Death of Darkness

by Dianne Duvall

  Seth tucked into his own food, then devoured additional helpings.

  Leah grinned and leaned in close. “Keep it up. You burned a hell of a lot of calories today.”

  He laughed.

  So did several immortals.

  Seth was pleased with how the dinner progressed. He, Zach, and David took turns responding to calls from immortals in the field. Tessa gradually relaxed enough to eat something. Seth knew it would take her some time to adjust to the new reality, but she’d made a good start. And he was happy to have her amongst them.

  As the meal wound down, he took Leah’s hand and brought it to his lips. “I need to speak with Roland privately. Will you be all right if I leave you alone with this lot?”

  She smiled as she glanced at the men and women seated around the table. “Sure. I like your family.”

  He hoped one day it would be her family, too.

  Rising, he rounded the table.

  Roland was already standing when Seth reached him. Seth caught Zach’s eye. Follow me.

  Nodding, Zach lowered his fork and stood.

  Seth palmed his phone and made a quick call. Then he teleported Roland to the soundproof room in Chris’s redesigned missile silo. Zach appeared a moment later. Seth spoke into the phone again. “We’re here.”

  “Yes, sir,” Brian responded. He was the highest-ranked network employee on-site when Chris wasn’t around. “The alarm’s back on.”

  Seth pocketed the phone and stared at Roland. “So? How are you?”

  “I’m good,” he said with a nod.

  “You seem to have come through the healing all right. I apologize for not looking in on you more often.”

  Roland waved off the apology. “You’ve got enough on your plate, Seth. You don’t need to play nursemaid to me on top of that.” And Roland wasn’t the type who would want anyone fussing over him regardless of how sick he was.

  “Have you noticed any new abilities? I poured a hell of a lot of energy into you.” More than he had Aidan.

  “Stop looking so guilty when you say that,” Roland ordered. “I told you to do it. And yes, I have noticed new abilities.” Giving them a very un-Roland-like grin, he said, “Check this out.” He vanished.

  An alarm sounded.

  Swearing, Seth called Brian. “Sorry about that. That was us. Turn the alarm off until further notice, please.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Looks like he can teleport now,” Zach commented. “That’s a plus.”

  So it was.

  A long minute passed.

  Zach arched a brow. “Do you think he’s having trouble finding his way back?”

  Seth frowned. “Possibly.” Teleportation could be a tricky skill to master. If your mind wandered even a little bit, you could end up somewhere you didn’t intend to.

  Roland reappeared, his hair and clothing soaking wet. “It’s raining in Miami,” he said on a laugh.

  Seth grinned. “Excellent.”

  “Good job,” Zach said. “Have you mastered it enough to always end up at your chosen destination?”

  “Yes. I’ve been practicing every time Sarah and I go out hunting.”

  Seth frowned. “Do you leave her alone or take her with you?”

  “I started out by teleporting to the other side of campus whenever we patrolled Duke or UNC or one of the others to ensure I could do it and so she wouldn’t be left alone. But once I mastered that, I started taking her with me, going a little farther each time.”

  “And how did that go?” Seth asked.

  Roland grimaced. “There were a few mishaps. I forgot the time difference more than once and teleported us into direct sunlight.”

  “Ouch,” Zach said with a wince.

  “Exactly. I also startled the hell out of a hunter once. But he’d been drinking heavily and was already questioning what he saw as I teleported us away again.”

  If the hunter had mentioned it online, network employees who monitored such would’ve taken care of it.

  “Any other new abilities?” Seth asked. For whatever reason, the most common abilities that seemed to transfer over during a healing were the three t’s: teleportation, telekinesis, and telepathy.

  “My telekinetic abilities have strengthened,” Roland said. Everything in the room that wasn’t nailed down and didn’t breathe suddenly leapt into the air.

  Seth nodded. “Excellent. I want you to spar with David every other day and practice using those telekinetic skills in battle.”

  “I’ll begin tomorrow.”

  “Anything else?”

