“Yes, sir.”
“Put the tech team on it and expunge every record of this.”
“Yes, sir.”
Chris dialed another number.
“Alena Moreno,” the head of the West Coast division answered.
“It’s Reordon. We have a situation,” he announced without preamble.
“Tell me what you need.”
Minutes passed as Chris made his calls, Seth and Jared buried memories, and Zach moved from body to body, healing the wounded.
Too many minutes.
And through it all, Seth’s anger simmered.
Damn Gershom for this.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The group that gathered around David’s table two nights later was a somber one.
No meeting had been called. Everyone had just felt the need to stay close. Not just to look after each other, but to be there for Seth.
They had succeeded in rescuing the gifted ones Gershom had abducted and removed all knowledge of them from the military, foiling his latest plan. But Gershom would be back. All knew it. And all now knew it would be even harder than anticipated to stop him. Because Seth and the immortals had a weakness he could exploit.
A weakness Gershom lacked.
They cared. About their brethren. About their Seconds and network family. About all humans and gifted ones.
Gershom would always be able to use that against them. And none knew how to guard against that.
Dana studied the men and women around the table.
Conversation flowed as plates filled with the scrumptious meal Dana wasn’t sure who had prepared for them. But the conversation was muted, reserved.
More leaves had been added to the long dining table along with more chairs. All the immortals in North Carolina were present, along with their Seconds. Cliff had come, too, she was pleased to see. And General Lane, who had abandoned his uniform in favor of civvies.
Melanie, Bastien, and Cliff sat on Dana’s right.
Aidan, Heather, and Ethan sat on her left.
Ethan had awoken shortly after the trucks carrying Dana and the other gifted ones from the military installation had arrived at network headquarters. He had been quiet and had spoken little when Heather, Aidan, Dana, Bastien, and Melanie gathered around him. And the words he had spoken had come slowly, sparking fear in those who loved him.
But after more blood infusions and a long healing sleep, he seemed to be his regular self again.
David presided at the head of the table.
Seth occupied the chair at the opposite end.
This was the first time Dana had seen Seth since Gershom had taken her.
Lisette and Zach sat at Seth’s right elbow, Jared beside them.
Apparently posing as General Gershom and having Seth pose as Marcus had been Jared’s idea. And his helping clean up the mess in Times Square had outed him to the Others. So he was bunking at David’s now.
Ami and Marcus sat on Seth’s left as usual. Adira sat in her mother’s lap, brow furrowed, two fingers in her mouth.
Aidan followed Dana’s gaze. I heard Marcus tell Roland that Adira is afraid to let her mother out of her sight now, he said softly in her mind.
I don’t blame her, Dana thought. Poor baby. Can’t they just bury her memory of what happened?
He shook his head. Seth is afraid burying the memory would do too much damage to her still-developing brain.
The front door opened. Chris Reordon strode in, his battered briefcase in hand.
All called greetings.
Tossing them a wave, he dropped his briefcase and hung his jacket up among the many black coats that adorned the long coatrack.
“Join us for dinner?” David asked.
Chris responded with a weary smile. “Thanks. I’d love to.” Shadows darkened the skin beneath his eyes. Had he slept at all since Times Square?
While Darnell grabbed another chair and pulled it up to the table, Sheldon retrieved a plate, heaped it full of food, and deposited it in front of Chris.
Thanking him, Chris tucked into his meal with a gusto that made Dana wonder when the man had last eaten a hot meal.
“So?” David said.
Chris swallowed a mouthful. “Times Square has been taken care of. Alena Moreno and Scott Henderson had their tech teams pitch in and handle everything that popped up on the internet while we handled phone calls and everything on the ground.”
Dana stared at him. “So no one knows?”
“No one knows,” Chris confirmed, taking another bite.
“That’s amazing.”
Chris shook his head and motioned to Seth. “What he did was amazing. No way would we have been able to contain something this big if he hadn’t brought everything to a screeching halt and bought us time.”
Seth seemed less than impressed with the feat he had performed. “Gershom still got away.”
“But he’s running scared,” Zach countered. “I followed the bastard for hours before I ultimately lost his trail. For all we know, he may still be running.” He shook his head. “He might have talked shit to you in Times Square, but you shook him, Seth. You caught him by surprise.”
Aidan grunted. “You caught me by surprise, too. I thought that was you by my side, helping me rescue Dana and the others. Having Jared take your place was a stroke of genius.”
Voices of agreement circulated the table.
Dana looked to Chris. “How are the gifted ones we rescued?”
“Pissed,” he answered. “They want payback but know they can’t get it without revealing their gifts to the public. And after what they just went through, they know that wouldn’t be wise.”
Dana nodded. “It would just make them targets again.”
“Exactly. We’re doing everything we can to help them resume their normal lives, smoothing things over with their employers and the like. We’re also providing any who need it with free medical care as well as sessions with therapists on the network’s payroll, if they desire it.”
“Thank you,” she said, thinking of Rick, Phil, and Grant.
Chris smiled. “Don’t worry. We’re taking good care of them.”
Seth cleared his throat. “Now tell them the bad news.”
