Page 51 of Warrior Unraveled

“Because the compounds are invisible.”

Wesley’s chin dropped. “You mean this entire building”—he made an all-encompassing movement with his hands—“is invisible?”

Hamish nodded. “The old runes you see everywhere, plus our virta, our life force, keeps it hidden. The demons can’t see it. Neither can humans. Or witches.”

“But it’s there, right? You can still feel it. You can run into it.”

“There’s a warding spell on the entire building that prevents anybody wanting to come closer. They wouldn’t even be aware of avoiding it. They’d just turn around and go the other way.”

“Pretty nifty,” Wes had to admit. “And you know for a fact that this spell works on demons?” The guardians exchanged apprehensive looks. “You don’t? Then it’s possible the demons could be immune to this spell and could have gotten close enough to the compound to find a way in.”

“That’s pure speculation,” Hamish said.

“So is everything else,” Logan said calmly. “I say we go about it systematically. We all take one theory and work through it. Betrayal by a guardian turned demon, a guardian’s mate being followed, a rogue council member, a compromised emissarius, and a careless guardian. Work for everybody?”

When nobody protested, Logan turned to Pearce. “Run us lists of all emissarii in our zone, all human mates worldwide, and all council members, past and present, if still alive.”

“Also, all the guards who’ve ever served at the council compound,” Virginia added.

Logan nodded. “Good idea. And send out word to the other compounds to compile a report on which of their guardians had meetings with emissarii in the last, let’s say, seven days.”

“You’ve got it,” Pearce replied. “The list of the emissarii in our zone will be the quickest. You’ll have that in two minutes. You can get started on that while I work on the other lists.”

Wesley jumped off the desk. He loved the way the guys here came together when push came to shove. They reminded him of his friends at Scanguards—and the fact that he hadn’t called them yet to let them know that he was alive.

“And another thing,” Virginia suddenly added. “Don’t tell anybody that Wesley and I are alive. Not even the council members. If we truly have a traitor that high up, it’s best if they believe the witch and I are dead.”

Wes met Virginia’s eyes. Smart thinking.

When everybody nodded in agreement and then huddled around the computer console, he leaned toward Virginia and murmured, “Name’s still Wesley, or have you forgotten?”

“I haven’t forgotten anything.”