“Okay,” Chris told Ethan, “let’s try this again.”
Ethan turned around.
Chris nodded to them. “Which one is the real Aidan?”
Ethan pointed at Aidan. “Him. Still the second from the left.”
The other three swore.
Chris looked astounded. “He was right?”
Aidan grinned. “Yes.”
“That’s amazing,” Richart mumbled. “I can discern no difference between them.”
Chris turned to Ethan. “What gave it away?”
One of the imitators held up a hand. “Don’t answer that,” Seth said in his usual voice. “If he tells you, Gershom will be able to read it in your thoughts.”
“Oh.” Chris grimaced. “Right. Yeah, don’t tell me.”
Ethan smiled. “Want to try again?”
Seth-Aidan shook his head. “Now we need to see if Dana can tell us apart.”
Surprised, Aidan turned to him. “Why?” Then he frowned. Is that how I look when I’m exasperated?
“So we’ll know,” Seth explained, “whether or not she’ll be able to recognize that he isn’t you if Gershom comes to her in your form as we believe he did with Veronica and the others.”
“Oh.” Damn, that was disconcerting. Aidan would like to think Dana would be able to tell the difference, but even Chris and Richart couldn’t tell them apart, and he’d known them a lot longer than he had Dana.
Aidan zipped over to the door when Chris opened it. “Dana,” he said, leaning out.
Relief blanketed her features when she saw he was all right. “Yes?”
He smiled to let her know all was well. “Would you join us, please?”
“Sure.”
Heather rose. “Can I come, too?”
Chris nudged Aidan back inside and motioned for him to hurry and rejoin the look-alikes. “Sure.”
Aidan dashed back to the others and stilled before the women entered.
Dana didn’t know what to expect when she passed through the doorway but ended up in a very large, swanky boardroom.
Wow. These Immortal Guardians and their network had money. A lot of it, by the looks of things.
Richart smiled at her and nodded toward the other end of the room.
Dana swiveled around, started to smile, then froze. “Whoa!” Her eyes widened. Her mouth fell open.
Four Aidans stood on the opposite side of the room.
Not four men who resembled Aidan, but four Aidans.
Slowly, she walked around the long table and stared at them.
The moment stretched.
They sent her encouraging smiles.
“Okay,” she announced, “I’m not gonna lie. This is freaking me out a little.”
Richart laughed.
Chris moved to stand beside her. “Can you tell which one is the real Aidan?”
She moved to stand in front of the Aidan on the far left.
He had the right height. The right build. Same hair. Same handsome-as-hell face.
When she had learned someone was posing as Aidan, she had thought—if no other way—she would see something in his eyes that would tip her off and help her discern whether it was her Aidan or a faker, but…
She moved on to the second one. Then the third. And the last.
She just wasn’t seeing anything. “Can I talk to them?” she asked Chris.
“Of course,” the Aidan before her responded. “We want you to be certain.”
The third Aidan repeated the response. Then the second. And the first.
They even sounded like him.
So how else could she tell the difference?
An idea occurred. One she didn’t particularly like.
“Aidan,” she murmured, “don’t be mad, okay?”
All four chorused, “Okay.”
Drawing in a deep breath, she rose onto her toes, reached up, cupped the back of the fourth Aidan’s head, and drew him down for a kiss.
His lips were soft like Aidan’s. After a moment’s hesitation, those soft lips parted. And like Aidan, he slid one arm around her waist and pulled her up against him as he deepened the contact.
Holy hell, he could kiss, teasing her as skillfully as Aidan did, his mouth moving on hers in a way that should have made her heart pound, but—
She jerked away and took a step back. “You’re not Aidan.”
“No,” the other Aidans all growled in unison, “he isn’t.”
Then their eyes flashed bright.
Ethan gaped. “Holy crap. Dana just kissed Seth.”
Heather gasped as her mouth fell open. “That’s Seth?”
