to her about having to touch her to cloak her.
Maybe she wouldn’t have reacted so strongly to that revelation, if they hadn’t been caught by Manus in the middle of the act. She’d been too embarrassed to think of anything else but the humiliation that she’d felt.
But now, all that didn’t matter. Aiden’s kiss was as sinful as it had been before, and it made her want things beyond a kiss, beyond a mere touch, even beyond the intimate touches they’d shared at the massage parlor. Way beyond that.
“Hate to interrupt,” Hamish said wryly, “but we can’t stay here forever.”
Leila opened her eyes, heat rushing to her cheeks once more. Did she always have to get caught doing something . . . something so forbidden? Because what she was doing with Aiden had to be wrong: he was there to protect her, and beyond that she knew she couldn’t trust him. He’d confirmed this only a short while earlier when he’d confessed to Hamish that he’d killed his former charge.
Sobering, she avoided looking at Aiden and withdrew from his embrace. Instead, she perused her surroundings. They were in some sort of cave. Rows of oak barrels lined the vast space, each with a number and a few letters on it, marking their content.
“Where are we?” Aiden asked.
“About an hour north of San Francisco, in the wine country,” Hamish answered.
“You have to explain to me how come there’s a portal here when there are supposed to be none outside the compounds,” Aiden demanded, his voice tight.
Hamish nodded. “I will, on the way to our safe house.”
He headed for the door, unlatched it, and opened it. Then he peered outside. “All clear.”
Curious, Leila followed him, feeling Aiden at her back. Outside, it was sunny and clear. She looked back at the cave and realized that it had been built into the side of the hill, thus taking advantage of the natural cool earth to keep the barrels at a constant temperature. In the distance, she saw several buildings, one that looked like a barn with big stainless steel silos, another one that probably contained the tasting room and offices.
Nobody seemed to be around.
The dirt path Hamish led them on ended at a wooden shack. Inside was an old beat up Toyota that looked like the loser of a demolition derby. She piled in the back seat, letting Hamish and Aiden take the front. By the looks of it, they had much to talk about anyway.
As they rumbled down the hill and through the vineyard, Hamish finally addressed Aiden’s earlier question.
“You’re right, there shouldn’t be any portals outside the compounds, so you can imagine my surprise when I found one.”
“How did you find it?” Aiden instantly wanted to know.
“Well, that brings me to the bigger issue here. I have reason to believe that one of the council members is working for the demons. I can’t—”
From the backseat, Leila could firmly see how Aiden jolted at the news.
“That can’t be!” His head whipped sideways to glare at his friend. “If you think you can accuse somebody to lessen your own failings—”
“Those were not my failings!” Hamish shot back. “If I could have helped you I would have. But I was being pursued. Had I not disappeared when I did, I would be dead now.”
***
Aiden pulled in a breath. What his former second was insinuating was outrageous. But often the truth was unbelievable. And he hoped Hamish was telling the truth.
“I want the whole story,” he demanded. “And start with how you found Leila and me.”
“Oh, you’re gonna get it, but you won’t like it,” Hamish promised, gracing him with an ominous look.
Somehow that look was enough for Aiden to realize that whatever it was he was about to hear would uproot his entire belief in their race. “Go on.”
“Well, finding you was easy. I’ve been shadowing you for days. I had this gut feeling that you’re in danger. Figured if they tried to move me out of the way, what’s stopping them from doing the same with you? I kept an eye on you from afar so I could interfere if need be.”
Hamish gave him a sideways glance. “Anyway, to get to the real story, a few weeks ago, I noticed strange coincidences, demons showing up close to safe houses and other places we were hiding charges. I looked at the location logs and plotted those occurrences, cross-referencing them with who accessed the location files as these assignments were taking place. I came across