Page 53 of Warrior Unraveled

“I feel so bad,” Tessa murmured. “For so long I thought he was just another mobster taking advantage of this city and its inhabitants, but he was better than that. He looked out for me, for us.”

Hamish pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “I know. That’s why we’ll find out what happened. I promise you.” Then he looked straight at Virginia. “Unfortunately, there’s a good chance the demons were able to connect him to us. They had a person close to Tessa who knew Faldo was the one who brokered the deal for her protection. By the time we found out who it was, it was too late. Faldo’s name could have easily been passed on to the demons.” He cursed. “It’s my fault. I should have had him relocated immediately.”

Virginia made a dismissive hand movement. “Let’s not waste any time on what could have been.” She pointed to the screen. “We need to find out what the demons were looking for at his house. The reporter didn’t mention anything about Faldo being tortured.”

“We can figure that out pretty easily,” Hamish said, then pointed to Logan. “Can you go down to the morgue, and have a look at the body?”

“I can do that,” Logan said.

“I’m going to his house,” Hamish stated.

“Not alone, you’re not,” Virginia interrupted. “Take two guardians with you. It’ll be faster and safer.”

“Fine. Enya, Manus, you’re with me.”

Pearce swiveled in his chair. “I’ll check the logs to see which guardians Faldo has been in contact with over the last few days.” He was already typing away on his keyboard.

“I can go with Hamish,” Wes suddenly said.

Virginia stared at him. “You’re not leaving this—”

“Hear me out on this,” he interrupted. “If I go with them, I can use witchcraft to maybe find traces of whoever did this. And perhaps even what they were looking for.”

Virginia hesitated. Allowing a prisoner to roam freely within the compound was one thing, allowing him outside with his bag of tricks was breaking the rules at a level that was unprecedented.

“He kept his word last time,” Aiden threw in. “And he’s good. His magic works.”

She knew that, had seen it with her own eyes. But could she risk letting him loose? What if something went wrong? What if he got hurt?

Her own thoughts surprised her. Was she worried about Wesley?

“Come on, Virginia, after all we’ve been through, I think you owe me a little trust.”

He stared at her with his baby-blues, and she knew what he was referring to. Not just that he’d saved her life, but also that she’d surrendered to him in bed, and that he hadn’t taken advantage of her vulnerability. She’d been safe with him.

Slowly, she nodded. “But I’m coming with you.”

“No!”

The protest didn’t come from Wesley, but from Pearce.

“Excuse me?”

“We need you here,” Pearce claimed and pointed to the screen.

“What is it?” Virginia asked, instantly alarmed.

“Faldo’s last contact with our kind was a council member.”

Shit!

“We need to access the details on whom he met and what was discussed.”

Virginia took a shaky breath. “You think a council member could have anything to do with this?”

“I’m not making any accusations,” Pearce said carefully. “But it’s a lead we have to follow up on. Like it or not. The situation is delicate. It’s best that you, as a fellow council member, handle this.”

“You’re right.” She looked at Wesley. “You’ll go with Hamish, Enya, and Manus. Be careful.” Then she connected her gaze with Hamish’s. “And you make sure nothing happens to Wesley. He’s valuable.”

In more ways than one.