  Roland nodded and closed his eyes. His brow furrowed with concentration. Seconds later his clothing tore and fell away as he shape-shifted into a lion.

  Seth’s eyebrows flew up. “Unbelievable,” he murmured. Shape-shifting was one of the most complex gifts one could possess. Because Roland was so much younger than himself, Seth hadn’t expected him to acquire it.

  Strolling forward to examine the creature, he touched the thick mane and found it as coarse as a lion’s. “Can you roar?”

  The lion shook his head, then gave it a try, releasing something that sounded more like one of Roland’s growls of fury than a lion’s roar.

  Zach laughed.

  Seth did, too. “Try again.”

  After several more tries, Roland managed to come a little closer.

  “Now shift back.”

  The lion transformed back into Roland.

  A naked Roland.

  Zach grimaced and threw up a hand to block his view.

  Looking down, Roland swore and cast Seth an exasperated look. “How do you always manage to have your clothes on when you shift back into your normal form?”

  “I teleport them on. Have you tried that yet?”

  “No.”

  “Teleporting objects you aren’t touching can be tricky, but you should eventually be able to master it with small items.” Seth thought of the extensive wardrobe at David’s place.

  A pile of clothing abruptly appeared at Roland’s feet. Smiling, he bent and began to tug on a pair of pants. “Thank you.”

  Zach lowered his hand. “Does Sarah know you can shape-shift?”

  “No. I only told her about the teleporting. I practice the shape-shifting and telekinesis while she sleeps.” He eyed both men. “I thought the fewer people who knew, the fewer minds from which Gershom can pluck the information if he has the time. Sarah won’t mind my keeping it from her. She wants me to do anything and everything I can to keep Michael safe and help you defeat Gershom. I wouldn’t have told her about the teleporting, but I didn’t want to leave her alone while I practiced.”

  “I understand.” Seth looked at Zach. “So we’ve one more weapon in our arsenal that Gershom won’t expect.”

  Zach turned back to Roland. “Practice shape-shifting into other people. Sarah. Ami. Sheldon. Anyone Gershom won’t view as a threat.”

  Seth nodded. “Sheldon or Chris would be good, as would other human males about your size who won’t necessitate a change of clothing and whom Gershom will assume weak.”

  “Good idea,” Zach said. “Choose males. That way you won’t have to worry about altering your voice much either. One of the trickiest parts of shape-shifting is sounding right. Can you speak with an American accent?”

  “Yes, I can speak with an American accent,” Roland replied, losing his British accent, “among others.”

  “Good. Then practice assuming other male forms.” Zach glanced at Seth, then hesitated. “If he takes on Ami or Sarah’s form, his clothing will swallow them, but… it wouldn’t be quite as bad if he took on Leah’s form. She’s almost six feet tall.”

  Seth wasn’t sure what emotion filled him then, but it didn’t sit well. “She’s half my weight, her shoulders aren’t nearly as broad, and she has a tiny waist.”

  “But the pants will only be maybe three inches too long and her breasts and hips will help fill out the shirt and hold up the pants.”

  Roland spoke. �
�Give me a set of clothing in her size. I’ll practice shape-shifting into her form and see if I can’t master teleporting on the clothing as well.”

  Seth started to shake his head.

  Finished dressing, Roland took a step toward him. “Seth, let me do this for you. We all know Gershom is going to target her because you care about her. If he pops in while I’m there, I can assume her appearance and—”

  “He’ll read it in your thoughts.”

  “But he’ll have to take the time to do that. Even a few seconds can make a big difference when battling him.”

  “Do it,” Zach said.

  “Very well,” Seth agreed. “I’ll get you the clothing later tonight.” He gripped Roland’s shoulder. “Zach, remain here for a moment. I wish to speak with you.”

  “Okay.”

  Seth teleported Roland home to David’s, then returned to the missile silo.

  “I know,” Zach said, holding up his hands. “You don’t like the idea of anyone mimicking Leah. If someone took on Lisette’s form, it would freak me the hell out, but—”

  Seth smiled. “That isn’t why I asked you to stay.”

