Blade of Darkness

by Dianne Duvall

Inside, Chris leaned back against his desk, arms crossed.

  Seth stood patiently beside him, his expression telling Aidan no more than his voice had.

  “What’s up?” Aidan asked.

  Seth motioned to a door. “Let’s speak in there, shall we?”

  “Okay.” Aidan strode through the door and found himself in what appeared to be a large boardroom. A long wooden table, its surface as shiny as glass, dominated the room. At least thirty elegant black chairs on wheels surrounded it.

  Seth entered, Chris on his heels.

  “Have a seat, Aidan,” Seth said.

  While Chris closed the door, Aidan drew out a chair and sat down.

  Seth took the chair across from him.

  Chris sat at the head of the table.

  Aidan had noticed over the years that—though Seth was always the most powerful man in the room—he never usurped another’s place in that person’s home or place of business. At David’s home, Seth always reserved the seat at the head of the table for David. And here Seth left the seat at the head of the table for Chris. Aidan had always liked that about him. The best leaders were always those who didn’t feel the need to flaunt their power.

  Wondering what this was all about, Aidan studied the boardroom. Very posh. Very elegant. “Very nice,” he commented.

  Chris said nothing.

  “Any particular reason we’re talking in here instead of your office?” Aidan asked.

  Seth answered. “This room is soundproof.”

  Aidan frowned. “It can’t be. I can hear what’s happening in the rest of the building.”

  Chris placed a laptop on the table. “There are mics in my office and speakers in here that let us hear what’s happening out there without anyone out there hearing what’s happening in here.”

  What exactly was about to happen that Chris and Seth didn’t want Melanie, Bastien, and the vampires in residence to hear? “So what’s this all about?”

  Chris leaned back in his chair. “Do you know Veronica Becker?”

  “I don’t know her,” Aidan said. “But I’ve met her.”

  “When?” Chris asked, his face stony.

  “The night she got a flat tire and called you to say vampires were attacking her.”

  “That was the first time you’d talked to her?”

  “Yes.”

  “What happened when you teleported there?”

  Aidan frowned. “You know what happened. You heard most of it yourself over the phone, and I told you the rest when I returned to the network.”

  Chris crossed his arms over his chest. “Tell me again.”

  Aidan glanced at Seth.

  Seth dipped his head in a nod.

  Perhaps Seth hadn’t heard it yet. “I teleported to the intersection of Saxapahaw-Bethlehem Church Road and Highway 54, then raced up Sax-Beth Road. When I found Veronica, she was standing beside her car, holding off two vampires with a tire iron and a can of pepper spray.”

  Seth’s lips twitched. “Smart woman.”

  Aidan nodded. “I killed the vampires, then heard more coming. I told Veronica to get in the car. Then I met the other vampires some distance away and slew them all.”

  “How many were there?” Seth asked.

  “Six, if I’m recalling correctly.” Aidan frowned. “Do you think the vampires are amassing another army?” Usually vampires either hunted alone or traveled in twos or threes.

  “It would appear so,” Seth said. “Ethan and Heather killed a dozen last night. Roland and Sarah killed nine the night before. So clearly something is building.”

  Great. Was that the something bad Dana had seen coming?

  Chris shifted, drawing his attention. “Did you kill all the vampires that night, Aidan?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re sure?” he pressed. “None could’ve lingered downwind and escaped your notice?”

  Aidan shook his head. “I don’t see how. If there had been more lingering downwind, I might not have smelled them, but I would’ve heard their heartbeats and the slightest movements they made.”

  Chris nodded as though that was what he had expected to hear. “What happened next?”

  Aidan shrugged. “I returned to Veronica and her son.”

  “Her son was with her?” Seth asked.

  “Yes. He was sleeping in his car seat and, fortunately, didn’t see a thing.”

  “Then what?” Chris asked.

  “Veronica was pretty shaken up, so I escorted her home, waited until she and her boy were safely inside, then left.”

  Silence fell.

  “What’s this about, Seth?” Aidan asked when no one else jumped in to break it.

