Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1) - By Unknown Page 0,46

longer need the fog to hide ourselves or the people around us. We simply render them invisible.”

And could do so selectively. If he chose, he could keep her cloaked from the demons, yet visible to humans.

“What do the demons want?”

He sighed. Leila was a veritable waterfall of questions. Knowing that she was a scientist, he should have guessed that would be the case. “What does anybody want? Power, domination, survival.”

She made an impatient hand movement, dismissing his answer. “No, what do they really want? They must have an agenda, a mission.”

“That is their mission: to gain power over humans, to seduce humans to do their bidding, to fuel the fear in this world, so they can feed off it.”

“They feed off fear?”

“That’s what makes them stronger. The more fear there is in this world, the stronger the demons. In times of war and uncertainty, they grow more powerful. During the Cuban Missile Crisis we had our hands full. Only the actions of a decisive leader were able to turn the situation around.”

“The Stealth Guardians defused the crisis?” she asked.

“Only indirectly. We don’t interfere in your world directly. We’re only there to protect those humans who can in some way help their own race get stronger again. We protected several key figures in the US government, who were instrumental in reaching an agreement with the Russians to end the crisis. We made sure the demons had no influence over them.”

“You mean you can somehow stop them?”

Aiden shook his head. It wasn’t that easy. “All we can do is hide those humans who your race can’t do without and help them achieve their purpose in life, whether that is to act as a peace keeper, a brilliant inventor, or a scientist. But the rest is up to the humans. We can only guide them on the right path; we can’t force them to stay on it.”

He glanced at her. Their gazes clashed, and he noticed that realization had suddenly sunk in.

“What happens when the human you’re protecting can’t fight off the influence of the demons?”

Aiden pressed his lips together. He hadn’t expected her to ask him this question. And he wasn’t prepared to answer it.

“Tell me. What happens to those who do what the demons want?”

Her eyes drilled into him, and he knew she wouldn’t rest until he gave her an answer. And for once, he couldn’t lie.

“We are forced to eliminate them.”

Before they kill one of our own, he wanted to add. Like they’d killed his sister. But he couldn’t confide this in Leila. And he shouldn’t want to feel this need to explain his reasoning to her. But for some inexplicable reason, he wanted her to understand why he had to do what he had to do. And he didn’t like that feeling of vulnerability it evoked in him.

SIXTEEN

Leila’s heart was still beating out of control when Aiden pulled the car to a stop. His words rang in her ears. The determination in his voice had shocked her to the core. Even if there were things she couldn’t quite believe yet, she recognized the truth in those words. Eliminate he’d said, when she knew he meant kill. Such a clinical, cold way of saying it, as if a life meant nothing to him. Maybe it didn’t.

After everything he’d told her about the demons, she understood how dangerous they were, and that it was up to her to fight them should they ever find her. Knowing what a coward she was and that she would lose any fight with the demons in two seconds flat, one thing became more important than anything: they could never be allowed to find her. If that meant that she had to remain invisible until this threat had passed and they lost interest in her, then she would do exactly that. Even if it meant tethering herself to a Stealth Guardian who she couldn’t trust either. A Stealth Guardian toward whom she felt an inexplicable attraction, despite the danger he represented.

“We’re here,” Aiden announced and pulled out his cell phone to punch something into it.

A loud humming sound made her snap her eyes to the area ahead of them. Light started to emerge as a garage door lifted in front of them. The car edged forward and slid into one of the spots lining the far wall.

“Let’s go,” he ordered and jumped from the car, severing their contact.

Odd, she’d still had her hand on his thigh, and it had felt almost like a natural extension of