Chapter Eight
Seth drove only far enough away from Dana’s shop to leave the sight of any late-nighters. Stopping the car, he closed his eyes and teleported himself and the vehicle to the barn behind David’s home, which served as a huge garage. Parking the car in Ami’s spot, he cut the engine, got out, and left the keys above the visor.
By the sounds of it, the Immortal Guardians and Seconds who had assembled at David’s home for the meeting remained where he had left them—at the dining room table. Voices overlapped as everyone speculated over what might be happening with Seth, Roland, and Aidan.
Seth strode down the drive and around to the front of the house, taking a couple of minutes to dampen his anger and gather his thoughts.
He’d had no idea Aidan was seeing someone.
Aidan had said nothing. And, contrary to popular belief, Seth didn’t like intruding on his friends’ thoughts, seeing all their secrets and private moments, so he didn’t do so nearly as often as most assumed he did.
Joy crept in. Aidan had found someone. After seemingly endless lonely centuries, he had found a woman he loved who was also falling in love with him. Or who had been before Roland had mucked it all up.
Bitterness invaded. Why did all hell have to break loose whenever an immortal found love? Couldn’t one damned courtship go smoothly?
Grinding his teeth, Seth opened the front door and closed it behind him with a little more force than he’d intended.
All conversation ceased.
Entering the dining room, he crossed to the foot of the table and retook his seat.
A long minute passed.
“Seth,” Ami said tentatively, “are you okay?”
“Yes,” he gritted, though anger continued to pummel him.
The men and women seated at the table exchanged uncertain looks.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Because your eyes are really bright. And I’m pretty sure I just heard thunder.”
He swore, then muttered, “Give me a minute.” But when he closed his eyes, he saw again the dread that had darkened Aidan’s features. The fear that he would lose Dana. The dying hope.
Thunder rumbled outside, louder this time.
Opening his eyes, Seth pointed at Chris. “You need to get your shit together and stop persecuting Aidan. From now on, when you come to this table, you will damned well leave all bias at the door.”
Chris stiffened and held up a sheaf of papers. “This isn’t bias,” he insisted.
“Bullshit,” Seth countered. “You’re holding a grudge.”
“I don’t hold grudges.”
Laughter erupted around the table.
Some of his anger easing just a bit, Seth arched a brow.
“Okay, okay,” Chris ground out when the laughter was slow to die down. “I get it. You all think I hold grudges.”
“Hell yes you do,” Bastien uttered.
Chris shot him a scowl, then met Seth’s irate gaze. “But, Seth, when it comes to Aidan, can you really blame me?” He motioned to their audience. “You consider all the immortals and Seconds at this table—as well as the immortals and Seconds who aren’t at this table—members of your family. And you worry about them and protect them accordingly. Well, that’s how I feel about the network employees. I think of them as my family. And Aidan erased the memories and damaged the brains of several of them.”
Eyes widened.
“What?” Marcus murmured. “Aidan did that? Why?”
Seth shook his head. “I won’t go into that right now.”
Bastien cleared his throat. “In his defense, Aidan only erased a minute or two of their memories, so the damage done was negligible.”
“Only a minute or two?” Sheldon snorted and waved a hand. “Hell, I probably damaged my brain more than that binge drinking with my buds in high school.”
Étienne eyed him curiously. “Is that why you’re the way you are?”
Sheldon and Tracy both laughed.
Chris clenched his teeth. “Any damage is unacceptable.”
Seth held up a hand. “I have no problem with your being pissed about that. But I do object to your letting it cloud your judgment.”
Chris sent him an incredulous look. “How is it clouding my judgment? We know for a fact that Aidan was the last person to see the six women who have disappeared. We even now have three of those encounters on video.”
“Yes,” Seth said. “But those aren’t the only gifted ones who have gone missing. You conveniently left out the fact that three men have disappeared as well. And there is no evidence whatsoever that Aidan had any contact with them.”
Everyone looked at Chris, awaiting his rebuttal.
Chris frowned. “I just hadn’t gotten to that part yet.”
David spoke up. “Because you were focusing all your suspicion on Aidan.”
Seth nodded. “I know you dislike him, Chris. I know he gave you reason to. But you need to get past that now. If all I knew of this matter was what you told us right before Aidan left, I would believe Aidan guilty of harming those women.”
Sheldon nodded. “You did kinda make Aidan sound like a serial killer.”
More nods.
“Had you instead,” Seth continued, “begun your presentation by saying that nine gifted ones have gone missing, three males and six females, then explained that we have strong reason to believe that someone bearing Aidan’s appearance was seen with several of them shortly before they vanished—”
“Not someone bearing Aidan’s appearance,” Chris corrected. “Aidan.”
