Page 20 of Demon (Mystic Guardians #3)

Chapter Twenty

L onnie

Walking into Protective Solutions felt like starring in one of his fantasy anime episodes. Lonnie tried to keep a straight face, but seeing so many different beings gathered in one place was a full-on assault on his mind. The offices themselves were nice—darker because night was settling in, but he could tell they were bright during the day because of the floor to ceiling windows gracing the outside wall. And there were still so many employees there despite the late hour.

An absolutely stunning blond man with huge white wings approached them first.

“Callan! Good to see you. It’s been a while.” He clasped Callan’s back, his handsome face wreathed in smiles. He had the sort of good looks that made Lonnie think of Hollywood. A sort of strong, next-door type. He was tall, though not as tall as Callan, and had broad shoulders barely contained in a tight black T-shirt. His biceps bulged. But it was the wings that Lonnie couldn’t look away from. They fanned out behind him, standing a good foot above his head, and they were so beautiful and feathery.

He got the feeling this was an angel.

An absolute real live angel.

One who turned a wickedly flirtatious grin his way.

“And who is this beautiful thing?”

Callan grunted and tugged Lonnie under his arm. “Not available, Emory.”

Blond eyebrows went up. “I can see that. Good on you, Callan.” Emory suddenly let out a deep laugh. “Has Nathanial seen him? Because he reminds me of every guy I’ve ever seen him with.”

“Nathanial knows Lonnie is mine.”

Lonnie shivered at those possessive words, his chest warming because they sure as hell sounded permanent. He put his arm around Callan’s waist and squeezed, loving the way Callan’s arm tightened around his shoulders.

“We’re here to see Xavier,” Callan said. “You go sniff around someone else.”

Emory laughed again and Lonnie got the feeling this angel was a little on the darker side. And what was it about preternaturals calling him pretty and beautiful? He was the third to say it, which boggled Lonnie’s mind.

The angel nodded his head toward an open doorway. “He’s in the tech room, waiting for you. Nice to meet you, Lonnie. If you ever get tired of this grumpy de—er, man, give me a call.”

How Emory had missed Lonnie staring at his wings, he didn’t know, but he somehow had. To everyone in this room, he was just a human who saw whatever their glamours showed. None knew he could see horns, wings, and more. His gaze caught on someone even bigger than Callan, a huge beefy bald man who had to be over seven feet tall. He had horns that arced away from his head on either side. As they drew closer to him, Lonnie saw that he was reading a thick book, and when he glanced up, he had oddly attractive features, even down to the two tiny tusks jutting out from underneath his full, lower lip. Bright green eyes looked shrewdly at him as his head tilted to the side. Those long, black eyelashes should be illegal. He wouldn’t be considered classically handsome, but like Callan, his face was appealing to Lonnie. He smiled and it held a hint of shyness. Lonnie looked at the dark green horns again and the man’s eyes narrowed.

This one sure hadn’t missed that Lonnie could see them. He watched them all the way across the room, head still tilted as if he were inwardly questioning how this human saw through his glamour.

They entered an office. Since Emory had called it the tech room, Lonnie had expected a lot of computers, but there was only one. There were three big screens spread across the wide desk, but only one…being…sat in front of them. He looked like a regular man at first. Then he turned to look at them, and his eyes were all black, no whites or color at all. And the fingers he had poised over the keyboard were tipped in claws. Lonnie had no idea what he was. And frankly, this one kind of gave him the creeps.

Xavier stood beside him, looking all kinds of regal in slim, black slacks and a thick, beige cable sweater. His black hair hung loose around his face. “Callan. Lonnie. This is Daniel, Lonnie.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Daniel said in one of the deepest voices Lonnie had ever heard. “Xavier told me you need to track down someone on a message board?”

“Yes.” Lonnie opened his briefcase and handed his laptop to Daniel, the whole time dying to know what kind of preternatural he was. Was it rude to ask? He was curious about the massive one who’d watched him walk in there, too. His brain was spinning with questions, and it was taking all his control to hold them back. Xavier pulled up a chair for Lonnie, and he sat next to Daniel, his leg immediately starting to bounce from the effort.

“Daniel, Lonnie can see past glamours,” Xavier said.

“You can?” Daniel blinked those creepy, black eyes at him. “You see these?” He flexed his fingers into the air.

Lonnie nodded. “I’ve always been able to see our differences. What are you?” He popped his hand over his open mouth, heat filling his cheeks. “I’m sorry. That was so rude. I didn’t mean to offend.”

“You didn’t. I’m a banshee.”

He dropped his hand, mouth still hanging open.

