Chapter Thirteen
“Seriously?” Seth roared.
The world beyond the windows brightened for an instant with a flash of lightning.
Thunder followed, so loud that Dana felt the vibrations in her chest.
Everyone quieted.
“Was I unclear in my instructions?” Seth demanded. “When I said I wanted Aidan and Dana to stay with Ethan and Heather instead of at David’s place so Dana wouldn’t have to bump into powerful immortals every time she turned around and perhaps might have an easier time adjusting, did I muddle my words or speak in a language you failed to comprehend?”
Seth had wanted them to stay away so she could have some time and space to come to terms with all this?
That was kind of nice. And really didn’t gel with Dana’s knowledge that Seth would soon want Aidan dead.
Roland stepped forward, Adira cradled in his arms. “I screwed up, Seth, and wanted to make amends. I’m the reason Dana has to deal with all of this at once. I pretty much threw it in her face.”
Sarah nodded. “We wanted to see if there was anything we could do to mitigate the damage and—if not—thought the least we could do was guard Aidan and Dana and keep them safe.”
The fury that blazed in Seth’s eyes didn’t dim when he turned his gaze upon Ami.
Thunder rumbled again at the same time lightning brightened the windows.
“I told you I didn’t want you in the same home as Aidan and Dana,” Seth bit out. “It’s too dangerous. We believe the vampire attack last night confirms Gershom’s interest in Dana and—as I said earlier—I believe the chance of getting you, Adira, and Dana all in one fell swoop might prove a great enough lure for him to risk anything.”
Ami looked both defiant and nervous.
Hell, they all looked nervous. Except for Zach. Seth was emitting so much power that the hair on Dana’s arms stood up. And Dana was pretty sure Seth was responsible for the sudden storm brewing overhead. The skies had been clear when she, Aidan, and the others had been outside.
“Seth,” Ami said, “I would know it if Gershom were nearby. I would feel it. You know I would. And as soon as I did, I would call you.”
Seth vanished and reappeared in front of Ami, the long fingers of one hand wrapped around her throat.
Dana gasped.
Marcus emitted a shout of protest and lunged forward, then stopped short about the same time Dana realized the powerful immortal leader was exerting no pressure with his hold.
“A second to you,” Seth growled, “is half an hour to one with my power. Gershom could silence you before you even had time to recognize his presence. And he could take you and Adira beyond my reach without your ever having made a sound.” The Immortal Guardians’ leader sounded tormented by the thought. “Do you know how hard it would be for me to find you? How long it might take?” he rasped.
Too long, his tone implied.
Remorse filled Ami’s green gaze. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
Lowering his hand, Seth stepped back and turned his eyes, still bright with anger, on Marcus. “What the hell is wrong with you, letting them come here?”
Marcus scowled. “Let? You know how hard her head is,” he said in his own defense. “I can only bang mine against it for so long before I end up caving. Besides, I knew you’d follow as soon as you realized where we’d gone.”
Zach laughed.
But Dana remained on edge. The danger had not yet passed. Seth looked the way he had in her vision. And she feared it might be coming to pass, that Seth would turn that wrath upon Aidan and attack.
Seth swung on Lisette. “Why are you here?”
Lisette gave him a penitent shrug and looked to Dana like a child being chastised by a parent. “Aidan has been good to me. I wanted to make sure they were okay.”
Grumbling something under his breath, Seth shifted his gaze to Zach. “Et tu, Brute?” he said, sarcasm creeping into his deep voice.
But his glowing eyes, Dana noted, didn’t dim.
Zach smiled and nodded toward Lisette. “I go where she goes.”
Seth grunted and turned those eyes, still blazing with fury, on Aidan.
Dana didn’t think, she just reacted, her vision strong in her mind.
Raising the tranq gun, she fired.
A dart lodged itself in Seth’s chest.
All around the room, mouths fell open as eyes widened. More than one person gasped.
Seth frowned down at the dart, then looked at Dana.
He didn’t pass out.
“Oh crap.” Dana fired again.
The second dart impaled him an inch or so from the first.
Aidan swung on her. “Are you mad, woman?” He eyed her with what could only be described as appalled astonishment.
She looked around.