Ethan spoke up. “I still don’t think it was him. I think it was someone else. One of the Others maybe.”
Chris rolled his eyes. “You’re biased and don’t want to believe he could do anything bad because he transformed Heather for you.”
Heather huffed a laugh. “And you aren’t biased?”
“I have three videos that say I’m not,” he countered.
Heather raised her eyebrows. “Really? And if the man in the videos appeared to be Seth or David, would you still be so quick to disregard Ethan’s input?”
That actually seemed to give Chris pause. “I trust Seth and David.”
Ami leaned forward. “Then trust Seth’s judgment. When Gershom hit us on multiple fronts last year, we trusted Aidan to keep Adira safe and he did.”
All eyes went to the redheaded toddler who slept in Marcus’s arms.
Marcus nodded. “Aidan risked his life to protect her. He knew there was a good chance Gershom would follow him. He knew he couldn’t outrun Gershom or beat him in a fight. Yet he still didn’t hesitate to put his life on the line, whisk her away, and do everything he could to keep her safe.”
Heather spoke once more. “Ethan remembers every tiny, insignificant detail he sees. If he says he doesn’t think the man in the video is Aidan, then I believe him. And I think you would, too, if that man looked like anyone else here.”
Chris ground his teeth for a full minute, then sighed and sank back in his seat. “You’re right. I fucked up.”
One might think that would assuage Seth’s anger, but it didn’t. “Yes, you did. And because you did, Roland followed Aidan, attacked him, and did his damnedest to kill him.”
Gasps of dismay.
Marcus scowled. “Are they okay?”
In the rare instances in which immortals fought each other, the elder immortal almost always emerged the victor.
“They each suffered a few deep gashes,” Seth disclosed. Gashes he supposed he should have healed for them, but he had been too pissed to think of that at the time.
“Why was Roland so upset?” Marcus asked, his voice reflecting puzzlement.
Sheldon nodded. “Yeah. Did Roland used to date Veronica or something?”
Seth almost laughed over that. Sarah was the first woman in whom Roland had shown an interest in centuries. “Veronica is his descendant.”
Every eye widened.
Sheldon looked at the faces around the table. “So she’s like his great-great-great-et-cetera-granddaughter?”
“Yes.” Seth shook his head. “Roland didn’t move to America a century ago just for the hell of it. Or to disappear, as some believe. He came because the bulk of his descendants migrated here. And a large portion of those now reside in North Carolina and surrounding states.” He motioned to Jenna. “Jenna is his descendant.”
Heather gaped at Jenna. “You are?”
She smiled. “Yes.”
“Veronica is Roland’s descendant, too,” Seth continued. “And when Chris stopped just short of telling us Aidan had killed her…”
Marcus swore. “Roland was understandably furious.”
Chris shook his head. “If Aidan is innocent and didn’t harm those women or—at the very least—abduct them, then why did he flee the meeting?”
Seth didn’t see much reason to withhold the information. “Aidan has been seeing a mortal woman. A gifted one by the name of Dana Pembroke. When he heard that the last six female gifted ones he’d met had disappeared shortly thereafter, he feared Dana was in danger and wanted to ensure she was safe.”
“Was she safe?” Brodie asked.
“Yes.”
Sheldon’s brow creased. “Why didn’t Aidan just teleport over there? Why drive?”
Seth glared at Chris. “Because Dana doesn’t know he’s immortal and can teleport. Or at least she didn’t until Roland followed Aidan to her home and outed him.”
Groans all around.
Chris frowned. “Aidan didn’t circle her name on the list.”
“No, he didn’t. Because he didn’t want you to fuck things up,” Seth ground out, “which you managed to do quite efficiently anyway. Roland attacked Aidan and was doing his damnedest to kill him—with glowing eyes and at preternatural speeds—when Sarah called me.”
Brodie slammed a fist down on the table. “Damn it, Reordon!”
Little Adira jumped. Cracking open sleepy eyes, she peered at the faces around the table, then snuggled back against her daddy’s chest and let slumber claim her once more.
Brodie sent Marcus and Ami an apologetic look, then glared at Chris. “Aidan has waited three thousand years to find a woman he loves, a gifted one who might love him enough to transform for him the way Sarah did for Roland. And when he finally finds her, or thinks he has, you go and fuck it all up?”
The anger and belligerence in Chris’s expression gave way to guilt.
Ami turned to Seth. “What about Dana? Is she okay?”
“Yes. But she Tasered Roland.”
Jaws dropped.
“That is awesome!” Sheldon declared.
Brodie grinned. “I knew it. She’s a fighter.”
