25

Flanked by two guards, Logan was walking down the long corridor that led to the lead cells. In less than thirty seconds, he’d be locked in there, and the game would be over. He had to come up with something, and do it fast.

He weighed his options. Option one was to let them lock him up and hope he could sway the council at his trial. But that would leave Winter exposed, and with Manus knowing where he was hiding her, they would find her quickly.

Strike option one.

Option two was to let himself be locked up and hope for a prison break. But who would break him out? By refusing the council’s order, he’d most likely also gotten Manus in trouble, since his friend had kept the secret that Winter wasn’t dead. For that he would be punished too. Not as severely as Logan, but punished nevertheless. Therefore he couldn’t hope for help from Manus or his compound mates.

Scrap option two.

It only left option three. Logan calculated his chances: slightly better than fifty-fifty. Though it was two against one, the two guards weren’t out in the field fighting demons on a daily basis. They were most likely rusty, serving at the council compound where nothing ever happened. They wouldn’t even see it coming.

When they arrived at the cell, both guards stopped.

“This is the end of the road for you,” one said and reached into his pocket for the key.

Logan waited patiently for the guard to retrieve the key and unlock the cell. When he swung it open, stepping aside to do so, Logan gripped the edge of the door and swung it all the way open, hitting the guard with it and slamming him against the wall. While he tumbled to the ground, Logan spun around and swung his fist into the second guard’s face. The guy had already reached for his dagger, but Logan managed to kick it out of his hand. Stunned, the guard took a second too long to throw a punch at Logan. By the time it was meant to connect, Logan had already sidestepped the blow and gotten behind him. Now in the superior position, he kicked him in the back of his knees, sending him to the ground.

From the corner of his eye, Logan saw movement. The guard he’d hit with the door had scrambled to his feet and lunged for Logan, dagger in hand, but Logan dove away, gripped the door and hit the guard with it, this time from behind.

A grunt of pain echoed through the hallway. Soon, somebody would come running and it would all be over. He had to silence the guard now. Logan jumped him from behind and wrestled him to the ground. But the guy was strong, though not as agile as Logan, and managed to land a few hits. Luckily Logan was able to avoid the dagger and roll to the side in time to jump up again.

Just then, the other guard staggered to his feet and Logan saw an opportunity and took it. Gripping the door again, he used it to jump up and kick both legs into the guy’s stomach, sending him flying deep into the cell. One down, one to go.

The second guard proved a bit harder to fell. It took several blows and punches and a good number of kicks to drive the guard toward the open door of the cell. Logan felt his strength waning, but he couldn’t give up. Winter’s life depended on it. That thought charged him with new energy and he kicked the guard as hard as he could until the man tumbled backwards. One more kick, and he was inside the cell, crashing against the other guard, who’d just managed to get up. Perfect timing.

Logan slammed the door to the cell shut and turned the key to lock it. From inside he heard the two guards’ screams. Eventually somebody would come to free them, but if he was lucky, he had a few minutes to get out of the council compound.

Not even stopping to catch his breath, Logan raced down the hallway, back to the stairs that would take him down to the level on which the portal was located. He charged around the corner, only to stop dead in his tracks.

“Shit!”

There, casually leaning against the wall, was Manus. Judging by his expression, Manus wasn’t surprised to see him.

“So impatient,” Manus said calmly. “Couldn’t wait for me to break you out, could you? Had to beat up the guards, didn’t you?”

“What the—”

“When will you ever learn to trust me?” Manus rolled his eyes. “Did you really think we were gonna let you rot in here?”

Stunned at Manus’s words, Logan asked, “How did you know they were gonna lock me up the moment I showed up here?”

“I didn’t. But I figured we should be prepared for everything.”

“They’ll know it was you who helped me escape. You should leave, before somebody sees us together.”

