Page 41 of Immortal Unveiled

17

Manus arrived at Auntie’s Java Shop five minutes before he was scheduled to meet with Kim. When Kim had called him, he’d instinctively panicked, expecting her to be upset because he’d snuck out of her bed and her apartment in the middle of the night. He hated nothing more than clingy women who thought they had a right to him just because they’d been intimate. But Kim hadn’t even mentioned the night of incredible sex. Did it mean she didn’t care that he’d left her bed without saying goodbye? Had she perhaps welcomed that fact, so she didn’t have to wake up next to him?

Fuck! How could Kim be so indifferent after he’d told her things he’d never told anybody else? Instead of at least telling him that she’d had a good time the night before, she’d immediately gone down to business. As if all he was to her was a means to find her mother’s murderer. As if the sex had just been a by-product, something unimportant.

Manus ordered a coffee and sat down at the same table he’d met with Kim before. Only this time, he was alone. The two hybrids were back at the compound. If he needed their help with whatever Kim had found, he could call them discreetly later. But right now, he didn’t want any witnesses. Seeing Kim again after their night of passion could turn into an awkward situation. Not because he regretted it—he didn’t—but because it appeared that Kim had accepted his statement that he wasn’t one for relationships just a little too easily. Was it a trick to lull him into a false sense of security, so she could dig her claws in, and he’d find himself in a relationship before he knew what was happening? Or was she not interested in him other than for a quick roll in the hay? He didn’t know which option bothered him more. To be sure, he liked neither one. And that bothered him too.

He was about to take a sip from his coffee when his cell phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at the display.

“Kim?” he asked, answering it.

“Hey, sorry.” She sounded out of breath.

“What’s up? Where are you?”

“I hate to do this to you, but something came up, and I can’t make it after all,” she said.

“But you said you needed to talk urgently,” he prompted her, hoping to get her to tell him over the phone.

“It’ll have to wait. Building maintenance is here right now, water is dripping from the ceiling. That stupid idiot upstairs clogged up the pipes with cat litter again… Oh, I’m sorry. I’ll call you as soon as I get this sorted. Promise. Bye.”

Before he could answer, she’d already disconnected the call. Manus sighed in frustration and shoved the cell phone back into his pocket. He’d hoped for a lead in the investigation, and now all he could do was go back to the compound and see what Pearce had found in the meantime.

He left his coffee cup untouched and exited the coffee shop. It was a busy afternoon with lots of people milling about downtown. While he could have ducked into an alley and made himself invisible, he rarely used his special skills during busy times. Being invisible did have its disadvantages. It made walking on the sidewalk a hazard. Since other people wouldn’t see him, they wouldn’t get out of the way, which meant he’d have to duck constantly, making for an awkward obstacle course. It was much easier to make his way to the nearest portal the old-fashioned way, by walking like a human.

He wasn’t particularly keen on using the lost portal located in the red-light district of Baltimore, but it was the closest. For a long time, the Stealth Guardians had believed that portals only existed in their compounds, protected by not only the Stealth Guardian warriors but also by their collective virta, their lifeforce. But several years earlier, one of their own, Hamish, had discovered the existence of portals outside their own walls. Many of them had been mapped and catalogued since; others were still hidden, lost to their kind.

The guardians relied on the portals for fast and safe transportation between the compounds, preventing detection by the demons. Their locations were a closely guarded secret and could never fall into the hands of the demons, or their race and their world would be annihilated.

Manus cringed when he saw the big neon sign outside the inconspicuous building that invited its patrons in pink letters: Touch our Junk. Maybe entering invisibly would have been less embarrassing, but the box office employee had already seen him and feasted his eyes on Manus’s body in a way that made him feel like he needed to take a shower to get clean.

Reluctantly, Manus paid the moderate entry fee and stepped into the dark interior. To his surprise, the place was busy even in the afternoon. The large room with its tiny bistro tables was filled with an equal amount of wide-eyed giggling women and horny old men. Clearly, some people had nothing better to do than watch half-naked men dance to cheesy tunes wearing frilly costumes that made the Village People look classy. A popular ABBA tune blared from the speakers while bits of clothing sailed into the audience, whose eyes were glued to the stage.

