing, but not even his reassuring words could keep the memory of what had just happened at bay.

The images started replaying in front of her eyes. The applauding crowd. Then Hamish slamming into her like a freight train, knocking her off her feet so she crashed hard onto the rough wooden floor. The sound of metal falling onto the lectern. And then, when Hamish had released her, she saw it for the first time: the massive air duct that would have crushed her under its weight, just like it had reduced the wooden lectern to splinters. The recollection of it made her shudder.

“I need to make a phone call,” Hamish said, an apologetic tone in his voice.

She nodded automatically, but couldn’t get a word past her parched throat for fear it would come out as a sob. Instead she looked out the side window, desperate to push the disturbing images out of her mind. She didn’t believe in coincidences, not in coincidences that could have cost her life. Not after the threat she’d received anyway. Until now, she hadn’t truly believed that somebody really wanted to harm her, but now she had to face facts.

“Yeah, Enya, we’ve had an incident,” Hamish said into the phone and continued after a few seconds’ pause. “A piece of an air duct fell onto the stage where Tessa was speaking tonight. Nearly hit her… yeah, exactly, that’s what I think. I need you and the team to go to the new Center for Drug Rehabilitation and check things out… You’ve got my GPS location from ten minutes ago? Good, just get there as fast as you can. I need to know how it happened. Look at the air conditioning system, electrical, lighting, the works. And check the duct. It looked new to me, but I could be wrong… Yeah, thanks. Oh, and another thing: a lot of the attendees had cameras and were filming the event.”

Tessa glanced at him then, surprised by his train of thought. No wonder he was a bodyguard. He remained calm under pressure. Unlike her.

“I need to see the footage. I’m sure everybody’s already uploading their videos and photos to social media. Check every platform and copy everything to our servers. Get Pearce on that. I want to review every scrap of evidence. Somebody has to have caught something. That thing didn’t just fall down on its own.” He paused for a few seconds, casting her a sideways glance, then said into the phone, “Yeah, call me as soon as you’ve got something. I’ll be at Tessa’s.”

He disconnected the call and dropped his cell phone into the cup holder between their seats.

“Who was that?” she heard herself ask.

“Enya, one of my colleagues. She and the team will figure out how this could have happened.”

“I doubt that the center employees will let them snoop around. I’m sure they’ve called the police by now.”

“Don’t worry, our company collaborates with the police all the time.” He gave her a reassuring look.

“Is there a chance that this was an accident?” Maybe she was just overreacting. Maybe something had gone wrong during the renovation of the space. Perhaps it was shoddy work and not a nefarious plot to eliminate her from the mayoral race.

“There’s always a chance,” Hamish finally answered, though hesitation laced his voice.

“But you don’t think so.”

He sighed. “Listen, Tessa, whatever it was, accident or not, you’re safe right now. And I’m going to make sure it stays that way. From now on, I’ll be checking out every venue you’re due to appear at beforehand. Nobody is going to get the chance to do something like this ever again.”

She nodded, suddenly realizing how stupid she’d been to revolt against his help. Nothing like a near-death experience to get her to see her protector in a new light. He wasn’t trying to boss her around or restrict her movements, he was simply trying to do the job he was hired to do: keep her safe. It was time she showed some gratitude.

“I’m sorry, Hamish, about how I’ve been behaving,” she started.

He turned his head in her direction, a surprised look on his face. “You don’t have to apologize for anything. It’s not easy to suddenly find yourself in a situation where you have to rely on somebody else—especially when you’re used to taking care of yourself.”

Surprised that he understood where she was coming from, she nodded and dropped her gaze to her clasped hands. “I don’t like being helpless.” She’d been helpless before, and she hadn’t liked it then either. But she’d been a child and her tormentor had been stronger than her. And for a long time nobody had come to her aid.