Manus smiled. “They don’t even know I’m here. Pearce switched off the cameras on the portal level. And he hacked into the surveillance system so we would know if they locked you up.” He motioned to the stairs. “Let’s go. We don’t have much time. Pearce has to switch the cameras back on before the guards in the command room realize that they’re not on a live feed and come down here to check what’s wrong.”

Together they rushed down the stairs, but Manus put a hand on his forearm as soon as they’d reached the lower level. “Easy. Don’t run, in case we bump into somebody. We don’t want to look suspicious.”

“Got it.”

It was a long corridor to the portal, and it felt like a walk on a plank, but they encountered nobody on the way.

Logan let out a breath, as Manus placed his hand on the carved dagger that identified the portal. It opened within a second. They both entered, and Manus gripped Logan’s arm.

“Hold on,” Manus said and everything went dark around them.

“We need to go back to San Francisco,” Logan said.

“No,” Manus replied.

They were already moving, before Logan could ask his friend where they were headed. For once he didn’t protest. Manus wouldn’t go through the hassle of saving him only to catapult him into the fire.

After a few seconds, Logan felt his body still and he knew they’d arrived. The portal’s door opened and Manus stepped out first, Logan followed. He glanced around.

“You brought me to Baltimore?”

“Safest place right now. Nobody will assume that you’re hiding out in your own compound.”

“And the others?”

“They’re all in agreement. We’re a team. We don’t leave anybody behind. Even if that person is irrational.”

He ignored the jab. “But Winter. She’s still in San Francisco. The council will find her.” And he wouldn’t be there to protect her.

Manus rolled his eyes once more. “I’m not an amateur. Come on.”

~ ~ ~

Winter paced in the great room that connected with a modern kitchen. She wasn’t alone. Enya, the Stealth Guardian woman who’d whisked her away from San Francisco, was with her—whether as her protector or her prison guard, Winter hadn’t yet determined. Nobody had said much to her though they’d treated her kindly, not applying any force on the trip to this compound, as they called it. Nevertheless, she felt like a prisoner.

Frustrated she turned to Enya. “I need to know what’s going on. Where is Logan?”

Enya tossed her the kind of look she’d give a child who was asking Are we there yet? for the hundredth time. “We’re working on that.”

“What does that mean?”

Enya’s jaw tightened visibly. “It means we’re working on it, okay? Now why don’t you eat something or watch TV, and stop pestering me with questions I don’t have the answers to?”

Before Enya looked away, Winter recognized something in her eyes, something that belied her dismissive words.

“You’re worried about him, too, aren’t you?”

Enya pivoted and narrowed her eyes. “Well, gee, you are a psychic!” Her words dripped with sarcasm.

“Enya, why are you so hostile toward me? I haven’t done anything.”

“Oh, haven’t you?” She braced her hands on her hips. “No, little Miss Innocent didn’t do anything other than seduce Logan into betraying his race! And to think I was on your side when I heard the council voted to kill you!” Enya huffed angrily. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done? Do you? Logan could be executed for this. And it’ll all be your fault.”

“They’d need to find me first.”

Winter’s gaze shot to the person who’d spoken. “Logan!” He was entering the kitchen, Manus on his heels.

Logan locked eyes with her, and Winter’s heart began to pound. He marched right toward her and pulled her into a tight embrace. “You’re safe.”

“You’re welcome,” Enya mumbled behind him.

Releasing Winter from his embrace, but keeping his hand on her lower back, Logan looked at his compound mate. “I owe you one, Enya. I owe all of you.”

His words seemed to pacify her somewhere, because she said, “Well, we couldn’t let them just take you away from us. Imagine the workload if we had to pick up your share too.”

“Truth,” Manus added and slapped Enya on the shoulder. “And you know how lazy we are.”

The door suddenly opened and more people streamed into the room. She’d met one of them before: Hamish. But the other two men and two women were strangers. As were the two toddlers who ran past the adults and charged into the room, giggling and chasing each other. Children were the last thing she’d expected to see in this place.

