Shadows Strike

by Dianne Duvall

  Zach clamped his lips shut.

  “I wasn’t there to harm the baby,” Jared repeated. “I was there to protect her. I would’ve stayed to protect Amiriska, too, when she arrived, but she moved to attack me and I didn’t wish to restrain her.”

  Seth shook his head. “Ami said you were standing over Adira’s crib and had cloaked yourself in Marcus’s appearance.”

  “What better place to protect the child than in her own room?” Jared rebutted. “I assumed Marcus’s appearance for two reasons. One, so if Gershom arrived he would take one look at me and discount me as a threat, giving me a better chance of attacking and holding his ass until you and the Others could join us. And two, so the babe would think me her daddy and not be afraid.” Jared’s brow furrowed. “Although I’m pretty sure she saw right through my ruse. She truly is an exceptional child.”

  Seth stared at him.

  Zach looked at Seth. “Do I really need to say this is bullshit again?”

  Seth agreed. “Why should we believe you?”

  “Because I’m the one who brought Heather and Ethan together.”

  Seth stared at him. Jared had done that? Not Gershom? “Why?”

  Jared frowned and shifted again. “That is something best explained with Heather and Ethan present.”

  “Not going to happen,” Seth retorted.

  “Trust me, cousin, when I say they’ll want to hear this.”

  “I’ve no reason to trust you, cousin.”

  Jared shook his head. “Well, I’m afraid you’ve little choice. Their lives . . . and yours . . . and the lives of your Immortal Guardians all depend upon you trusting me.”

  Zach stopped straining against Seth’s hold.

  Seth released Zach’s arm as all the fight seemed to leave him. What is it?

  Zach’s gaze never strayed from their visitor. “You’ve seen something,” he said. “You’ve seen the future.”

  Seth studied Jared. He had forgotten that Jared was subject to prophetic visions. Far stronger visions than those Seth received.

  “Yes,” Jared confessed, his expression chilling Seth.

  “What did you see?” Seth asked.

  “I saw Gershom succeed,” Jared told them. “I saw Armageddon unfold. And this time, when the world is wiped clean, no one is going to warn Noah to build a boat.”

  Shit. “You’re saying—”

  “No one will survive,” Jared declared. “No bunker will be deep enough to protect humans. No amount of doomsday prepping will save lives. And we—all of us Others and your Immortal Guardians—will be destroyed as well.”

  Stunned silence.

  “You’ve had this vision?” Seth asked him.

  “More than once. Which is why I was at David’s place during the battle.” Jared met each man’s gaze. “It’s time to choose sides, gentlemen. And I’ve chosen yours.”

  Seth could find no response. He had been so sure he and Zach would be able to stop Gershom. Do Jared’s visions always come true? he asked Zach.

  Always. But he’s never done anything before to try to alter their outcome. This is unprecedented. Whatever he saw must have scared the hell out of him.

  Seth agreed. It must have if Jared was willing to risk all to join Zach, Seth, and the Immortal Guardians.

  “What does this have to do with Heather and Ethan?” Seth asked him. “We know you’ve been manipulating her dreams and pitting vampires against them . . . at the very least.”

  “Once more I ask that you allow the couple to join us so they can hear it, too. With you two as their guard, they’ve nothing to fear from me.”

  Still no hint of deception bled into his words.

  Seth looked to Zach. “Go get them.”

  Seriously? Zach asked, his look questioning Seth’s sanity.

  Yes.

  You’re the one who keeps saying this could be a trap.

  Then be quick about it. Tell them they’re welcome to come armed. But warn Ethan to keep his shit in check. I want to see where Jared is going with this and won’t be able to do that if Ethan lets fury drive him to attack the moment he hears who Jared is.

  Sending Jared a warning glare, Zach vanished.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “Ethan.”

  Heather jerked awake.

  The mattress beneath her shook violently as a thud sounded.

  “Ethan!”

  Gasping, she raised her head and yanked the covers up to her chin.

