Ethan continued to caress Lisette’s back in soothing strokes, relieved when she seemed to draw comfort from them both.
Lisette nodded. “He finally spoke to me. Telepathically,” she added. “He said he and Seth are chasing Gershom. Apparently, Gershom is doing what Seth told Aidan to do. As soon as he arrives in one place, he teleports to another. He’s been at it for hours, and it’s taking all their concentration to track him. That’s why Zach vanished from my mind.”
The fact that the Other was powerful enough to outrun the two eldest immortals this long astounded Ethan. “Do they need blood?” Teleportation took a lot of energy.
Lowering her gaze, Lisette shook her head. “No time. They can’t stop long enough for an infusion.”
But Ethan sensed there was more to it than that. When Zach had been tortured last year, Lisette had refused to give him blood, believing he might be something more than a gifted one infected with the vampiric virus. That he might be an angel. Or a fallen angel. Or something along those lines, thanks to his wings.
She hadn’t been right, had she?
“Seth knew everyone would be worried,” Lisette told them, her breathing finally beginning to calm as the sobs retreated, “and it was distracting him, so he ordered Zach to stop and contact me, let me know they’re both okay. Zach was going to contact David, too, then teleport to Seth’s latest location and rejoin the hunt.”
Ethan considered her words. “Do you think Aidan could help them?”
“No. Even as old as he is, I don’t think Aidan could keep up.”
“What about the Others?” Heather asked with a frown. “Didn’t Seth say the oldest immortals—those like him and Zach—are supposed to be hunting this guy, too? Why are they AWOL during all of this?”
Ethan looked to Lisette. “That’s a damned good question. Did Zach mention the Others joining the hunt?”
Lisette shook her head. “No.”
“Then let’s see if David can’t send Seth and Zach reinforcements.”
David raced through the forest until he was out of earshot of the Immortal Guardians resting in his home. He would have to travel a good five miles to keep Chaahk and Imhotep from hearing him, since those two remained awake and watchful.
The sun’s brilliant rays blanketed the evergreens that thrived on his vast property, bouncing from leaf to leaf and winding down to dapple him with light. He felt no pain, though. David could stand outside for hours in the afternoon, particularly if trees like these partially shaded him, before discomfort would make its initial strike.
Closing his eyes, he sent out a summons.
“A little louder next time, perhaps?” a voice drawled.
David opened his eyes and watched Jared, one of the Others, step from the trees across from him. He was garbed as Zach often was: in leather pants and boots and nothing else, leaving his large, dark wings the freedom to carry him wherever he wished.
“Seth and Zach ran into Gershom last night,” David said, not bothering with a greeting, “while the latter was busy attempting to start World War Three. They’re hunting him as we speak, but he’s leading them on quite the chase. Why are you not helping them?”
“We are . . . in our own way,” Jared responded, all sarcasm gone.
“And how is that? By sitting on your asses and observing the way you usually do?”
Jared’s lips tightened. “Tread carefully with me, David.”
“I suggest you do the same. I’m a greater threat to you than you know,” David advised. “Are you going to help Seth and Zach?” he pressed. “You do still wish to avert an apocalypse, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Jared gritted. He paced away, the wings folded in at his back swishing against the leaves and grass they brushed. “We knew the moment the hunt began. That much energy being expended is impossible to miss.” He turned to face David once more. “The simple truth is . . . we can’t keep up.”
David frowned. “Gershom is that much more powerful than you?”
“Yes.”
“Can he match Seth?” David’s concern increased tenfold when Jared hesitated.
“Possibly. We aren’t sure. But we believe he can at least match Zach.”
David shook his head. “Is there nothing you can do to help them?” Hell, no wonder the Others had had no luck capturing the renegade over the past year.
“We’ve spread ourselves out around the globe and are following the progression of the energy flow,” Jared answered. “Hopefully, the hunt will stay close enough for one of us to jump in and hold Gershom until Seth and Zach can arrive and capture him. If one of us does manage to latch onto him, he will summon the rest of us and we can all converge upon Gershom together.”
“That’s a pretty big if,” David said.
“Yes. But I’m afraid it’s the best we can do right now.”
Unable to warn Seth of Gershom’s strength without distracting him, David hoped Jared’s plan would work.
Ethan returned to the room he and Heather shared.
Sitting up in bed, Heather channel surfed, her eyes on the flickering screen of the television that hung on the opposite wall. No sound broke the silence, the volume muted. Blue light brightened and faded on her pretty features as the images on the screen changed.
Ethan felt such . . .
Hmm. What did he feel upon finding her waiting up for him?
Relief? Gratitude? A sudden warm conviction that he could face anything as long as he had Heather at his side?
He closed the door behind him.
Heather glanced over at him. Setting down the remote, she left the television on to light the room for her. “Is she okay?”
Nodding, he crossed to the bed. “She’s asleep. I think knowing David is going to do what he can to send Seth and Zach reinforcements helped.” He settled himself on the bed beside her and touched his lips to hers. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For calming her when she was crying. I’ve never seen her like that and didn’t know what to do.”
