Page 79 of Warrior Unraveled

“As an outsider, I’m looking at all of this and wondering what we’re missing,” Wesley started. “I’ve been wracking my brain all day. And I think I found it.”

A few skeptical gazes landed on him.

“Now, I don’t presume to know more about demons than you, but not being a guardian myself, I think I might have a different perspective on a few things. So, the demons seem to be everywhere, right? I mean they have their own network of spies—humans and demons—in the world, watching us, presumably reporting to their boss, right?”

Hamish shrugged. “Yeah, so? We know that already. That’s why we’re extremely careful when we go out there and remain invisible whenever we can.”

Wes nodded. “That’s what I thought. But when you’re not invisible, they can recognize you by your aura, whereas the demons themselves don’t have a preternatural aura you or I could see. It puts you at a disadvantage.”

“You forget their green eyes,” Enya said, almost bored.

He acknowledged her comment with a nod. “No, I’m not forgetting. But eyes can be shielded, either with sunglasses, or with colored lenses.”

“We know that,” Enya said, “but a lot of the demons we encounter don’t seem to take that precaution.”

“Enya is right,” Virginia added. “Though I’ve been confronted with more and more demons that seemed to go the sunglasses route in the last few months.”

“Exactly. If they truly want to hide from you, they can disguise themselves. And then you have no way of recognizing them until it’s too late. They could be following you anywhere and you wouldn’t know it.” Like they’d followed Virginia so many decades ago.

Virginia’s chest seemed to rise as if she was afraid that he would disclose her secret. “What’s your point, Wesley?”

“What if there was another way of recognizing a demon, even if they’ve disguised themselves?”

“You mean like when they plunge a dagger into one of us?” Logan asked dryly.

Wes smirked. “It would be a little too late by then, wouldn’t it? No. But the demons have a scent. Not something I would be able to distinguish, nor you, but there’s one species that can recognize anybody by scent.”

“Vampires,” Virginia murmured.

“Yes, and I just happen to be good friends with a whole bunch of them. And not only that: they’re highly trained bodyguards, used to fighting evil.”

“And why would a bunch of bloodsuckers help us?” Enya asked, her voice full of disgust.

“You probably shouldn’t call them bloodsuckers,” Wes cautioned. “They might get offended.”

Logan stood. “I’ve got the same question as Enya. Why help us? Vampires never ally themselves with anybody. They don’t make friends with others. Hell, they fight among themselves enough as is.”

“I’m the living example that they do make friends. They are loyal. Half my family are vampires. My brother is one, my sister is bonded to one. I have a niece and a nephew, both hybrids. I know these people. I’ve lived with them for over twenty years. They are just. They are brave. And they fight for the same thing you do: to eradicate evil. And right now they’re probably worried sick because they haven’t heard from me in nearly two weeks. If I return to them now, they’ll be so happy to see that I’m alive that they’ll agree to anything I propose. Let them help you fight the demons, and you’ll see you can trust them, too. Let them prove to you that an alliance between our two species is in the best interest of all of us.”

“What if you’re wrong?” Hamish asked, exchanging a look with Aiden, who looked doubtful, too.

Aiden added, “We can’t afford to lose anybody, Wes. The demons already outnumber us. We can’t take the risk of meeting with vampires. We might be running into an ambush.” He glanced at his wife who sat on the couch next to him.

“I’m not asking for the whole compound to come with me,” Wesley said quickly. “I just need one person to trust me. One of you to come with me and demonstrate to Scanguards what you’re capable of, and that you come in peace, and I can guarantee you that they’ll be more than eager to join forces. Just one person.”

Silence fell over the room. The guardians exchanged looks. Wes couldn’t blame Aiden and Hamish for not wanting to come with him. They had women to take care of. They had the most to lose.

“Come on guys,” he urged the others. “Why are you suddenly all chickening out?”

Manus huffed. “We’re not. But there are rules.” He slanted a glance at Virginia. “The council will have our hide if they find out. And they will find out.”

Laughing, Virginia suddenly rose. “Now you’re touting the rules? That’s rich, Manus, particularly for you. According to your file, you’ve broken just about every rule there is.”

“I take offense at that, counselor,” Manus said with a red face.

Virginia shook her head. “Don’t all pretend that you suddenly love following rules, just because I’m here, watching you. What would you do if I weren’t here? If you weren’t under scrutiny?”

The looks the guardians exchanged gave away their true feelings. Wes could see that. And apparently Virginia could, too.

“Just as I thought.” She let out a breath. “But none of you are going to Scanguards.”

Wes opened his mouth. “But—”

“I’m going with Wesley,” Virginia interrupted. “And the rest of you will cover for us. Is that clear?”

Nobody contradicted her.

And Wesley couldn’t be happier. Virginia had finally decided to trust him.