All of them eyed her with appalled astonishment.
Except for Zach, who burst out laughing, and little Adira, who just looked puzzled.
Dana frowned up at Aidan. “I thought he was going to attack you.” Her visions always came true. She had foreseen Roland attacking Aidan, and Roland had attacked Aidan. She had foreseen vampires attacking them at her home, and vampires had attacked them at her home. And she had foreseen Seth hacking away at Aidan with a sword, his eyes glowing and fury painting his face as it did now. So a preemptive strike had seemed like the way to go.
No one responded. They all just continued to gape at her.
“Well,” she complained as the silence stretched and frustration rose, “if you didn’t want me to tranq anyone, you shouldn’t have given me the damned gun.”
Zach, who had managed to corral his mirth, burst into laughter again.
Seth’s lips twitched. He looked at Aidan, the bright golden light in his eyes fading. “I like her.”
Aidan chuckled. “Aye. She’s a fighter.”
Around the room, tight expressions lightened with amusement. Shoulders and stances relaxed. And, most important, Seth didn’t attack.
Dana lowered the tranq gun and leaned into Aidan’s side as he wrapped an arm around her.
Seth looked toward the front windows and scowled, his anger resurfacing. “Oh, for fuck’s sake! Are you kidding me?”
A moment later, Dana heard a vehicle approach. A thud sounded as someone exited the vehicle.
Seth crossed to the front door and yanked it open.
The man on the porch raised his eyebrows and eyed Seth’s furious expression with surprise but no real concern, it seemed to Dana. He was about six feet tall with black hair that fell almost to his waist, brown eyes, broad shoulders, and plenty of muscle.
Seth looked at those gathered in the living room and pointed to the newcomer. “Okay, I admit it. This surprised me.”
Nods all around.
Ami offered the newcomer a hesitant smile. “Hi, Bastien.”
Bastien nodded to her, then studied Seth. Backing up a couple of steps, he looked up at the stormy sky, then over his shoulder at the trees that swayed in a rough wind, before arching a brow at Seth. “Did I come at a bad time?”
Seth sighed. “Just get your ass in here.”
Dana looked up at Aidan as Bastien entered and Seth closed the door behind him.
Why did everyone seem so shocked to see this particular immortal?
Aidan glanced down at her. Bastien is the black sheep of the Immortal Guardians family. He once raised an army of vampires in an attempt to defeat us all and is not well liked by some as a result. Roland, in particular, bears him a great deal of animosity because Bastien once kidnapped Sarah.
Dana slid Roland and Sarah a look.
Both seemed more concerned about Seth’s anger than Bastien’s appearance.
She returned her gaze to Aidan’s. So no one likes him? she thought. That’s why they all look so shocked?
Zach likes him, he clarified. Those two are birds of a feather. And the others present have gradually come to accept him. But the shocker is that Bastien rarely concerns himself with the lives of other immortals. So his coming here is… He frowned. Actually, I’m not sure why he’s here.
Seth scowled at Bastien. “If the others defied me, I don’t know why it surprises me so much that you did, too. Why are you here?”
Bastien motioned to Aidan. “Aidan has been good to me.”
Surprise lit Aidan’s features. “I have?”
Bastien nodded. “You’ve gone out of your way to help Cliff. And Cliff is like a brother to me. So I’m here to have your back.”
Love and pride filled Dana as she looked up at Aidan. These men and women, his brethren, all loved him so much for the things he had done for them in the past that they had risked Seth’s wrath to be here for him, which apparently was pretty ballsy.
How could she not love him, too?
He glanced down at her.
Her eyes widened. “Don’t read my thoughts,” she blurted.
His forehead crinkled. “I’m not. I only read the others because you sent them to me.”
“Oh.” Good. Now did not seem like the most appropriate time for declarations of love.
Bastien motioned to Seth’s chest. “What’s with the darts?”
Glancing down, Seth plucked them from his chest and tucked them in a pocket. “Dana tried to tranq me.”
Bastien’s eyes widened as a startled laugh escaped him. Clamping his lips together, he turned to look at her. “You’re the psychic?”
Dana nodded.
Smiling, he strode forward and offered her his hand. “Sebastien Newcombe. Pleasure to meet you.”
