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“Did someone come for you?” he asked. There wasn’t much time and he needed to know she was safe.
Kira pushed away, her eyes never leaving his. For a moment she was silent and then she sighed as she brushed a strand of hair from his face. She glanced back at the waterfall. At the flowers and butterflies and birds. “I knew this wasn’t real.”
“It’s as real as we want it to be,” he replied.
“I don’t want to leave.” Her voice broke and his heart squeezed as he watched her struggle to control her emotions. He wanted to offer comfort but knew she’d need to rely on herself. She’d have to draw on the strength she possessed to get through the coming days until he could get to her.
She was strong. His woman.
His fingers clasped her jaw. “Who came for you?”
She swallowed. “A man named Priest. He helped me escape the demons who invaded the town.” Her brow furrowed. “There was another, Cale was his name.” She paused. “They know you …”
Though he’d never met them, he knew the names. They were members of the League. Logan gave nothing away, but the relief he felt was short-lived. He’d heard whispers below. Questions had been asked that should never have come to light, including the fact he’d been in the gray realm in the first place. Lilith knew something, or thought she did, and he was beginning to suspect that there was a traitor in Bill’s so-called League of Guardians. For millennia the group had existed in secret, though whispers of their existence had been around for just as long. Had the circle been breached? Did the many who would see them destroyed know who they were?
Who could he trust? He hated the unknown.
Kira Dove’s future was in his hands and he knew he could trust no one.
“Where are they taking you?” he asked softly, not wanting to alarm her.
“I think a place called The Pines.” She searched his face. “Priest said it would be safe for me.” She bit her lip in that way that tugged at his soul. “But I don’t want to go. I want to stay here with you, or …”
He didn’t like the way her eyes shifted. “Or what?”
“Where are you, Logan?” The sorrow in her voice was palpable.
“I’m here with you,” he said simply.
But she wasn’t having any of it and shook her head. “No, where are you really?” Eyes, wide and trusting—eyes shiny with confusion— stared up at him.
“It doesn’t matter where I am. I will come for you.” He kissed her forehead. “I will return. Nothing will keep me from what’s mine.” He held her tighter. “From what I love.”
Searing pain ripped along Logan’s back and he hissed as it burned harder.
“Logan? What’s wrong?” Kira stood and bent over him, as another lash split his back wide open. Of course she wouldn’t see the scaled, poisonous whip, the blood, or the ripped, damaged skin. The pull intensified and Logan knew his time was up. Lilith was calling and his ability to stay here with Kira was diminishing by the second.
He staggered to his knees and forced the pain away. “You need to find a way to escape them, these men who have you. Do you understand? Do not go to The Pines. I don’t trust the League anymore and I can’t take that chance. Not with you.”
He saw her confusion and snarled as another wave of hurt rolled over him. Damn Lilith and her need to torture. Damn him, because he knew she was just getting started.
“But I thought Bill and the League wanted me safe?”
Christ, he didn’t have time to explain the intricacies of a struggle that had been in existence longer than even he. Frustrated, he ran fingers through his hair and scowled.
“I can’t be sure you’ll be safe there. I need you to trust me on this. Do not go to The Pines.” Logan groaned and staggered to his knees as something sharp dug into his shoulder blade. His skin felt like it was on fire, and beneath his flesh, the beast stirred.
“Logan, you’re not making any sense. You told me the League would protect me. That Bill and his buddies were the good guys.”
He wouldn’t lose control in front of Kira and he needed her to listen.
“I don’t believe that’s the case anymore. I think that”—he paused and stifled a groan as the pain intensified—“I think there is a traitor in their midst. Bill was right. There is a war coming and it’s already here. I’ve heard things, whispers of things, that make me question the stability of the League.”
The only place he could guarantee her safety from both the upper and lower realm was to get her home. To his mother. No one would be able to reach her there.
“I need you to trust me on this. Remember where I told you to go if we ever got separated?” He was breathing hard now and it was difficult to speak.
Kira nodded slowly, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
