He went to work on his other boot. “You heard it right.”
Shock and dismay warred within her. “You’re three thousand years old?”
He winced, his expression almost apologetic. “Almost.”
A heavy silence enveloped them as he removed the second boot and set it beside the first.
“Dana?” He seemed to be waiting for a comment, but…
“I don’t know how to respond to that.”
Leaning forward, he braced his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands between them. “If it helps, I look and feel a lot younger than that. Far younger since I met you and you breathed light and life back into my world.”
“You’re three thousand years old,” she whispered, not really hearing him. He was three thousand years old. And she was thirty. “Why are you even with me?” she blurted, insecurity rising.
His features filled with dread. “What?”
“Why are you even with me?” she repeated. “I mean, all the things you must have learned and the wisdom you must have accrued in three thousand years… I just don’t know what the hell about me would even appeal to you. I must seem so young and naïve and-and-and lacking in knowledge and experience. I must seem like an adolescent to you.”
Her words seemed to take him aback. “What? No. Not at all.”
“Oh come on, Aidan,” she retorted, unable to believe him.
“Clearly I haven’t acquired as much wisdom as you think I have, because the reason I avoided telling you my age is I thought it would repel you or—how would Sheldon put it—creep you out.” He frowned. “Wait. Is that a saying? It sounds odd.”
“It’s a saying,” she confirmed, her dismay lightening a little with amusement.
“How long have you lived in North Carolina?” he asked.
She frowned at the change in subject. “Twelve years.”
“Where did you live before that?”
“Oklahoma.”
“In all my time on earth, I’ve never been to Oklahoma,” he told her. “Does my lack of knowledge regarding that state make you think less of me?”
“No, but that isn’t the same thing.”
“If the two of us went to Oklahoma, would showing me around seem like a chore to you?”
“Of course not. But that isn’t—”
“It is the same thing,” he told her. “And the fact that you think the difference in our ages should bother me more than it does you is a clear indication that I haven’t learned as much as you think I have. Because I thought the opposite would be true.”
She bit her lip. “Our age difference really doesn’t bother you?”
He smiled. “The only thing that ever bothered me about it was the fear that you might declare me a decrepit old geezer when you found out.”
She laughed. “That is one thing you will never be, Aidan.”
He grinned.
Three thousand years. Sorrow filled her as she recalled something she’d learned the first time she had read his palm. “You’ve lived almost three thousand years and you’ve never married?”
He shrugged. “I never found a woman I felt comfortable sharing my differences with. Never found anyone I loved enough to risk it. Not until I met you.”
Her heart ached for him. “So you’ve been alone all this time?”
“I’ve had Seconds and my immortal brethren.”
It wasn’t enough.
Closing the distance between them, she brushed his hands aside so she could stand between his thighs, wrap her arms around him, and hold him close. “I’m so glad my name was on that list you stole.”
Releasing a contented sigh, he slid his arms around her and buried his face in the crook of her neck. “I am, too.”
Branches snapped and fallen leaves crackled beneath David’s big boots as he strode through dense forest.
The usual night sounds serenaded him. Insects buzzed. Frogs croaked and twanged, sounding alternately like growling belches and plucked guitar strings. Wings flapped far above him as an owl rode the breeze, seeking prey to fill its belly. And somewhere off to his left, a large opossum foraged through the brush.
The trees thinned ahead of David.
Stepping out of the forest, he crossed a paved road that no longer saw traffic. Two years of inactivity and no care had evoked quite a change in it. Weeds grew out of cracks in the pavement. Others thrived along the road’s edge, obscuring the border as they crept toward the road’s center, attempting to rendezvous with the weeds on the other side.
The twisted, rusted remains of a gate folded outward in a permanent bow, courtesy of the grenades that had blown it open.
David passed between the two sides, noting the No Trespassing sign each now boasted.
The signs themselves might not discourage curious ne’er-do-wells from exploring the former mercenary compound, but the network guards who monitored the place via hidden surveillance cameras would.
He walked past the remains of buildings that bore scorch marks and jagged holes between the vines that slithered up their walls. Broken windows watched like vacant eyes that revealed interiors damaged by the elements.
In the distance, a lone, dark figure stood in the center of a slab of blackened, weed-strewn asphalt that marked the place where an armory had once stood.
David had known he would find Seth there. The Immortal Guardians’ leader often came to this place of loss when he was troubled. And after the day he’d had, Seth no doubt needed a moment to gather his thoughts.
Head bowed, Seth said nothing when David joined him.
Minutes passed.
“Anything?” David asked softly, referring not to Seth’s hunt for Gershom but to what Seth sought every time he came here.
Seth shook his head. “Nothing.”
David had known it would be thus. The loss of Yuri and Stanislav had hit Seth hard.
It had hit them all hard.
But for Seth, the uncertainty—the not knowing absolutely what had happened to Stanislav, not seeing him fall, never encountering his spirit—had made the loss all the worse because Seth couldn’t quite abandon hope that Stanislav had somehow survived.