The eyes of three of the Aidans faded to a dark brown color.
The real Aidan’s eyes remained bright as he glowered. “Yes. And Seth kissed her back.”
The Aidan on the right shifted into Seth’s taller form and held up both hands. “I was trying to convince her I was you,” he said, his voice low and calming. “If I hadn’t, we wouldn’t know that she does have a way of identifying which one is you.”
“By kissing him?” Aidan growled.
Dana scowled and propped her hands on her hips. “Okay. If you do this again, I am not going to kiss all of you. Especially since I now know I have another means of figuring out who is who.”
Seth turned to her with interest. “What other means?”
Chris opened his mouth.
Dana held up a hand to silence him and arched a brow at Seth in challenge. “Care to test me again?”
He nodded. “Turn your back, please.”
Dana gave them her back.
The scuffling of shoes filled the air, followed by silence.
Chris nodded to Dana. “Okay, you can turn around.”
Dana swiveled around and faced them. Pursing her lips, she tilted her head to one side, then the other.
None of the men’s eyes glowed. And the four of them really did look identical.
Walking up to the Aidan on the far right, she studied him closely. “You suck at dating,” she announced, deadpan.
He grinned, his brown eyes sparkling with amusement. “Yes, I do.”
She moved on to the next one. “You suck at dating.”
Aidan Number Two grinned, his brown eyes sparkling with amusement. “Yes, I do.”
She could identify no difference between them.
It was very unsettling.
Dana said the same to the next Aidan and the last, both of whom imitated the other Aidans’ responses.
She moved closer to the last and rested her hand on his shoulder. Then, without warning, she rammed her knee up into his groin.
Groaning, the man’s eyes flashed golden as he slammed his knees together and folded over.
Stepping back, she smiled. “One down. Three to go.”
The Aidan beside him burst into guffaws as he shifted into Zach’s form.
The Aidan beside him shifted into Seth.
The Aidan on the end—her Aidan—remained unchanged as he laughed in delight.
Dismay filled Dana as she turned to the Aidan who groaned as he shifted into the form of a tall man with no shirt and… wings? “Oh! I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She looked at Seth with a wince. “I hate to admit this, but I was kind of hoping that was you.”
Far from being offended, Seth laughed. “Had it been me, I would’ve deserved it. I hope you will forgive me for kissing you.”
Relieved, she sent him a wry smile. “Since it tipped me off to your eyes, you’re forgiven.”
Seth brows flew up. “My eyes?”
She nodded. “When I kissed you, Aidan’s eyes flared bright amber. Yours”—she looked at Zach and the recovering man—“all glowed golden.”
Frowning, Seth looked at Ethan and the others.
They nodded.
“Hmm.” The Immortal Guardians’ leader closed his eyes.
Still grinning, Aidan crossed to Dana and wrapped an arm around her waist.
Rising onto her toes, she kissed him. Thoroughly. Th
en lowered her heels to the floor and gave him a grin. “Just making sure you’re you.”
He laughed.
Seth opened his eyes. “What about now?”
Aidan shook his head. “Still golden.”
All three of the elder immortals then tried to alter the color their eyes glowed. Multiple times. None succeeded.
“That’s interesting to know,” Seth concluded. “Even when we aren’t gripped by strong emotion, we can’t control what color our eyes glow. And Gershom’s eyes glow golden like ours.”
Dana winked up at Aidan. “So all I have to do to make sure you’re you is either kiss the stuffing out of you or piss you off.”
Smiling, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Piss me off. If it’s me, you can always make it up to me later.”
She laughed.
“Well,” Seth said. “I should go see the vampires you captured last night.”
Dread pooled in Dana’s stomach. He hadn’t seen the vampires yet?
Seth turned to the unfamiliar man with wings. “Jared, you should leave before your absence is noted.”
Nodding, Jared vanished without another word.