Shifting the tranq gun to her left hand, Dana shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, too.”
Bastien covered their clasped hands. “If you or Aidan ever need anything, large or small, don’t hesitate to call me. Aidan has my number.”
She returned his smile. “Thank you. That’s very kind of you.”
Someone—Ed, she thought—whispered, “Did Dana tranq Bastien and I just didn’t see it? Because he is not acting like himself.”
Muffled laughter.
The amusement that rose within Dana died a swift death as the comfy living room faded away, replaced by a stark white room littered with splintered furniture. In the vision, a young man gripped the front of her shirt as he stared up at her with eyes that glowed orange and sparkled with tears.
She clasped his shoulders with Bastien’s large hands and gave them a squeeze.
The young man mouthed something she didn’t hear and released her shirt. Naked joy blossomed on his face.
Then, in the blink of an eye, she drew a sword and severed his head.
A scream sounded beside her as anguish filled her.
Her eyes welled with tears.
Bastien released her hand.
Dana returned to the present, to the living room full of immortals. But that lump of grief remained lodged in her chest.
Bastien stared down at her uneasily, then looked to Aidan. “Did I say something wrong?”
Dana hastily blinked back tears.
Aidan smiled. “No. She’s just touched by your show of support. As am I.” Don’t mention what you saw, he murmured in her mind. It was a moment from his past that still causes him great pain and sorrow.
Dana forced a smile. “And the past forty-eight hours have been pretty exhausting.”
Bastien’s smile returned. “I imagine they have.” He glanced around. “So,” he said to no one in particular as he tucked his hands in his pockets, “should we order pizza?”
“No,” Seth declared with exasperation. “The whole point of lodging Aidan and Dana here was to keep her from bumping into all of you every time she turned around.”
Bastien pursed his lips. “Well, that plan sort of backfired, didn’t it?”
Seth loosed a growl of frustration that Dana found more amusing now than scary. “Just get your ass back to the network, Bastien. Roland, Sarah,” he ordered, turning to the couple, “begin the night’s hunt. Marcus, you do the same.” He turned to the tallest man in the room. “Zach, you take Ami and Adira to David’s place. Then you and Lisette can begin your hunt.”
Zach offered him a cocky salute.
Since every immortal who had come to visit had apparently defied Seth’s wishes to do so, Dana was a little surprised by how quickly they jumped to do his bidding now.
Bastien offered Dana a goodbye, then left with Roland and Sarah right behind him.
Marcus kissed his wife and daughter, then headed outside after the others.
Cars rumbled to life and drove away.
Ami carried Adira over to Zach, who touched her shoulder, then curled an arm around Lisette. A second later, the small group vanished, leaving only Dana, Aidan, Ethan, Heather, Ed, Brodie, and Seth.
Seth gave Ed and Brodie a pointed look.
Without a word, the human males turned and headed down the hallway into another room. A door quietly closed behind them.
Seth turned his gaze upon Ethan and Heather. “Go get some rest. And by rest I mean sleep,” he stressed. “I’ll wake you when I leave.”
Nodding, Ethan took Heather’s hand.
Seth sank down in a big cushioned chair while the couple strolled down the hallway and disappeared through another doorway.
Aidan touched the small of Dana’s back and motioned to the closer of two sofas. Once she seated herself, he sank down beside her. Offering her a smile, he extended his hand in front of her, palm up, silently asking her to relinquish her weapon.
He still couldn’t believe she had tried to tranq Seth.
Narrowing her eyes in displeasure, she handed him the tranquilizer gun.
Damn, he loved her. There really didn’t seem to be anything she wouldn’t do or anyone she wouldn’t take on to protect him. That was actually a little terrifying.
Setting the tranquilizer gun on the somewhat battered coffee table, he leaned back into the soft cushions. Her hip pressed against his. When he stretched an arm across the back of the sofa, she leaned into him and settled a hand on his thigh.
His whole being warmed at the casual contact.
“I take it the darts don’t work on you?” Dana asked Seth, breaking the silence.
Seth shook his head. “I’m an ancient. Zach is, too. No drugs affect us.” Closing his eyes, he rested his head against the chair.
