Page 21 of Demon (Mystic Guardians #3)
Chapter Twenty-One
C allan
Xavier told them to go ahead, and he’d meet them at Lonnie’s. Now that they knew who was after Lonnie, Callan’s employer was more adamant about Lonnie having more than one bodyguard. Xavier didn’t often take jobs himself, so the strength of his concern said a lot.
Callan had never met Roman Brentwood, but he knew of him. Had heard different rumors around the office about the time Xavier had faced off against Roman. That’s why he’d asked why Xavier hadn’t killed the wizard. It was the one question everyone had.
When Callan and Lonnie stepped into the parking lot, the winter night had settled in, the cold instantly making Lonnie shiver despite the heavy coat he wore. His breath puffed out, visible in the glow of parking lot lights.
“I’m so ready for spring,” he muttered as he began to walk quickly toward Callan’s truck. Callan sped up to catch him, feeling his body leave the safety of the wards that protected the office building. It felt a little like walking through an invisible liquid barrier, making his skin prickle.
Just as he lifted his keys to hit the button to unlock his truck, a gust of wind swept through the lot, and on it rode a scent he now recognized instantly.
“Lonnie!”
He raced forward, but Lonnie had moved too far from him. Lonnie’s eyes widened with terror as arms suddenly came around him from behind. Pure desperation fueled Callan’s steps and while all this happened in mere seconds, it felt like time was being stretched out. Like everything was happening in slow motion. Callan lunged on his last step, hands out to grab onto his mate, but instead, his hands slammed into the side of his truck.
Because Lonnie was gone.
Vanished.
A flood of dizzying panic and rage hit Callan with the force of a tidal wave. He roared and sent his fist through the window of the car next to his truck, glass cutting into his knuckles and fingers. The utter anguish tearing him apart was too much to handle, and he yelled as he broke out his own truck window, then punched a dent into the door.
He staggered back against the truck, knees weak as the ramifications of what had just happened—what he’d been helpless to stop—washed over him.
Lonnie was out there somewhere.
With an insane warper wizard.
He had to be so scared.
Callan forced his wobbly legs to move, taking a couple of steps before he ran back through the parking lot. He slammed open the door. “Xavier!” he shouted, making everyone stop and stare.
Xavier came out of the tech room and strode quickly toward him.
“Roman took Lonnie in the lot outside. He’s gone.” The utter anguish ripping through him made his voice ragged. He’d failed. Failed to protect Lonnie.
“We’ll get your mate back.” Xavier pulled out his phone. “Lake, I need you to come back to the office. Now.” He hung up and put his hands on Callan’s biceps. “I promise you that we will get him back.”
“He’s your mate?” Dax spoke up as he and Emory joined them. Dax was an ogre and the largest preternatural they had on the roster. He was also a genius who had always been friendly to Callan, despite Callan’s own problems with speech. “A human?”
“He’s my everything.” Callan was having trouble controlling his rage, bloody hands opening and closing over and over into fists. Felt like his heart had just been ripped from his chest. All he could do was picture that terror on Lonnie’s face as Roman had grabbed him. He looked at Xavier. “Roman has to know we would follow him. Why do something this stupid?”
Xavier sighed as he reached for his long coat off one of the hangers by the door. He slipped it on, then pulled out a pair of leather gloves. He seemed to be weighing his words, taking so long Callan wanted to shake him. When he finally spoke, his voice sounded tired. “I’ve known Roman for many years. He was once…different. A good man. An excellent wizard. He fell in love, and his partner was taken, tortured, and killed. Roman snapped. He used darker magics to exact his revenge, and it changed him. All of that changed him. I never met his lover, but I have a very strong feeling that Lonnie must resemble him. It’s the only explanation I have for why he’s so obsessed he would risk coming here. He can’t be in his right mind.”
“If he hurts Lonnie, he’s dead.” Callan looked outside, wishing Lake would hurry up.
“Let me try to reach him first, Callan,” Xavier said. “He used to be…a friend.”
Callan glared at his boss. “I don’t care.”
Xavier just studied him before nodding. “Believe it or not, I do understand. It seems Roman has passed beyond the ability to think clearly. We may have no choice.”
Headlights shone through the window by the door, flashing across Xavier’s face.
“Good, Lake is here.” Xavier opened the door, but Dax halted him.