  “Veronica Becker is missing,” he responded.

  Aidan straightened. “What?”

  “She’s missing,” Seth repeated.

  Alarm struck. “Since when?”

  “Since the day after you rescued her.”

  She’d been missing for two weeks? “I don’t understand. I was sure no more vampires lingered nearby, and I heard no signs of pursuit on the way to her home.” His stomach sank. “Do you think more vampires went looking for their comrades and found the battle scene? Do you think they tracked us to her home? I didn’t think vampires could do that. I would’ve thought they’d lose the scent as soon as we got in her car.”

  “If there was blood on one or more of the tires…,” Seth speculated.

  Aidan shook his head. “She lived a fair distance away. Blood on the tires wouldn’t have lasted that long. And the scent of blood on the car would’ve faded too quickly on the breeze for them to track. I’m not even sure I could’ve tracked the car to her home, and you know how old and powerful I am. There’s no way a vampire could’ve tracked her.”

  “And yet,” Chris said, “she’s missing.”

  “Is her boy missing, too?” Aidan asked, recalling the peacefully slumbering toddler.

  If vampires had taken both mother and child, Veronica might still live, but the boy would have already been slain. Aidan had seen enough child victims of vampires to know that with certainty.

  “Veronica’s son is safe,” Chris stated.

  That was a relief. “Where is he?”

  “At an undisclosed location.”

  Odd. Chris said it almost in challenge.

  Aidan looked to Seth. “He’s okay?”

  Seth nodded. “He’s well. He just misses his mother and doesn’t understand why she hasn’t come for him.”

  Poor little lad.

  Chris cleared his throat. “Tell us what happened the next time you saw Veronica.”

  Aidan frowned. “There was no next time. I only saw her and spoke with her the once.”

  Chris sent Seth a pointed look.

  Seth just stared at Aidan as though trying to read his thoughts.

  But Aidan had spent many years strengthening the barriers in his mind. There was no way Seth—or Zach, or any other elder immortal telepath—could topple those barriers and read Aidan’s mind without alerting him to their presence and causing him great pain.

  “What?” Aidan asked, then frowned. “Wait. You don’t believe I’ve done something to her, do you?”

  Chris arched a brow. “Have you?”

  Aidan resisted the urge to punch the human in the face. “Of course not. I’ve no reason to harm her.”

  “No, but everyone knows how desperate,” Chris said with sarcasm, “you are to find a gifted one who can love you. Maybe you thought if you hid her away somewhere to give her time to get to know you, you could talk her around.”

  “That’s bullshite and you know it,” Aidan growled, tired of the other man’s animosity. Chris could hold a grudge like no other. That crap grew tiresome after a while.

  “Do I?” Chris replied. “What happened the next time you saw her?”

  “I told you. There was no next time. I only spoke with her the once.”

  Chris turned to Seth. “I told you he’d lie.”

  Anger rose. “I�
�m not lying.” Aidan met Seth’s gaze. “You know I’d never hurt a woman. You know me better than that.”

  “Yes,” Seth confirmed, “I do. Which is why we appear to have a serious problem.”

  Aidan shook his head. “Seth, whatever Chris has told you I’ve done… I didn’t do it. I vow it.”

  Seth nodded to Chris’s laptop. “Show him.”

  Chris leaned forward and typed something on the keyboard, then swung the laptop around so Aidan and Seth could both see the video that filled the screen.

  It looked like footage from a security camera mounted on a pole outside a day care center.

  Strange. Aidan had thought day care centers were usually located in town where parents could conveniently drop their children off on their way to and from work. But this place looked like it was out in the country with no other structures around it.

  Playground equipment poked around one corner, indicating an outdoor play area behind the large house-like structure. The front lawn consisted mostly of a gravel drive and parking spaces.

  “What is this?” Aidan asked as he studied the day care center.

  “You don’t recognize it?” Seth asked.

  “No.”

  A car pulled into one of the spaces.

  “That looks like Veronica’s car,” he mentioned and glanced at the date and time on the bottom right corner of the screen.