When Dana sent Aidan a questioning glance, he touched a fingertip to his lips.
Nodding, she waited.
After a moment, the rustle of leaves outside ceased as the harsh breeze stirred up by Seth’s fury diminished. Lightning stopped flashing. No thunder rumbled.
The night creatures that had quieted resumed their chorus.
Raising his head, Seth opened his eyes. The glow was gone, leaving them so dark a brown they almost appeared black. “I really did try to give the two of you some privacy,” he said, his voice carrying apology now rather than anger.
“I know you did,” Aidan told him. “And I appreciate it.” Especially since Seth was really giving him the benefit of the doubt after seeing Reordon’s incriminating video.
Seth’s lips tilted up in a faint smile. “Did Roland really apologize?”
“Very nicely,” Aidan replied.
Seth shook his head. “Will wonders never cease?”
He laughed.
“So,” Seth asked, “how does it feel to be so beloved by your brethren that they will defy me and risk my wrath to come to your defense?”
Aidan thought about it for a moment. “I find it both humbling and frightening. I don’t want to put any of them in danger.”
“Gershom is proving to be annoyingly adept at sowing dissent and dividing loyalties,” Seth grumbled.
Dana’s eyes widened. “Divided loyalties,” she repeated.
Seth’s eyebrows rose. “What?”
Aidan covered Dana’s hand with his as realization dawned. “When Dana scried my future with her tarot cards, she foresaw danger, conflict, and divided loyalties. I thought the divided loyalty referred to me because I was hiding my relationship with her.” Amongst other things.
“Divided loyalties,” Seth murmured. “An abundance of that was demonstrated tonight.”
Unease and guilt suffused Aidan as he thought of Dana’s visions. “We can’t let Gershom come between us, Seth. We can’t let him pit us all against each other.”
Though Gershom already had. More than once. First Roland had attacked Aidan. Then Ethan and Heather had been prepared to fight Roland on Aidan’s behalf. And he and Ethan were both keeping secrets from Seth.
“No, we can’t,” Seth agreed.
“So what’s the solution?”
Seth drummed his fingers on the chair’s arms. “Take tonight off. No hunting. For you or for Ethan and Heather. As Dana mentioned, the past forty-eight hours have been tough ones. So I want the two of you to have tonight off to rest and regroup and…” He shrugged. “Hell, I don’t know. Have a date night or something. Anything that will restore a little normalcy.” He looked to Dana. “Again, I must apologize for your turbulent entrance into our world.”
Much to Aidan’s surprise, Dana offered Seth a hesitant smile. “Actually all of this”—she waved to the room around them that had previously been filled with immortals—“kind of helped. You guys really do seem like a family, willing to risk all to have each other’s backs, bickering among yourselves and”—she motioned to Seth—“standing up to the patriarch.”
Seth laughed. “The last, I hope, will remain a rarity.”
Again, Aidan felt guilty for withholding information from Seth.
The silence that descended then was a comfortable one.
“Dana,” Seth said, seeming to choose his words carefully, “I know that, despite your words, you are still wary of us. We have certainly given you reason to be, what with Roland’s attack on Aidan and then my show of temper tonight. But I stayed behind because I think it’s time you knew about our enemy. And I believe it would be best if you heard it from me rather than Aidan.”
Ah, hell. Seth was going to tell her all of it.
Dana looked up at him, a question in her gaze. “You look worried.”
“I am,” he admitted.
She squeezed his thigh. “After everything you’ve already told me, do you really think there’s anything that could turn me away from you?”
A couple of things actually.
Returning her gaze to Seth, she said, “Okay. Who is your enemy?”
“We believe Gershom is the one causing our current troubles. He’s most likely the one who sent the vampires to attack you and Aidan.”
Aidan watched Dana carefully, noting the faint furrow that formed in her brow.
“And who is Gershom exactly?” she asked. “Is he a vampire leader or something?”
Seth shook his head. “Until recently, vampires have always been very solitary creatures. For thousands of years, they lived or traveled alone or only in pairs. Even seeing three together was a rarity.”
“Why?”
