Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1) - By Unknown Page 0,67
parlor was Manus. That means he’s the one who sent the dogs after you.”
“Shit!” Aiden cursed.
“No!” Leila’s voice came from the corridor as she stepped into the living area. “It’s not Manus’s fault. It’s mine.”
***
Leila collected all her courage and stared past Aiden, unable to look him in the eye right now. Yet she couldn’t keep silent about this and let an innocent take the blame for what she’d done. It had bugged her ever since Hamish had shown up at the safe house and said that a phone call could have been traced back to it.
“I’m sorry, I just meant to . . . my parents, I didn’t want them to worry when they heard the news about what happened to me. I had to tell them I was okay.” She pulled the belt of the bathrobe she’d found in one of the closets tighter around her waist.
“You did what?” Aiden leapt from the couch.
“I called them from the safe house.”
Aiden closed his eyes for a moment and clenched his jaw together. She noticed how his hand curled into a fist as if he wanted to punch somebody, presumably her.
When he opened his eyes again, they blazed with anger. “Do you want to die? Do you? Because you’re making it damn hard for me to protect you.”
“But they needed to know. I couldn’t—”
“You couldn’t what? So you’d rather put yourself and everybody else in danger because of what? Sentiments? I’m afraid you don’t have that luxury.” He marched toward her, his steps slow like a tiger ready to attack.
“That’s not fair!” she bit back. Maybe he had no parents to care about, but she did.
“Fair?” he yelled. “Life isn’t fair! Those demons aren’t fair, and neither is that Stealth Guardian who’s after you to eliminate you!”
“What?” she echoed. Had she heard correctly? “The Stealth Guardians want to kill me?” Instinctively, she took several steps back and hit the wall behind her.
Aiden slammed his fist into the wall beside her head, jolting her. She’d never seen him so angry.
“Fuck, yes! Everybody is after you.”
“Stop it, Aiden!” Hamish jumped up and went to his side.
Aiden ignored him. “Not only are the demons after you. Whoever tried to attack you today, or last night for that matter is one of our own. And you worry about what your parents think?”
Leila shivered, not understanding why he still blamed his colleague. “I’m sorry, but I told you it wasn’t Manus’s fault.”
“I’m not talking about Manus!”
Hamish put a hand on Aiden’s shoulder, then looked straight at her. “It appears that somebody on our governing council would rather see you dead and your research die with you than risk that you fall into the demons’ hands.”
Her mouth fell open and her heart pounded into her throat. “But those are the same people who sent you, aren’t they?”
Both nodded.
Her voice shook, when she continued, “Then did they order you to kill me now?”
Aiden let out a breath, sounding somewhat calmer as he continued, “No. Whoever wants you dead is a rogue and is working against the council’s orders.”
Leila swallowed away the rising bile. She felt all power drain from her. She wasn’t safe anywhere, not even with him. “So not only do I have the demons after me, your own people want me dead.”
“Only one of them,” Aiden answered.
“You can’t know that. How many voted to eliminate me?”
“We don’t know.”
Hamish ran his hand through his hair. “But most likely only one of them is actually doing anything about it. And we’ll find him.”
“He’ll use anything to get to you, I can promise you that,” Aiden added.
At his words, she instantly realized where she was most vulnerable. “My parents. You have to make sure they’re okay. They have to be protected. If anything happens to them . . . ” She would never forgive herself for it.
“We don’t have the manpower to protect your parents. Not when we don’t know who we can trust.”
“Please,” she pleaded and took a step closer to Aiden, tears threatening to overwhelm her. “I need to know that they’re all right. Please.”
She looked at Aiden, then at Hamish, hoping that one of them would give in to her.
“Don’t you have parents? Don’t you know how much this hurts not to know if they are okay?”
“Okay, I’ll go,” Hamish relented.
Instantly Aiden slapped his palm on his friend’s arm. “No, I’ll go.” Then he stared back at her. “I need some air.”
He turned away from her, but she caught his resigned look nevertheless.