  “Oh.” He lowered his hands. “Is it that you’re pissed because I know Leah’s clothing sizes?”

  He fought a laugh. “No.”

  Zach shifted his weight from one foot to the other… and began to get that look. The kind that filled Seth with both frustration and foreboding—his patented there’s a slight chance I might have done something that will make you want to kill me look.

  “Ah, hell. What have you done now?”

  Zach’s expression turned innocent. “What makes you think I—?”

  “Zach.”

  “Fine.” He paused. “Have you by any chance been reading Leah’s mind?”

  “No.”

  Zach’s eyebrows rose. “You haven’t?”

  “No.”

  “Not at all?”

  “No.”

  “Then I didn’t do anything.”

  “Zach!”

  He grimaced. “All right, all right. I knew you were seeing Leah and assumed it would place a giant target on her back, so I… did the whole plant-a-how-to-kick-ass-manual-in-her-head thing.”

  Fury rose. Seth took a menacing step forward. “You mind-controlled her?”

  Zach held up his hands. “I was only trying to protect her the way I did Dana. But I didn’t actually have to do much because she already knew how to kick ass.” He offered Seth a smile. “She’s taken a lot of martial arts classes.”

  “Her father wanted her to be safe.”

  “Good man. All I really had to do was tweak things a little here or there—have her aim for the major arteries when firing a gun instead of the head or chest, have her make her defensive moves and counterattacks earlier than she ordinarily would since vampires move so damned quickly, that sort of thing.”

  “How much damage did it do?” Mind control and erasing memories always caused brain damage. The less altered, the less damage inflicted, sometimes effecting no change in the person’s health at all. But anything that took a lot of time—

  “None. She came through it fine. Don’t be pissed, but David was there with me, healing the damage—minimal damage—in real time.”

  Seth wanted to cling to his anger but trusted David implicitly and had come to trust Zach almost as much since they had renewed their friendship. “Thank you.” Those minor tweaks had likely kept Leah alive when Tessa and the vampires had attacked.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Stay the fuck out of her head from now on.”

  “I will,” he vowed solemnly, “because I don’t want to see the kinky shit you do in bed.”

  Seth laughed. “I did not expect her to say that. Did you see their expressions?”

  Zach grinned. “Priceless.”

  Seth teleported his favorite katanas into his hands. “Now draw your swords.”

  “Why?”

  “I want to spar with you.”

  Surprise lit Zach’s features. “Really?” Then he frowned. “Wait. Are you saying I need practice?”

  “No. I do.”

  Zach snorted. Though the two of them were roughly the same age, Seth had spent thousands of years building and strengthening his gifts and fighting skills. Both knew who would win if the two of them ever fought in earnest.

  Yet Seth shrugged. “I do. I want to try something new.”

  “Like what?” Zach drew two swords.

  Seth arched a brow. “I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.”

  “That sounds interesting.” Smiling in anticipation, Zach adopted a fighting stance. “Let’s do this.” He attacked in the next instant.

  Seth grinned. There were few immortals on the planet who could provide him with a real challenge. David could. Though Gershom and the rest of the ancient Others might think David posed no threat to them, Seth’s second-in-command had been sparring with him for thousands of years and could kick most of their asses. Aidan was a strong, fierce fighter and had trained with David, so he too could hold his own well in a sparring session with Seth. But Seth had come to believe that Zach would eventually become his equal if he continued to train as he had since falling in love with Lisette.

  Neither man spoke as they fought. Neither held back either, only avoiding attempted decapitation. Should one accidentally sever the limb of the other, both were powerful enough healers to reattach it.

  Seth had to admit it was exhilarating but didn’t let that distract him from the task he had assigned himself.

  Minutes passed as metal struck metal and occasionally slipped into flesh. Those slips were few at first. Then Zach’s brow furrowed. Sweat began to bead on his forehead and trailed down one temple. Seth’s blade slashed a deep furrow into Zach’s side.

