He rose. “Now they have even more reason to despise us.”
“Because of what happened to me?”
“Yes.”
“They don’t know. They probably never will.” Nor would her family.
He frowned. “Ami, isn’t there any way you can contact your world?”
“No. My ship was destroyed. As soon as it was damaged enough to force a descent, my crew set the auto destruct so humans wouldn’t be able to gain any of the technology it contained. Nothing salvageable remains. And, though I know how to use an interstellar communicator, I have no more knowledge of how to build one from scratch than you have of creating a cell phone.”
He took her hands in his. “Then there is no way you can return to your home?”
A fist squeezed her heart. “No. No one knows I’m here. And I doubt the alliance will change its mind and send a party to warn the people of Earth.”
Again he brushed her lips with his. “If you ever find a way to return to Lasara, will you take me with you?”
She stared up at him, shocked. He would do that? He would leave his friends, his life here, so he could remain with her?
Wouldn’t you consider staying on Earth to be with him?
She smiled. “I wouldn’t return without you.”
When he drew her into his arms, she rested her cheek against his chest and listened to his strong, slow heartbeat.
He lowered his chin to the top of her head. “I think I would like your world,” he mused. “No war. No violence.”
Ami missed it. Missed her family. Her friends. The peace. “What would you do with your nights if you didn’t have to hunt vampires anymore?”
“Spend them with you.”
She laughed. “You already do.”
“I guess that settles it then. War ... peace ... as long as you’re at my side, I’m happy.”
Ami leaned her head back and kissed his chin. “Sweet talker.”
He grinned down at her and lowered his head. His lips were an inch from hers when he paused. Straightening, he frowned and turned his head. “Someone is coming.”
Ami dropped her hands to the 9mm’s. “Friend or foe?”
“Friend. It’s Roland.”
She followed Marcus out of the armory and down the hallway. As he crossed to the front door, she couldn’t keep her gaze from falling from his broad shoulders—encased in a tight, long-sleeved, black T-shirt—to his muscular butt.
Sparks of warmth heated her blood as she remembered gripping it with both hands and urging him on as he drove into her. Her pulse leapt. Her breath shortened.
“Ami,” Marcus said without turning around, “you’re killing me, honey.”
The longing in his deep voice made her chuckle.
Marcus opened the door at the same time the doorbell rang. “Roland, what’s—”
Marcus’s head jerked as a thud sounded. Flying backward, he landed at Ami’s feet. Blood gushed from a broken nose.
“Marcus!” she cried.
Face tight with pain, he blurted out, “Ow! What the hell, bad?”
When Roland entered, slammed the door behind him, and stalked forward, Ami drew her 9mm’s and planted herself in front of Marcus. “Stop right there, Roland!”
He halted, face mottled with fury. “Step aside, Ami.”
She shook her head. “Touch him again, and I’ll empty the clips into you.”
“Dab, Abi,” Marcus huffed beneath her. “How cad you turd me od whed my face feels like it just exploded?”
“Are you okay?” she asked without taking her eyes off Roland. The older immortal still looked ready to attack.
“Yeah,” Marcus grumbled, climbing to his feet beside her. He glared at Roland. “What the hell is wrog with you?”
“Sarah saved your life, you miserable bastard,” Roland shouted, “and you condemned her for it?”
Mouth falling open, Ami lowered her weapons. “Oh, Marcus, you didn’t!”
His jaw clenched as his face darkened with anger. “She left you there.” He wiped the blood from his mouth and chin with one sleeve. “She knew you couldn’t defeat two dozen vampires without her, and she left you there.”
“I asked her to,” Ami said. “You and Roland were out. If she hadn’t gotten you to safety—”
Much to her surprise, Marcus transferred his anger to her. “You don’t ever put my life before yours!”
She raised her eyebrows. “Marcus, I’m your Second. My job is to keep you safe. If that means—”
“Then you’re no longer my Second,” he decreed.