Quiet descended.
Lisette frowned. “What?”
“Tell them the bad news, Chris,” Seth repeated.
All eyes went to Chris.
Setting his fork down, Chris sighed and drew a hand down his face. “Just once, I would like to come to this house and not be the bearer of bad news.” He leaned back in his chair. “After the dust settled at network headquarters and we counted heads, we realized that we didn’t recover all of the missing gifted ones.”
Aidan took Dana’s hand. “Are you saying we left some behind?” he asked, his voice and face expressing the same dismay Dana felt.
Chris shook his head. “No. We got all of them that were housed at the military installation, but fifteen of the missing gifted ones weren’t there. Scott Henderson’s team found three dead this morning in Texas.”
“Male or female?” Seth asked softly.
Chris hesitated. “All female.”
Aidan swore. “What about the other dozen? Do you think they met the same fate?”
“We don’t know,” Chris admitted, “but believe that’s likely the case. I’ve got everyone looking for them. Alena and Scott do, too. I’ll update you with any progress we make.”
Heavy silence.
“You won this battle, Seth,” Zach said. “You may think you didn’t, but you did.”
Lisette nodded. “Dozens of gifted ones are alive today, thanks to you.”
Zach took her hand and continued. “Gershom’s been working behind the scenes all this time, but you brought him out in the open. You scared him. You made him bleed. Until now, Gershom thought himself too clever for us. He thought he was untouchable. Invincible. But I got a good look at him while I was chasing him and he stopped long enough to throw more victims my way.
You, David, and Aidan cut that fucker up.”
He said it with such satisfaction that even Seth cracked a smile. “At least there’s that.”
Chuckles lightened the mood.
Roland folded his arms across his chest. “Zach’s right,” he drawled. “We’re making progress. This time we cut him up. Next time we’ll bury him.”
Hearty agreements from all.
Chris tucked into his meal again.
Conversation resumed, flowing around the table more freely now.
Aidan nudged Dana. “You’re not eating,” he said aloud. “Are you nervous?”
“A little,” she admitted, the butterflies in her belly resuming their flight.
Heather leaned forward to peer around Aidan. “What are you nervous about?”
Sheldon motioned to the immortals sitting around the table with a forkful of chicken. “These guys don’t make you nervous, do they?”
Tracy gave her a sympathetic smile. “Too much testosterone in the room?”
Dana laughed. “No. Aidan is going to transform me tonight.”
Exclamations of joy filled the air.
Ethan and Bastien clapped Aidan on the back.
Melanie gave Dana a hug. “Welcome to the family!”
“Thank you.”
Sarah motioned to Dana’s plate. “You’re smart not to eat. Anything you down now is going to come right back up.”
Dana grimaced. “That sucks.”
“It really does,” Sarah agreed with a laugh. “But if Aidan is anything like Roland and the rest of the married immortals present, he’ll spend the next three or four days pampering the hell out of you.”
Looking up at Aidan, Dana raised her brows.
“Your wish is my command,” he professed.
“Really?” She eyed him speculatively. Aidan had suggested that he transform her while they made love so the pleasure would dampen the pain of his bite. Sounds kinky, she’d said. But I’ll go with it. And she could think of quite a few commands she’d like to issue as soon as they got naked. “Could my wish be your command before you transform me?”
He winked. “Absolutely.”
Grinning, she squeezed his hand. “Then I’m not feeling so nervous.”
Raising their hands to his lips, he kissed her knuckles.
The tableware abruptly jerked and clinked.
Startled, Dana glanced at the table. Her tea splashed and danced as her glass began to tip. Hastily reaching out, she steadied it.
Aidan and several others did the same.
Dishes began to jump and rattle as the table began to vibrate.
All conversation stopped as hands grabbed silverware that migrated toward the edges.
Confusion and uneasiness filtered through Dana.
What was happening? The ground beneath her feet wasn’t shaking. Just the table.
“Seth?” Ami said, her soft voice full of concern.
All eyes went to their leader.
Seth’s head was bowed. His eyes glowed a vibrant gold. Arms straight, he gripped the sides of the table so tightly his knuckles shone white. A muscle twitched in his clenched jaw as he drew long jagged breaths in and out through his nose as though battling… what? Pain? Illness?
David leapt to his feet and sped down the table in a blur. Resting a hand on Seth’s back, he leaned in close. “What is it?”
Zach rose on Seth’s other side.
Seth shook his head, then seemed to reel with dizziness.
The table lurched violently.
Zach hastily gripped Seth’s arm and shoulder to steady him.
“Seth?” Ami repeated, resting a hand on his where it clutched the table in front of her.
He closed his eyes. “The gifted ones,” he gritted, slowly gaining his feet, his arms supporting his weight more than his legs.
Dana saw Aidan and several other immortals surreptitiously grip the edges of the table to hold it steady.
“The ones that are still missing?” David asked softly.
Seth nodded. “They aren’t dead.”
Zach shared a glance with David. “Are you sure?”
“They aren’t dead,” Seth repeated. “They’re transforming.”
Shock rippled through the room.
