Chris had held firm.
And Bastien had not antagonized the network leader once since.
The two had finally found common ground. Chris had lost his contacts. Bastien had lost his friend. Both held themselves responsible.
Cliff had bounced back. Bastien had not thought such would be possible. Nor had Melanie. But Cliff was still succeeding in staving off the madness that had claimed both of his friends. He was also mentoring Stuart, who—every day—sought new ways to make amends for the attack his entrance into their lives had instigated.
Food platters circulated the table on large hands. The scents suffusing the air were mouthwatering. Water, tea, and sparkling grape juice flowed freely. As did laughter and teasing.
Melanie rested a hand on Bastien’s thigh.
He glanced down at her.
“You okay?” she asked.
He nodded, clasped her hand, and brought it to his lips for a kiss.
The two of them were closer than ever. Though she could have returned to her cozy home, Melanie had spent every day here with him. Every night she continued her research at the network, given leave to do so by Seth, who thought her research more important than having her in the field, hunting vampires.
Across the table, Richart cleared his throat. “How is Cliff?”
Bastien felt Melanie’s surprise as she answered.
“He’s good. He hasn’t had any episodes since the day after we rescued him.”
Richart pushed his food around on his plate. “I was thinking of visiting him.”
She glanced at Bastien.
He was as shocked as she was. “I think he’d like that,” Bastien said slowly. “I’m sure he’s tired of seeing the same faces day after day.”
Étienne spoke up. “Perhaps I will visit him as well.”
Both Frenchmen had met Cliff while monitoring Bastien. Had they seen what he had seen? Someone worth saving? Worth fighting for?
Melanie smiled. “That would be wonderful.”
“Does he like sports?” Lisette asked, face hopeful.
“Yes.”
“Perhaps I could catch a game with him.”
Tanner nodded beside her. “I’d be up for that, too. We should catch a Lakers game. If I remember correctly from our days serving Bastien, Cliff’s a pretty big Lakers fan.”
“Excellent,” Lisette proclaimed. “I’ll bring the peanuts and popcorn.”
The rest of the meal passed in a blur. Bastien may not be as hated as he had been before, but he wasn’t yet welcomed into many conversations. Not that he really noticed. He was too busy wondering if Hell had frozen over.
Immortals making friends with a vampire? What the hell would happen next?
He and Melanie made their escape shortly after dinner, which technically was their breakfast or brunch since it was their first meal of the night.
Holding hands, they slipped down into the basement, dodged Marcus’s partially bald cat, Slim, and headed for their quiet room, where they would make love before Melanie headed for the network and Bastien left to hunt and possibly recruit more vampires.
Emrys was dead. What was left of his shadow army had been disbanded with no memory of how they had spent recent months. And Seth had erased Donald and Nelson’s memories.
But the vampire population in the area continued to flourish and grow.
The whole situation sort of reminded Bastien of newspapers and scandal sheets. Accusations of this or that would be splashed across the front page in large letters. Then, if they proved unfounded, apologies and retractions would be offered in tiny print on the bottom of page thirty-seven, where few would notice them.
Well, news of the uprisings and wars being waged in North Carolina had circled the globe. Word that those uprisings and wars had ended with Immortal Guardians the victors, however, had garnered little attention.
“Bastien. Melanie.”
They turned at the sound of Chris’s voice.
“Seth meant to catch you before he left, but got called away early.”
“Did he need something?” Bastien asked.
“No. He wanted you to have this.” Strolling forward, Chris held out a set of keys.
Melanie took them and turned them over in her hand. “What are these for?”
“Your new home. Seth thought you two might like to have a place of your own, but Melanie’s house isn’t secure.”
Bastien stared.
Chris pulled out his trusty notepad, flipped through it, and tore off a sheet. “Here’s the address and directions to it. It’s fully furnished, but you’re welcome to make any changes you want. I knew you guys wouldn’t have a lot of time to shop and just thought I’d get you started. The house is in a suitably isolated location. The kitchen is fully stocked. There’s blood in the fridge. Toiletries in the bathroom. An escape tunnel in the basement. And I dropped by there on my way here and turned on the heater, so if you want to go check it out or spend the day there after work, you’re good to go.”
Feeling Melanie’s stare, Bastien glanced down at her.
“We have our own house?” she asked. “Just the two of us?”
Uncertainty rose. “If you don’t want to live with me . . .”
She frowned, then hit him hard in the shoulder. “Of course I want to live with you. I love you, Bastien. And I fully intend to marry you whenever you get off your ass and ask me.”
All conversation in the house ceased.
His mouth fell open.
Chris’s did, too.
“Seriously?” they both asked at the same time.
Melanie rolled her eyes. Tilting her head back, she told the ceiling. “Yes. Seriously. I am in love with Sebastien Newcombe. I intend to spend all of eternity with him. If any of you don’t like it, get over it.”
Bastien grinned. He had known she cared about him. He felt it every time he touched her. He supposed he had just thought that might change if she spent more time with him and. . .
Well, she pretty much knew all of his secrets. So maybe it wouldn’t change?
Dipping his head, he kissed her lips. “Will you marry me, Melanie?”