Seth agreed. It had taken a hell of a lot of guts for her to grab that Taser and rush outside when she saw Roland and Aidan zipping around at preternatural speeds, trying to slay each other. “She’s understandably shaken up though. Angry. And afraid.” He shook his head. “We may have just blown Aidan’s shot at finding a woman he can spend the rest of his immortal life with by robbing him of the opportunity to share the reality of his existence with her and reveal the truth himself in his own time.”
Bastien swore. “Three thousand years alone and he’s going to miss out on love because Chris had his head up his ass?”
Seth shook his head “It’s not definite yet. He’s talking to her now.”
Chris frowned. “You left him alone with her?”
“Yes, Chris,” Seth gritted. “I left him alone with her to try to undo the damage you’ve wrought. And before you object, let me remind you that I’ve known Aidan for a hell of a long time. I made a colossal mistake two years ago when I falsely accused him of working against us—based on video footage you provided, I might add. I won’t make the same mistake twice without having more conclusive evidence than you’ve shown us tonight.”
Chris dragged both hands down his face. “Okay. You’re right. I fucked up.” Leaning forward, he braced his elbows on the table. “And I don’t mean in a small way. I mean in a huge, Sheldon kind of way.”
Sheldon sent him a disgruntled frown. “Come on, man.”
Everyone chuckled.
The tension in the room eased.
Chris flipped through the papers in front of him. “From this point on, I’ll pour more time and effort into considering the options I shoved aside because I believed Aidan was guilty.”
Seth nodded his approval. Chris was a good man, unafraid of admitting when he was wrong. He’d find a way to make amends.
Chris folded his hands on top of the papers and addressed them all. “Aidan swears the man in the videos isn’t him. And most of you want to believe that, so this won’t be a popular supposition, but what if it is him and he just doesn’t remember it? We all know Gershom is fond of mind control. What if Gershom has stepped up his game and, instead of using mortals, is now using Aidan as his puppet?”
Seth looked at David. “I think Aidan’s mind is too strong for that, don’t you?”
David nodded. “Yes. His mental barriers are nearly impenetrable. I don’t think Gershom could plant commands or tamper with Aidan’s memories without him knowing it.”
Seth looked to Zach.
“I agree,” Zach said. “I had to constantly enforce a command to sleep the one time I tried to read his mind. His mental barriers are, in fact, so strong that I failed to topple them. His nose and ears bled. And even though he slept through it all, he still knew when he awoke that someone had been in his head.”
Chris’s brow furrowed. “If Zach could command him to sleep, couldn’t Gershom command him to forget?”
“Theoretically,” Seth admitted. “I’ll try to convince Aidan to lower his barriers enough for me to look for signs of such. I believe he wouldn’t do so before because he didn’t want me to know about Dana. But now that I do…”
Melanie bit her lip. “Seth, even if Gershom did manipulate Aidan’s mind, I don’t know that you would find any evidence of it. In humans, you would see scar tissue and other signs of the damage that causes. But immortals have incredible regenerative capabilities. If Gershom planted commands in Aidan’s mind to make him abduct the gifted ones, then returned after the fact and erased those commands—along with all of Aidan’s memories of the events—the virus could conceivably have healed the scarring that would’ve resulted and left no traces of tampering in Aidan’s brain.”
David frowned. “So we can’t clear Aidan simply by reading his mind?”
“I doubt it,” she confirmed with regret.
Seth shook his head. “Then our problems have just multiplied.”
Ethan frowned. “I still don’t think that was Aidan in the video. I think it was Gershom or someone else who can shape-shift.”
Brodie braced his elbows on the table. “If it’s Gershom, why assume another’s appearance at all? I don’t see the purpose of it.”
“Plausible deniability?” Zach suggested. “As long as no one actually sees him do it, he can deny it.”
“Or,” Bastien proposed, “perhaps he just likes to fuck with us. He’s tried once before to turn us against each other.”
Seth hid his pleasure over Bastien’s use of the word us. It had taken the immortal black sheep a long damned time to truly become one of them.
David made a sound of agreement. “We know Gershom holds a great deal of animosity toward Seth. What better way to strike at him than to the make Seth strike at one of his beloved Immortal Guardians, only to discover too late that he was wrong?”
Which was why Seth was loath to believe Aidan guilty.
Bastien shook his head. “Vampires appear to be amassing again, too. I think we also need to consider what, if any, role they may be playing in all this.”
Ethan nodded. “Heather and I killed a dozen in just one night. Then killed a dozen more a few nights later.”
Marcus spoke softly so as not to wake the toddler he held. “Roland and Sarah have been encountering such numbers as well, killing nine one night, eleven the next. I took out seven myself last night.”
