Page 51 of Immortal Unveiled

She didn’t know whether to be happy that she finally knew she hadn’t been hallucinating or whether to lament the fact that she’d stumbled into something she could barely comprehend. “You’re telling me a demon killed my mother?”

He nodded.

“And you knew about this all along?”

“We figured it out shortly after she died.”

Kim jumped up, angry now. “Then why? Why lie to me? Why come up with that stupid explanation about the air conditioning system?”

Manus rose. “I’m sorry about that. But we couldn’t let you continue poking your nose into things that would have exposed us.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” she spat. “If you say that’s how it happened, then why would the police try to pin the murder on some dead guy? Did you bribe them?”

Manus shook his head, looking sheepish. “The police know nothing about that. I planted the evidence.”

The implications of his words sank in immediately. “You killed a guy so you could pin my mother’s murder on him? Oh my God!” She slammed her hand over her mouth.

“No!” Manus protested immediately. “Of course not. I merely found a dead body and planted the evidence on him. Why would you think that of me? I don’t kill innocents.” He appeared appalled by that idea.

“We’ll all vouch for that,” Aiden added. “We don’t kill innocents. We protect them. That’s our mission.”

She tossed a look at Aiden. What did it matter that he vouched for Manus? They were all the same, all in it together. She needed an independent third party to verify what Manus was telling her. No journalist worth their salt believed a story based on just one source. “I need another source.”

“What?” Manus stared at her, not understanding.

“I want to believe you. Because it would mean that I’m not crazy, that what I saw was real. But I can’t. It’s too fantastical.”

“But you saw the vortex,” Manus pressed. “You teleported through a portal with me. You saw the two vampires that live with us. You were there when Ryder saved me with his blood. And you still can’t believe?”

She closed her eyes, recalling the memories of the vortex, the tumbling in the portal, the vampires’ fangs. But what if she’d hit her head in the portal? What if she was still hallucinating and making up stories in her head to explain everything that had happened?

“I’m an investigative journalist. I need proof. I need a second source. Somebody with authority. Somebody whose identity I can verify.” She looked into Manus’s eyes and saw understanding in them. “I don’t know your friends. I don’t know any of you.”

“You need the word of somebody you might recognize?” he asked.

Kim nodded.

Manus pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket, unlocked it, and navigated to a screen, tapped on it, then pressed it to his ear. A moment later he said, “Hey, Hamish, you and Tessa getting home soon?”

To her surprise, she could hear the answer loud and clear. “Just walking in.”

Kim turned her head and saw a tall, dark-haired man enter the great room, a woman with long brown hair and lavender eyes by his side. Kim blinked. She recognized the woman. In fact, she’d voted for her in the last election.

“Mayor Wallace?” Kim echoed.

Tessa Wallace walked toward her, a smile on her face. “Yes. Do we know each other?”

“What did you want, Manus?” Hamish said. Kim recognized him now too. He was the mayor’s husband. She’d seen photos of him and her in the papers.

“I need Tessa to vouch for me, for all of us,” Manus said.

“Vouch?” Tessa asked. “What have you done now?”

“Nothing. All I need you to do is to explain to Kim here who we are and what we do. She doesn’t quite believe me yet.” Manus cast Kim a sideways look.

Tessa approached and stopped in front of the coffee table. “So, you’re human?”

Kim nodded.

“How much is she allowed to know?” Tessa asked, addressing Manus.

“Everything,” Manus said, “but give her the condensed version. We’ve got a lot more to discuss. And little time to do it.”

Tessa nodded. “Kim, I’m sure there’s a good reason why Manus brought you here. And probably also one why you don’t believe him, but as somebody who was once in your shoes, let me tell you this: you can trust any of these guys here with your life. Because they will protect you from the demons with everything they’ve got.” She reached for her husband’s hand, and Kim couldn’t help but notice the loving look they exchanged.

“My husband and the warriors in this compound are immortals. They have supernatural skills that I couldn’t believe the first time I encountered them either, but they exist.” She sighed. “And they’ll do everything in their power to protect us. Without them, I would be dead now. They’re men of honor.”

“Thank you, Mayor Wallace.”

“Call me Tessa, please.”

Kim smiled at her, then turned toward Manus, looking straight into his eyes. She saw the truth now. And as incredible as it was, she wasn’t scared anymore, even though she didn’t understand everything yet. Vampires? Immortals? Demons? Teleportation? There was so much to absorb. And she was willing to listen now.

But she also had regrets. She needed to apologize. Because she’d caused someone pain.

“I’m so sorry I shot you.”

Manus suddenly smirked, his eyes lighting up. “It was worth it.”