Seth drew out a pocket watch, flipped it open, and glanced at the time. “The head of the West Coast division of the network wants to see me. It shouldn’t take too long, then I’ll pop over to speak with the vampires and read their minds.” Tucking the watch away again, he looked to Chris. “They’re in the missile silo you refurbished?”
“Yeah,” Chris confirmed. “The guards there are expecting you.”
“Good.”
“Seth?” Aidan said.
“Yes?”
“I need to take Cliff into the sunlight for an hour. I didn’t do it yesterday and don’t want to miss another.”
Seth hesitated. “Is it that bad?”
Aidan nodded. “Have you not read his thoughts?”
“Not in a while.” A moment passed while Seth tilted his head as though listening. His brow furrowed. “All right. But take Ethan, Heather, and Dana with you and make sure Ethan has ample shade.”
“I will.”
Seth vanished.
Zach dipped his chin in an abrupt nod, then vanished, too.
Richart yawned. “Do you want me to help you teleport Ethan and Heather?”
Aidan smiled. “No. I’ve got it. Go home and get some rest.”
The French immortal nodded. “Call me if you need me.” In the next instant, he disappeared.
“Who is Cliff?” Dana asked. She’d learned so many new names in the last few days that she couldn’t remember.
“My friend who is ill,” Aidan told her.
Oh. Right. The one with the brain injury or brain-related illness.
“He’s a vampire, Dana,” Aidan admitted.
She stared at him. “I thought vampires were the bad guys.” According to her gift, the man Aidan worried over was a friend, not an enemy.
“They usually are. But Cliff surrendered to us in battle a few years ago, hoping we’d be able to help him hold off the insanity—or cure it altogether. He’s been living here at the network ever since.”
She didn’t ask if they’d succeeded in helping Cliff. The concern she had felt when she touched Aidan during his second reading told her they had not and that his condition was worsening.
“He’s become a strong ally to us. And a good friend to me. He’s an honorable man. He’s just…”
“Infected with a virus that is slowly robbing him of his sanity?” she finished for him.
“Yes.”
That was messed up.
“We discovered that the sun silences the voices in his head. So I’ve been taking him into sunlight every day and healing him in real time to keep it from harming him.”
Dana’s admiration for Aidan soared. “Is he dangerous?”
“Not to you. I vow it.”
And she trusted Aidan implicitly. “Okay.”
Aidan dipped his head and gave her a brief kiss, then drew her into his arms for a hug. “Thank you.”
She patted his back. “Let’s go help your friend.”
Chapter Sixteen
Chris opened the boardroom door and led them into his office. “I’ll turn the alarm off for ten minutes to give you time to teleport out. Call me when you’re ready to bring him back and I’ll turn it off again and alert the guards.”
Aidan nodded as he took Dana’s hand and led her out of Chris’s office. Ethan and Heather followed. An attractive brunette sat at a large desk in an outer office. Dana smiled at her.
The woman smiled back and gave them a nod as she rose, picked up a stack of folders, and headed into Chris’s office.
Dana accompanied Aidan down one hallway then another until they came to a pair of elevators. Men garbed in black cargo pants, black boots, and black shirts stood sentry on either side of the elevator doors, clutching automatic weapons.
Dana thought they stood a little straighter when they spied the immortals approaching them.
“Sirs,” one of them said with a respectful nod to both men. “Ma’ams,” he said to Heather and Dana with equal respect.
She smiled.
“Sublevel 5?” he asked.
“Yes,” Aidan confirmed.
Turning to the elevators, the guard pressed a button. The doors swished open.
Aidan drew Dana inside. Once Ethan and Heather joined them, the guard stepped inside, too.
The doors swished closed.
As Dana watched curiously, the guard removed a plastic card from his pocket and swiped it in what looked like one of those high-tech security gadgets she’d seen in movies.
He punched in a code, then pressed a button that said S5. A familiar weightlessness struck for a second as the elevator began to descend. The guard took up a position in front of the doors.