From the corner of her eye, Ami saw Roland cross his arms over his chest and tilt his head to one side as he studied them.
She holstered her weapons. “Well, lucky for me,” she said, determined not to let anger take hold of her as well, “that decision isn’t yours. Seth decides who serves as whose Second, and he decided I should be yours. And, even if I weren’t your Second, I would still put your life before mine. That’s what you do when you love someone. So, even if you could fire me, it wouldn’t make a difference. If the same thing happened tomorrow, I would beg Sarah to take you to safety and take my chances with the vamps again.”
Marcus looked like his head might explode.
Ami had to fight to hold back a grimace as the broken bones in his nose shifted beneath the skin and slid back into position.
“Ami, honey,” Marcus said, a pleading note entering his voice, “you can’t do that. You’re not immortal.”
“Neither are you. Not really. You can be killed, too, Marcus. What makes you think I would mourn you less than you would mourn me?”
He didn’t seem to know what to say to that.
Roland sighed. “All right. I see the way things are. I didn’t realize... .” He motioned to the two of them, then threw his hands up in surrender. “Just get on the phone and apologize to Sarah so she’ll stop tearing herself up inside. If she sheds one more tear over your sorry arse, I’ll come back and finish what I started.”
Afraid Marcus might yet hesitate, Ami reminded him, “It wasn’t just you she was saving, Marcus. Her husband’s life was at stake. If it had been you, me, Roland, and Chris, and Roland and I had been drugged, would you have left us there and taken Chris to safety?”
Roland and Marcus suddenly turned their heads to the east.
Roland swore. “I’m not here,” he hissed in a hasty whisper. “You never saw me.”
Ami frowned at him. What?
“Roland Warbrook,” Sarah called from outside a moment later, “I told you to leave Marcus alone!”
Ami looked at Roland, who—eyes wide—shook his head and held a finger to his lips.
“Don’t even try it,” his wife warned. “My senses are as acute as yours. Did you forget that?”
He grumbled something Ami couldn’t make out that made Marcus’s lips twitch and looked toward the door. “Sarah, sweetling, I was only trying to help Marcus ... ah, see the error of his ways.”
“Marcus has every reason to be upset with me,” she said, softer, sorrowful.
“No, he doesn’t,” Ami said. She didn’t bother shouting. She was the only non-immortal present. Any shouting on their part was for her benefit.
“Ami?” Sarah said, voice brightening with hope.
“Yes.”
“Oh, thank goodness. Darnell said you were okay, but ...”
Marcus turned to Roland. “Why isn’t she coming inside?”
Roland’s features tightened. “Because she doesn’t think she’s welcome, asshole.”
Marcus shifted uncomfortably, then crossed to the front door and opened it. “Come in, Sarah.”
So much shame and regret shadowed Sarah’s pretty features as she eased inside and eyed Marcus that Ami hurried to close the distance between them and threw her arms around the other woman.
“Thank you so much, Sarah.”
Sarah hugged her tight. “I’m so sorry I left you.”
“I’m glad you did. You did exactly
what I hoped you would. You got Marcus and Roland to safety.”
“I thought I was leaving you there to die.”
“You were,” Marcus spoke behind Ami.
Ami lashed out and unerringly found Marcus’s shin with the heel of her boot.
“Ow! You didn’t let me finish,” he sulked.
“Then finish,” Roland rumbled, the low tones laden with warning.
Marcus looked at Sarah. “Thank you for saving my life. Again. And for saving Roland’s.”
Moisture welled in Sarah’s hazel eyes. “I’m so sorry, Marcus.”
He opened his arms. “Come here.”
Small shoulders slumping, Sarah stepped into the hug.
“It was an impossible decision,” he conceded.
Ami thought that was probably as close as he could get to telling her she had made the right one. He would always put Ami’s life before his own.
Roland shifted from foot to foot, then stomped forward. “All right. All right.” He took Sarah’s arm and pulled her away from Marcus. “Enough. You forgive her. It’s over.”
