The Protectors Christmas Box Set (sexy paranormal romances) (31 page)

Finally, she turned and looked at him. “People? You mean the
non-human
kind of people?”

He held out his hand to help her step down. “Think of this as a research project,” he suggested. “What would your parents do if they discovered a new civilization living in the midst of the crowded streets of Chicago?”

“They’d investigate, of course.”

“And what will you do?”

The decision to go into the café rested on her shoulders. If she wanted to stay in the car, to pretend that none of this ever happened, he was going to let her do it.

“But I get the feeling I will never be able to tell anyone about this so-called discovery. No lectures. No scholarly papers.”

“No, you won’t. Does that matter?”

It wouldn’t to her parents. They loved the research, the quest for knowledge for knowledge’s sake. They’d witnessed deeply sacred ceremonies they had never shared with the outside world. Her mother and father didn’t have a problem with that. They had promised several times over to guard secrets. For them, protecting those fragile societies from the outside world often outweighed their desire to write papers or tell other academics about their discoveries. And Faith had never disagreed with her parents on that point.

So why not go with him?

Finding no good reason to object, Faith took Horace’s hand and slipped from the SUV. Her heart raced at the thought of stepping into a world filled with beings who weren’t human. What were they? Would she be safe with them?

Images of werewolves and vampires bombarded her.

“I’m not throwing you to the wolves, sweet,” Horace assured her as he guided her down the sidewalk. “I’ll be by your side the entire time.”

“And if I want to leave?” she asked, entertaining second thoughts with every step.

“You will leave with me,” he said.

“You promise?”

He smiled at that, showing off his sexy white teeth. “We’re not monsters, you know. They’re not going to bite.”

“
You
bite,” Faith reminded him.

Color tinted his cheeks. “Umm…” he said.

“Well?”

“I bite,” he admitted. “But I don’t remember hearing you complain about it.”

Power ebbed into his voice when he said the last. It reached out and caressed her. The mark on her breast and the one between her legs tingled. And her body suddenly ached for his touch. She didn’t care that they stood in the middle of a busy sidewalk. She needed him to touch her. To fill her. Her mind clouded with thoughts of pure lust, and her legs turned to water. She stumbled, and nearly fell flat on her face. Horace caught her before her head hit the pavement.

“Sorry,” he said. “I got a little carried away.”

“A little?” Faith dreaded finding out what would have happened if he’d really put his heart into that seductive mental push. That he had so much control over her scared her to the tips of her toes. “And the others? They can do this to me as well?”

“No one will hurt you.”

Horace put his hands on her shoulders and steered her toward a blank brick wall between two storefronts.

“Do you see it?” he asked.

“The wall, you mean? The wall I’m about to walk into?”

His grip on her shoulders tightened. “Look again.”

Before her eyes, the brick faded away. A battered old sign with a scrolling script that read “The Oblique Café” hung over a glass door that hadn’t been there a moment before.

This is really happening, she felt a need to tell herself. Faith drew a deep breath and put on a brave face as she reached for the door handle.

Surprisingly, her hand connected with cool steel. The door felt real. The café looked real. She glanced back at Horace. Even though he might not be human—an idea she couldn’t quite accept—he appeared to be sticking by her.

It was all too much to absorb. Faith still hadn’t gotten over the fact that less than an hour ago she’d stared down the barrel of that madman’s pistol. And the madman had pulled the trigger. She should be dead!

Perhaps her view of the afterlife had been completely wrong. She’d always expected to see angels and pearly gates, not a grimy, slightly run-down section of Chicago. But what did she know?

Come to think of it—Faith swallowed hard and remembered that she’d been lapse in attending Sunday services lately. Perhaps she
had
died, but this
wasn’t
Heaven.

Be brave, she told herself, and closed her eyes as she yanked open the café door. She stepped inside, half expecting to bump her nose on a brick wall. Silence greeted her. Hadn’t Stone said that they were all waiting? Where was everyone? What would
they
look like, anyhow? Funny green men with tentacles for arms?