“Because their insanity drives them to attack each other. The madness that afflicts them is often accompanied by paranoia and inevitably compels them to commit and relish committing violence. But in recent years, vampires have banded together in unprecedented numbers, first under Bastien before he joined our ranks, then under a vampire who declared himself their king, then with mercenaries. And it has escalated over the years until today, when we suspect Gershom is now leading them. Gershom is not a vampire. He also is not an Immortal Guardian. He is what we call an Other.”
Dana frowned. “Another what?”
“Not another. But an Other,” Seth clarified, enunciating the difference. “He is an ancient. Many of the immortals you saw here today are quite young by our standards. Ethan is a mere century old.” He glanced at Aidan. Have you told her your age?
No.
Seth returned his attention to Dana. “Heather and Sarah have only recently transformed and are considered youngsters. Aidan is considered an elder because he is somewhat older than most of those you’ve met.”
Dana slid him a look. And Aidan didn’t have to read her mind to know she was trying to guess how much older.
“I,” Seth continued, “and Zach are Others. Or we were once. We are ancients, too, though the rest of the immortals kindly call us elders. We were amongst the very first immortals in the world. We have in fact, been around since shortly after the Great Flood.”
Dana stared at him. “You’re not talking about the one in the Old Testament, are you? The one in the book of Genesis?”
“I am.”
“The same one mentioned in ancient Egyptian, Greek, Mesopotamian, Hindu, and Mayan mythology?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes widened. “You’ve lived thousands of years?”
“Yes. Millennia ago, the Others decided to withdraw from humanity. They decided they would not interact with mortals or do anything that would alter the natural progression or fate of humanity.”
“Why?” Dana asked. “I don’t understand. I’ve seen the wondrous things Aidan can do. And he said you can do even more. Why would you withhold that? Why would you not use those gifts to aid humanity and advance our society?”
“We had good reason,” Seth answered, “to believe that if we tampered with humanity, if we altered mankind’s fate in any way, if we interfered in any way, Armageddon would unfold.”
Dana turned to Aidan. “Seriously?”
Aidan nodded. He didn’t know what “good reason” Seth and the Others possessed, but he trusted Seth’s judgment. “I’ve heard David compare it to the hypotheses that are often put forth in time-travel movies in which the men and women who go back in time are told that if they alter anything, if they so much as kill a butterfly or step on a bug, they could change the present in disastrous ways.”
“Who is David?” she asked.
Seth answered. “My second-in-command.”
Confusion clouded Dana’s pretty features as she turned back to Seth. “But you’re here. How is that not interference? Doesn’t that contradict what you’re telling me?”
Seth nodded. “I’m here now because I defected from the Others a long time ago. I deviated from the path. The Others did not. They steadfastly clung to it, believed in it, and—for several years after I left their ranks—wanted to kill me for abandoning it.”
She shook her head. “If you really had reason to think tampering with mortals would spark Armageddon, why did you deviate from the path?”
Seth gave her a faint smile. “Because I fell in love with a mortal. A human woman. And I gladly risked everything to be with her. To this day I do not regret it.”
Aidan could relate. He would risk anything to be with Dana.
Seth lowered his gaze for a moment. “After I lost my wife…”
Dana glanced up at Aidan. Because she was human?
He caught the thought clearly. Yes.
A human whose daughter had trusted the wrong person with their secret. Seth’s wife and both his children had been slain as a result. But Aidan wouldn’t tell Dana as much unless Seth wished it. That was Seth’s story to share, not his own.
“I needed a new path,” Seth finished his thought. “I needed something to…” He hesitated, then shook his head. “I needed a new path.” He met Dana’s gaze once more. “So I took it upon myself to lead the Immortal Guardians. To guide them. I was older, wiser, had seen more of the world, had learned from past mistakes. And when vampires began to prey upon humans and roamed unchecked, I believed that pitting the Immortal Guardians against them would balance the scales, not tip them. The Others objected. But, unbeknownst to them, I had begun building and increasing my power, so they could not stop me. I took the risk. And, thus far, it has paid off.
“The Others still tread the same path they always have. They watch. They do not participate. They do not interfere. And they disapprove of my own interference. Zach was also an Other. He is an ancient like myself. He steadfastly clung to the path of the Others until he met and fell in love with Lisette a couple of years ago. Then he, too, defected, which caused some upheaval.”