Étienne frowned and leaned forward. “Krysta and I just took out ten. But I didn’t have time to explore their thoughts and look for signs of manipulation.”
Krysta snorted. “You would’ve had plenty of time if you hadn’t been killing them as fast as you could so I wouldn’t have to kill as many myself.”
He looked down at his wife. “I don’t like your taking on such numbers.”
She gave his cheek a little pat. “I was killing vampires long before I met you and transformed, sweetie. I can take care of myself.”
Sheldon grinned. “She sure as hell can. Strong women are so hot.”
Tracy scowled and hit him on the shoulder. “Hey!”
“What?” Sheldon asked with a wince.
“I’m sitting right here,” she protested.
“And you’re strong,” he retorted. “What do you think drew me to you in the first place?”
Her eyes narrowed, then her lips twitched. “I believe you once told me it was my breasts.”
Grinning, he sent her a wink. “Those did, too.”
Seth felt his ire recede and leaned back in his chair. “All right. Let’s get back to business and see if we can’t figure this out. Chris, redirect your efforts toward proving that the man in the video is not Aidan.”
Chris removed a small notepad from his breast pocket, along with a stubby number two pencil, and began to scribble notes.
David spoke next. “You might also consider having your special ops men surveil the other women on Aidan’s list of female gifted ones to ensure no more are taken.”
Chris nodded, still writing. “I’ll give them all pictures of Aidan and have them call you directly, Seth, if they see someone matching his description approach any of the women.”
David glanced around the table. “The rest of you keep an eye out as well. We don’t know yet who is guiding the vampires, but Gershom is likely responsible for both the abductions and the sharp increase in vampire population.”
Seth nodded. “Telepaths, read the thoughts of as many vampires as you can without endangering yourselves unduly and search for anything else that may help us identify their leader and learn his goals.”
Lisette spoke. “Should we start carrying tranquilizer guns with us and tranq those we think may possess useful intel?”
“Yes.” Seth consulted his pocket watch. “We should end the meeting early. I asked Aidan to bring Dana here after they talked, and I don’t want her to have to deal with a house full of powerful immortals on top of everything else.”
Heather regarded the Immortal Guardians gathered around the table. “You are kind of a lot to take in all at once.”
They smiled.
Seth tucked his watch away. “David, Darnell, Marcus, Ami, Ethan, and Heather, you may stay. The rest of you, make yourselves scarce.”
Those who hadn’t been named all rose and swiftly exited.
The house quieted.
Seth turned to Ethan and Heather. “Ethan, we have already ascertained that you are impervious to mind control. And I believe your gift can be particularly useful to us, so I would like your aid in this.”
“I’ll do everything I can,” Ethan said without hesitation.
Heather nodded. “Me, too.”
“Good. I’m going to ask Aidan and Dana to stay at your house until we get to the bottom of this. I’d ask them to stay here but…”
Ethan glanced at Ami and Adira. “You’re reluctant to put Ami and Adira in danger?”
“Yes.”
Ami was like a daughter to Seth. Adira like a granddaughter. He couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to them.
Ami bit her lip. “Seth, I can be just as useful as Ethan when it comes to discerning the difference between Aidan and an imposter. I think they should stay here.”
Ami had come to them from another world. And though she wasn’t immortal and couldn’t transform (none of them were sure what the vampiric virus would do to her), her race was very long-lived, had incredible regenerative abilities, and possessed special gifts of their own.
One of Ami’s was the ability to feel individual energy signatures.
Apparently every living person boasted an energy signature that was as unique as his or her thumbprint. Once Ami was in the presence of someone like Aidan, she would always be able to identify him again—even while blindfolded—just by sensing his energy signature. So if Ami were in the presence of the man in the video, she would be able to tell them with absolute certainty if the man was Aidan, Gershom, or someone else.
“No,” Seth and Marcus said simultaneously.
Ami frowned at them. “Why not?”
“It’s too dangerous,” Marcus protested.
“With all of you here to protect us?” she countered incredulously.
Seth shook his head. “Gershom has not yet dared to breach these walls. But if he wants Dana and can get you and Adira, as well, in one fell swoop, that may tempt him into trying it.”
“I agree,” Marcus said.
“Also,” Seth added, “David’s home sees too much traffic.” Ami and Marcus had moved in with David when she had been targeted by mercenaries. And since Ami had been the first woman in history to bear an immortal’s child, the Immortal Guardians in the area all felt very protective of her and had begun to spend most of their downtime at David’s to ensure her safety and Adira’s. “Dana is new to our world and may find it more difficult to accept if she can’t turn around without bumping into another immortal.”
