Page 48 of Guardian

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Winter suddenly felt her knees buckle and braced herself on the backrest of the armchair she’d sought shelter behind when Manus had appeared in the apartment.

“Are you alright?” Logan asked and hurried toward her, but she lifted her hand to stop him.

“Don’t.”

She didn’t want to feel his arms around her now, not even to support her. He’d lied to her from the very start. He’d been there to kill her. It wasn’t something a girl could easily forgive and forget.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

His eyes shone with regret. “I was afraid you’d run from me. And I couldn’t risk that. It would have put you in danger. But after what I saw today, what happened with Gabriel, I felt you were ready to hear the truth.” He shrugged. “But then Manus beat me to it…”

She shook her head. “I’m not some brainless damsel from a 1950s movie who’s too stupid to know who keeps her safe. I wouldn’t have run. You could have told me earlier.”

The answer seemed to surprise him. “I should have known that.”

“You should have,” she murmured under her breath.

“I’m sorry.”

Well, at least he said all the right things. It was a start. But it didn’t change anything about the facts: Logan had been there to kill her.

“Your plan was to poison me. Why poison?”

He didn’t lift his lids when he answered, “Because it’s painless. We don’t let innocents suffer needlessly.”

She didn’t know whether she should consider it a mercy or not. Was it merciful to not even know that death was coming?

“Why didn’t you do it?”

This time Logan did meet her eyes. “I witnessed one of your visions and realized what you were going through. You seemed so vulnerable. At first I thought maybe it would be a relief to end it for you, to end what you were going through.” She saw his Adam’s apple move. “So I handed you the glass of water.”

“The water,” Winter murmured, realizing now how close she’d been to drinking it. “But you spilled it. It wasn’t an accident, was it?”

He shook his head. “When we talked about your drawings, when I saw the things you’d seen in your visions, I couldn’t go through with it. I knew that if you were dead, it would be a loss to all of us, humans and Stealth Guardians alike. I knew you could help us.” He blinked his eyes shut for a short moment. “But there was also a selfish reason why I couldn’t let you drink the poison.”

Winter didn’t say anything, didn’t ask a question, just let him take the time he needed.

“When I first saw you, I imagined what it would have been like had we met in a bar or run into each other in a supermarket. I wondered whether…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter now. We met the way we did. And I’m glad I defied the council’s order. You deserve to live.”

“You committed treason.”

He shrugged. “Manus can be very dramatic.”

“Dramatic, sure, but I don’t think he lied. By not killing me you’re risking your own life.”

“Maybe they’ll be lenient.”

“You don’t believe that.”

The look on his face confirmed her assumption.

“Well, I guess we have no choice now, do we?” she asked. “Either we prove to your council that my visions can help your race in the battle against the demons, or we both die.”

It didn’t help anybody to lament the fact that Logan had lied to her, had hidden his true purpose. She would deal with all that later. What mattered now was that Logan hadn’t executed his orders. He hadn’t executed her. She was still alive, and she wanted to stay alive.

“Gabriel mentioned a psychiatrist,” Winter said. “I think we should see him sooner rather than later.”