“Hell, yes. Now let’s get out of here and go check out our new home so I can talk dirty to you without all of them listening.”
Laughing, he reclaimed her hand and headed back upstairs. By the time they reached the front door, they were practically running, eager to embrace their future.
And damned if some of the other immortals didn’t hoot and cheer.
Ami gritted her teeth as her stomach churned and turned and threatened to eject her dinner.
A large, warm body pressed up against her back. Marcus dipped his head and kissed her neck as he slipped his arms around her middle.
Relaxing back against him, she closed her eyes.
The room they now shared at David’s place held a tropical feel, the humidity from their shared shower lingering in the air.
“Your heart is racing,” Marcus murmured between kisses.
Ami forced a smile. “You tend to have that effect on me.”
Turning her in his arms, he brushed his lips against hers, trailed them across her cheek, skipped to her forehead. “You feel warm.”
“You do that to me, too,” she teased. “Well, you and the shower. That’s a powerful combination.”
He laughed, low and husky. “I wish we could spend all night in that shower.”
She nipped his chin and stepped away. “Me, too. Unfortunately, those vampires aren’t going to hunt themselves.”
Groaning, he went to work buttoning his shirt.
As soon as he finished, Ami draped the bandolier carrying his throwing knives across his chest.
“Is something wrong, love?” he asked, studying her a little too intently.
Avoiding his gaze, she reached for his short swords and slid them into their sheaths. “I’m worried about the mercenaries. What if we didn’t get them all? What if there are others?”
“Chris seems to think we
’ve neutralized the human threat.”
She met his gaze. “We didn’t expect Keegan to cause any real problems and look what happened with that.”
“That little weasel did catch us off guard, but Emrys was the true threat. Now that he’s dead, he can’t hurt us anymore.”
Ami nodded. She had helped them make sure of that and still wasn’t sure how she felt about her part in the violence that had taken place that night.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Marcus pulled on one of his boots and laced it up.
Ami crossed her arms over her chest and tried to ignore her stomach when it lurched again.
“You didn’t eat very much at dinner,” Marcus commented, watching her shrewdly.
Damn, he knew her well. “Tracy’s perfume was driving me crazy,” she admitted. “I couldn’t smell the food for it.”
Marcus frowned. “You could smell that?”
“How could I not? It was so strong it overpowered the room.”
He shook his head. “Tracy doesn’t wear perfume, love. That was her deodorant.”
Ami stared at him. A sickening feeling that had nothing to do with whatever was going on with her dinner entered her stomach. “It was?”
“Yes. I didn’t realize humans . . .” he smiled “or you could smell it.”
“We can. She needs to start using a scentless deodorant stone. If she ever has to go to Lisette’s aid, the vampires will smell her coming a mile away.”
“Well,” he said and took the other boot she handed him, “I’ll let you be the one to tell her that.”
I don’t think so.
“Is that all it was?” he asked, eyeing her as though he were trying to figure out what had changed, if she had cut her hair or wore it differently . . .
“What do you mean?” She knew he saw through the words. She couldn’t lie worth a damn, especially to him or Seth.
He shoved his big foot in the boot, then paused. “There’s been a lot of coming and going around here lately . . . a lot of traffic.”
More immortals and Seconds than usual had been taking advantage of David’s open door policy and making use of his home, dropping by for meals, sometimes staying through the day.
“Do you need a break, honey?” Marcus asked, voice soft with concern. “I understand the network owns a number of safe houses. We could make arrangements with Chris to use one and get away for a while.”
Ami blinked back tears. Marcus knew how difficult it was for her to meet new people and spend time with men and women she didn’t know, an unfortunate consequence of the capture and subsequent months of torture she had endured at the hands of Emrys and his fellow monsters.
She shook her head. “No, we can’t. You know I’m the reason David’s home has been inundated with twice as many visitors as usual. They all knew Emrys was determined to capture me again and have been lingering here to protect me. How can I reject that?”
He laced his boot, then rose. “Just say the word and I’ll reject it for you. We don’t even have to stay in the area. I could take you to England or France. Italy. Australia. Somewhere we can truly be alone.”
Closing the distance between them, she wrapped her arms around him and leaned into his strong chest. “My family is here. Our family is here. So here we’ll stay.”
He hugged her close, kissed the top of her head. “Whatever makes you happy.”
Ami squeezed him tight and swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. “You’d better get going.”
Marcus drew back, took her lips in a deep, pulse-spiking kiss, then headed for the door. “Oh, by the way. I heard Sheldon will be training with Darnell tonight.”
Sheldon had once landed Marcus in such a vampire muck that Ami had raced to Marcus’s rescue and ended up with a knife sticking out of her back.
Even as she frowned, Marcus tossed her a grin and winked at her. “Try not to terrorize the boy too much.”
Ami actually managed to find a smile and hold it . . . until he ducked out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she bolted for the bathroom, bent over the toilet, and lost what little dinner she had managed to consume earlier.
When at last the retching ended, she rinsed her mouth out and brushed her teeth, splashed some cold water on her face for good measure. Her hands shook as she drew a towel down over her eyes and cheeks.