“I know. You thought they were only female. We are rare, but male banshees exist.” He smiled, the expression kind and taking away a lot of his creepiness factor. “I’ve spent time on message boards where humans talk about seeing preternaturals but wasn’t sure if it was true. Interesting.” He opened Lonnie’s laptop on the one free spot on his desk. “Let’s get you logged into the operating system, then sign me into the site you use. Feel free to do whatever while you wait. It could take a little time.”

Lonnie did that, then stuck around long enough to see how Daniel typed with those long claws. He tapped away using the sharp points with complete ease, and Lonnie couldn’t help but be fascinated. It was like Callan’s horns—he hardly ever ran them into things because he’d spent so long adjusting to having them there. His glamour only hid them from view, so they were still there. Being unable to explain a busted light fixture two feet over one’s head was why he probably ducked so often, lower than he truly needed to. He had scratched up Lonnie’s headboard a bit, but he so didn’t care about that.

They had too much damn fun in that bed.

“Lake,” Xavier said, breaking into Lonnie’s thoughts. “Lonnie, this is one of our wizards who is going to be shadowing you along with Callan. He has the same abilities as the wizard who is fixated on you, so will be of great help.”

Lonnie turned to find a man who was much shorter than most of Protective Solutions’ employees. He was about Lonnie’s height but leanly ripped. He carried the same sort of graceful elegance that Xavier had, but his expression was much fiercer. Sandy brown hair in a high fade cut accented his sharp features. There were dark circles under his brown eyes, and he looked a little washed out.

Lake nodded at Lonnie, then looked at Xavier. “This last job was a bitch. I need some sleep.”

Xavier’s hair swished over his chest lightly as he nodded. “I can tell. Go home for tonight. I will join Callan and Lonnie for the evening myself.”

“Thanks.” Lake nodded toward Callan. “See you tomorrow. I have the address.” He strode from the room, stopping to talk to the massive man Lonnie had noticed earlier.

“Xavier,” Daniel suddenly said, looking up at his boss. “We have a problem.”

“Were you able to trace the person sending Lonnie all those messages?”

“Yeah.” He pointed at a map on the screen. “You know this house, and so do I.”

Xavier leaned down to peer at the screen and his lips tightened.

“What?” Callan’s voice was loud. “Who is it?”

Xavier straightened. “It’s Roman Brentwood.”

Callan’s gray skin went at least two shades lighter before it started turning red. He closed his hands into fists, nostrils flaring.

“Who is Roman Brentwood?” Alarmed, Lonnie’s voice broke. The sudden tension in the room was as thick as swamp mud.

Xavier sighed and ran one hand through the hair at his temple. “Roman is a wizard who’s given us trouble before. He’s very powerful. Daniel’s been keeping tabs on him for me.”

“Why would someone like that fixate on me?” He was truly perplexed.

“Why wouldn’t he?” Callan frowned. “You are wonderful.”

“But we’ve only talked online, and that was only because we were looking for a couple of the same collectibles. I never said anything that would entice him. There was no flirting, no private discussions. Nothing.” He looked at the map. “And he’s right here in Seattle?” He shivered.

Callan pulled him into his body and Lonnie gratefully soaked up his warmth, burying his face in Callan’s wide chest for a moment before looking back at the others.

“Lonnie,” Xavier said. “Knowing what we’re up against is a step in the right direction. Now we can turn the tables on him.”

“We go there.” Callan stroked his hand down Lonnie’s back. “Now.”

“And do what?” Xavier leaned his hip against the desk and crossed his ankles. “He hasn’t actually hurt Lonnie.”

“Warn him off.”

Lonnie glanced up at Callan’s face, easily seeing from his fierce expression that a warning was not all he wanted, so he looked at Xavier.

Xavier studied Callan for several long moments then nodded. “We let him know we are aware it’s him. Show a united front.”

Daniel nodded. “It has to be you, Xavier. Since he knows you.”

“We’ll go first thing in the morning with Dax, Lake, and Finn. Once he sees that Lonnie has powerful protection, maybe he’ll back off.”

Callan growled. “He knows who I am, then.”

Xavier nodded. “No doubt from the moment you showed up.”

“So he isn’t scared.”

“Roman is not the type to scare easily. When we last faced each other, he was working for one of the worst crime syndicates in the area.”

“Why didn’t you kill him?” Callan asked.

“I had my reasons.” Xavier didn’t elaborate, and Lonnie got the distinct feeling that was normal for him. There was something final in his tone that warned off more questions.

Whoever this Roman was, he was obviously not right in the head, and Lonnie worried that even showing up in force wouldn’t be enough.