Logan looked at Winter and said, “I think it’s time for introductions. The important people first.” He snatched the toddlers, one with each arm and lifted them up. “What are you two still doing up? It’s the middle of the night. Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”

The kids only giggled.

“Meet Julia and Xander. They run the show here,” Logan said.

One of the women stepped forward and took the girl off Logan’s hands. “Don’t listen to him. They’re not that bad.” She smiled. “I’m Leila. And these two belong to me.” She looked over her shoulder and pointed at one of the men. “To me and Aiden. And they hate being in bed. They seem to always sense when something exciting is happening in the compound.”

Aiden raised his hand in greeting. “Hey.”

Logan set the boy back on his feet. “You’ve met Hamish. Next to him is Tessa, his wife. And that guy is Pearce. He’s our computer genius.”

Various greetings bounced around the room.

“So, what went down with the council?” Aiden asked.

Logan shrugged. “They didn’t give me much of a chance to explain the situation or make a case. I’m afraid your father is pretty hard-nosed.”

“Aiden’s father?” Winter asked.

Logan nodded. “The head of council is Aiden’s father and—”

“But he’ll find you.” She shot a look at Aiden. If he knew, wouldn’t he eventually tell his father?

“Aiden won’t tell his father that I’m here, right, Aiden?” Logan asked.

“If I wanted you to rot in that cell, I wouldn’t have helped organize your escape,” Aiden said.

“They put you in a cell?” Winter asked, frustrated that she was only getting piecemeal information. “And you escaped?”

Pearce suddenly cleared his throat. “May I?”

Logan nodded. “Yeah, I’m kind of curious myself how you guys pulled it off.”

Pearce smirked. “Well, we’ve had our eyes on you ever since Manus found you in San Francisco. When you went to the council to make your case, I’d already prepped everything to watch you there. When the camera caught you being led to the cells, I deactivated the surveillance cameras at the council compound and alerted Manus.”

“Nice hacking,” Logan commented. “Will they be able to trace you?”

“No chance. The cameras were only out for about three minutes. The guys in the control room probably didn’t even realize that I fed them a static image instead of a live feed.” He shrugged. “So all Manus had to do was get you out of there once the guards put you in the cell and—”

“Only Logan didn’t exactly give me a chance,” Manus interrupted. “By the time I got to the cellblock, he’d already overpowered his two guards and locked them in the cell.”

“I didn’t exactly know that you were coming to get me,” Logan said. “If I remember correctly, last time we met you gave me an ultimatum and threatened to bring me in yourself if I didn’t comply.”

“Yeah, well, I had to try to bring you to your senses.” He glanced at Winter and looked her up and down as if assessing her. “But I guess you’d already made your choice.”

Winter felt Logan take her hand and squeeze it. “Yes. I made my choice. I’m sorry that you guys have to deal with the fallout from my decision. You know that you don’t have to do this. By hiding me and Winter here, you’ve become accessories. We can leave.”

“And go where?” Manus challenged and made a dismissive hand gesture. “You’re safest here. Nobody will guess that you’re hiding out in your own compound. Nobody would think you’d be that stupid. Now let’s regroup and figure out our next steps.”

“Next steps?” Winter heard herself ask. “But if Logan wasn’t able to convince the council, there’s nothing else we can do.”

Manus laughed, and several of the others joined in. “You should know something about us, Winter. We don’t give up after the first attempt. We’ve had higher hurdles to climb. We’ll figure this one out.”

When she met eyes with Logan, he blinked in agreement.

“Manus is right. We won’t give up. There’s too much at stake.” Logan pulled her closer to him and lowered his voice. “I won’t give up as long as you’re alive.”

Tears shot into her eyes, and she had to hold her breath and force them back down to keep from crying in front of everybody. She couldn’t show weakness now in front of these strangers who were risking so much for her. She had to prove to them that she was worth their effort.