Heather’s face lit with a wry smile. “All I did was hand her some tissue. You’re the one who calmed her.”
Ethan shook his head and took Heather’s hand. Guilt dawned as he played with her slender fingers. He had yet to tell Heather about his former relationship with Lisette. He hadn’t seen a need to at first. Then he had been distracted by the vampire attacks and . . .
He should have told her as soon as they had temporarily moved in with Zach and Lisette. But, damn it, he dreaded her response. Zach had wanted to kill Ethan after Seth had told him. Hell, Zach was still hostile toward Ethan, although Ethan thought that had diminished somewhat since Zach had realized Ethan was falling hard for Heather.
And Ethan was falling hard.
He hadn’t wanted anything to spoil his time with her. Violence had thrown them together. And their feelings had developed so swiftly that he supposed he feared those feelings might be too new to hold up to more conflict.
But he couldn’t put off telling her any longer. Heather had just spent half an hour comforting his ex-lover. Wouldn’t she want to know that?
He sure as hell would if their roles were reversed.
“You’re quiet,” she said.
He nodded. “There’s something I need to tell you.” That was all he managed to get out before words failed him.
“What is it? You can tell me anything,” she encouraged with a gentle smile.
“The thing is,” he stalled, “I don’t know how you’re going to react. But I would want to know if it were me. And—”
“Is it about my dad?” she interrupted, fear dawning in her expressive face.
“No. No—no. It’s nothing like that,” he promised. “Your dad is fine.”
Her brow smoothed as her smile returned. “Then just tell me.”
He drew in a deep breath and hoped he wasn’t about to make a colossal mistake. “Lisette and I used to be lovers.”
Her expression didn’t change. “And?”
He frowned. “What do you mean, and?”
“I mean I already knew that. What’s the big secret you want to tell me? Did the two of you have children together?”
“No,” he replied, nonplussed. “Immortals can’t have children.”
“You can’t?”
“No.”
“Why not, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“Immortal males’ sperm die almost as soon as we ejaculate, which is why I can’t infect you with the virus by having unprotected sex with you. The virus dies with the sperm.”
“Geez. I didn’t even think of that,” she said, sobering. “I’m usually very careful, but figured you were immune to STDs. And it wasn’t my fertile time, so . . . I just didn’t think of that.”
“I would never put you at risk, Heather, would never infect you against your will or risk getting you pregnant.” Though the image that flashed through his mind of her pregnant with his baby was damned appealing. “Even if I could get you pregnant, I wouldn’t because we don’t know how the virus would affect a fetus or an infant.”
“I don’t understand. Marcus and Ami have a baby. Adira seems fine.”
“That’s . . . a long story,” Ethan hedged, not wanting to get into the whole Ami-is-an-alien thing just then. “They’re a very rare exception.”
“Okay.” She considered that a moment. “So, what was it you wanted to tell me?”
He frowned. “That was it, that Lisette and I used to be lovers.”
“I already knew that.”
He shifted on the bed so he could face her. “You did? How?”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s pretty obvious, Ethan.”
“How is it obvious?” he repeated, wondering what had given them away.
“Well, take today, for example,” she said and motioned to the closed door. “When Lisette came in crying, you got out of bed naked and she didn’t bat an eyelash. Clearly she has seen you naked before. Many times. She was totally comfortable with it. And you were totally comfortable with her seeing you.”
“I put on boxers,” he objected.
“When you were halfway to the door. And you didn’t even attempt to cover your family jewels before you did.”
He had thought Heather asleep. “Maybe I’m an exhibitionist.”
She arched a brow. “You told me yourself you’re old-fashioned. If you weren’t, you probably would have stripped naked in front of me the night we met, and asked me to tend all of your wounds, not just the one on your back.”
He had to laugh at that. “So . . . today made you guess?”
She shook her head, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “No, Zach’s obvious hatred of you did. The man radiates jealous fury whenever you’re in the same room with Lisette. He goes out of his way to ensure you’re never alone with her. And haven’t you noticed the way he wraps an arm around her and pulls her close every time you’re near?”
He had. But he had thought Zach simply liked touching Lisette as much as Ethan liked touching Heather. “I do the same with you,” he said, and drew her attention to their clasped hands. “I love touching you, so I do it every chance I can get. How did you know Zach isn’t just doing the same?”
“Because he glares at you when he does it. It didn’t take me long to figure out his hatred of you was very personal. The double date just confirmed my suspicions.”
“The dinner and dancing?” Ethan asked with some surprise.
She shook her head, her smile carrying a touch of sorrow. “You and Lisette know everything about each other, Ethan. And you danced together as if you had done it a million times.”
They probably had. “I didn’t know it was so obvious,” he commented.
She raised one shoulder in a shrug. “Most likely it’s only obvious to me and Zach.”
Ethan couldn’t help but notice she wasn’t screaming and shouting at him. “So, you’re okay with it?”
