Vanished

“I’m not an idiot. I wouldn’t try to capture a demon. But I can follow one.”

“To what end?”

“Finding my sister, of course. What else?”

“You’ve no idea if she’s being held by a demon or not.”

“I’m out of options, Rogan,” she muttered, turning her gaze from him, back to the shadows that edged the riverside. A moment later Alison lifted one hand and pointed. “There! There it is again. Do you see it?”

“Aye. I see it.” It amazed him to know that she could see that faint wash of pale purple and red twisting in the night wind. But clearly she could. There was more to Alison Blair than he might have thought. And the danger of that was all too clear to him.

If he didn’t step in, keep her from following whatever demon was haunting the shadows of Westport, Alison would do it herself.

She was willing to risk her life to find her sister.

And as a Guardian, he was duty bound to protect her.

Chapter 4

Alison wasn’t about to waste precious seconds as they ticked inexorably past. She simply set off in the direction she’d seen the demon’s energy signal and expected Rogan to follow her. She wasn’t disappointed.

For a huge man, he moved so quietly he might as well have been invisible again. And hadn’t that been a surprise and a half! To feel unseen hands grab her…to hear that deep, musical voice telling her to be quiet…and to see not a soul.

Of course, she knew about the Guardians’ ability to obfuscate themselves, but she’d never really seen that ability in action. The way she’d jumped and yelped had really been professional. Oh, she was not at all prepared to be a field operative. And the thought of following a demon to find Casey absolutely terrified her. But she had no choice in this. So when Rogan grabbed her again, none too gently, she ignored the arc of something hot and delicious jolting through her system and turned to face him, fire in her eyes.

The furious expression on his face made her almost wish he’d go invisible again. “Come on. If we don’t follow what’s left of that energy signature, we’ll lose the demon.”

“We’ll do nothing of the kind,” he said and gave her arm another squeeze before releasing her. “You’re tracking no demons while I’m here.”

“You can’t stop me.”

“I can, yes. Don’t push me on this, Alison Blair. I’ve no use for the Society and even less use for a woman on a hunt.”

“You really are a caveman, aren’t you?”

He seemed to swell in indignation. His broad chest widening, his square jaw tight, his green eyes flashing with a banked fury. “I’m a Guardian, in case you’ve forgotten. This is my job, not yours.”

“And Casey is my sister, not yours.” She wouldn’t back down. Couldn’t. He’d just said it himself. Casey was no more than a job to him. He wasn’t involved in this. Not really. He didn’t care as she did.

The rush of the nearby river blended with the sigh of the wind and the patter of the rain falling down around them in fat, lazy drops.

“You’ve a car, don’t you?” he demanded.

“Yes.”

“Then get in it and go back to your B and B. If I find anything, I’ll let you know.”

Her jaw dropped. Surely he didn’t actually expect that to happen. “I can’t go back without Casey.”

“You can and you will. Now.”

That last word was emphasized, and he stared her down as if daring her to contradict him. She would have, too. But in a small, still-rational corner of her mind, her own voice whispered that she was wasting time—that Rogan Butler was a legendary Guardian, that if anyone could find Casey, it would be he. But he needed her along. She knew Casey. He didn’t. Her younger sister would be terrified by the huge warrior if Aly wasn’t along to reassure her.

Deliberately, she took another step toward the river. “I’ll go when I see you’re on the demon’s trail. When I know you’ve got some clue as to where Casey is.”

Muttering under his breath, he stalked past her, the sound of his movement lost in the sigh of the river. The rush of Gaelic pouring from him sounded both musical and enraged. When he finally spoke in English again, it was short and sweet. “Stay behind me. And the hell out of my way.”

“Charming,” she murmured, but did as he said, taking two or three steps for every one of his. He moved along the river walk, his gaze darting from side to side, checking every shadow, searching every corner he passed. Casey, too, kept her gaze alert, hoping to see another swirl of color, some trace of the demon that had been moving through here only moments ago.

But there seemed to be nothing, only the quiet rush of the river and the dark that seemed to spill along the streets. The moon was hidden now beneath a bank of clouds still spitting rain, and the blend of fiddle and drum from the pub seemed distant and dreamlike.