  The morning after Aidan had seen her.

  The driver’s door opened. Veronica Becker stepped out. Pulling a purse onto her shoulder, she closed the door and smiled through the dusty car window before opening the back door and leaning in.

  A minute later, she helped her boy out and handed him a colorful drink bottle.

  The little boy stood beside her and chattered while she locked the door and closed it.

  Veronica laughed and nodded. Taking her son’s hand, she led him into the day care.

  When Aidan looked away from the screen, he found Chris and Seth studying him closely. “I don’t understand. Why are you showing me this?”

  Seth nodded to the laptop. “Keep watching.”

  He did.

  After a few minutes, Veronica emerged and strode toward her car, keys in hand, her pretty face wreathed in a smile.

  She opened the driver’s door and tossed her purse inside.

  A tall, dark figure abruptly appeared behind her, his back to the camera.

  Aidan rested his arm on the table and leaned in closer.

  Judging by his clothes, the man was an Immortal Guardian. Black pants. Black boots. Long black coat. Short black hair.

  But Aidan wasn’t sure which one.

  He had once heard Sarah tell her husband Roland that male Immortal Guardians looked so much alike they could pass for brothers, and he had to agree. All but the newest inductees had black hair, brown eyes, and were of a similar height and build.

  Veronica spun around, a look of alarm on her face. Then she smiled up at the newcomer and pressed a hand to her chest. Oh. Hi. You scared me.

  Even if Aidan weren’t a passable lip reader, he could’ve guessed what she said.

  The man took a step backward.

  Nodding, Veronica leaned against the car. She said something else, but Aidan couldn’t read it because of the camera angle.

  The man reached out and rested a hand on the open driver’s door, turning to the side to better face her.

  Shock tore through Aidan. “What the hell?” he whispered.

  The man talking to Veronica was… him.

  As he watched, uncomprehending, Veronica tilted her head back and smiled up at a man who could easily pass for Aidan’s twin.

  Reaching out, Aidan gripped the laptop and slid it toward him. “What the hell is this?”

  Over the dozens of questions that flooded his brain, Aidan heard Chris say, “Security footage recorded outside one of the network’s day care centers.”

  It didn’t surprise Aidan that the network provided day care for its employees. No doubt the service was free. But who the hell was that talking to Veronica? Because in profile, the man really did look like Aidan.

  “Can you enlarge this? Or make it zoom in or whatever you call it?” Aidan murmured, wanting to get a closer look at the man’s face.

  Chris rose and moved to stand beside Aidan. Leaning down, he tapped several keys on the keyboard.

  The screen changed, blurring for a moment before it provided an enlarged view of the two conversing by the car.

  The man looked identical to Aidan.

  “That’s not possible,” he murmured.

  Veronica nodded and ducked into her car, settling herself behind the wheel.

  The Aidan look-alike closed her door for her, then walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, and got in. A moment later, the brake lights came on. The car backed out of the parking space and drove out of view.

  The image froze.

  Aidan looked at Seth. “What the hell is this?” he repeated.

  Chris spoke as he reclaimed his seat at the head of the table. “This is the last time anyone saw Veronica Becker. She never made it to work that day and never returned to the day care to pick up her son. You were the last one to see her.”

  Aidan shook his head and pointed at the laptop. “That isn’t me.”

  “If the footage were blurry or pixilated and difficult to see,” Chris countered, “I’d give you the benefit of the doubt. But we have high-def video that clearly shows you getting into the car with her and driving away.”

  “Play it again,” Aidan demanded.

  Chris did so. But Aidan could find nothing in the man’s appearance to suggest it wasn’t him.

  He looked to Seth. “I don’t understand. Seth, that’s not me. I don’t even know where that place is.”

  Seth turned to Chris. “I believe him. I don’t think he has any memory of that place.”

  What? “I have no memory of that place because I was never there.” Aidan swung on Chris. “Did you do this? Did you have one of your techno geeks fudge the footage because you’re still pissed at me for breaking and entering two years ago?”