A bit of an understatement.
“But we soon discovered that Zach was not the only Other to abandon the path. Gershom deviated as well. But Gershom did not deviate for the same reason Zach and I did. There is no love in Gershom. Quite the contrary. We believe he has slowly, without the Others realizing it, been descending into madness, much like the vampires Aidan and the Immortal Guardians hunt.”
Dana scowled. “Well, that’s just great. A madman who is as powerful as you are running around out there?”
Aidan nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
Seth leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. “Gershom apparently wants to kick-start Armageddon. He wants to watch the world burn and delights in sparking chaos.”
“Wonderful,” Dana muttered.
Aidan squeezed her hand. “But we’re doing everything we can to stop him.”
Seth nodded. “In his first attempt, Gershom did his damnedest to sow dissent amongst our ranks and did succeed for a time. Much to my regret, I briefly believed Aidan was working against us.”
Dana cut Aidan a look. Was the vision I saw of Seth trying to kill you showing me the past?
Again, he heard the thought clearly. No.
Damn. She frowned at Seth. “How could you believe Aidan would betray you? Why would you believe it? Aren’t you friends?”
Aidan saw guilt enter his leader’s countenance and sought to erase it. “We are,” he told Dana. “But there was compelling evidence. Had Seth and I not been as close as we are, I don’t know what would’ve happened.”
She didn’t seem to like that.
Seth sighed. “We weren’t able to defeat Gershom. And we have not been able capture him. Although we did manage to foil his attempt to start a third World War last year.”
Dana’s mouth fell open. “What?”
“But Gershom has not abandoned his quest,” Seth went on. “And he is once more attempting to sow dissent amongst us.”
A short laugh containing no mirth escaped Dana. “Well, he seems to be succeeding.”
Seth nodded. “Whatever new plan he has hatched is more complex than the last. He knows Immortal Guardians and the vast network of humans that aid us watch over gifted ones. We have been watching over you, Dana, since your birth, as we do all others.”
Her brow furrowed. “That’s kind of creepy.”
Seth smiled. “Not really. We do it so that—if your advanced DNA should ever be discovered or come to the attention of those who may want to hurt you or exploit you for your differences or even dissect you to seek their source—we can protect you.”
Her frown deepened. “Okay. That’s even creepier.”
Again, Seth nodded. “It seems that someone has begun abducting gifted ones in North Carolina. Six women and three men have gone missing thus far.”
“Are they still alive?” she asked.
“We don’t know… in part because of the circumstances surrounding some of the abductions.”
Aidan shifted, uneasiness rising.
Dana noticed and gave his thigh another affectionate squeeze. “Now you look really nervous.”
“I am,” Aidan admitted.
“Dana,” Seth said, reclaiming her attention, “the six female gifted ones all went missing after having contact with Aidan.”
She narrowed her eyes at Aidan. “What kind of contact?”
“Casual,” he hastened to clarify. “I bumped into two at the grocery store. Changed a flat tire for another. Or for a couple. Ah, hell.” He rubbed his forehead. “Truth be told, I stole a list of gifted ones from the network and arranged to bump into them so I could strike up a conversation with them and see if, perhaps…”
She cocked a brow. “You might hit it off with one of them?”
“Yes.”
“Only gifted ones?”
“Yes.”
“Was I on that list?” she asked, a distinct edge entering her voice.
“Yes. But none of the others interested me,” he vowed. “Only you. I stopped looking once I met you.”
When Dana opened her mouth to say Aidan-didn’t-know-what, Seth interrupted.
“If you think about it, Dana, it wasn’t that different from trying an online dating service or letting a friend set you up with a blind date. Aidan did what most men and women do. He narrowed the field to gifted ones in hopes of finding someone he had something in common with, someone who was more likely to understand his differences, and instead of dying in a few decades and leaving him alone again would eventually trans—”
Aidan shook his head quickly. He did not want any of his brethren to start pressuring Dana into transforming for him.
Seth clamped his lips shut. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m helping this situation very much. So, back to the problem at hand.”
Dana looked from Seth to Aidan and back again with suspicion.