Ami bit her lip to suppress a smile.
“Not quite,” Marcus said. “I want you both to promise me here and now that, should a situation arise in the future that would require you to choose between my life and Ami’s, you will choose Ami’s.”
“No way,” Ami objected.
Marcus met and held Roland’s gaze. “Promise me you’ll protect her.”
Roland nodded. “You have my word.”
Sarah’s brow furrowed. “I promise.” Ami knew she must be hoping she would never again have to make such a choice.
Marcus smiled, once more the amiable warrior she loved. “Then we’re good. What’s going on with the d’Alençons?”
Sarah curled her arm around her husband’s waist. “Étienne and Lisette are still groggy, but getting stronger. Richart finally called in and said he’s in the same condition.”
Marcus closed the front door and motioned them over to the living room. “What happened to him? Where did he go?”
“The drug screwed with his gift,” Roland said as he sat in Marcus’s favorite armchair and pulled Sarah down on his lap, “made him get his wires crossed. You know how your thoughts were all over the place right before you passed out?”
“Yeah.”
When Ami sat on the sofa, Marcus sank down beside her and looped an arm around her shoulders.
“Mine were the same way. So were Richart’s. Except, when Richart had a stray thought regarding a certain human woman, he unexpectedly found himself standing in her living room instead of teleporting Ami to safety.”
Marcus’s eyes widened. “What?”
Ami gasped. “Did she know he wasn’t human?”
“No, but she does now.”
Marcus grunted. “Who is this woman? I didn’t know Richart was seeing anyone.”
“More stalking than seeing,” Roland muttered.
Sarah elbowed him in the ribs. “Apparently he’s been drawn to her for some time.”
“He actually blushed when he admitted it,” Roland drawled. “Can you believe it?”
Ami found the notion of a two-hundred-year-old warrior blushing over a woman rather charming.
“He’s been a little hesitant to act on his feelings,” Sarah went on, “because of the whole Immortal Guardian thing. And we don’t know who she is. He won’t say. He’s afraid Chris will frighten her in his determination to gain her consent not to reveal what she knows to anyone.”
Roland snorted. “I don’t blame him. When I met Sarah, I threatened to kill Reordon if he came near her.”
Sarah looked at him with surprise. “You did?”
“Yes.”
She smiled and ran a finger along his jaw. “Ohhh. That’s so sweet.”
An adorably sappy smile slid across the dour immortal’s face.
Marcus squeezed Ami’s shoulder and leaned down to murmur in her ear, “I see why the Sectas think we’re a tad bloodthirsty.”
She laughed.
“Who are the Sectas?” Roland asked.
Marcus shook his head. “Inside joke.”
Marcus tensed when a large figure suddenly appeared in the foyer.
Sarah emitted a squeak of surprise, then sighed.
Garbed in dusty, sweat-stained khakis, Seth swayed with weariness. His already tan skin had been darkened by hours in the sun. At least what little of it Marcus could see beneath the grime.
The immortal leader’s long raven hair was pulled back into a braid that hadn’t been tended to in some time. Long, tangled strands fell about his face. So much dirt and dust powdered his hair that it appeared gray.
Beside Marcus, Ami sat up straight. “Seth?”
Seth blinked and looked their way. “Ami.” He took a step toward them. “I came as soon as I heard. Are you okay?”
Nodding, she jumped up and hurried over to him.
Seth wrapped long arms around her and hugged her tight. He was so much taller than Ami that he couldn’t even rest his chin atop her head without bending. “Are you sure?”
She nodded.
Much to his relief, Marcus felt no jealousy toward the other man, not after learning the role Seth had played in saving Ami.
“Are you okay?” Ami asked, her words muffled by his clothes.
He nodded. “Just tired. David sends his love. He wanted to come, but time is a factor.”
She drew back. “Have you been able to save any?”
“Not enough,” he professed, face grim. “Thousands are missing and feared dead.”
“Come sit down,” she urged.
