Page 19 of Demon (Mystic Guardians #3)

Chapter Nineteen

C allan

Going back into the classroom after that wasn’t easy. His body was sated, in the best way possible, but his mind was whirling with a mix of worry and hope. The hope was the easy part. He could actually have a future with Lonnie, and if the last week was anything to go by, he had many passionate years ahead of him.

But it was the worry that was really bothering him. His mate had an actual warper wizard after him. They were some of the most powerful beings on Earth. He needed to figure out who it was, because not one student who’d come into this room held that kind of power. Were some fixated on the professor? Yes, there were actually a few who found Lonnie attractive and thought about that a lot. He’d glared at them more than a few times. But they were all thought and no action. None had that sort of maniacal obsession present.

So the danger wasn’t coming from here.

And outside of Gabby, Callan hadn’t met anyone else in Lonnie’s life. Hadn’t heard any mentions of other friends. Lonnie kept to himself. Then it hit him. Lonnie had mentioned message boards where he talked with others about his collectibles. Could it be one of them? That was his only other outlet outside of this university.

Just as he was making a plan to go over all those messages, a familiar scent hit his nose, and he went still. He didn’t look around so he didn’t alert the wizard that he knew he was there. He really wished he’d called in Finn to help guard Lonnie. Finn could sense warper magic before the wizard actually arrived. And he could track that magic if the wizard didn’t warp far. To follow a longer path, a warper wizard needed to work in tandem with another warper, which would mean they had a bigger problem.

Cursing his own need to keep Lonnie to himself, he watched his professor to see if he seemed to be looking at anyone new. But Lonnie just kept going on as he pointed at the huge screen at the front of the room.

Magic crawled along the surface of Callan’s skin. It was dark, full of hate, and a puff of breath brushed over the back of his hair. He swiftly turned his head only to see a shadowy form blink out of sight.

This wizard was getting braver.

Too fucking brave.

Callan stayed vigilant, never removing his gaze from Lonnie and once they were on their way back to Lonnie’s house, he called Xavier.

“I need Finn on Lonnie with me. The wizard showed up in his class.”

Lonnie gasped beside him.

“Finn is on a job out of town, or I’d pull him off and replace him. But Lake is about to be free. He’d be even better, since he can follow.”

Lake was one of the two warper wizards Xavier employed. He didn’t normally work as a bodyguard, though. Most of his time was spent transporting Protective Solutions employees to jobs farther out. They also worked magic on the more personal jobs Xavier took on. Not everything about the company was about protection. Xavier also went after some of the worst criminals when law enforcement couldn’t take care of them. Lake and his brother, Liam, could have easily made a fortune working for some of those criminals—as warpers often did. But they were good guys and had known Xavier a long time. Callan didn’t know them as well as he did the other bodyguards, but having Lake would help a lot.

“How soon can he be here?”

“I’d already planned to send him over there tomorrow, but I’ll move it up to tonight. He’s been on a long job for me, so he’ll need to rest.”

“He can take the room I was using.”

“Things are going well with your mate, I take it?”

“Yes.” Callan didn’t bother to elaborate, not with Lonnie sitting right next to him in the front of his truck. But he put as much emphasis into that one word as he could.

“I’m happy for you, Callan. Does he know what he is to you?”

“Not yet.”

Xavier’s deep chuckle came over the line. “You are staying aware of your surroundings at all times still, yes? Not letting your feelings for him distract you?”

“I understand my job.”

“I know you do, but I also know how a mate can be a distraction.”

He did? As far as Callan knew, Xavier had no mate. Confused, he frowned as he pulled his truck into Lonnie’s driveway, parked and looked over at him. Lonnie was watching him, but he looked pale, and Callan inwardly cursed. He should have told Lonnie about the wizard showing up in his class before he called Xavier.

“I have to go,” he said abruptly.

“Understood. Lake will be there in two hours.” Xavier hung up.

They were both silent until Lonnie took a ragged-sounding breath. “He was in my classroom today?” he asked, whispering.

Callan nodded. “Appeared and disappeared too fast for me to do anything.”

“Do you think he noticed you?”

“No doubt. Was right behind me.”

“If he can just show up anywhere he wants, how do we fight that?” He hugged his arms across his chest. “I’m really scared, Callan. And you must be worried, too, since you asked for another bodyguard. What can Finn do that you can’t?”

“He’s a jinn. Can sense a warper’s magic before he shows up.” Callan reached out to pull Lonnie’s arm toward him and threaded their hands together. “But another is coming. Lake is one just like the wizard after you. He’s even better.” He leaned toward Lonnie. “But I will still protect you. I won’t let him get to you.”

“I didn’t even see him. You said he was inside the classroom, and I saw nothing.” Lonnie shivered.

“Was crouched behind me, but only there for a couple of seconds.” Callan lifted Lonnie’s hand and kissed his fingers. “You’re cold. Let’s go inside.”

Once in the house, Lonnie dropped his briefcase and keys onto the small table by the door.

“We need your laptop,” Callan said as he cleared a spot on the coffee table.

“Why?”

“Could be someone on the message boards you use.”

Lonnie frowned. “I hadn’t thought of that. But I’ve never met any of them, so why would one fixate on me? Doesn’t make any sense.” He got out his laptop and set it on the table before booting it up. “Though… There is one person who seems more invested in me finding collectibles than the others. He sends me private messages all the time.”

“Let me see.”

Lonnie logged into the site and pulled up his private message thread. Callan read through them and found nothing that gave away any obsession—other than the guy’s interest in helping Lonnie find what he was looking for. But the hairs on his body were standing on end and he felt they were onto something. “Can you tell where he’s from?”

“I wouldn’t know how. I’m not that proficient on a computer to tell you the truth.”

“Then we take this computer into my work.” Callan stood. “People there know computers. Let’s go.”

He pulled out his phone to let Xavier know Lake could meet them at the office.