“It appears as though Aidan was the last person to see the missing women,” Seth informed her. “And three of those encounters were caught on video by security cameras that showed the women getting into vehicles with Aidan. They have not been seen since.”
Dana eyed Aidan with concern. “Were you trying to help them? Taking them to a safe house or something?”
That her mind would go there first and not jump to the conclusion that he was the villain who had abducted them made Aidan rejoice inside. “The man in the video wasn’t me,” he explained. “I didn’t know six gifted ones I’d spoken with were missing. I knew one woman was missing, but thought Gershom had taken her because of her connections to the network. I didn’t learn that five others I’d spoken with had also gone missing until last night. As soon as I did, I panicked and raced to your place to ensure you were safe.”
Seth shifted, drawing Dana’s confused gaze. “We believe the man in the video abducted those women. But we don’t think that man was Aidan. We believe it was Gershom.”
She shot Aidan a glance. “Gershom looks like you? I mean, all of you Immortal Guardians seem to look so much alike that you could be brothers, but does Gershom look enough like you to actually pass as you?”
“No,” Aidan corrected. “Gershom doesn’t resemble me. But he can shape-shift and make himself look like my twin.”
She stared at him a long moment. “Really?”
He didn’t blame her for her skepticism. None of the gifts she had witnessed thus far had altered one’s physical traits aside from healing wounds.
He looked to Seth. “A demonstration, please?”
Dana followed his gaze.
Seth’s form abruptly shrank. His long dark hair shortened, curled, and turned red. His masculine features softened into a pretty feminine face. His broad shoulders narrowed. Then Ami sat where Seth had previously been.
“Hooooooooooly crap!” Dana exclaimed.
Ami morphed into Seth once more.
“Holy crap!” Dana repeated. Her head snapped around. Wide hazel eyes met Aidan’s. “Can you do that?”
“No.”
“Most shape-shifting immortals,” Seth told her, “can only shift into the shapes of animals. Generic creatures, large or small. Changing one’s appearance to mimic that of a specific person requires enormous power and concentration. It’s very difficult because of the many unique nuances that must be perfected. Posture. Movement. Mannerisms. Tiny changes in facial expressions. I can do it. Zach can, too. But for the Others, it poses a greater challenge because they have kept their distance from humanity for so long that mastering all those little nuances… Well, I had not thought any of them capable of it until recently. And Gershom appears to have mastered it.”
She frowned. “So you’re telling me that there is an immortal out there who is as old and powerful as you are, can make himself look exactly like Aidan, and is abducting gifted ones? Is that why vampires attacked us at my home? Did Gershom send them to abduct me?”
“Yes,” Seth answered. “I believe so.”
“And I somehow fit in with whatever wild plan he’s hatched to end the world?”
“Essentially.”
Swiveling to face Aidan, she threw up her hands. “Well, shit. I kind of understated it when I said we couldn’t catch a break. This is bad, Aidan. This is really, really bad.”
He grinned, so damned relieved he wanted to throw his head back and laugh.
Dana eyed him with disbelief. “What the hell are you smiling about? This is not good news.”
“I’m smiling because you don’t believe I’m guilty.”
“Well, of course I don’t think you’re guilty, honey. Why would I?”
Aidan hugged her tight.
“Wait.” Dana drew back and looked at both men. “Do the other immortals know about this? Do Ethan and Heather and Roland and the rest know that someone is mimicking Aidan’s appearance to make him look guilty?”
“Yes,” Seth answered.
“And they trust Aidan so much that even if their eyes tell them he’s guilty, they know he’s innocent?”
“Yes,” Seth replied again. “Well, except for Roland. One of the missing women is his descendant, so he didn’t wait around long enough to hear us dispute the evidence, but he’s come around now. And Chris Reordon, the head of the East Coast division of the network, has some doubts. That’s why I’ve told Ethan not to let Aidan out of his sight. Ethan has what he likes to call a photographic memory raised to the nth power and notices all the little details that tend to escape the rest of us. He has viewed the video footage and is convinced that the man in the video was not Aidan. So if he keeps Aidan close and another gifted one should go missing, then Ethan will be able to confirm without a doubt that Aidan was not responsible and lay Reordon’s suspicions to rest.”
