Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1) - By Unknown Page 0,32
alleged danger she was in.
“They want to seduce you to their side, so you’ll do their bidding.”
“Excuse me?” She wasn’t one to be seduced easily, and for sure was she never going to do some demon’s bidding. Besides, “What do those so-called demons do?”
“What do they do? I’ll tell you what they do: they spread mayhem in this world. They incite wars, they create discontent.”
Still not enough information for her. Did he really think he could serve her up a couple of lines, and she’d be happy with it? “What else is new? There are already plenty of wars.”
“If you think what this world is going through right now is bad, if you think the atrocities that happened during World War II were bad, if you think what happened in the concentration camps in Germany was horror, or what Pol Pot did to his people in Cambodia was evil, you’ve seen nothing yet. The demons are capable of much more evil than that.”
His words shocked her. “How? How do they do that?”
There was clear hesitation in him, just the way he’d hesitated back at the Irish bar when she’d asked him what he did for a living. He’d not lied to her outright then, but he’d only told her a half-truth.
“They approach the most talented and promising humans and entice them with things beyond their reach in exchange for their soul. Then they make sure whatever good those people were going to do is used for evil in their hands. And they’re coming after you now.”
Uneasiness crept up her spine. “Somehow I don’t feel flattered by that.”
“You shouldn’t be. But you will. They all are eventually. And in the end, many give in to them. That’s how the demons get stronger.”
“By getting human souls? Sorry, but that’s a little too abstract a concept. You can’t separate the soul from the body. Scientifically that’s—”
He took two swift steps to cross the distance between them, bringing himself entirely too close to her. “It’s got nothing to do with science, at least not the science you know. This is supernatural, something you wouldn’t understand.”
Leila expelled an angry huff. He made her sound like an imbecile. “I’m not some stupid woman who doesn’t have two brain cells to rub together, something I can’t say for—”
He bared his teeth. “Say it and I’ll bend you over my knee right now!”
Her jaw dropped at his ridiculous threat. Would he really do such a thing? Like she was some naughty schoolgirl! She planted her hands at her hips and realized too late that this action virtually shoved her breasts against his chest.
Aiden lowered his lids, and there was no doubt that he was checking out her boobs. Instinctively, she took a step back to bring some distance between them and to prevent her nipples from hardening if they rubbed against his hard muscles once more.
The jerk responded with a self-congratulatory smirk around his mouth. “Backing off, Dr. Cruickshank? That’s so unlike you.”
As if he had any idea what she was like! And he was still keeping up this ridiculous pseudo-formality of calling her Dr. Cruickshank, when she knew what he really wanted to say: bitch.
She thrust her chin up, ignoring his mocking expression. “What do those demons want from me?”
The word demons left a strange taste on her tongue. It felt so odd to say it when her brain couldn’t wrap around this data. As a scientist, she needed more than just somebody’s word. The existence of demons was highly unlikely and not supported by any testable evidence. Extraordinary claims required extraordinary evidence. Without evidence, all she had was a stranger’s statement—or a lie.
“Do you really need to ask? I thought you were so smart,” he continued mocking her.
She was about to retort when it suddenly dawned on her: there was only one thing precious enough that anybody could want to steal from her. Her research. Her chin dropped.
“Ah, finally,” he said calmly. “Do you understand now why you have to stick with me? You’re not safe on your own. I’m here to protect you from them.”
“If you think I would ever give my research to some demons, you’re sorely mistaken.” She would guard her data with her life. For her research she was prepared to do anything. This was her life’s work. There was nothing in this world anybody could possibly offer her to part with it.
“Everybody has a price. Even you.”
Leila shook her head. “You don’t know me. You don’t know me at all.”