  Chris’s jaw clenched. “You know I didn’t. You were there. The footage is clear.”

  “Fuck the footage! I’m telling you that’s not me!”

  “Then let Seth read your mind and confirm it.”

  And have Seth find the visions Dana had had of the two of them engaged in furious battle and of Roland doing his damnedest to kill Aidan, too? Hell no. That would just make him look even guiltier.

  “Lower your barriers,” Seth requested softly.

  Aidan refused with a shake of his head. “You’ve known me for nearly three thousand years, Seth. My word should be enough.”

  Chris snorted. “If you weren’t guilty, you wouldn’t mind him reading your thoughts.”

  “Oh really?” Aidan delved into Chris’s mind. “You wouldn’t have a problem with Seth reading your thoughts?”

  “Not if it would prove my innocence.”

  “So you’re saying it wouldn’t bother you in the least that Seth would see other things up there as well? Personal things you’d rather keep private? Things you never tell anyone about? Like the vivid sexual fantasies you weave around your assistant Kate whenever you have a spare moment to think?”

  Fury flooded Reordon’s face. “You stay the fuck out my head, Celt! That’s none of your damned business!”

  “And my private thoughts are none of Seth’s, but he’ll see them all if I lower my barriers and let him in.”

  “These are extenuating circumstances! You don’t think that warrants a look?”

  “No, I don’t! Not when I’ve already told you I was never there!”

  Seth held up a hand. “Gentlemen,” he interjected softly.

  Aidan didn’t realize until then that he had risen and now stood nose to nose with Chris, exchanging shouts, ready to blacken the bastard’s eyes.

  Both men scowled and retook their seats.

  Aidan studie
d the laptop screen again, then felt a surge of triumph. “You know damned well that wasn’t me,” he told Chris. “Look at the date and time on the video. I couldn’t possibly have been there because I called you half an hour before that video was recorded and told you I was teleporting Cliff away.” He turned to Seth. “Cliff was struggling. The voices in his head were so loud that morning that they woke me from a sound sleep. I knew Cliff was contemplating ending it, so I called Chris and told him I was going to teleport Cliff away for a distraction.”

  Seth frowned. “The voices were that loud?”

  “Yes. Chris turned off the alarm here at the network so we could teleport out, and I took Cliff to a sunny vale in Scotland.”

  “What?” both men blurted.

  Aidan waved off their alarm. “I kept my hand on his shoulder, healing him in real time, so he wasn’t harmed. I’d hoped being able to stand in sunlight again would quiet the voices and give him a reprieve.”

  “Did it?” Seth asked.

  “Yes. So I kept him there for an hour.”

  “That must have hurt like hell,” Seth murmured.

  “It did. But it was worth it. Cliff calmed. Then I called Chris to let him know we were on our way back. Chris turned off the alarm. And we returned.” He looked at Chris. “So I couldn’t have been at the day care. I was with Cliff.”

  Chris scowled. “How do we know you didn’t drop Cliff off somewhere, abduct Veronica, then return to him?”

  “Ask Cliff. He’ll confirm I was with him the whole time.”

  Chris shook his head. “You could’ve mind-warped Cliff the way you did my guards here at the network, made him think you were with him the whole time, then left him in the shade somewhere and sought Veronica out.”

  Aidan ground his teeth and turned to Seth. “You can read Cliff’s mind and confirm I’m not lying.”

  Seth sighed. “Actually, that’s not precisely true.”

  Aidan frowned. “What do you mean? Cliff’s thoughts will confirm I was with him the whole time. You’d see the telltale signs if I had used mind control instead.”

  Chris’s face darkened with anger. “Because mind control causes brain damage.”

  “Yes, damn it,” Aidan ground out. “But when I used mind control on the guards here at the network, I only erased a minute or two from their memories. The damage done was so minute that it didn’t scar them. But if I had done what you claim I did, I would’ve had to erase half an hour or more from Cliff’s memory, which would’ve caused more damage. Damage that Seth wouldn’t miss if he read Cliff’s mind. So Seth can confirm I wasn’t at that day care center.”