Page 39 of Guardian

17

After a couple of hours at Wesley’s house, their host had found a safe place for Winter and Logan to stay and driven them there in his fancy Mercedes. This was Winter’s first time in San Francisco, and during the drive she’d caught glimpses of some of the sights the city was famous for. But she didn’t really look around. Instead she thought about what Wesley had told her, that a psychic inherited her powers from her parents or grandparents. Could this mean that her grandmother had been a psychic? That she hadn’t been mentally ill? It all made sense now.

Her grandmother had always insisted that she saw things, that she knew what was going to happen. And nobody had believed her. Everybody had thought she was losing her mind, when in reality, she hadn’t had anybody to help her with her gift, just like Winter hadn’t had anybody to explain to her what was happening to her. Until now.

The building in front of which Wesley finally stopped was somewhere downtown and looked a little dirty and rather run down.

“Don’t mind the homeless,” Wesley said, when he caught her assessing look. “They’re mostly harmless.”

“If you say so.” She waited for Logan to round the car and take her hand.

Together they followed Wesley to the front door.

“Where are we?” Logan asked.

Wesley unlocked the front door and ushered them into the dark interior. “This building belongs to Amaury. He and Nina live on the top floor, but their boys have their own flat just beneath them. The twins are on a training mission for the next four days, so the flat is empty. You can stay here. Nobody will disturb you.”

Logan said, “And Amaury and Nina. Did you—”

“I didn’t breathe a word to them,” Wesley interrupted just as the elevator doors opened. He ushered them inside, then pressed the button. “They’re gone too. Some dirty weekend or something.” He shrugged and grinned. “You know how these lovebirds are.”

“I do,” Logan said.

“Who are they? You know them well?” Winter asked, looking at Logan. She felt uncomfortable sneaking into a stranger’s home without them knowing or having given permission.

The elevator doors opened and Wesley stepped out, already heading for a door.

Following him, Logan said in response to her earlier question, “I’ve worked with Amaury before. He’s a good man. He’s one of the directors of Scanguards.”

Wesley opened the door to the apartment wide and walked in.

“What’s Scanguards?” Winter asked as she followed Wesley inside.

Behind her, Logan closed the door. “A security company.”

She caught Wesley exchanging a look with Logan and asked, “There’s more. What are you not telling me?”

Wes jerked his thumb toward her. “She’s a psychic, you know. Might as well tell her. She’s gonna find out eventually. All she has to do is open the fridge and see the blood. Besides, she’s seen demons, and I think vampires are way less scary than demons.”

“Vampires?” The word left her throat on a breathless whisper.

Logan glared at Wesley. “Thanks, bro. Way to break the news gently.”

“You’re just way too slow, buddy, beating about the bush all the time.” He pointed to Winter. “She’s survived a demon attack. She can take it.”

Wesley’s encouragement felt good. Winter smiled at him, then shook her head at Logan. “I’m not that fragile, Logan. You don’t have to keep stuff from me because you think you need to protect me from everything. I can handle it.” Though knowing vampires existed was kind of a shock. She put on a brave face. “So, vampires, huh? Amaury and Nina? Friendly vampires? You trust them?”

Logan approached her and took her hands. “With my life, and so can you. And only Amaury is a vampire. Nina, his mate, is human. They are good people.”

“But you don’t want them to know that we’re here,” she stated.

“The less people know about you, the better.”

“I get that.” She looked around the apartment. “I didn’t expect such a nice place in this neighborhood.”

Wes chuckled. “Amaury doesn’t spare any expense when it comes to his precious sons.”

“Vampires can reproduce?” Winter asked in astonishment. Common lore had always suggested otherwise, not that she’d ever given it much thought. She’d never believed in the supernatural. Not until yesterday.