Page 25 of Guardian

She plopped down on one of the beds and let out an exaggerated breath. “There’s a lot I should know. Starting with how you just marched through those turnstiles at the subway station. How did you do that? You could have warned me.”

“Oh that.”

“Yeah, that.”

He shrugged. Maybe in the course of their conversation, he’d get a better opportunity to tell her why he’d been at her shop in the first place. It was best to establish trust between them first, so that she would understand when he came clean.

“It’s one of the skills every Stealth Guardian has. We can dematerialize our bodies and pass through solid objects.” All but lead, but there was no need to expose his people’s vulnerability to her. “It assures that we can enter any building, any location we need to gain access to. It’s come in handy once or twice.”

Winter chuckled unexpectedly, and it brought out a softness in her face that made his heart skip a beat. “That sounds like an understatement.”

It was.

“So why did you make me climb over the turnstile? You could have just—”

“I couldn’t.” He shook his head. “A human’s body is too fragile. If dematerialized, the cells would never rematerialize in the correct order.”

“Oh, you mean like in that episode of Star Trek when the transporter was malfunctioning?”

Not having seen that episode, he said, “I guess. It wouldn’t be a pretty sight. Unfortunately that means we have to make sure there’s always an escape route that our charges can actually navigate.”

“Your charge? Is that what you call people like me?”

He wanted to call her other things, but this was neither the time nor the place. In fact there would never be a time or place where it would be appropriate for him to see her as anything other than his charge. “Yes. But now I should get us some food. You said you were hungry.”

She nodded. “A burger and some fries wouldn’t go amiss right now.”

“That can be arranged. I’ll be as quick about it as I can. But promise me you won’t leave this room, not even to go to the ice machine down the hall.”

“I have no intention of going anywhere on my own.”

“Good. And don’t answer the door for anybody.”

She suddenly stood up as if she realized something. “And the demons? I mean, can they walk through a locked door like you?”

Logan smiled at her. “No. The only person who can walk through this door is me.”

Or one of his brethren. And he was certain that they hadn’t caught onto his trail yet.