Marcus scooted over to the far end of the sofa, making room so Ami could sit beside him with Seth on the other side of her.
Seth nodded to Roland and Sarah. “Just so we’re clear,” he said, “this isn’t going to happen again.”
“What isn’t?” Ami asked with a frown.
“Your being taken.” He speared the others with a glare. “Ami is to be protected at all costs.”
Marcus stopped himself just short of punching the air and shouting, Yes!
If Seth ordained it, it would be done.
“Seth!” Ami objected. “You can’t just—”
“Even if it means risking exposure to the humans,” Seth clarified, “you are to do everything in your power to prevent Ami from falling into the hands of our enemies.”
Sarah nodded, once more looking guilty as hell. Marcus wished her entrance into the Immortal Guardians’ ranks had taken place during less onerous times.
Roland said nothing, just shot Marcus a look that asked him what the hell was going on that he hadn’t been told.
“Roland,” Seth said, “you and Sarah go ahead and begin the night’s hunt. The vampires lost dozens last night. I’m sure their king has instructed them to replenish their numbers as quickly as possible. Sebastien, Yuri, and Stanislav will patrol for Lisette and her brothers. I don’t want them fighting again until they’re at full strength. Reordon notified the immortals in surrounding states of the situation and put them on alert as well.”
Marcus met his gaze over Ami’s head. “Did he warn them about the drug?”
“Yes. The network is already working on combatting this new development in two ways: with protective clothing the dart can’t penetrate—”
“Too constrictive,” Marcus and Roland both protested at the same time.
“It will have to do until they succeed in the other. They’re also trying to develop an adrenaline-like injection to counter the drug.” He looked at Roland and Sarah. “Be careful.”
Nodding, the couple rose and left.
Seth turned his head and stared at Marcus with an intensity that grated. “She told you?”
“Yes,” Ami answered and took Marcus’s hand. “He knows I’m Lasaran. And you were right. He didn’t freak out.”
Marcus scowled at Seth. “No. I freaked out before she told me, when I thought she was a vampire. A little warning would h
ave been nice.”
Seth nodded. “I know. But my hands were tied. And it didn’t occur to me that you would draw that particular conclusion.”
Ami began to fidget. “Okay. I’m an alien. He knows it. He loves me. I love him. Let’s move on. There’s something you need to know about last night that we didn’t tell Chris.”
Seth frowned. “What?”
Ami’s fingers tightened around Marcus’s.
He knew she blamed herself for this and wished she wouldn’t.
“The drug the vampires used against the immortals is the same one developed by the men who held me captive.”
Seth’s eyes flared gold as a thunderclap split the air outside. “What?”
Marcus eyed the windows warily.
Ami nodded. “I’m sure it’s the same. It smelled the same and, when the vampire king ...” She frowned. “I hate calling him that. It’s so ridiculous. Anyway, when the vampire king shot me with one of the darts, it had the same effect as the drug they sometimes injected me with during their experiments.”
“That’s impossible. The only people we let live were the grunts who knew nothing about you. We destroyed the facility, and we destroyed all of the computers, servers, and files we didn’t steal.”
Marcus rejoiced in the knowledge that Ami’s torturers had all been killed. “Well, apparently they backed up their files at an offsite location. Do you have any idea how Montrose or the vampires might have hooked up with these guys?”
“No.” Seth ran a hand over his face, sighed, then cast Ami a reluctant look. “We’re going to have to bring Reordon into the loop.”
Ami tensed.
Marcus wrapped his arm around her and drew her close. “Is that absolutely necessary?” Because if Chris said anything to upset Ami, he would end up in the network’s intensive care unit.
“Yes, it is. You know Chris has friends in very interesting places. We need him to contact his men on the inside and connect the dots.”
Ami bit her lip. “Couldn’t you tell him the source of the drug without bringing me into it?”
Seth shook his head. “He needs to see the files and hard drives we took, sweetheart, if he’s going to determine Montrose’s involvement.”
“Then I want Marcus to see the files, too.”
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