“How long to you intend to search for him?” David asked, no criticism in the question.
Seth turned his gaze to the decimated compound around them. “Until I know for certain he is gone.”
David offered no objection. “Gershom eluded you and Zach again.”
“Yes.”
Gershom was proving to be a far more formidable foe than they had anticipated, which made him wonder just how long the Other had been plotting and planning and building his strength.
Far longer than his brethren realized, it would seem.
“The Others tried to aid us in our pursuit,” Seth said.
David had hoped they would. Even the Others couldn’t ignore the chaos Gershom was breeding and wanted him brought to heel as much as the Immortal Guardians did.
“They followed the same pattern they did before,” Seth went on, “scattering themselves around the globe and teleporting from place to place, hoping they would land in Gershom’s general vicinity and be able to hold him until Zach and I could get there. But Gershom was expecting as much and used it against us.”
“How so?”
“He teleported to the Others’ home.”
Surprise gripped David. And very little surprised him after such a lengthy life. “He did? Were any of the Others still there?”
“One, who was caught off guard and easily defeated.”
“Defeated, but not killed?”
“Yes.”
At least Gershom hadn’t lost all his sanity.
“Gershom was already gone when Zach and I tracked him there. But there were so many energy trails leading from the place as a result of the Others teleporting out to try to help us that we couldn’t discern which one was his and lost him despite trying all damned day and most of tonight to locate him.”
“That was ingenious.”
�
��And unexpected. The Others have vowed they won’t make the same mistake again.”
“At least there is that.” But David knew such provided Seth with little solace.
“The bastard posed as me, David.”
“I know.”
“And he did it so well that even Ethan didn’t know it wasn’t me until Gershom made the mistake of harming Cliff.”
David nodded, finding the news beyond troubling. “He must have been studying you for years. Every movement. Every mannerism. Every inflection in your voice.”
“As Étienne would say, that shit is creepy.”
David laughed. “Very much so.”
“I just wish I understood why he hates me so much,” Seth proclaimed with a sort of helpless bafflement.
“Perhaps Jared was right. Perhaps Gershom simply resents the fact that, while the Others have been merely observing life for thousands of years, you’ve been living it.”
“Well, if that’s the case, I wish to hell he had just defected like me and Zach.”
David shrugged. “Or perhaps he’s insane.”
“I’m not sure which would be worse.”
Frogs continued to croak and twang. Crickets chirped. Insects hummed.
“You need to talk to Aidan,” David offered softly.
“I know. I want him to get some rest first. He isn’t hunting tonight, is he?”
“No. He and Dana are both sleeping. And I ordered all the other immortals in the area to stand down and take the night off.”
“Good. You called a meeting?”
“Sunset.”
Seth nodded. “I’ll be sure to talk to Aidan before then.”
David locked his hands behind his back as the sky began to brighten with approaching dawn. “The day was a long one. The night, too.”
Seth sent him a wry smile, at last meeting his gaze. “Yes, it was.”
“According to Darnell, the internet is all abuzz.”
Seth sighed. “Full of exclamations of dismay upon discovering that Gershom may be as powerful as I am? Whispered fears that he may triumph?”
David waved a hand in dismissal. “No. They’re all confident you will defeat him.”
Seth’s face lit with surprise. “Really?”
“Of course.”
“Then what’s all the chatter about?”
Amusement stole away some of David’s concern. “Every Immortal Guardian on the planet is sharing the jaw-dropping news that Aidan’s woman kissed their illustrious leader.”
His friend’s face acquired a comical, pained look. “Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“Even the men?”
“Even the men.”
Seth shook his head. “With everything that’s happened in the past few days, you’d think that wouldn’t have even made the headlines.”
David laughed. “Of course it made the headlines. You’re not just their leader, their commanding officer. You’re a father figure to them. And they just found out that their daddy kissed a woman.”
Seth groaned. “No wonder my phone has gone silent. I thought they were all just dismayed over my having failed to capture Gershom again.”
David grinned. “Your phone hasn’t gone silent. I asked Chris to divert your calls to Zach after he returned. If anyone can quash their curiosity and get them to leave you alone, he can. Particularly since he’s cranky over Gershom slipping away.”
Seth’s lips curled up in a wry smile. “I’m sure he can.”
“And will enjoy doing so far too much,” David guessed. “But at least it will give you some quiet time.”
“Thank you.”
“Dana may not fare so well though,” David said. “I’m sure the female immortals and Seconds will pepper her with questions at the earliest opportunity.”
Again Seth groaned. “Poor woman. You see now why I don’t date.”
David knew well why Seth didn’t date. And it had nothing to do with Immortal Guardian family gossip.
The owl David had heard earlier abruptly dove down and plucked a field mouse from the weeds near the abandoned airplane hangar.
David cast Seth a sidelong glance. “So?”
He didn’t have to say more for Seth to know what he wondered.