  Zach stood at the foot of the bed, scowling at the immortal still slumbering beside her. “He sleeps even harder than Lisette does,” he grumbled and kicked the bed frame again. “Wake up, damn it!”

  Ethan didn’t so much as twitch, deeply ensconced in a healing sleep.

  Sitting up, Heather touched his bare shoulder. “Ethan?”

  Ethan’s eyes opened. “What?” He blinked up at her. “What is it?”

  She nodded to their guest.

  Spying Zach, Ethan sat up. “What are you doing here?”

  “We’ve found the Other who has been fucking with Heather’s mind. Seth is holding him . . . in a manner of speaking . . . and would like you two to join us.”

  Heather’s heart began to pound. They had found Gershom? Was this it, then? Would they finally learn why he had been manipulating her dreams?

  Ethan stared at Zach, wide awake now. “You’ve caught Gershom?”

  Zach shook his head. “Different Other. Turns out Gershom isn’t the one who was doing it. Get dressed while I get David up to speed.”

  He vanished.

  Heather leapt out of bed and began yanking on hunting clothes as fast as she could.

  Ethan dressed in a matter of seconds, then packed on a buttload of weapons.

  As soon as Heather tugged a shirt over her mussed hair and zipped up her pants, Ethan began to load her up with weapons as well.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t go,” Ethan murmured, his fear for her palpable.

  “I don’t think Zach is giving us a choice,” she said as he fastened a holster to her thigh. “And I need to know what this Other did to me. Why he did it to me. To us. I need to know if I’m a threat to you.”

  Heather barely had time to drag a comb through her hair and brush her teeth before Zach returned.

  “Shall we?” He didn’t wait for an answer. He just gripped their shoulders and teleported them to a bowl-shaped clearing cloaked in darkness.

  At least that was what Heather thought it was. She could barely see a thing.

  Light bathed them as an old-fashioned lantern appeared in Seth’s hand. He flattened the grass in front of them and set it on the ground.

  “Thank you.” Heather knew the light was for her benefit. The rest probably had no difficulty seeing each other.

  Ethan wrapped an arm around her and drew her close.

  Seth and Zach stood on either side of them.

  A tall, bare-chested, handsome man who bore the look of an Immortal Guardian and . . . wings? . . . faced them.

  Ethan glared at the stranger. “Is this the prick who fucked with Heather’s dreams?”

  The stranger arched a brow. “Had I not fucked with Heather’s dreams, you two wouldn’t be together right now.”

  Heather bit her lip. There was no denying that.

  The stranger caught Heather’s eye. “I’m Jared.”

  She refused to say it was a pleasure to meet him.

  “As I was telling Seth and Zach, I’ve seen the future. Zach can confirm for you that my prophetic visions are always accurate. In the ones I began having about a year ago, I saw a future in which Gershom triumphs over you all and succeeds in sparking Armageddon.”

  Heather’s stomach twisted into a knot.

  “No one—humans, gifted ones, vampires, immortals, or Others—will survive.”

  When Heather looked at Seth and Zach, their grim countenances sent fear careening through her.

  Her heart began to pound. How much time did they have?

  “Why did you fuck wit
h her dreams?” Ethan pressed.

  “Because World War Three was imminent. And I knew she was the key to preventing it.”

  Silence fell in the wake of that bombshell.

  Jared looked to Seth. “You wouldn’t have found the vampires’ lair in Russia before they attacked another U.S. military base. The next base they would’ve attacked would’ve been very large, very visible, and on American soil. The attack wouldn’t have been hidden from the public as the first two were. It would’ve left no doubt that Russia was responsible. And all hell would’ve broken loose. You needed General Lane on your side, both to help you find the vampires before they struck again and to help you control the fallout.” He shifted his attention back to Heather. “I knew you could make that happen.”

  The power to speak eluded her.

  “Had I not interfered, Ethan would’ve fought those vampires several miles down the road from your home and the two of you would’ve never met. A little mind control sent the vampires veering in your direction and”—he shrugged—“the dreams lured you into their skirmish.”

