She grinned. “I can kick ass.”
“Yes, I know. It’s one of the many things I l-like about you.” Hell. He had almost said love. It was too soon for that, wasn’t it?
General Lane stepped up beside Ethan and cleared his throat.
Ethan sighed and made a mental note to ask Étienne how the hell he dealt with his wife Krysta’s parents.
Heather winked at her father. “Bet you never thought you’d see me looking like this.”
He shook his head. “You do look like you can kick ass.”
She laughed.
Seth and David reappeared.
“Okay, gather round,” Seth called.
Ethan placed a hand on Heather’s back and guided her over to the living room as a circle of warriors and their Seconds formed around the eldest immortals. The other immortal males shifted to allow Ethan to maneuver Heather to the front so she could see. Zach and the other married males did the same with their petite wives.
“I have the location of the base,” Seth announced. “The attack is taking place as we speak. The military doesn’t know yet that vampires are besieging it. I’ve shut down the power and the backup power at the building General Lane and the others were using to monitor the situation, have locked it down so no one can enter or exit, and have disrupted their video feed and phone service. David and I buried the memories of everyone we could in the short time we were there to delay a response by America’s military. Chris is working on his end to disrupt their information flow and to keep everyone else out of the loop.”
General Lane pushed forward to stand beside Ethan. “You can do that?” He looked understandably appalled.
Seth nodded. “I saw the video feed, General. I saw what your men missed in the chaos because their eyes couldn’t catch what mine could in the blurs of motion they watched.” His gaze roved the immortals. “The vampires are wearing Russian military uniforms.”
Curses erupted.
Richart appeared with Chris and Jenna.
Seth met the general’s gaze. “You know what will happen if America thinks Russia has attacked two of its bases, don’t you?”
General Lane nodded, looking as shaken as his daughter, who had gone pale.
Every mortal in the room paled.
“We need to shut this shit down,” Seth told them. “Security at this base is tighter than the other one. It’s built like a fucking bunker with most of it underground. Even with their preternatural strength, the vampires are having a hard time getting inside.” He looked to General Lane. “Do you have the authority necessary to command the soldiers at that base?”
“Yes.”
“Do they know you? Have you been to this base? Interacted with the higher-ups?”
“Yes.”
“Then call whoever is in charge there and tell him you’re on your way.”
He shook his head. “I don’t have the number.”
“Chris?” Seth said.
Chris pulled a small spiral notebook out his pocket and shouldered his way through the throng. “I got it.” Thumbing through the pages, he held the notebook out to General Lane.
A muscle in General Lane’s jaw jumped. “How the hell did you get that?”
Chris shrugged. “It’s what I do.”
“Call it,” Seth urged. “Now. We’re running out of time.”
General Lane drew a cell phone from his uniform pocket and dialed the number Chris showed him.
Heather turned to Ethan as her father spoke to whoever answered. “If my father’s going, I’m going.”
“The hell you are.”
“I’m the reason he’s caught up in all this. I—”
“Heather,” Seth interrupted, “you’re staying here.” His tone brooked no argument. He turned back to her father. “General Lane, tell him to step into an empty room that has no surveillance cameras.”
The general did so.
Ethan heard complaints and what-the-hells erupt on the other end of the phone.
“He’s there,” General Lane said.
“All right, let’s do this,” Seth told the group. “We don’t have time to strategize, so just take out as many vampires as you can and tranq the rest. We’ll—”
“Seth,” Ami cut in.
He broke off, startled by the interruption.
“I should go with you,” she said.
“No.” He looked to the others. “As I was saying—”
“Seth,” Ami interrupted again, louder. “I have to go with you. You and Zach may not sense Gershom’s presence if he’s learned to block you the way Zach has. He could be there now, close enough for you to capture when you get there, close enough to harm you or the other immortals while you’re distracted by the vampires, and you wouldn’t even know it. I would.”
Marcus, who stood behind her, wrapped his arm around her and the baby, drawing her back against him. “It’s too dangerous.”
“And letting Gershom get away if you have an opportunity to capture him isn’t?” she countered.
“She’s right,” Zach said. When Seth’s eyes flashed golden with fury, Zach held up a hand. “I don’t like it any more than you do. But this bastard is trying to start fucking World War Three. And you know what Einstein said about World War Three.”
David spoke: “I know not with what weapons World War Three will be fought. But I know that World War Four will be fought with sticks and stones.”
“Exactly,” Zach said. “If Gershom is there, we need to catch him and turn him over to the Others. And Ami may be the only one who can sense him.”
Ethan still wasn’t sure how that worked. One of Ami’s alien abilities was being able to recognize the unique energy signature of any person with whom she came into contact. Everyone had one, apparently. And once she learned it, she could always sense that person’s presence if they were near. It was how she had known about Zach’s clandestine visits to David’s home long before Seth had. She had sensed him.
Ethan didn’t know how or when she had obtained Gershom’s energy signature. But if she knew it, then she really would know instantly if he put in an appearance at the base.
“Let me help you end this,” she pleaded.
Seth hesitated.
“We’re running out of time,” David murmured.