Nodding, Dana seemed to mull over Seth’s words for a moment. “So is it the old divide-and-conquer thing? Is Gershom trying to pit you guys against each other so he can defeat you more easily or do whatever he intends to do while you’re distracted, fighting each other?”
“In part,” Seth agreed. “But Gershom also bears a hell of a lot of animosity toward me. I’m still not sure why. But he knows how precious my Immortal Guardians are to me and knows he can strike at me through them.”
“And through Ami and her daughter?” Dana added.
Seth’s brows drew down in a frown. “How did you know that?”
Dana shrugged. “They clearly mean a lot to you.”
Seth sighed. “Ami is like a daughter to me, her child like a granddaughter. I love them both dearly and fear they have also become targets of Gershom.”
“This Gershom sounds like a real asshole.”
Aidan laughed.
Seth did, too. “An insane one, apparently. Anyway, I’d rather not have a repeat performance, so after tonight I’d like you both to stay at David’s place. David is nearly as old and powerful as I am and opens his homes to all immortals and the mortals who aid us. He is, in large part, the reason we’ve become such a close family.”
Aidan frowned. “I don’t want to place Ami and Adira in danger.”
Dana shook her head. “I don’t either.”
Seth smiled. “I appreciate that, but my immortals seem to be leaving me little choice in the matter.” He smiled wryly. “If you omit Zach and Bastien, Immortal Guardians very rarely defy me. The job I have assigned myself is to keep them all safe, so when they make that harder for me to do, I tend to not react well.”
Aidan snorted. “A bit of an understatement. Unlike the youngsters, I’ve seen you fully unleash your anger.” Which was another reason he hoped like hell that Dana’s vision of Seth wanting him dead wouldn’t come to pass.
“So their defiance tonight,” Seth continued, “was quite telling.”
Dana patted Aidan’s thigh. “If defying Seth is such a big deal, they must really love you.” Almost as much as I do.
His breath caught.
Had she meant to send him that thought?
Skillet’s “Monster” began to play.
Seth drew out his cell phone and glanced at it. His lips quirked up as he answered. “Yes, David?”
“Everyone still alive and breathing over there?” Aidan heard the elder immortal ask.
Seth’s smile widened. “Yes.”
“No injuries?”
“Aside from Dana trying to tranq me twice? None.”
David’s startled laughter floated over the line.
Aidan glanced down at Dana.
“I’m going to be hearing about that a lot, aren’t I?” she mumbled.
“Yes.” Laughing, he gave her shoulders a squeeze. “They’ll cheer you for tranqing Roland and revere you for trying to tranq Seth.” And his heart did a little leap, because it sounded like she didn’t mind sticking around.
“I’m going to stay for an hour or two and let Ethan and Heather get some sleep,” Seth continued. “Can you and Darnell field my calls?”
“Of course,” David promised.
“After tonight, Aidan and Dana will stay at your place until all is resolved.”
“I’ll have a room ready for them when they arrive. I thought I would also have Richart fetch Imhotep and Chaak for added protection.”
“Good idea.”
Seth pocketed his phone, then frowned. “I guess you can’t really have a date night with me hanging around. But if you need an alibi, Chris would never doubt my word, so I shall remain here until Ethan has gotten some rest. ”
Dana sent Aidan an apologetic smile. “I don’t think I’m up for a date night anyway. I may not be a morning person, but I do usually go to bed before midnight and get up early for my clients. So the abrupt change to the night shift is taking its toll.”
Aidan didn’t think lack of sleep was the only thing taking its toll. Throw in several adrenaline rushes, a few brushes with death, and the reality of his world being dumped on her, and he was surprised she still had enough energy to stand, let alone stand up to Seth.
Seth gave her a kind smile. “Why don’t you two get some sleep as well? I’ll wake Ethan and Heather before I leave.”
Nodding, Aidan rose and crossed to Seth. When he offered Seth his hand, Seth stood and clasped it.
“We can’t let Gershom come between us, Seth,” Aidan said again. “We’ve been friends… family… for too long to let that bastard win.”
Seth dipped his chin in a nod. “He won’t.” Pulling him into a man-hug, Seth clapped him hard on the back, then released him. “Go get some rest.”