Page 10 of Protector Unmatched

Yes, he had to remind himself again that she would kill him one day. If Winter had seen it, it would happen. When? Nobody really knew. But Winter’s visions had never been wrong.

He took a step closer, entering the cubicle when Daphne suddenly turned her head toward him as if she’d heard something, even though he’d been silent. That was when he saw it. Her eyes had a slight redness to them, and the skin around them looked puffy. That was why she’d been in the ladies’ room: she’d cried.

When Daphne turned back to her computer and unlocked the screen, he turned around to Winter and took her arm. They had to leave. There was nothing he could do here, even if he wanted to eliminate her right now. And suddenly he wasn’t so sure anymore that he wanted to. How could he snuff out the life of a woman who seemed so vulnerable? How could he be sure that she was even capable of killing him? The residue of her tears pointed to a woman with deep emotions, with compassion, with love. How could he simply take that away from the world?

On the way out, Pearce circumvented the metal detector, not wanting to cause the two baffled security guards any more problems. When he and Winter were in a deserted alley a few blocks away, he stopped.

“Are you sure she was the woman from your vision? The woman that will kill me?”

“I’m sure. Even though her hair is different, it’s her face. Everything fits. Maybe she’s letting her hair grow out, and what I’ve seen won’t happen for a while. Or maybe she wore a wig in my vision. After all, she was dressed up as if she was going to a costume party. Now what?”

“I don’t know yet.” He shoved a hand through his hair, contemplating his options.

“We could call a meeting, speak to the others. I’m sure they’ll help you figure out how to proceed,” she suggested.

“No.” He resented the implication that he needed help. “I’ll handle this myself.” How, he wasn’t sure yet. “I’ll take you back. But you have to promise me to say nothing to the others, nothing about the vision, and nothing about our little excursion. Not even to Logan.”

“I can’t promise that. Not until you tell me what you’re planning.” She braced her hands at her hips. He’d always known that redheads had the reputation of being stubborn, and it appeared that this redhead had a double dose of it.

“Stay out of my business, Winter.”

“It’s my business too.” She stabbed her finger into his chest. “My vision, my responsibility.”

“I absolve you of that responsibility.”

“Pff!” She made an unladylike gesture. “Fuck that.”

“You kiss Logan with that mouth?”

“Don’t change the subject. You’re gonna tell me right here and right now what you’re planning.” She narrowed her eyes.

He huffed. “You wanna know what I’m planning? I have no fucking clue. Okay?” He pointed in the direction where Daphne’s office building was located. “You’re telling me you saw this woman stab me to death. With a Stealth Guardian dagger. If I tell the others, they’re gonna expect me to eliminate her, and if I don’t do it, they will. Is that what you want? Do you want me to kill her so she won’t kill me? Or do you want me to try to save her life?”

There was a long pause during which neither of them spoke. Then Winter put her hand on his forearm. “I’m sorry. I was only thinking of your safety. You’re my family now. You and all the others at the compound. If something happened to you, and I didn’t prevent it even though I could, I would never forgive myself.” She sighed. “But killing a human… I know that’s a hard decision. That’s why I think it’s best if you talk to the others.”

“There has to be another way. The future isn’t written yet.” When he met Winter’s eyes, he remembered something. “You remember the visions you had of your dying at the hands of the demons?”

She nodded.

“They never came to pass, because you changed the future when you met Logan. He saved you from your fate. Maybe I can do the same.”

“But how?”

“By getting to know Daphne. By finding out what her reason for killing me could be.”

Winter shook her head. “That’s crazy. What if by getting to know her you’re putting the event into motion? My vision was supposed to warn you so that you’d never meet her. And if you don’t meet her and don’t get to know her, she won’t kill you. You just have to stay away from her. Maybe it’s as simple as that.”

“Your visions are rarely simple,” he said. “And you know that they can change. They did when you met Logan. When he fell in love with you and risked his own life to save you from the demons, your future changed despite the vision. Please give me that same chance. To change the future.”

Winter let out a long breath. “You know that Logan is gonna kill me when he finds out about the vision and that I didn’t tell him or the others.”

“Let Logan be my problem. Besides, he loves you too much to be mad at you for more than a minute.”

“What you’re trying to do is risky,” she warned him. “And there’s no guarantee that I’ll have a second vision to apprise you of whether what you’re doing will work and indeed change the future.”

“Everything a Stealth Guardian does is risky. That’s what we signed up for.”

“As long as you know what you’re doing.”

Did he? It was best not to tell Winter about his doubts, or she would turn around and talk to Logan and his brethren. And he had doubts. Changing a future foretold by a vision was a monumental task. And he didn’t even know where to start.

“Do you?” Winter suddenly asked.

“Do I what?”

“Know what you’re doing.”

“Of course,” he said with a confidence he didn’t possess.