Seth gave her an abrupt nod.
Marcus swore.
Ami crossed to Aidan. “Would you take Adira to the network?”
Aidan looked to Seth, then nodded.
“Marcus,” Ami said, “get the diaper bag.”
Marcus left the room in a blur.
“Should I stay at the network to help guard her?” Aidan asked.
Seth nodded. “Gershom seems to delight in fucking with me. I don’t want him anywhere near Adira. If he shows up at the network, bring her here. If he follows you here, teleport her away and keep teleporting, over and over again until you hear from me. Every time you teleport, it will slow him down a little more and make it more difficult for him to find you.”
Aidan nodded.
“And take Chaahk or Imhotep with you.”
The elder immortals in question looked at each other, then did rock, paper, scissors.
Chaahk swore. Imhotep grinned.
“Have fun,” Chaahk grumbled and joined Aidan.
Marcus raced past into the kitchen, then entered the living room, carrying a duffel bag and a big-ass diaper bag crammed full of Ethan didn’t know what. He looped the straps of both over Aidan’s shoulder. “I put milk, juice, and snacks in the diaper bag. This one,” he said of the duffel, “contains some of her favorite books and toys.”
Both parents hugged and kissed Adira, then handed her over to Aidan.
Aidan clumsily gathered the toddler against his chest. As soon as Chaahk clutched his shoulder, the three vanished.
Darnell crossed to Ami, his arms full of weapons.
She donned them quickly with his aid, all the while ignoring her husband’s irate glares.
“Ami,” Seth
said, holding his hand out, “you’re with me.”
“Okay.”
“Marcus, you, too.” As soon as the couple reached his side, Seth said, “Seconds, be ready. I’ll send Aidan, Zach, or Richart for you if things get hairy.”
The Seconds stepped back.
Ethan stole a quick kiss from Heather, then urged her to join the other mortals.
“General, step forward,” Seth ordered.
General Lane snagged a couple of sidearms from the table, then joined Seth.
That he did so without balking surprised Ethan. Usually those who were most accustomed to giving orders weren’t so great when their turn came to take them.
Marcus slid an arm around Ami, then rested a hand on the general’s shoulder.
“Everyone else,” Seth said, “grab a shoulder.”
Every immortal touched the shoulder of the person on his or her right.
“Zach, be ready to teleport them on my mark.”
Zach nodded.
Such would be an incredible exhibition of power. Richart, a mere two centuries old or thereabouts, could only teleport one or two people at a time and grew weary quickly if he had to do so more than once.
“General,” Seth said, “is your man still waiting?”
“Yes.”
Seth gave no additional warning. He just teleported the four of them away.
The room to which the cell signal guided Seth was bare. Cement walls surrounded them, reinforced with as much heavy steel as those at the network, he suspected, if vampires couldn’t breach them. No paint. No furniture. No fixtures of any sort aside from the lone fluorescent bulb overhead.
A shout of surprise erupted from the room’s sole occupant. The officer dropped his phone and drew his sidearm.
General Lane leapt forward and threw out a hand. “Hold your fire! Hold your fire!”
The man focused wide eyes on the general’s face. “General Lane?”
“Yes. Lower your weapon, Colonel.”
The man lowered his weapon and, after two tries with shaking hands, returned it to its holster. “What . . . How did you—?”
“That technology is classified,” the general said, all business.
Seth silently applauded the general for finding the perfect thing to say. Unlike the media, soldiers understood that some things needed to remain classified in order to give the military an edge over those they fought. Implying that teleportation was some kind of new hush-hush technology the military was developing had been a stroke of genius.
Chris had been right. General Lane would make a strong ally.
Though the colonel’s eyes still bugged and his breathing remained rapid, some of the tension left his stance.
Above, through layers of concrete and steel and soil, Seth could hear rapid gunfire. Screams. Growls and howls of glee as vampires bred chaos and visited their frustration over their inability to breach the compound upon the soldiers trapped outside it.
“Has the compound been breached?” the general asked.
“No, sir. Not yet. But I don’t know how much longer it will hold.”
That was all Seth needed to hear. He looked at Ami. “Is he here? Do you sense him?”
Ami squeezed her eyes shut as she concentrated on sifting through the many energy signatures on the premises.
The colonel started to speak. “Who—?”
The general cut him off with a motion of his hand.
All waited in silence.
“I don’t sense him,” she announced, opening her eyes.
“You two stay here and let me know if that changes,” Seth ordered. He looked to the general. “If your men should harm them—”
“They won’t,” General Lane interrupted. “I’ll see to it.”
Seth nodded and teleported above.
Mayhem. Destruction. A setup not unlike the other base.
Tropical jungle outside fences strewn with razor wire. A sandy moat with craters blown in it from mines the vampires had tripped on their initial approach. A cement wall.
But far fewer structures rose around him, since most of the base lay underground.
Seth was a little surprised by how many human soldiers still lived.
A bullet tore through one shoulder. Seth swore and telepathically summoned Zach, sending him mental images of the base and directing him to the jungle.