Ami studied her pallid reflection in the mirror. Large tears welled in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.
She couldn’t ignore what was happening to her any longer. For days she had felt that something was wrong, but had hoped it was simply anxiety. Being around so many strangers and hunting Emrys really had been stressful for her, but . . . anxiety didn’t enhance one’s sense of smell. Anxiety didn’t make one run a fever. It might make one lose one’s appetite, but would that escalate to vomiting?
Returning to the bedroom, she picked up her cell phone and dialed Darnell’s number.
“Hey, Ami,” he answered jovially. “You ought to join us in the training room. I’m about to kick Sheldon’s ass.”
“Oh, ha freaking ha,” Sheldon said in the background.
“Wait, did you say Ami?”
Darnell laughed. “He is so afraid of you. What did you do to him?”
Aside from telling him in explicit detail how she would maim him if he ever endangered Marcus’s life again . . . nothing.
“I need to talk to you,” she said in lieu of a reply.
“Sure,” Darnell said, voice sobering. “Where are you?”
“Our bedroom.” One of the two quiet rooms that would afford them privacy.
“On my way.”
Mere seconds passed before the door opened. Darnell slipped inside and closed it behind him. Six feet tall, he wore the standard garb of a Second, his broad-muscled shoulders stretching the fabric of the black shirt. His bald, brown head gleamed beneath the overhead light.
Ami tossed her phone on the bed.
Darnell took one look at her face and said, “Oh shit. What happened? What’s wrong?”
Her breath hitched in a sob. “I’m infected,” she announced, then burst into tears.
If Darnell’s face could have blanched, it would have. “What?”
“I’m infected with the virus. I’m transforming,” Ami cried.
Swearing again, he hurried across the room and drew her into his arms. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. Because she was neither human nor gifted one, none of them knew whether she would become vampire or immortal if infected. Or if she would survive the transformation at all.
“Does Marcus know?”
She shook her head, sobbing too hard to speak. She couldn’t bare to tell Marcus. He would blame himself and . . . if she died or turned vampire . . .
She just couldn’t tell him yet.
Darnell shifted and withdrew one arm. She heard him dial his cell phone. “Yeah, it’s me. We have a situation. Ami needs you in the quiet room stat. Bring David.”
There was a hardness to his voice that she had never heard before. Darnell was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. One who did not anger easily. Even Bastien couldn’t piss him off, which always succeeded in pissing Bastien off whenever he tried and failed.
A ripple of energy filled the room. Seth and David appeared just inside the door. Ami drew back enough to meet their concerned gazes.
“What happened?” Seth asked without preamble.
“Marcus fucking bit her and now she’s infected,” Darnell growled with such venom Ami was shocked speechless.
Seth’s eyes flashed a bright gold. David’s flashed amber. A rumbling sound arose as floor, wall, and ceiling began to vibrate.
“I’ll kill him,” Seth snarled.
“No!” Ami shouted above the racket. “It isn’t what you think!”
“You would lie for him? You would protect him?” he demanded furiously.
“Because he didn’t bite me! Darnell misunderstood. He didn’t bite me.” She looked
to David. “Marcus didn’t bite me!”
Eyes still glowing with anger, David placed a restraining hand on Seth’s shoulder and looked to Darnell.
Darnell frowned down at Ami. “You said you were infected, that you’re transforming.”
“I am,” she said. “But—”
Seth shrugged off David’s hand with a roar and vanished. The rumbling and quaking ceased.
Panic ripped through Ami. “Where is he going?”
“To find Marcus would be my guess,” David said, voice tight.
“Well, call him back!” she pleaded. “He’ll kill him!” When David merely stared back, she looked up at Darnell. “Marcus didn’t bite me, Darnell. Please! You can’t let Seth kill him!”
Uncertainty entered Darnell’s deep brown eyes. “How the hell am I supposed to stop him?”
“I don’t know! Get on your damned phone and—”
Seth reappeared, one hand closed around Marcus’s throat, holding him a foot above the ground. The house once more began to shake with Seth’s fury.
Marcus’s hands pried futilely at Seth’s fingers. Face reddening, he looked with wide eyes at Ami, silently asking her what the hell was going on.
He thinks you bit me, she told him telepathically.
What? He looked at Seth. I didn’t bite her! I swear it to you! I love her! I would give my life to protect her! Why the hell would I infect her with the virus when I know what it might do to her? That it might hurt her? That it might take her from me?
Seth’s brows drew down into a deep V. Opening his fingers, he let Marcus drop.
Seth could read one’s thoughts, feel one’s emotions, see one’s past. All would have confirmed that Marcus had never bitten her.
Marcus stumbled when his boots hit the ground, but managed to remain upright. He did not, however, begin to breathe again. Seth’s grip had wrought too much damage.
“David,” Ami begged, “please.”
David didn’t look at Seth as he wrapped midnight fingers around Marcus’s throat to heal him.
Air whooshed into Marcus’s mouth and filled his lungs.
When David withdrew his touch, Marcus bent over and breathed deeply for a long moment. In and out. In and out.
The bedroom’s doorbell rang.
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