Dana eyed his weapon and the pockets that bulged with extra ammo. Were the guards at the network there to keep their enemies out or to keep the vampires in?
She glanced up at Aidan. “How many vampires live here?”
Aidan pursed his lips. “Seven, I think. Or is it eight now, Paul?”
“It’s seven, sir,” the guard replied.
Seven vampires with superstrength and speed who were afflicted with varying stages of insanity?
Yeah. The guards must be there to keep the vampires in.
The elevator eased to a halt. A bell dinged seconds before the doors swished open.
More guards—a lot more—clustered around a desk in front of the elevator and stood sentry before a door to a stairwell. Several more manned doors down a long white hallway.
One of the guards strode forward. “Sir.”
“Todd,” Aidan greeted him. “Is Cliff in his apartment?”
“No, sir. He’s in the lab. The last I checked, he was running on one of the treadmills.”
Aidan’s look turned grim. “We’ll be teleporting out with him shortly.”
“Yes, sir. Mr. Reordon already informed us over the walkie.”
Dana squeezed Aidan’s hand as he led her down the hallway. What is it?
Vampires usually sleep all day, he told her telepathically. If Cliff is on the treadmill, it means the voices are so loud he can’t rest and needs something physically strenuous to do to help quash his desire to commit violence.
That wasn’t good.
Dana found her stomach fluttering a little with nerves as she followed Aidan inside the lab.
The huge room seemed to be divided into segments. A lot of medical instruments and gurneys occupied one area. Four desks, each boasting a computer, formed a square in another. A large shelving unit full of patient folders like those she saw in her doctor’s office took up one wall while doorways provided glimpses of smaller rooms that boasted MRI machines, X-ray machines, and more. One room seemed only to house huge refrigerators that contained she didn’t want to know what. Blood? Tissue samples?
Not snack foods, she would guess.
Treadmills, exercise b
ikes, and weight benches sporting more weights than she thought five Mr. Universes could lift took up one end of the room.
The lab was currently empty save one occupant. An African-American man ran on one of the treadmills, his legs and feet moving so swiftly that they were only a blur while his upper body remained mostly stationary.
It was a weird effect.
Upon seeing them, he stopped running.
Odd. He wasn’t even sweating.
Dana studied him as he stepped off the treadmill.
Sadness filled her. He looked so young, like a junior or senior in college. His skin was smooth milk chocolate. Dark dreadlocks fell past his shoulders, tidy despite his run.
His handsome face did not lighten with welcome as he approached them. A muscle flexed in his strong jaw as though he was grinding his teeth. His eyes glowed bright amber as they met and clung to Aidan’s.
He appeared to be exactly what he was: a man perched upon a precipice, trying like hell not to tumble over the edge.
Aidan tightened his grip on Dana’s hand. Huddle up, he instructed mentally. We need to go now.
Ethan and Heather moved forward and placed their hands on Aidan’s shoulders.
As soon as Cliff came within reach, Aidan gripped his arm and teleported them all away.
Blinding sunlight bathed them.
Ethan and Heather darted away.
Dana blinked against the sudden brightness and threw up a hand to shade her eyes as she glanced around.
She, Aidan, and Cliff stood on a neatly mown lawn about the size of a football field. Tall evergreen trees rose around its edges, a playground for the birds she could hear but couldn’t see.
Aidan released her hand. “Ethan, are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Ethan responded.
Dana swiveled around and spotted Ethan and Heather standing on the shaded back porch of a one-story house that was roughly thirty yards away. She thought Ethan’s skin might be a little pink, but the extra color swiftly faded.
The house that sheltered them was pretty, painted a pale gray with white trim. The porch stretched the entire width of the home and boasted two comfy, cushioned chairs and a swing upon which the immortal couple soon settled.
She knew this place. Knew that swing. She and Aidan had curled up on it and enjoyed the evening breeze once after he had cooked dinner for her. This was Aidan’s home.
Blade of Darkness Page 28