Page 22 of Demon (Mystic Guardians #3)

Chapter Twenty-Two

L onnie

This insane wizard hadn’t even tied him up. Just zapped them in the worst possible way to someplace totally unfamiliar. And by zapped, Lonnie meant he’d been spun and stretched in what turned out to be seconds, but felt like much longer. It had left him completely disoriented and slumped on the wooden floor.

“They’re going to follow,” Roman said as he crouched in front of him and tucked some of Lonnie’s hair behind his ears. His touch was gentle, like he cared, and all Lonnie could do was blink through blurry eyes at him. Once he came into focus, Lonnie was surprised. This preternatural didn’t seem scary at all. He had movie star good looks with light blond hair and green eyes, his features softened with affection. “I have to get wards in place to keep them out. Then I’ll take you somewhere they can’t find us. We can finally be together again.”

“Again?” Lonnie frowned. “I’ve never seen you before in my life.”

“We were together in your past life. I got curious after we started chatting online and popped in to see what you looked like. Imagine my shock when I realized who you are. I’ve missed you so much, Greg.”

Yep, totally insane. “I’m not Greg,” Lonnie insisted.

“But you are. Look.” Roman pulled a folded photo from his pocket and opened it for Lonnie.

It was an old, black-and-white picture of a man who looked eerily like him, wearing cuffed jeans and an open black button-down over a white T-shirt. Prickling alarm brushed over the surface of his skin. The guy could have been his identical twin, down to the shoulder-length hair.

Roman ran his finger over the image. “I couldn’t believe it was you, but I started following you, and there were too many similarities to ignore. Even your hair is the same color and length.” He gave a nostalgic chuckle. “He got a lot of shit from people back in the fifties with that hair. I loved it, though.”

The mix of pronouns only cemented Lonnie’s fear that this wizard wasn’t playing with a full deck. “But you obviously know we’re not the same person,” Lonnie couldn’t help but point out.

Roman lifted his eyebrows. “You’re reincarnated, but I know a spell to bring back your memories. You loved me so much and you’ll remember that then.” His brows drew down. “But you should have noticed me. Should have remembered me.” Lips curling into a vicious snarl, he spat out, “And you should not have been fucking that demon.”

“That demon is my boyfriend.”

“That demon believes you’re his mate. His true soulmate. Has he been giving you gifts?”

Lonnie couldn’t stop the surprise from showing on his face. Not about the gifts but about what Callan believed. Was that true? Callan thought Lonnie was his soulmate? He knew the lore about them, but this still shocked him.

“Thought so. Demons are very traditional when it comes to courting a mate. But none of his gifts could be as good as the Sesshomaru I gifted you. The person who owned it didn’t even have it locked up. I was able to pop inside their house and grab it without them seeing a thing.”

“You stole it?”

“It belongs to you,” Roman gritted out between clenched teeth. He stood and looked down at Lonnie. “I have to get the wards in place. No doubt that filthy demon is on his way, and he’ll have Xavier with him. I’ve beat Xavier before and will again, so don’t you worry.”

Fuck, this guy had serious issues, obviously thinking Lonnie was willing to be there. “Callan is not filthy, and I hope he is coming to get me. If I am truly his mate, I couldn’t be more happy about that. I’m not Greg, so why don’t you just let me go?”

Roman chuckled. “Where are you going to go? The closest town is miles away.”

“Then take me back. It’s not too late for you. You could just say you’re sorry, that you got it wrong.”

“But I haven’t. There’s no doubt in my mind you are my Greg.” Roman positioned himself in the center of the room and lifted his hands into the air. His eyes were closed as he began muttering under his breath. Whatever kind of magic he was using sent that prickly awareness over Lonnie’s arms again, and he shivered.

He looked around for some kind of weapon. It was a small cabin with a kitchenette in one corner. There was nothing on the one counter, but there could possibly be a knife in one of the two drawers.

Could he actually stab someone?

Yes. Yes, he could. If it meant getting away from this crazy wizard, he would happily wound him. He watched Roman for several moments before he began to inch across the floor as silently as he could.

He was a few feet from those drawers when the front door suddenly splintered into pieces and Callan burst into the cabin. His normally fierce expression had amped up to pure wrath as he frantically scanned the area. His gaze landed on Lonnie, and relief briefly flashed in his dark eyes.

Lonnie didn’t wait, jumping up and running to Callan immediately. Callan gripped his arms tight, looked him over, then shoved him behind him. Lonnie clutched his shirt as several more preternaturals stormed into the cabin. He recognized Finn and Emory. The third was that huge one he’d seen inside Protective Solutions. They all moved to stand at Lonnie’s back and sides in a protective circle.

Roman slowly opened his eyes as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “You know I can pop over and disappear with him at any time, so this is the height of foolishness.”

“You took what’s mine,” Callan growled. “Won’t happen again.”

“But it will. You’re under the misunderstanding that he’s your mate when I can prove he belongs to me.”

Callan made another of those low, growling noises. “I can hear your thoughts. Know you really believe this. You’re wrong.”

Roman narrowed his eyes. “You should have never touched what’s mine.”

There was a crunch near where the door used to be, and Lonnie looked around his protectors to see Xavier stepping over the debris. “He’s not your Greg. I would know if he were, and you know that.” He stopped next to them, facing Roman. “You should not have taken him, and you definitely shouldn’t have been terrorizing him. Is stalker behavior your idea of…wooing?”