“Oh.” Ami nodded. “I guess you’re right.”
Heather smiled. “I’m the youngest immortal around and still fairly new to the game. Do you want me to see if I can help ease her into things?”
Seth smiled. “I would appreciate that, Heather. Thank you. Ethan, you keep a close eye on Aidan. Keep him in your sight as often as possible. And in the instances that you can’t, keep your ears tuned to him. If another woman goes missing and Chris gets another video that implicates Aidan, I want you to be able to confirm with absolute certainty that Aidan was with you when it happened.”
Unease crept into Ethan’s expression. “That could get awkward, couldn’t it? I mean, if Aidan and Dana work things out, they’ll probably want to make up, if you know what I mean.”
Heather’s brow furrowed “So?”
“So,” her husband told her, “if I keep my preternatural hearing attuned to him, I’ll hear everything.”
“Oh.” Her brow cleared. “Ohhhhhh. Yeah. That would be awkward.”
Seth shrugged. “Zach did it for you, Ethan. You can do it for Aidan.”
Heather looked from Ethan to Seth and back again. “What do you mean Zach did it for Ethan?”
Ethan shot Seth a narrow-eyed look, then sighed and turned back to his wife. “When vampires kept attacking you and someone was messing with your mind last year, we stayed with Zach and Lisette to ensure your safety and…”
Her eyes widened. Then her face scrunched up. “Oh. Ew. Zach was listening to us when we made love?”
Ethan winced. “Not by choice. He had to, honey. He couldn’t risk tuning us out and missing it if Gershom were to pop in and do whatever he wanted to do.”
Heather didn’t look appeased. “Did Lisette listen, too?”
“No. She put on headphones and blasted music.”
Heather’s face flamed with color. Covering it with both hands, she moaned with embarrassment. “Do you know how many times we made love while we were staying with them?” she cried in dismay.
Ethan rested a hand on her back. “Yes. But—”
“We did it like all day that one time!”
“I know, but—”
Heather dropped her hands and looked at Seth. “Why did you tell me that?”
Seth sent her what he hoped was a look of apology. “I was merely trying to reassure Ethan that—”
“Erase my memory,” she blurted, interrupting him.
Seth stared at her in surprise. “What?”
“Erase that from my memory. Quick. Before it does too much damage. I like Zach and want to keep being friends with him and Lisette, but I won’t be able to if every time I see Zach I think about him listening to us humping our brains out.”
Marcus burst into laughter.
Ami elbowed him but looked as though she wanted to laugh, too.
“Honey,” Ethan said, his face full of concern, “erasing that from your memory would cause brain damage.”
“I’m immortal,” Heather said. “I’ll heal.”
“We think you’ll heal,” Ethan qualified.
“You healed when Seth tried to see if you could be mind-controlled and did enough damage to make your ears and nose bleed.”
“True. But just to be on the safe side, I don’t think we should risk it.”
Heather met her husband’s earnest gaze. “Ethan, if Seth doesn’t get this out of my head, then every time we make love from this point on, instead of thoroughly enjoying it, I’m going to be fixating on all the sounds Zach heard when we made love at their place.”
Eyes widening, Ethan swung to Seth. “Do it. Erase it. Melanie said she’d recover, right?”
Seth laughed. “I can bury it instead. That will cause no lasting damage.”
Heather smiled with relief. “Thank you.”
Ami cleared her throat. “Even if you bury the memories, won’t Heather figure it out if she hears Aidan and Dana make love?”
Heather looked at Ethan. “If I do, just tell me Lisette’s basement bedrooms were soundproofed. I was still mortal then, so I won’t know it isn’t true.”
Ethan frowned. “I don’t want to lie to you.”
Heather arched a brow. “The vigorous sex life we’ll enjoy for the rest of eternity is worth one lie, don’t you think?”
He grinned. “Well, when you put it like that…”
Heather looked at Seth expectantly.
Seth delved into her thoughts, found her memories of the past few minutes, and buried them. He looked at Ethan. “It’s done.”
“What is?” Heather asked.
Seth smiled at her. “Heather, I’m going to ask Aidan and Dana to stay with you and Ethan until we can get to the bottom of this.”
She smiled. “Oh. Okay. I’m the youngest immortal around and still fairly new to the game. Maybe I can help ease her into things.”
The others all shared a glance.
“Thank you. I would appreciate that.” Seth looked at Ethan, who watched his wife from the corner of his eye, and repeated his instructions for Heather’s benefit.
As he wrapped up the meeting, Seth fervently hoped such precautions would prove unnecessary. But none of them knew if or when another gifted one might go missing.