  Grunting, Zach redoubled his efforts to fend off Seth’s blows. But he took the offensive less and less, instead defending himself more and more. He swore as Seth began to drive him backward. Seth scored another hit. Then another.

  “What’s happening?” Zach huffed as he staggered beneath Seth’s latest blow.

  Seth said nothing, just kept hammering away at him. One of Zach’s swords went flying.

  Swearing, Zach staggered.

  Seth scored another hit, making sure this time that it was shallow. He felt Zach try to teleport… and fail.

  “What the hell?” Zach rasped just before Seth swept his other sword from his hand.

  Zach stumbled and nearly fell to one knee. He thrust a hand out toward Seth, trying to yank Seth’s weapons away with telekinesis.

  Nothing happened.

  He tried again to teleport.

  Nothing happened.

  Seth smiled in triumph as he pointed the tip of one sword at Zach’s throat, then tapped the underside of his chin.

  Zach shook his head and sank to his knees. “What did you do?” Leaning forward, he braced his hands on the floor. His head hung low. “I couldn’t teleport. I couldn’t use my telekinetic ability.” He paused a moment to draw in a couple of rasping breaths. “I’m so weak I can barely move.”

  Seth crouched on his haunches in front of him and waited until Zach raised his head. “I drained you of your energy, every ounce that I could.”

  Zach gaped at him. “But you weren’t touching me.” Seth had drained Zach of his powers once before and then left him for the Others to deal with when he had believed Zach betrayed him. But he had had to touch Zach to do it.

  “I don’t have to now. I found a way to do it without touching you.”

  Utter astonishment entered his friend’s weary features. “That’s fucking brilliant.”

  Seth grinned.

  “How the hell did you learn to do that?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve been trying to figure it out for a few years now and redoubled my efforts after Gershom hurt Ami. I finally managed to do it last week while sparring with Richart.”

  Zach’s lips twitched. “How did he feel about it?”

&
nbsp; “He didn’t know. He’s young enough that he thought I just tired him out. But I wanted to give it a try with someone of your strength to confirm I can use it against Gershom without his realizing what’s happening.” Leaning forward, he pressed a hand to Zach’s chest and infused him with much of the energy he had siphoned away.

  Zach sucked in a breath, then sighed. “Much better. Thank you.”

  Smiling, Seth clapped him on the shoulder.

  Zach glanced over his shoulder, then moved to sit with his back against the wall. Stretching out his legs, he crossed his feet at the ankle.

  Seth settled himself beside him. He had sat just so with Ami many times since he had rescued her from her torturers. It felt completely natural to do the same with Zach.

  “Damn, I’m tired,” his friend complained.

  Seth chuckled. “Sorry about that. I couldn’t return all the energy I took because I had to use some of it myself. You’re a formidable opponent.”

  Zach sent him a sardonic smile. “You’ve only yourself to blame for that. Kicking my ass that time you told me to stay the hell away from Lisette and your Immortal Guardian family really motivated me.”

  That seemed so long ago, but had only been… what—two or three years? “Yes, well, I’m sorry about that, too.”

  Zach shrugged. “It didn’t stop me from seeing her.”

  Seth smiled. “I don’t think anything could’ve done that.”

  “No,” he agreed with a smile.

  Quiet fell.

  Zach’s breathing gradually evened out. “So. How are you holding up?”

  Seth stared at his boots. “I fear history is destined to repeat itself.” A long moment passed. “She’s human.”

  Zach nodded. “You can extend her life.”

  True, but both knew an extra century would not be enough. Seth wanted forever with Leah, like Zach would have with Lisette.

  “I fear Gershom will kill her,” Seth admitted.

  “You’ve kept him from killing Ami.”

  “Barely.”

  “You can keep him from killing Leah, too. We’ll help you keep her safe, Seth. I’ll help you keep her safe. I owe you”—he shrugged—“everything. You’re the reason I have Lisette.”