Page 65 of Guardian

Logan nodded.

“But doesn’t that mean that people are constantly running into it, like they bumped into us when we were on the train platform?”

He chuckled. “You’d think so, right? But the magic in the runes makes sure that humans automatically turn the other way when they get too close. The building repels them. And they don’t even realize it.”

They arrived at the stairs. “This way.”

Winter walked down the stairs beside him. So many questions were popping into her head. “Your friends seemed a little concerned about you letting me see the archive and armory.”

“It’s nothing personal, Winter. Giving a stranger access to these things means giving away our secrets. The more you know about us, the more severely you could betray us.”

“I would never,” she protested and stopped walking.

Logan turned to her and put his hand under her chin. “I know that. I know I can trust you.” He pressed a kiss to her lips, and she pressed herself against him in response. It had been too long.

“Mmm,” Logan hummed, taking a breath and interrupting the kiss. “I missed that. I missed you. When they marched me down to the lead cell, all I could think of was you and how to get back to you so we could flee.”

“I was so scared that you wouldn’t come back. When Hamish and Enya came to take me away, I thought… I thought it was over.”

Again Logan kissed her, this time deeper and with more fervor. She felt her back connect with the cool stone wall and Logan’s chest crushing her breasts. Her breath hitched. Yes, she’d missed him, missed this. Missed his mouth devouring her, his tongue exploring her, his hands caressing her.

She put her arms around him, sliding one hand to his nape to touch his naked skin there and felt him shudder. Encouraged by his passionate reaction, she put her other hand on his backside, gripping him there, feeling his muscles flex under her touch. He ground his groin into her, and the hard ridge of his erection rubbed against her. She let out a moan, and suddenly felt cool air blast against her burning lips.

Logan dipped his mouth to her ear. “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?” His voice was husky and sent a shiver along her skin.

“I’m beginning to.” And she liked the effect she had on him. It gave her an odd sense of power even though she knew Logan was so much stronger, so much more powerful than her. But when she was in his arms, he seemed to yield that power to her.

Logan drew his head back and smiled at her. “We’d better go and do what we came here to do before I forget my good manners and take you against this wall.”

When she let out a gasp, he smirked. “As if you wouldn’t enjoy me losing control like that.”

He was right. She would.

“Later then?” she murmured.

“You can get rid of that question mark right now. ‘Cause as soon as we have a few minutes of leisure, I’m going to drag you to my bed.”

Anticipation running through her veins made her feel recharged. “I can’t wait to see your room.”

“Hmm-hmm.” Logan hummed and took her hand to usher her down the corridor.

At a door, he stopped and punched a code into the number pad next to it. When a beep sounded, Logan opened the door inwards and stepped aside to let her enter ahead of him. Overhead lights came on automatically, most likely activated by motion sensors.

The room wasn’t like anything else Winter had ever seen. It wasn’t really a room. It looked more like catacombs, a structure of interconnected caves that held boxes, crates, and shelves. It was dusty here. The shelves held mostly books. The crates were labeled with descriptions, locations, and dates.

“This is our archive,” Logan said from behind her. “Every compound in the world has its own. We’ve been around for centuries, and over time we collected a lot of stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?” Winter asked while she walked deeper into the room and let her eyes roam.

“Anything we believe might one day help us in our fight against the demons.” He motioned to a row of boxes. “As well as files recording battles and other encounters with the enemy. This is before we started using computers. These days everything gets recorded on our servers. And we’re trying to digitize the old files.”

“This is huge. I don’t even know where to start.”

Logan put his hand on her shoulder and made her look at him. “I’ll show you where we keep the photographs and paintings. You might recognize something in them. Maybe something you’ve seen in one of your visions.”

She hoped so, because she wanted to be useful, not only because it would save her and Logan’s lives, but because she wanted to help destroy the demons. One encounter with those vile creatures, and she knew she would rather die than work for them.

Logan led her to a section of the room, where glass-enclosed cases held old photographs showing different landmarks, people, and objects. She looked at one after another, row after row.

“Anything?” Logan asked.

With a regretful expression, she looked at him. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. This is just a start. There’s lots more to see, and to touch. The armory holds hundreds of weapons, some of them once belonged to the demons.”

She nodded. “Maybe I should touch those.”

“You will. Let’s continue here first.” He put his hand on the small of her back. “And I don’t want you to fret. It might not work on the first try, okay? Just be patient with yourself.”

She turned her face to him. “I wish I could be patient. But so much is at stake. Your life, your friends’ lives.”

“You shouldn’t worry about us. We signed up for this, my friends and I. We’ve trained for this all our lives. You didn’t choose this. You’re new to this world. Nobody expects you to work the way we do. You’re a civilian.”

She shook her head. “Not anymore, Logan. I’m part of this now. And that means I have to do my part.”

He stroked his knuckles over her cheek. “So brave.”

But she wasn’t brave. Deep down she was scared, scared that the demons would snatch her like she’d seen in her vision. And that Logan would have to risk his life again to save her. But she didn’t want to tell him about her fear. He already had enough to worry about. She didn’t want him to think she was a scared damsel whom he needed to constantly reassure. Even if she needed his strength.