Horace’s hands remained steady on her shoulders, feeding her courage. Why was it so dark? She drew in a deep breath and remembered she’d closed her eyes. She peeled them open to find nearly two-dozen very human-looking eyes staring back at her.

“Sip it slowly.” Jake, the owner of The Oblique Café pushed a cup of piping hot chocolate into Faith’s hands. If not for his tight grip on her shoulders, Horace guessed Faith would have bolted out the door and had run halfway back to campus by now. He could feel her muscles trembling underneath his fingers.

No matter how brave Faith appeared on the surface, Horace could understand why she’d be skittish around Jake. With his gray goatee and long face, he looked rather goat-like with some demon thrown in for good measure. The battered old T-shirt, with “The Oblique Café” printed across the chest didn’t make the best impression, either.

But Faith didn’t seem to be interested in Jake or the rest of
the Protectors
crowded in the rather narrow brick walled café. Her wide-eyed gaze remained glued on the rich cup of hot chocolate.

Hot chocolate, the drink Jake served all the New Ones, the foundlings who are just coming into their powers, had soothed many jittery nerves throughout the years. But Faith wasn’t a New One, which probably made the shock of discovering The Oblique Café all the more sharp. She clutched the white ceramic cup as if it were a lifeline.

“Go ahead and take a sip,” Horace said gently. “Jake uses the best chocolates imported from the far corners of the world. I guarantee you’ve never tasted anything this rich before.”

She slowly raised the cup to her lips. And after breathing in the rich aromas that even made his mouth water, she took a tentative sip. And then, another.

“Hmmm…” Her voice wavered. “This-this is good. Like a rich dark chocolate bar. I’ve never tasted anything like this before. Thank you.”

Jake gave her a toothy grin. “Glad to hear it. You’re the first human to ever taste it. I wasn’t sure if it would suit your palate or not.”

“What is a human doing here?” Kara had shouted that question. Her short brown hair bounced with agitation. “The rules explicitly state that no human know about us.”

Kara had once set her sights on Brendan, but that had been before Dallas had come into the picture. Ever since Brendan and Dallas’s wedding, Kara had been dropping not-so-subtle hints that she now wanted to hook up with Horace. Even if he’d been tempted, which he wasn’t, his pride would have never accepted being someone’s second choice.

“Meet
the Protectors
,” Horace said, figuring it best to ignore Kara. “We’re…we’re…”

How should he explain what he didn’t understand himself?

Faith glanced uneasily up at him. “V-vampires?”

That made him chuckle. “No, sweet. Not vampires.”

“I-I just thought…You’ve been biting me!”

Brendan, with a devilish sparkle in his eyes, snuggled up to Faith. “I bet he has been.” He pried one of Faith’s hands from the mug she clutched and caressed her knuckles. “I’m Brendan Cromerty. And Horace’s best friend.”

“And married,” Horace quickly added. He snatched Faith’s hand away from Brendan’s caressing fingers.

“So…” Faith drew out the word. She took another sip of her drink. Horace had to give Jake credit for giving her the hot chocolate. The soothing flavors did seem to bolster her courage. “If not vampires, what are you?
The Protectors
? That makes you sound if as you should be gathering at the Hall of Justice with the other superheroes.”

“I like her spunk,” Brendan said with a bright grin.

Faith smiled back, sending a spurt of jealousy roiling through Horace’s chest.
Damn
. She wasn’t his to be jealous over.

All the same, Brendan
was
married. He shouldn’t be flirting with anyone. Horace glanced around, searching for Dallas. She stood nearby. And she didn’t look concerned or jealous at all.

“I’ve been telling them all along that they need to make a handbook for moments like this. With lots of visuals. Stone won’t listen to me,” Dallas said with a huff. “We’re not quite human. And we have special powers. I’m sure you’ve already figured that out, though.”

Faith nodded, and then took another sip of her hot chocolate. She no longer clutched the cup so tightly.

“Other than that, there’s no good explanation of what we are.” Dallas slid a dirty look in Stone’s direction as if she blamed him. “None of us have families, so there really was no one to teach us about who or what we are. We all have our own specific powers. And we help the humans.”

“I’m not sure we should be telling her any of this,” Kara grumbled. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away from them.