Manus ignored the goings-on on stage and made his way through the crowd. He felt many a woman’s and man’s eyes on him but ignored those stares too. He reached one of the doors leading backstage, made sure none of the waitstaff was looking at him, and slipped through the unlocked entrance.

Now, all he needed to do was to get to the stairs that led into the basement and access the portal hidden there. Piece of cake.

~ ~ ~

Kim was still recovering from the shock of seeing Manus enter a male revue in broad daylight but had swallowed away her embarrassment and bought a ticket to enter a few moments after him. Despite the fact that the place was busy, she was able to track Manus inside the club. He stuck out like a sore thumb. He was definitely one of the best-looking men in the audience. Not that there was much competition: most men watching the hotties on stage were heavyset, older, and most likely in the closet. While there were lots of women in the audience, it was clear that most of the men on stage were gay. Which begged the question: what was Manus doing here? Because she was pretty sure he wasn’t here for the action on stage.

Making sure she always had an obstacle or a person ahead of her she could dive behind to hide, Kim followed Manus through the club. He made a beeline for one of the doors. She read the sign on it: Employees only. Undeterred, he opened the door and walked through it. Did Manus work here? She shook her head. No. He’d bought a ticket to enter just like anybody else, which meant he was going somewhere where he wasn’t authorized to be.

Kim followed him, not thinking twice about the fact she was trespassing and would probably be arrested if caught. She could always say that she’d been looking for the restroom and hadn’t been able to read the sign on the door due to the dim light. Perfect. Excuse in hand, she walked along the corridor lined with several doors, some of which stood open. Dressing rooms. Men in various states of undress milled about, seemingly unconcerned about who could see them.

Kim rushed past the doors to the spot where Manus had disappeared around a bend. When she reached it, she stopped and peered past it. All she could see was the back of his head as he disappeared down a staircase. Quickly, so as not to lose him, she hurried after him, using the boxes of supplies and hanging rails loaded with costumes for cover in case he looked over his shoulder. Once his head dipped below the landing, she rushed toward the stairs and looked to the bottom of them. Manus was gone. He’d descended the stairs faster than she’d expected. She ran down the stairs, the noise from upstairs still covering the sound of her footsteps.

At the bottom of the stairs, she had two choices: go right or go left. She had no idea which direction Manus had disappeared in. She looked down to the left and saw a light toward the end of a short corridor. There was only one door. It was closed. She focused her eyes and noticed the light above it illuminating the cobwebs a spider had spun across one corner. If Manus had exited that way, the spiderweb would have been destroyed.

To the right then, she told herself. She took a breath and inhaled the musty smell of the damp basement. The large area she entered was filled with crates and boxes, old furniture, and other props used for the shows upstairs. Between two rows of crates, she noticed a movement. Manus—he had to be back there. Stealthily, she walked on, aware that it was much quieter down here, and that Manus would hear her footfalls over the muffled sound of the music if she didn’t tread lightly enough.

When she reached the end of the row of crates, she peered past them and froze. Manus stood facing a brick wall, his right hand braced against it. She focused her eyes, wondering what he was doing, when she noticed a glow emerge from under his flat palm. Odd. She blinked and focused her eyes again, but the glow was gone. As was a large portion of the brick wall. As if Manus had pressed a button and opened a secret passageway. A very dark passageway. Her eyes couldn’t make anything out.

Manus was already stepping into the dark. Fuck! She’d lose him. She had to go after him. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the gun from her jeans and released the safety. At least she would be able to protect herself. Before she could change her mind, she bridged the distance between the crates and the secret passage with several steps and walked into the darkness.

Suddenly, it went pitch-black. The secret door behind her had closed.

Startled, she tilted forward and bumped into somebody.

“What the fuck!” It was Manus. He spun around and grabbed her with both arms.

Before she could free herself, she was tossed in the air, tumbling weightlessly in total darkness.

“Oh shit!”

“Kim?”

What was happening? Manus was doing something to disorient her. He was trying to subdue her, to bring her under his control.

This wasn’t what she’d signed up for. But she had no choice now. He’d recognized her and saw her as an enemy now. Or why else was he grabbing her, so she couldn’t get away, so she couldn’t flee? Clearly, this passageway she’d followed him into was leading to a secret he didn’t want to share with her.

Would he kill her for it like he’d killed her mother?

She couldn’t let that happen. She had to fight him with all she had.