Her breath came in short, hard gasps as she struggled to keep up with the Guardian, who clearly didn’t care if she fell behind. Maybe he was going so quickly on purpose. To prove to her that she couldn’t keep up. That she had no business being on a hunt.

Aly didn’t know. Didn’t care. Her gaze locked on Rogan’s broad back, she ignored her surroundings. Her mind was too filled with pictures of her sister. Images of Casey in danger. Hurt. Scared. Alone.

She felt only the barest brush of heat on the back of her neck an instant before something grabbed her. Fear exploded inside her as she took one quick gasp of air. Long, thick fingers curled around the base of her throat, cutting off another breath and burning into her skin as if each of those fingers was a living flame.

Aly stumbled, then was brought up hard and flush against the body of her captor, standing behind her.

“Lovely.” A voice sighed out around her, sneaking into her bones, sliding through her blood. Both hot and cold seemed to wash over her as she stared ahead of her into the darkness, straining to see Rogan.

Fear was alive and well and crouched in the pit of her stomach. The being behind her lifted her off the ground until she struggled to keep her toes on the cobbled street beneath her. Anything to maintain the narrow passage of air struggling to fill her lungs. She yanked at the hand at her throat, but it was like trying to pull a steel bar off a blocked door. Power hummed around her, and that voice came again, close, as her captor dipped its head to her ear.

“You follow me. You and the Guardian. Is he training you? Are you a sweet young thing only learning to fight us?”

Demon.

She shook her head wildly and gasped as the demon’s fingers tightened on her throat like a well-tied noose. Where was Rogan? He hadn’t gotten that far ahead of her. What kind of Guardian was it who would leave her to be killed? Hadn’t he noticed the demon? Hadn’t he sensed its presence?

Fingers on her throat tightened further, and small black-and-white dots danced in her vision.

“Release her.”

The demon holding her spun around so awkwardly that Aly lost her tenuous balance and hung limply in the demon’s clutches. Deliberately, she lifted both hands to the viselike grip on her throat, taking her weight up a bit so she could fight for the air she needed so desperately.

Through narrowed eyes, she stared at Rogan, standing only a few feet from her. His black hair lifted in the wind, and his green eyes flashed a warning so bright it was easy to read even in the darkness.

“I think not,” the demon cooed and bent its head to sniff at Aly’s throat. She shuddered as its cold, rough skin scraped along her jaw, her neck.

Rogan’s big hand fisted on the hilt of the sword he held, and his body seemed to vibrate with menace. “You think to save yourself by hiding behind a woman, then?”

The demon laughed softly, and somehow that made it even worse. Aly closed her eyes, and a single tear squeezed out from behind her lids and traced down along her cheek. Her grip on the demon’s hand was fading as her strength slid away.

“I don’t hide, Guardian.” The demon stroked one hand down the line of her body and with the last of her strength, Aly tried to move away from that touch. “I take what I find and I use it. I found her. She’s mine.”

“As well you know, not a thing on this plane of existence is yours, demon. So let’s be at it and leave the woman.”

A snarl and snap of teeth hissed into the night as the demon spat at Rogan. “I’ll leave her when I’m done with her and not before. If you go now, Guardian, I might let her live. After.”

The river rushed past her on her right. From a distance, Aly heard the faint beat of music. A cold wind ruffled her hair and made her eyes tear as she opened them to look helplessly at Rogan. She was dying. She felt her sluggish heart slow. Felt her own end coming and knew there was nothing she could do about it. But then she looked into Rogan’s eyes.

When I go for him, drop to the ground and stay there.

His words rumbled through her mind, but that wasn’t possible. She was psychic, not telepathic. But maybe she was hallucinating. Maybe she was hearing what she wanted to hear. She was dying. She knew it.

An instant later Rogan howled, his voice rising into a bellowing shriek of justice as he charged the demon holding Aly so tightly. The demon, startled, loosened its grip for a second, and with her last ounce of energy, Aly pulled free, dropped to the ground and stayed there. Her lungs greedily sucked in air, the blurriness of her vision cleared and the pounding in her head eased back into just a memory of the pain she’d had moments before.

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