  Seth shook his head. “Why didn’t you just come to me and tell me what you’d seen? Tell me what needed to be done?”

  “Because the Others are watching you like a hawk. When Zach defected, he ran straight to you and your Immortal Guardians. They assume anyone else who may begin to have doubts will do the same. I couldn’t take the chance that they would capture me before I had an opportunity to speak with you. And . . .”

  “And?” Ethan pressed.

  “I wasn’t sure anything we did would make a difference,” Jared admitted. “My visions always come true. I’ve never tried to intervene and evoke a different outcome before and didn’t know I could until . . .” He shifted, uneasiness creeping into his expression.

  “Until?” Ethan gritted.

  Jared met Heather’s gaze. “Until you sacrificed yourself for Ethan in the second battle you fought together.”

  Ethan dropped his arm from around Heather and took a furious step forward. “You son of a bitch! She nearly died that night! And you sent those vampires to her home, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  Zach and Seth swore.

  “Why?” Heather asked.

  “I knew Ethan was going to drop by that night to court you and wanted to give him added incentive to keep you close so that when your father called you in, Seth and his Immortal Guardians would learn that vampires had attacked the first base. Time was running out. I needed to get the ball rolling. I didn’t know until after I implanted the impulse to attack in some local vampires that Ethan would be slain.”

  “I wasn’t slain, asshole!” Ethan bellowed. “She was. Or she would’ve been if Seth hadn’t reached her soon enough!”

  Jared looked at each of them in turn. “And that was the confirmation I needed. That was the first time I knew absolutely that we can change the future. That it doesn’t have to unfold as it did in my visions. Once I planted the impulse to attack in those vampires’ feeble brains, I began having visions of the battle you two would fight. In every single one of them, Ethan was decapitated, then Seth teleported in and saved Heather.”

  Heather felt sick. Had she not thrown herself between Ethan and the vampire’s blade that night, they really would have lost him. She would have lost him.

  She looked up at Ethan, so thankful she had been forewarned.

  Ethan didn’t look thankful at all. He looked furious. “If you knew I was going to be destroyed, why the hell did you show Heather what would happen in her dreams?”

  Jared shrugged. “I thought it best that she be prepared for battle and didn’t realize she would throw herself between you and that blade. I sure as hell didn’t want her to die that night. Seth and his immortals needed the connections she’d bring too much.” He sent Seth a frown. “This tampering with mortal affairs thing can be trickier that I presumed.”

  “Welcome to my world.”

  “What about the other dreams?” Heather asked.

  Jared frowned. “What other dreams?”

  Ethan frowned, too. “You had other dreams? You didn’t mention that.”

  Heather hesitated. She really would rather not say this in front of all of them.

  “The sex dreams,” Zach said.

  “Damn it! Stop reading my thoughts!” Heather snapped, then turned back to Jared with a sigh. “Yes. What he said. The sex dreams. About Ethan.” Her face heated with what no doubt was a flaming blush.

  Ethan nudged her shoulder, his lips curling up in a smile. “You had sex dreams about me?”

  “Yes. It’s one of the reasons I felt like I’d known you for a long time when we first met.”

  Jared’s eyebrows flew up. “I planted no such dreams in your mind.”

  Heather stared at him. “What do you mean? You must have. I had them for months before I met Ethan.”

  Seth cleared his throat. “If you dreamed of fighting vampires with Ethan every night, then thought about him during the day, it’s natural that your subconscious mind would eventually begin to fabricate dreams of him on its own.”

  “Oh.” So she had embarrassed herself for nothing. Lovely. She caught Jared’s eye. “Well . . . thank you. For bringing Ethan into my life and for showing me what would happen in my dreams so I could keep the vampires from killing him.”

  Jared glanced at Seth and Zach, then back at Heather. “You’re welcome?”

  Amusement stealing away some of her embarrassment, she nodded.

  Seth’s expression remained grim. “Tell me again why you pretended to be Marcus and were with Adira tonight.”