“You scared him,” Callan fairly hissed. “Took him. You made a huge mistake.”

“Then I’ll be making that mistake again and again until he realizes what we are to each other. I’ve waited seventy years to find him again, and I’m not letting some demon take what’s mine.” Roman disappeared only to appear on the other side of the room and laugh. “I can show you that move again if you need to see it, but since you have Lake and Liam, you know exactly what my kind are capable of. You can’t hide him from me, and I can take him from anywhere.”

He suddenly jerked and Lonnie saw that Xavier had raised his hands.

“I was afraid you’d feel that way,” Xavier said, voice low and full of power. Lonnie shivered and clutched Callan’s shirt harder. Electricity filled the air, and Lonnie sucked in a quick breath as the black hair around Xavier’s face swayed. “You were once my friend, Roman, so it pains me to do this, but you have gone too far.”

True fear widened Roman’s eyes and he rapidly shook his head, struggling against some unseen force. Lonnie glanced at the preternaturals around him, taking in their confused expressions. He got the feeling he was about to witness something that even they thought couldn’t happen.

Roman managed to lift his hands but stopped in midair, seemingly frozen in place again. He paled, pure terror turning his face into a morbid, slack-jawed mask. “Xavier, no,” he whispered before he screamed long and loud, then slumped to the floor.

Lonnie peered around Callan to see Roman lying completely still, eyes closed. “Is he dead?”

“No,” Callan answered.

“He’s something much worse,” murmured Emory. “Did you do what I think you did?” A thread of something like fear was in his voice as he questioned Xavier. “I didn’t know you could.”

Xavier let out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t want any of you to know I could do this.”

“Do what?” Lonnie asked. “What’s worse than dead?”

“Stripped his powers,” Callan explained before turning to wrap his arms around Lonnie and lift him off the ground. He buried his face in Lonnie’s neck. “Roman deserved it. Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine. He didn’t do anything but talk to me and stroke my hair a little bit.”

Callan growled.

Lonnie grabbed Callan’s horns and tugged his head back so he could look him in the eye. “I am truly fine, and I knew you’d come for me. He told me you think I’m your soulmate. Is that true?”

“Yes.”

Lonnie couldn’t help but smile at the short, succinct response. Callan would never be a man of words, which was perfectly fine with him. He liked… No, he loved this demon just as he was. But his smile faded as he glanced around at the others.

“How is losing his powers worse than death?”

“Our magic is a part of who and what we are.” Xavier stared down at the fallen wizard, raw regret pouring from his dark eyes. “He will never feel like himself again.” He looked at Emory. “I’m sorry you were here to witness this.”

“This was different,” Emory said, voice low. “I’m fine, Xavier. More stunned than anything that you have this capability.”

Finn grunted. “I’m a little freaked out.”

“It is only something that is taken as a last resort. Roman was already walking on the dark side with his choice of past employers, but he never would have stopped coming after Lonnie. I did what I had to do.” He gave Finn a steady look. “It is not something I would ever do to any of you.”

“If you hadn’t, I would have killed him.” This came from Callan, who still held Lonnie close.

Lonnie got the feeling he wouldn’t be letting go anytime soon. As they all turned to leave, he couldn’t help but look at the former wizard passed out on the floor. “What about him? Are we just leaving him here?”

“Yes,” Xavier answered.

“But he told me we’re miles from everything.”

A smile pulled up one corner of Xavier’s mouth. “You are kind to worry, but he will have to learn how to survive without his magic.”

“Let him suffer,” Callan said as he set Lonnie on his feet. He still didn’t let him go, keeping one hand wrapped around his arm. He pointed at the large preternatural Lonnie had seen in their offices earlier. “This is Dax. Thank you, Dax, for coming. Thanks to you all.”

Finn clapped his hand on Callan’s back. “A mate is a special, special thing. No way we wouldn’t do what we could to help, even if all we did was provide a shield around him.”

“Was all that was needed.”

Callan never let him go as they walked, moonlight lighting their path and giving Lonnie glimpses of mesquite and ironwood trees. He’d been to Arizona once before and had looked up what they were called. Now that the danger had passed, he could marvel over actually traveling to another state in the blink of an eye. He took a deep breath of the humid air, knowing that the rain had made the local bushes smell sweet.

“It’s really over,” he murmured as pure relief bled through him. He stopped, causing Callan to pause as well. The others kept walking. He looked up at this demon who was his actual soulmate. He’d told Callan he knew what those were, though it was something he’d always considered a part of fiction. He was going to have so many questions for Callan later. “If he comes after me again, at least this time, he won’t be able to use magic.”

“He won’t be coming after you,” Callan said softly.

“How do you know? He seemed pretty certain I was his reincarnated boyfriend. Not to mention he was seriously crazy.”

Callan tucked Lonnie’s hair behind his ear, his gesture so much more welcome than Roman’s had been. He did that thing where he seemed to be struggling to speak, his brows moving closer together with frustration. “To lose magic is devastating. Will take years for him to…adjust. He won’t be able to function for a long time.” Callan hugged him and pressed his lips to Lonnie’s temple. “Even if he tries, I will be there. I will always be there. I will not fail you again.”

Lonnie placed his hands on Callan’s chest and shook his head. “You didn’t fail me. I walked too far ahead trying to get out of the cold. With his magic, what could you have done? Please don’t think this was a failure on your part.” He smiled up at this demon he loved. “Let’s just focus on building a life together. How does that sound?”

“Perfect.”