“She has a right to know,” Dallas shot back. Her expression then softened. “How are you holding up, Horace?”

“I’m okay,” he lied. “Just the routine human-saving and all.”

Dallas didn’t look convinced. Neither did Brendan nor Stone.

“
The Protectors
,” Faith whispered, as her gaze swept over the crowded café. “Nothing simple like fairies, bogeymen or a sexy vampire. I feel sort of disappointed. Are you sure you’re not from outer space?”

“Your guess is as good as ours.” Horace felt his shoulders relax. He hadn’t realized how nervous he’d been for her. But her teasing tone chased many of his concerns away. She had the backbone to handle this.

“Perhaps we should all sit down and discuss what has been happening,” Stone said.

“I’d like to finish my hot chocolate, if you don’t mind.” She took another long sip. A smile spread across her adorable lips. “I know what you’re telling me is very important, and probably vital to figuring out why that creature was shooting at us. But this is really very tasty.”

Once she finished the hot drink and had handed the empty cup back to Jake, Stone directed Faith to sit with him at a small table in the middle of the café. Horace insisted on sitting beside her. Brendan took the seat on the other side of her. And Dallas pulled up a chair and sat next to Brendan.

Kara tried to squeeze in between Stone and Horace, but there simply wasn’t enough room. She ended up sitting directly behind Horace. The others in the café pulled up chairs next to hers, until two complete rows encircled the five sitting at the small, round table.

Jake squeezed by and slid a plate with a fat, chocolate croissant hanging off the edges in front of Faith.

“Don’t I get one?” Dallas asked with an edge of panic in her voice.

“Of course, dove,” Jake said and produced a second croissant out of thin air.

“Oh!” Faith breathed. “That could be useful.”

“And dangerous,” Dallas said right before she bit into the flaky croissant. “I’m thankful I don’t have the ability to do that. I’d weigh a ton if I did. No self-control, you know.”

“Not when it comes to enjoying the sensual pleasures.” Brendan took the croissant from Dallas’s hand and brought her chocolate-covered fingers to his lips. He took his time sucking each slender finger clean. Dallas’s eyes rolled heavenward and she blew out a trembling sigh.

Faith watched with what looked like a sense of awe. Horace often felt that way, too. Only a handful of foundlings had ever found success in love. But this year, they’d celebrated two weddings. Hadrian and Holly, the other married couple, had gone to Club West to deal with the police Faith had called. Hadrian had started bringing Holly along with him when he went to work with the police. They seemed to make a good team. Almost as good a team as Brendan and Dallas.

Horace rubbed his hands over his eyes. Seeing how happy Brendan had been lately had made him want that kind of relationship for himself. But he could never hope for that kind of happiness. Not even if he could safely pursue Faith, it wouldn’t be the same as what Brendan had with Dallas.

Faith was human.

He wasn’t.

He would have to let her lick her own chocolate-covered fingers clean. It would be better that way.

While Faith nibbled on her chocolate croissant, Horace and Stone described to the others what had happened at the club both last night and this afternoon.

No matter how hard they tried, none of them could give a good description of the gunman.

“He was clearly magical,” Stone explained.

“But he was using a gun?” Brendan asked. “Why?”

A good question. And one no one could answer. But that didn’t mean the others remained silent.
The Protectors
all started talking at once, speculating about what could be happening. And why.

Had this been an attack against Horace in particular? Or did the creature plan to eventually come after all of them? It must have been preternaturally strong to have withstood Stone’s banishment spell for so long. And what about the human? How is she involved?
Was she human
? How could a
human
convince Stone to reveal the location of their secret café?

Horace grimaced as the nervous whispers grew louder. It was becoming clear that many of his friends harbored strong suspicions against Faith. Thank goodness Brendan had shown his support for Faith by accepting her first at the door and then by sitting next to her. Brendan and Dallas’s support would help keep the others from panicking and doing something that might hurt Faith.

Still, Horace could feel the other’s fear thick in the air.

“Worrying about what Faith does and doesn’t know about us isn’t going to help us stop Ballou,” he said, feeling more discouraged than before.