  Heather gasped.

  Ethan swore. “He what?”

  Jared sighed. “You know Gershom wants to spark Armageddon. You know he wants to watch the world burn. But he also seems to bear a hell of a lot of malice toward you, Seth.”

  “Why?” Seth asked, his tone baffled.

  “I think he resents the fact that, while the rest of us obeyed the rules and restricted ourselves to merely observing life, you have been living it all this time. I think he sees what you have, what you’ve done and experienced, and is bitter over having missed out on experiencing the same himself.”

  “Then why the hell didn’t he just do what Zach did: Tell the rest of you to fuck off and join me?”

  Jared shook his head. “I believe, much like the vampires you seek to exterminate, Gershom has been slowly descending into madness. It just took him thousands of years to reach the breaking point.”

  “And so he’s targeting me?” Seth asked.

  “Yes. I think he relished pitting you against your immortals last year. I think he liked manipulating one of the employees of your trusted human network into working against you. And clearly he has no desire to stop at either of those, because tonight he succeeded in dividing you.”

  “Divide and conquer,” Zach murmured.

  “Yes. He lured Seth away, then sent masses of vampires to attack both David’s home and network headquarters.” He stared at Seth. “We aren’t stupid, you know. Every one of us is well aware of what the alien woman means to you. Every one of us knows you love her as much as you did the son and daughter you lost. What better way to strike at you than through her baby?”

  Everyone present, including Heather, swore.

  “Particularly,” Jared added, “since you nearly kick-started Armageddon yourself when your wife, son, and daughter were slain all those years ago.”

  Seth had been married? And his wife and children had been killed?

  Heather’s heart went out to him.

  “I was observing David’s place when vampires attacked it,” Jared continued. “Like you, I suspected Gershom might have left a trail to lure you to Russia so he could make mischief in North Carolina. When Adira was taken to the network, I followed, but concealed my presence.”

  “Why?” Seth asked.

  “Because, as I said, the Others are watching you like a hawk. I didn’t want them to see me at David’s,
then at the network, and drag me away, assuming I was pulling a Zach.”

  Heather glanced at Zach and thought the fury on his face was a little frightening.

  “Shortly after the baby arrived at the network, Gershom put in an appearance and vampires attacked it. The moment Gershom heard Adira begin to cry, he went straight to the room in which she was being sheltered. The immortal Celt teleported her away—”

  “Did Gershom pursue him?” Seth asked, lips tight.

  “No. The moment the Celt left with the baby, I let Gershom sense my presence. He hesitated, then teleported away, taking a different path. I followed the Celt, thinking it a ruse by Gershom, that he might catch up with the two at another location. But he didn’t. When the Celt returned the baby to David’s home . . .” Again Jared shrugged. “I did what I felt I had to do. I pretended to be her father so I would be there to protect her and to throw Gershom off should he eventually follow her there to . . . do whatever he thought might hurt you most.”

  Seth’s face paled. His throat moved in a swallow. “Did Gershom show himself at David’s?”

  “I didn’t see him while I was there.”

  “Can you sense him when he’s not in your sight?”

  “No. I don’t know he’s there until he shows himself. But, unlike Gershom, I’d know him if I saw him even if he tried to camouflage his appearance.”

  “Can he camouflage his appearance in such a way? I know he can shift into animal forms, but alternate human forms and their personalities are more difficult to assume. Can Gershom pass himself off as one of my immortals?”

  Heather held her breath, awaiting the answer.

  “I don’t know,” Jared confessed.

  Seth eyed Zach.

  “I believe him,” Zach said, his brow furrowed.

  Seth returned his attention to Jared. “If Gershom wants to strike at me through my family, through Ami and Adira, how can I protect them?”

  “By doing what you already are. Keep them close so you, Zach, or I—if you’ll allow me join you—will always be on hand to guard them. David, too. Your second in command may not be as strong as you are, but he can give the rest of us a run for our money.”

  Zach’s eyebrows flew up. “Really? You think David could best one of us in battle?”