David swore, his eyes flashing bright amber. “All of them?”
“Yes?”
“Where?”
Seth shook his head, again nearly losing his balance. “I don’t know. Gershom is blocking me or otherwise shielding them. I can’t lock in on them.”
Zach glanced at Lisette.
Nodding, she stood and rested a hand on his arm.
As soon as Seth straightened and staggered back from the table, he, David, Zach, and Lisette vanished.
Dead silence.
“Well, shit,” Chris whispered. “And I thought Times Square was the worst-case scenario.”
Dana examined the faces around the table and noticed how pale some had become. “I’m not sure I understand what just happened. Is Seth okay?”
Heather nodded. “I was wondering the same thing. Was he angry or sick? I couldn’t tell.”
“He was both,” Roland answered.
Dana looked at Roland, then Aidan, still not sure she understood.
Aidan sighed. “I hope I’m not breaking a confidence here, but some of the youngsters present may not know that Seth feels it whenever a gifted one transforms.”
Heather frowned. “Feels it how?”
“He once described it as a sick feeling of dread or a burning in the pit of his stomach. It’s how he found each of us when we transformed and helped us adjust to our new circumstances. The closer he got, the more he felt it, like a beacon.”
Ethan cleared his throat. “I had heard as much, but didn’t realize it actually made him physically ill.”
“It usually doesn’t,” Aidan told them, “not to this extent at least. But gifted ones don’t transform as often as you might think. Humans number in the billions. We immortals only number in the thousands. As far as I know, the only time more than one gifted one transformed at the same time was when Richart, Étienne, and Bastien all transformed within days of each other. This… twelve gifted ones transforming simultaneously… is unprecedented.”
Ethan frowned. “We’ve been using that word a lot since Gershom arrived on the scene.”
Sighing, Aidan shook his head. “And we’ll be using it again if Seth can’t locate the missing gifted ones and Gershom manages to raise his own private immortal army.”
“Merde,” someone muttered.
Days later, Aidan sprawled in a chair in front of Chris Reordon’s massive desk at network headquarters.
Chris sat behind it, his eyes on the computer that dominated the center of his desk.
“People,” Aidan said suddenly.
“What?” Chris murmured, his eyes still glued to the screen.
“You said people.”
“When?” he asked with little interest.
“The last time you bitched about my using mind control here at the network, you said my people, not my guards.”
Squinting at the screen, Chris leaned closer. “Damn it,” he muttered. “I must need sleep or something. I can’t seem to bring this shit into focus.”
Aidan smiled. “You don’t need sleep. You need reading glasses.”
“Bullshit,” the blond grumbled. “I’m too young for reading glasses.”
Rising, Aidan leaned over, braced one hand on the desk, and covered Chris’s eyes with the other.
“What are you—?”
“Shut it.” His hand heated as Aidan corrected Chris’s vision. Then he withdrew his hand and sank back down in his chair.
Chris scowled at him, then looked at the computer. His forehead smoothed out. “I’ll be damned. I did need reading glasses. Thanks.”
“No problem.”
“Now, what were you blathering on about?” Chris asked, no malice in his tone.
Aidan laughed. “When I expressed concer
n upon learning that Zach had mind-controlled Dana, you complained about my not having felt the same concern when I mind-controlled your people. Not your guards, but your people.”
“So?”
“So, I get it now.”
“Get what?” Chris returned his attention to the computer.
“Why you won’t let the matter drop. My messing with your guards’ minds just pissed you off. It was my using mind control on your assistant Kate that infuriated you.”
Chris’s eyes widened as his brows drew down. Leaping up, he crossed his office and closed the door. “You’re just guessing.”
“But I guessed correctly.” Aidan met his eyes as Chris returned to his seat behind the desk. “And I offer you my most sincere apology. I understand mind control better than you, yet I still panicked when Zach admitted he’d tampered with Dana’s brain.”
“Because any damage is unacceptable,” Chris finished for him. “Even that which can be healed.”
“Yes.”
“Mr. Reordon?” Kate’s voice emerged from one of the many devices on Chris’s desk.
He pressed a button. “Yes?”
“Roland and Sarah Warbrook are here to see you.”
“Thank you. Send them in, please.”
Aidan and Chris both stood as the couple entered, holding hands.
Aidan wasn’t quite sure how this was going to go but hoped for the best.
“Thanks for coming,” Chris said. “Would you have a seat, please?”
Roland and Sarah exchanged a glance, then sank down on Chris’s sofa. Aidan turned his chair to face them while Chris leaned back against his desk.
“What’s this about?” Roland asked, blunt as usual.
Chris released his breath in a long sigh. “I didn’t want to tell you in front of the others, but… Veronica Becker didn’t make it.”
Roland stiffened.
“Oh no,” Sarah whispered.
Leaning forward, Roland braced his elbows on his knees. “How did she die?”
“She was shot in the head, execution style. According to the memories Zach combed through at the installation, she refused to cooperate and repeatedly tried to escape. Because those at the facility thought her gift was one that would aid them the least, they opted to use her as an example to compel the others to cooperate.”
Roland swore foully. “Did they torture her?”
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