Seth looked up at the sky. “Thousands of years, and I still can’t kiss another woman without feeling as though I’m betraying her.”
That came as no surprise. David knew Seth still mourned the death of his wife and the deaths of their children.
“You know she wouldn’t have wanted this,” he said gently.
That sparked another wry smile. “I’m not so sure. She was a jealous woman.”
David chuckled. “And you weren’t a jealous husband?”
Seth’s smile widened.
David shook his head. “She loved you, Seth. She wouldn’t have wanted you to be alone all this time.”
Seth shrugged. “I’m not alone.”
David opted to let that pass, recognizing it as the evasion it was. In the thousands of years since his wife had been slain, Seth had taken no wives, had no girlfriends, no one-night stands, no intimacy of any kind with a woman.
Having experienced such a loss himself, David couldn’t really blame him.
“So you felt nothing then,” he asked Seth curiously, “when Dana kissed you?”
Seth snorted. “I felt guilty as hell for kissing Aidan’s woman right in front of him, I can tell you that.”
David laughed. “After what she did to Jared, I think you’d best mind your manners around her in the future.”
Seth laughed. “She’s a fighter. Zach is still chuckling over that.”
“I’m sure he is.”
A breeze set the weeds and grasses around them into motion. The trees beyond the perimeter fence swayed, their leaves brushing together and creating soothing swishing sounds.
“When will it be time to move on, Seth?”
Seth returned his stare to the blackened asphalt beneath his boots.
“How many more years of mourning will be enough?” And how long would the thought of being with another woman fill the Immortal Guardians’ leader with guilt?
Seth responded with a slow shake of his head. “I don’t know.”
It was the same answer he always gave when David broached the subject.
“You were wed once, too,” Seth murmured. “How long did it take you to get past losing your wife?”
Pain pierced David. “I’ll let you know when that day comes.” As in so many ways, he and Seth were the same in this. “I still think of her every day.”
“As do I.”
David tucked his hands in his pockets and sighed. “Well, I guess for a while longer then we shall remain what Chris has deemed us.”
Seth’s face lightened with a smile. “A couple of old farts who would rather read a good book than learn how to troll the internet for women?”
David laughed. “Just so.”
Skillet’s “Monster” blared from Seth’s pocket.
David felt a stab of concern as he watched him retrieve his phone. The only calls that should be coming through now were those that could not be ignored and couldn’t be handled by Zach.
“Yes?” Seth answered.
“Seth, it’s Alena Moreno.” Head of the West Coast division of the network. “I need to see you again. I have some new information, and it’s disturbing.”
Seth met David’s gaze. “I shall be there shortly.”
He ended the call and returned his phone to his pocket. “Monster” again disturbed the quiet.
His brow furrowing, Seth answered the call. “Yes?”
“Seth. Scott Henderson.” Head of the Midwest division of the network. “I need to see you. The sooner the better.”
This couldn’t be good.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Seth told him and slid his phone back into his pocket. “Good thing you called a meeting.”
David nodded. “Looks like we’ll have more to discuss tha
n I’d thought.”
Chapter Eighteen
Aidan.
Aidan’s eyes flew open.
Dana slept peacefully, curled up against his side with her head resting on his shoulder. She had slung one arm across his chest and draped a knee across his groin, effectively locking him in place.
A very happy place.
He loved having Dana’s small, warm body snuggled up to him. It made him never want to get out of bed.
But something had awoken him.
He examined the dim bedroom. He had turned the light on in the bathroom prior to retiring and had left the door cracked so Dana would be able to find her way around if she awoke before him. Even had he not, his eyes would’ve had no difficulty piercing the darkness.
The bedroom was empty save for themselves. His and Dana’s clothes still decorated the floor where they had dropped them wearily on their way to the shower.
Aidan.
His gaze slid to the bedroom door.
Careful not to wake her, he slowly eased out from beneath Dana and slipped from the bed.
Murmuring something in her sleep, she rolled onto her other side.
Aidan drew the covers up to her chin, then dressed at preternatural speed. Tossing their dirty clothing in the bathroom, he headed for the door.
Light bathed him as he opened it, only partially blocked by the figures in the hallway.
Seth stared down at him, Ami at his side.
Aidan eyed them both, dread and frustration filling him because he could guess why Ami was there. “You didn’t catch Gershom.”
“No,” Seth confirmed, then nodded to Ami. “I thought you might be more at ease if Ami confirmed that I’m me.”
Ami offered Aidan a smile. “He’s Seth.”
“Thank you,” Aidan said, failing to muster up a smile in return. That bastard Gershom was still on the loose, which meant this wasn’t over. Dana was still in danger. They were all still in danger.
Seth’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes as Ami touched his arm, then left them.
Aidan stepped back, opening the door wider in silent invitation. “I don’t want to leave Dana alone.”
Nodding, Seth entered.
Aidan closed the door and faced his leader. His friend.
“You thought he was me,” Seth said.
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