Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1) - By Unknown Page 0,66
everything he wants. What could they possibly tempt him with?”
The only thing anyone in his family could be tempted with was to have Julia back, but even the demons couldn’t resurrect the dead.
Slowly, he walked back to the couch and slouched down.
“If I knew what went on in the head of each council member, trust me, I wouldn’t be sitting here wondering about it. I would be taking the asshole down. Whoever it is, he is betraying all of us. And putting us in danger,” Hamish said
“What do you propose to do about it, considering you’re a wanted man right now?”
Hamish grinned. “Now that’s where you come in.”
“Why do I get the feeling that I’m being used?”
“What are friends for? Besides, didn’t I just save you and your charge’s ass? And what a lovely ass it is.”
Aiden glared at him. “Leave her out of this.” He wasn’t in the mood to discuss Leila’s assets with him.
“So I wasn’t mistaken then. You do have the hots for a human. You never cease to surprise me.”
“It’s not like that. And it’s not up for discussion either.”
Particularly because he didn’t want to face the facts: with every minute he spent with her, the thought of having to hurt her one day sickened him more and more. He couldn’t remain objective about her and treat her like he’d treated every charge before her. The indifference and emotional detachment that had served him so well in the past had deserted him on this assignment. If he wasn’t careful, he’d form an attachment to her that he would have a hard time severing later.
“Can we change the subject? I believe we were talking about how to ferret out the traitor.”
“Very well. Let’s start with who knew you were at the safe house.”
“But as we both know, the attack on the safe house wasn’t staged by the demons,” Aiden explained. “Ergo, this won’t lead us to the traitor.”
“We can’t know for sure. Maybe they didn’t want to kill your charge but capture her instead. I know who she is.”
Aiden sucked in a quick breath. “How much do you know?”
“Most of it: that she’s a talented researcher, and that her boss just got killed and she’s somehow involved,” Hamish admitted.
“That’s only the half of it.” He leaned forward. As he filled Hamish in on the details of why the demons wanted Leila, he listened to the sound of the shower down the hallway. He blocked out the thought of it, and concentrated on giving Hamish all the information he had.
When he leaned back a few minutes later, Hamish took another sip of his beer and set the empty bottle on the coffee table. “No shit!”
“Yep, that’s it in a nutshell.”
“So we’re up against two enemies: the demons who want her drug, and since no copy of it exists anymore, they have to get her; and somebody else who wants to eliminate her before the demons get to her.”
Aiden twisted the bottle in his hands. “And since the only people who know what threat she represents are sitting on the council, whoever wants to eliminate her, is also on the council.”
“Two birds to catch then. One traitor, and one, let’s say, misguided council member who doesn’t like the fact that he was outvoted and is now taking matters into his own hands to ensure the desired outcome.”
“Exactly.”
Hamish rubbed the back of his neck. “There’s one other person who knows what kind of danger Leila represents.”
Aiden blinked. “Manus.” He slammed his hand into the sofa cushion. “He was the only other person who knew where we were. He came to switch out the cars. He even brought Leila some chocolate for her birthday, which proves he’s read her file from cover to cover.”
“It’s a possibility. But don’t forget that besides Manus, the council could have checked into your location log and found where you were.”
He shook his head. “No. They couldn’t have known. When I claimed the safe house, the request was anonymous, and I hadn’t checked my position in with central command yet.”
“After being at the house for what, at least eight hours?” Hamish sent an incredulous look his way.
“I know it’s against procedure, but there were circumstances that prevented me . . . ” Ah, hell, who was he kidding? He’d forgotten to send his position to central command. He’d been too preoccupied with Leila. A great Stealth Guardian that made him.
“So that confirms it,” Hamish agreed. “The only one who knew you were at the Thai massage