“We would like to come with you. Help get our friend’s mate back. A human mate, which I don’t understand and will have questions about later.”
Xavier smiled at Dax. “You and Emory are welcome. Find Finn and meet us outside.”
He’d always shown outright fondness for the ogre, who Callan did want with them. The preternatural was seriously strong yet held an uncanny grace for one so large. And Emory, the angel, fought like, well…a demon. He had a lot of rage from having his wings clipped by other angels who hadn’t liked his parentage. He and Callan shared that in common—human mothers.
Callan and Xavier walked outside to meet Lake, and Callan took him to the exact spot where Lonnie had disappeared. All his thoughts were colored black by how scared Lonnie had to be.
And how Callan had promised to keep him safe and failed.
That complete and utter failure made his entire body feel heavy. Weighted down. His regret like a living thing in his chest. He’d make this right. He had to.
Lake stood in that spot and closed his eyes. The magic he used raised the hair on Callan’s arms. It made the air feel thick, close to what wards did.
A few minutes passed before Lake opened his eyes, which had gone black with the use of his spell. “I’ve got their location. I’m taking you a little farther out, so you can sneak in.” He held out his hands, and Xavier took one while Callan took the other. “Touch my back,” Lake said to Dax, Finn, and Emory as they arrived. “It will take a lot of magic for me to move all of you at once, so I’ll be incapacitated on the other side.”
“We’ve got this,” Finn said as he placed his hand on Lake’s back.
Callan hated warp travel. He closed his eyes as the atmosphere around them ripped open and they were sucked through. It all happened fast, took only a few moments, but those moments were spent spinning uncontrollably. It also felt like his body was stretched as Lake’s magic pulled him toward their destination.
When the world stopped spinning, Callan staggered on his feet, still dizzy. The others hadn’t fared much better. Both Finn and Dax were holding their heads. Emory was laughing, obviously a fan of warp travel.
Xavier, on the other hand, looked just as polished and put together as always—but of course he often traveled this way.
Once his brain felt steady, Callan took a good look at their surroundings, not recognizing anything, but the first thing he noticed was the humidity and wet smells from a recent rain. “We aren’t in Seattle anymore,” he murmured as he looked at desert trees and sand. There were no houses anywhere he could see.
“It’s Arizona, close to the Mexican border. Had to bring us farther out than I expected.” Lake was on his knees, head lolling as he spoke barely above a whisper.
Xavier knelt in front of Lake, murmuring something—probably a spell. He didn’t have the power to heal like their elf, Alaric, but he did have a few spells that helped with things like energy. After a couple of moments, Lake looked a little better. Not as pale and limp.
“I can’t help from here on. I’m sorry, Callan.” Lake rubbed his temples. “I’ll have to stay here and rebuild my magic so I can take everyone home.”
“Thank you for bringing us here. I understand.” Callan squinted, trying to spot some kind of building where Lonnie could have been taken.
Lake pointed. “They’re that way. Small house right in the middle of this desert.”
Callan barely waited for him to stop speaking, shooting out that direction. All he knew was he had to get to Lonnie, that he never should have failed to keep him safe. Clumps of still-drying sand flew up beneath his boots as his feet pounded the packed earth. The others ran alongside him. Moonlight lit the way, the scent on the air sweet and earthy from the moisture on the plants and ground. He had no idea what they would do when they found Lonnie. Roman could just disappear with him again. He had only traveled with one, so his power would still be strong. But Xavier could stop him from warping if he got close enough. Callan could only hope that’s what would happen.
A small cabin appeared in the distance, and Callan picked up his pace, having to skirt prickly bushes and jump cacti. He could only hope the others kept up. His demon instincts were in a full-blown uproar with his mate in danger, mind spinning with the different scenarios that could play out. He did know one thing—he was going to kill Roman Brentwood. He didn’t care that Roman had once been Xavier’s friend.
They stopped a few yards from the cabin, and he looked at Xavier, who’d gone still and closed his eyes. Waiting was killing him, but he forced himself to be patient because the sorcerer, the strongest one he’d ever known, would be able to sense more than they could see.
Xavier opened his eyes. “We have to hurry. He’s trying to ward the house, but right now the wards are still weak, and I can break them.” He held up his hands, then looked at Callan. “When I say go, run a straight path to the front door, and do not hesitate.”