Lizzy Ford by Damian Eternal) Xander's Chance (#1 Page B

fight.
    “Come on in.”
    Xander did. His senses picked up six Guardians. Two were in the cozy living area with its worn furniture. Neat and comfortable, their station acted as their home as well as their hub for coordinating operations in LA.
    “You know most of the guys,” Gerry said.
    “You’ve got two new ones.”
    “Yeah. You’ll see them in a few days.”
    Xander winked at the female Guardian he fed from the night before. Still pale, she looked ready to run. Their unease was palpable. Gerry alone spoke to him, while two others hung back as the Guardian led him into the hidden room at the back of the house, filled with a small conference table and humming computers. Xander sat, and Gerry poured them both coffee, aware of his addiction for the bitter human drink.
    “What can I do for you?” Gerry asked.
    “I had a Natural show up on my doorstep.”
    Gerry’s gaze sharpened.
    “She’s fine,” Xander said. “Someone sent her. I need to know who.”
    “It wasn’t us. We’d never send some poor Natural where you could reach them. We cleared Naturals out of the area within five miles of you,” Gerry said firmly. “You have a name?”
    “First name only.”
    “It’s a starting point.” Gerry pushed off from the table and rolled to one computer. “What is it?”
    “Jessi.”
    “Male or female?”
    “Female.”
    Gerry glanced at him then typed the info into the computer. “Why not pry the information out of her mind like you do everyone else?”
    “Her talent is the ability to move in stealth mode. As in, I can’t read her mind. Or hear her or smell her or sense her, unless she’s standing within three feet of me,” Xander said in irritation.
    “Then unless one of us has been within three feet of her …” Gerry frowned. “It’s possible, I guess, that someone’s run across her and catalogued her.”
    The computer finished its search. A list of names appeared. Gerry tapped the table for a moment then began sorting the names.
    “Approximate age?”
    “Mid-twenties. Blonde hair, blue-gray eyes, five foot nine, hourglass shape. Nice ass, if you catalog that.”
    Gerry snorted. “I’ve got three women, one Jessi and two Jessica’s, in their mid-twenties. Two are mated to Guardians, one in South America and the second in New York. The third is a newly discovered low-level healer in Detroit. So, negative on our end. Are you certain Jessi is her real name?”
    “Fairly certain.”
    “Let me search talents. One sec.” Gerry cleared the screen then began a broader search while Xander watched. Five minutes later, he shook his head. “I got nada, even in historical data. If we can’t sense people like her, we can’t track her. What a pain in the ass. Makes me wonder how many like her we’ve missed.”
    “Interesting. You didn’t send her. Which leaves Jonny,” Xander mused. “How did he find her if you all didn’t?”
    “Too coincidental to be an accident.”
    “Someone or something tipped him off.” Something like the Others, whose magic might give them insight into things Xander couldn’t see.
    “Would you object to me checking her out?”
    Yes. Xander’s initial instinct was that he wanted no one around the strange human he discovered. She didn’t belong in his world, but she intrigued him. Until he was bored with her, she was his.
    “Just to catalog. I won’t interfere,” Gerry added. “Unless you do something stupid like try to vamp her.”
    “Not my intention,” Xander said. “You still working the Hollywood circuit?”
    “Alas, my ambition to be a movie star has faded,” Gerry said with a wry smile.
    “Come by tomorrow at ten. I’ve got a photo shoot. I’ll make sure your new boss thinks you’ve been working for her for awhile.”
    Gerry was still wary, and Xander understood why. The Guardians had no reason to trust the forefather of all vamps. To his credit, he had yet to break the agreement he made with them about vamping girls and had returned all but one