Seth drew a katana as a vampire raced past after a fleeing soldier. One swing of the sword swept the vamp’s head from his body, which did indeed bear a Russian uniform.
Another bullet struck Seth in the hip as he cut a swath to the wall and, leaping it and the fence beyond, made his way to the jungle.
The Immortal Guardians awaited him there, weapons drawn.
“The vampires haven’t breached the base yet,” he informed them. “They’re satisfied, for the time being, with tormenting the soldiers. Avoid the sandy moat—it’s full of mines—and have at ’em. Kill those you must. Tranq the others. Save as many soldiers as you can. I’ll bury their memories later.”
The immortals’ eyes all flashed amber as they shot forward—a sea of black that rose like a tidal wave, swept over the walls, and poured inside.
More screams erupted as vampires began to fall and the rest of them realized they were now the ones under attack.
Seth leapt into the fray.
“The ones in black are friendlies,” General Lane announced over hidden speakers. “Repeat, the ones in black are friendlies. Do not shoot them. They are here to help us.”
Exclamations of disbelief filled the night. The soldiers no doubt had noticed the immortals’ glowing eyes and fangs. But soldiers were trained to follow orders without question, and follow orders these did, doing their best to restrict their fire to vampires and swearing when they accidentally hit an immortal.
Seth grabbed a vampire that had just knocked a soldier to the ground, intent on disemboweling him. Tossing the vampire up in the air, Seth swung his katana and decapitated the vamp as he fell to the ground. The fallen soldier gaped up at him, fear bright in his eyes.
Seth knew his own likely glowed golden as he fisted a hand in the man’s uniform shirt. “Grab your gun.”
The soldier scrambled to grab the gun he had dropped.
Seth lifted the soldier and raced in a blur over to a small structure of unknown purpose behind which several other soldiers had hunkered down.
“Don’t shoot!” the soldier screamed as his friends all turned their weapons upon them.
As one, they gaped up at Seth.
Seth released the soldier. “Aim for the chest or torso, and once they slow down enough for you to see them more clearly, hit the major arteries.”
Drawing his second katana, Seth spun around and buried the blades in two vampires who raced up behind him. The vampires stopped short, then stumbled backward. Blood splattered Seth as his blades flashed again and severed major arteries.
“What the fuck are you?” a soldier blurted.
“A friend,” Seth said and pointed his sword at the vampires as they gasped their last breath. Bloodstains spread across their Russian Spetsnaz camo uniforms. “They are the enemy. Take care to distinguish between the two.”
He saw a dozen vampires descend upon Ethan and, without another word, raced toward him, cutting his way through vampires as he went and rescuing what soldiers he could.
Ethan swore as a vampire’s blade sank into his side.
A dozen or so had converged upon him at once. Unlike the night he had fought similar numbers on Heather’s front porch, he didn’t have the house behind him to limit the vampires’ attack. He was out in the open here, his back exposed.
As he slashed a vamp’s carotid artery, another blade sliced a deep channel across his back. Pain lanced through him.
Ethan spun around to punish the fucker who had cut him and heaved a sigh of relief when Seth took two of the vampires out from behind.
“Thanks.” Bolstering his energy, Ethan tore anew into the group crowding him.
>
With Seth at his back, it didn’t take long. Damn, he loved fighting alongside Seth. He didn’t often have the privilege of doing so. The eldest of them was all grace and power, his every movement smooth and delivered seemingly without effort. He was what every immortal fighting here tonight aspired to be.
“You’ve been watching too many chick flicks,” Seth muttered, a smile in his voice.
Ethan laughed as the last vampire in the group fell.
“Safe hunting,” Seth said and shot away to help Roland and Sarah.
“What the fuck?” a soldier wearing a headset whispered in the base’s underground video surveillance room.
Large flat screens adorned three walls. Smaller screens rested on desks manned by half a dozen soldiers. The action all currently displayed strained credulity.
“This isn’t happening,” another soldier whispered. “This isn’t real. It can’t be.”
General Lane could only stare as the violence played out before them in high def.
The immortal Marcus and his wife Ami stood by his side.
More soldiers had crowded into the room behind them.
Most were too stunned by what took place on the screens to question when and how the hell General Lane and two visitors had managed to join them. And none had seemed to put together that the general’s companions were garbed like the glowing-eyed men and women in black who tore vampires apart like tissue paper topside.
General Lane’s heart pounded. The vampires and immortals could move so swiftly that, at times, they became a barely discernible blur. Then the motion would cease, and he and the others would see an immortal yank his or her blade from the body of a vampire, then turn to seek another target and blur again.
“They’re so fast,” someone whispered.
“Shit!” someone in the back shouted. “That one just saved Conner! Did you see that?”
General Lane followed his gaze to a monitor on the left and saw Seth speaking to a small cluster of soldiers. Seth spun around all of a sudden and slew two vampires who attacked him from behind. Then the immortal leader shot away in a blur.
General Lane kept his gaze on Seth, saw him help Ethan and the others, saw him deliver three more soldiers safely to the group. Saw Ethan deliver two as well.
Shadows Strike Page 27