She opened her mouth, paused, then closed it. “No. I’m not. But I’m trying very hard to be, because Lisette seems like a nice person. Plus I don’t want to be the kind of woman who freaks out if we happen to run into one of your old girlfriends. We’re both adults. You didn’t come to me a virgin. And I didn’t come to you a virgin.”
“Oh, but you did,” he said somberly. “You swore you’d been saving yourself for me. That you had never made love before. Never kissed a man before.” He squeezed her hand. “That you had never even held hands with a man before you met me.”
Grinning, she patted their clasped hands. “You just keep believing that, honey.”
Ethan laughed and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I just . . .” He didn’t want to admit he had been afraid it would turn her away from him.
“I know,” she said, seeming to understand. “It’s actually probably a good thing that you didn’t. If I had known from the beginning that you and Lisette used to be lovers, I would have taken one look at her and run the other way.”
“Why?” he asked, but already knew the answer. Knowing someone you were interested in had had lovers before you was one thing. Having to deal with one of those former lovers on a daily basis was another.
“Because she’s so beautiful,” Heather said, a spark of vulnerability entering her eyes. “I can’t compete with that.”
His jaw dropped. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“No.”
“Heather, honey, you’re gorgeous.”
“No, I’m not. Lisette is taller and more slender and—”
“Lisette wasn’t the woman I couldn’t take my eyes off during our double date. You were. And your lovely body is the one I couldn’t wait to pull closer to me when we danced.” He frowned. “Actually I always want to pull your beautiful body closer to me. I swear, I haven’t spent so many hours of every day with an erection since I was a teenager.”
Heather laughed. “Really?”
He drew her attention to the hard length his boxers did little to conceal.
“Oh.” Her smile turned wicked for a moment, then faded.
“What?”
“Do you still love her?” she asked, looking as though she feared his answer.
“Only as a friend.”
“But you loved her as more than that once?”
Ethan considered that. “I thought I did, but . . . I realize now that there was always something missing with her. Something. . . undefinable.” He recalled how angry he had been when Lisette had started seeing Zach, the jealousy that had seared him when he had realized Lisette belonged with Zach in a way that she and Ethan had never belonged together. “I didn’t realize it at the time, because I couldn’t define it. Didn’t even want to try. I was content with things the way they were. But now that I’ve found it with you . . . now that I feel that something . . . extra . . . something more . . . that crucial whatever-the-hell-it-is that makes me think, Finally . . . I’ve finally found it . . . I’ve finally found her . . . after all these years . . .” He gave her a little smile and shrugged. “I’ve finally found you. I know I never loved her the way Zach does. I never felt for her what I feel for you.”
Heather bit her lip.
Ethan’s stomach knotted. “I’m sorry. I didn’t say it right. I—”
Leaning forward, she cupped his face in her free hand. “You said it fine.”
His heart raced as she touched her lips to his.
Heather sat back and studied Ethan, whose brown eyes now bore a faint amber glow.
“You look troubled,” he murmured, his face uncertain.
“Ethan, I want to ask you something,” she confessed, already doubting the wisdom of it.
“Okay.”
“I feel weird about it, though, because I always sort of cringe when I see women do this in movies and TV shows.”
“Now I’m really curious. And afraid,” he joked with an adorable half smile. “Ask away.”
Heather drew in a deep breath. “Where exactly do you see this going?”
His brow furrowed. “I’m weary from battle, so my thoughts are coming a little slowly. What do you mean by this? Do you mean this conversation?”
“I mean us,” she clarified. “Best-case scenario, where do you see us going?”
He stared at her.
The silence stretched.
And with every moment he didn’t speak, her stomach twisted into a tighter knot. “Oh. I see.”
“I don’t think you do. I think I failed to make my point clearly a minute ago.”
“Ethan, it’s okay,” she lied, striving for a lighthearted tone. “You don’t have to—”
“Heather,” he interrupted.
She clamped her lips shut.
“I didn’t answer you because I was afraid you would freak out.”
“I won’t freak out,” she promised, not knowing how else to respond.
“You asked me for the best-case scenario.”
She nodded.
“Barring the onset of Armageddon,” he said with a tired smile, “the best-case scenario, as far as I’m concerned, is this: You fall in love with me. You ask me to transform you. Then we spend the rest of eternity together.”
Heather’s heart began to slam against her ribs.
“But as I said, I thought telling you that might freak you out,” he continued. “We haven’t been together for very long. And even though I want to spend every minute I can with you and have yet to find anything about you that I don’t like—”
“I’m falling in love with you,” she blurted.
His lips closed.
“I asked you because I’m falling in love with you.” She sighed. “I’ve never felt so attached to a man before, like I could spend every waking moment with you and never grow tired of you or grow bored or lose interest or run out of things to talk about. I know that may sound a little weird and stalkerish, but—”
Ethan took her hand and pulled her toward him. His lips met hers, silencing her nervous speech.
Her heart beating faster, she drew back. “I’m falling in love with you,” she professed again. “I was so afraid for you tonight. It really drove home just how strong my feelings for you have become. If this is just a temporary thing for you—”
Shadows Strike Page 30
