Page 115 of Warrior Unraveled

“When I was in the vortex with him and felt his thoughts, I knew he had nothing else. The dagger with the photo only led him to the council compound. It would have ended there, had one of his demons not brought back your cell phone. I don’t know whether they got any of the others, but it doesn’t matter. All compromised numbers have been disconnected. Even if he got the other council members’ phones, they’re now useless.”

“But how did he find Deirdre?” Cinead asked.

“I have a theory about that,” Samson suddenly said.

Everybody looked at him.

“Go ahead,” Cinead said.

“If the demons are smart, and we must assume that they are, or that at least their leader is, they’ll keep records of confirmed Stealth Guardian sightings. It’s what I would do: try to isolate a pattern of appearances so I could anticipate where you’ll turn up next. It would be easy to review those reports and cross reference them with contacts in your phones.”

“I helped Deirdre settle in Portland a couple of weeks ago. I wasn’t always invisible,” Cinead admitted.

Samson nodded. “If somebody saw you, they could have easily figured out Deirdre’s name and yours too. They could have overheard a conversation. Anything. And when they managed to get your cell phone during the attack on the compound, all they had to do was find that name and send Deirdre a message in the hopes that she would come to you. Then all they had to do was follow her to get to you.”

Virginia nodded to herself. It all made sense. But it was also disheartening. It meant that no matter how careful they were, there was always a chance that the demons would find them.

“I think you’re right, Samson,” Cinead said. “It was my fault.”

“No,” Virginia protested. “It was nobody’s fault. It’s just the nature of the game. The demons can spot us by our aura, but we can’t spot them unless they reveal their eyes—”

“—which brings us to what Scanguards can offer you,” Wesley cut in. “While this threat may be over, it won’t be the last one. Zoltan won’t give up. But next time, you’ll be better prepared. With Scanguards by your side.”

Barclay and Cinead exchanged a look. Then Barclay said, “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to discuss a possible collaboration.”

Samson motioned to the large conference table. “Shall we take our seats at the table, gentlemen?”

When both Cinead and Barclay nodded, Virginia looked at Wesley and smiled. He took her hand and stepped closer.

“We’re going to make a great team,” he whispered to her.

“A perfect team.”

Because they complemented each other perfectly.