Page 50 of Immortal Unveiled

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Manus swallowed away his annoyance. He would have much rather spoken to Kim alone, come clean without any witnesses, but apparently his comrades weren’t going to allow it. To keep him safe, they claimed. What bullshit! They wanted to be present to control how much he told Kim. Well, they wouldn’t be able to stop him because the time for secrets was over. Kim was in the middle of this now, and he was in no mood to tell her more lies to explain what she’d just experienced. No, this time, it would be the truth, and nothing but the truth.

They were all seated in the living room. By Manus’s estimate, he had about an hour before the whole gang would show up and somebody would prepare dinner. With three of the warriors now bonded—two to humans and one to a psychic—and one of the couples having five-year-old twins, the place could get crowded at times.

“Can I get you something to drink, Kim?” Manus now asked.

Kim shook her head, sinking deeper into the cushions of the large sectional. Manus sat opposite her in an armchair while Aiden and Pearce had spread out at the other end of the sectional.

“Well, then I guess it’s time for me to tell you what you want to know,” Manus started, his throat parched. He rose. “Maybe I need a drink.”

He walked to the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of beer, popped open the lid, and gulped down the cold liquid until he felt better. Taking a deep breath, he returned to the seating area and dropped back into the armchair.

“Yes, let’s get this over with,” Kim said. “I’ve waited long enough to get to the truth.” She shot Pearce and Aiden an icy look. Apparently, being questioned hadn’t gone down well. Manus would rectify this problem now.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t able to explain things the moment we arrived here, but…” He glanced at his bandaged wound, then shrugged. “Anyway, since you’ve managed to follow me without me noticing, I suppose you deserve to know what’s really going on. You’ve already seen too much anyway.”

When a stunned gasp escaped from Kim’s mouth, he lifted his hand to calm her. “That’s not meant in a mafioso kind of way. What I mean is that considering that you now know of the existence of vampires and other preternaturals, there’s no reason to keep the rest from you.”

She nodded. “Leila said you’re not human.”

Manus cast a quick glance at his comrades, who watched in silence, then looked at Kim again. “We’re Stealth Guardians, members of an ancient race charged with protecting humans from the evil influences of demons.”

Kim tilted her head slightly. “When you say demons, I suppose you don’t mean one’s inner demons, one’s bad impulses.”

“I’m afraid I’m talking about demons made of flesh and blood.”

“Green blood, actually,” Pearce tossed in.

“Green? Really?” Kim said, sounding unconvinced. “Interesting.” She still held her arms crossed over her chest.

Manus tossed Pearce a chastising look. “Let me handle this.”

This was a delicate situation. Kim was skeptical. He could sense it, and if he gave her too many details that were hard to swallow—and frankly pretty incredible—he would have a difficult time making her believe. It was best to keep things as normal as possible.

“We have certain skills at our disposal. For example, we use a special mode of transportation,” Manus continued cautiously. “You jumped after me, into one of our portals. You probably felt disoriented when we started traveling in it. As if you were being tossed in the air.”

Kim’s eyes widened. It was a good sign. “You said that we traveled. What do you mean? I’m pretty sure I didn’t black out, and I’m also sure we didn’t walk anywhere. All you did was open that passageway, that portal, on the other side, and we were here, underneath the strip club.”

“We’re not underneath the strip club,” Manus said. “We’re at the other end of town.”

“No, that’s not possible.” She suddenly dug into her pocket and pulled out her cell phone. “And I’m going to prove it to you.”

Manus pointed to her phone. “If you’re trying to use the map app to get a location on where you are, you’re out of luck. Our compound isn’t traceable. Any GPS signal in and out of here is scrambled.” That it was magic that prevented anybody from finding the compound, and not an electronic device, he kept to himself.

Kim stared at her phone, still tapping at her app, then lifted her head. “I see.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard of teleportation,” Manus said.

“Yeah, in the movies. It’s not possible in real life.”

“It is for us if we’re using a portal. The demons use something similar, and you saw the tail end of it. The vortex in your mother’s living room. You saw somebody disappear in it just before the vortex closed. That was a demon. Your mother’s murderer.”

~ ~ ~

Kim sucked in a slow breath of air, trying to digest the news.

“You’ve been looking for a supernatural explanation to your mother’s death. I’m giving it to you. What you saw was real.”