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Authors: Dianne Duvall

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BOOK: Darkness Rises (Immortal Guardians)
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“Okay, but I don’t think you’re going to have any luck. Everyone I talk to says Roland is as stubborn as a mule.”
“And they’re right. But Seth and David will be there and might urge him along.”
“If you say so.”
“Maybe I’ll buy Sarah a new phone as a peace offering,” he mused.
“What happened to her old one?”
“I’m pretty sure Roland just destroyed it.”
“Yeah. Good luck changing his mind.”
 
 
“Come on, Roland,” Étienne urged. “Do it for
me
.”
Leaning against the bar that separated David’s dining room and kitchen, Roland crossed his arms over his chest. “And I owe you what?”
Richart, Jenna, Lisette, Tracy, Sheldon, and Cam formed a horseshoe around them. Ethan, Edward, Yuri, Stanislov, and their four Seconds stood just behind them and watched over their shoulders.
Étienne swore silently. “Then do it for Krysta.”
“And I owe
her
what?”
Patience fraying, Étienne gestured to Jenna and Richart. “You turned Jenna for Richart.”
“I turned Jenna because she’s my descendant.”
Cam looked at Jenna and Richart. “Is
that
why Richart keeps calling you Gramps?”
Roland glared daggers at Richart.
“How do you know Krysta isn’t your descendant?” Étienne asked. It was a stretch, but . . .
“Because I keep track of them,” Roland responded.
Sarah stood sentinel beside her husband and frowned at their audience. “You see? I told you he has a big heart. He’s been watching over them all this time.”
“Keeping track isn’t the same as watching over them,” Roland murmured.
Sarah elbowed him. “Give me my moment, honey. I’m defending you.”
He smiled.
“Roland,” Étienne said, “you must understand my position. I want Krysta to be as strong as possible so she’ll be as safe as possible.”
“I’m an Immortal Guardian,” Roland said, unmoved. “I hunt and destroy vampires. I am
not
a transformer.”
A few snickers sounded.
Étienne growled in frustration and dragged his hands through his hair.
Marcus smiled and shook his head as he looked at the immortals around him. “I told you not to fuck with him. What if
you’re
the next one who falls in love with a
gifted one?
Wouldn’t you want
him
to transform her, as Étienne does, so she would be stronger and safer? You all just screwed yourselves for a laugh.”
That sobered them up. As many immortals as there had been falling in love lately, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
“I’ll do it,” Sarah said.
Roland’s head snapped around. “What?”
She shrugged. “I’ll do it. I’m as strong and as fast as you are.”
“Awesome!” Sheldon exclaimed, drawing everyone’s gaze. “Chick-on-chick action!”
Cam popped him on the back of the head.
Étienne rolled his eyes and returned his attention to Sarah. “I appreciate the offer, but you aren’t a healer.”
“Oh. Right. I was thinking of the strength part and forgot it might be because he’s a powerful healer.”
Seth and David entered from the kitchen, carrying huge platters of baked cornish hens and filling the room with a mouthwateringly delicious aroma.
Étienne abandoned trying to convince Roland and turned to Seth. “Couldn’t
you
transform her, Seth?”
“No.” He placed the platter on the ever-growing dining table and turned to face them. “Nor can David.”
David nodded as he did the same.
“Why?”
“We’re older and more powerful than all of you,” Seth reminded him. “We don’t know which of those factors—age or being a powerful healer—causes immortals turned by Roland to be stronger than expected. However, since David and I possess both, chances are excellent that Krysta would be as strong and as powerful as we are if one of us transformed her.”
Sarah arched an eyebrow. “So? What’s wrong with that?”
Jenna crossed her arms over her chest and nodded, chin rising.
“Don’t even go there,” Seth said. “It isn’t a misogynistic thing. I don’t know a single immortal male who isn’t drawn to strong women.”
“Yourself included?” Sarah asked.
“Of course.”
“You hear that, ladies?” she said, a speculative gleam entering her eyes. “We need to find Seth a good, strong woman.”
The women responded with amusing enthusiasm.
“Do you like your women tall or short?”
“Slender or full-figured?”
“She’ll have to be a
gifted one
, so she can be transformed.”
“Or an immortal. There are other female immortals, aren’t there?”
“I’m sure there are.”
“Hey, I bet we could get Chris to give us a list of them.”
“Or maybe we could ask around on the website. Is there a
Personals
section on the website? We could post a
single and looking for
ad for him.”
Seth turned a little green and looked to their husbands. “Um . . . a little help?”
The men raised their hands in a
What can we do? It’s out of our hands
gesture.
“Anyway,” Seth hurried to interrupt them. “We can’t have a youngster running around with the power we wield. I know we make it look easy, but David and I have had thousands of years to accustom ourselves to it and learn control.”
Étienne sighed. So much for Krysta being as strong as possible. He met her gaze and found excitement rather than disappointment there.
“Looks like it’s going to be you,” she said with a grin, adding several tiny hand claps. “Yay!”
He laughed and shook his head. “I’ll let you choose the time and place.”
“Actually,” David spoke up, “you should do it here, where I can be available to assist you.”
Sarah nodded. “He helped me when I transformed. I don’t remember much about it beyond being submerged in a bathtub full of ice and water with Roland and seeing David leaning over me, but I know he helped me.”
Krysta bit her lip. “How bad does this whole transformation thing get?”
Sarah came forward and stood next to her. “I’ll tell you all about it after dinner.”
“Thank you.”
The front door opened. Bastien, Melanie, and Sean entered.
Étienne took Krysta’s hand. “You really aren’t disappointed?”
She shook her head and squeezed his hand. “You know why I wanted it to be you.”
He did. And recalling it made him hard again, so he hurriedly escorted her to the table, where everyone gathered around to enjoy the sumptuous meal Seth and David had miraculously found time to prepare.
Chapter 16
As the meal drew to a close, Seth looked around the table. “Seconds, and Sean, I’d like you to leave us for a few moments. Please adjourn to the training room. You’ll find a selection of desserts and refreshments awaiting you. Spar. Gorge. Gossip. Do whatever makes you happy. We’ll let you know when our business here is concluded.”
Surprised looks were exchanged all around. Immortals visually consulted each other and found no answers as the Seconds rose, pushed their chairs close to the table, and headed for the hallway without comment.
Ami rose.
Seth touched her arm. “I’d like you to stay, sweetheart.”
Swallowing hard, she retook her seat.
Marcus wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her close.
Jenna cleared her throat. “I’m not sure what I should do here. I’m immortal, but I don’t hunt vampires yet, so . . . should I leave or stay?”
“Please, stay,” David said. “Your input will be particularly important in the matter we wish to discuss.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Really?” She glanced at Richart, who shrugged.
“Krysta,” Seth added. “You’ll be immortal within the week, so you may stay as well.”
“Darnell, you stay, too,” David continued.
Darnell nodded, then called to the others, “Close the doors to the basement and the training room so we won’t have to listen to Sheldon get his ass kicked.”
“Oh, ha ha,” Sheldon said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Wait. You meant in a sparring session, right?”
Cam nudged him along.
Étienne wondered what the hell was going on. Seth had never done this before. Seconds were
always
privy to the business of immortals. They needed to be aware of every threat in order to better serve and protect them. What could Seth not want them to know?
The door to the basement closed. Boots tromped down stairs. The door to the training room closed.
“What do you think is going on?” he heard Sheldon ask.
“They can hear you, genius,” Cam reminded him.
“Oh. Right.”
Richart sighed and rolled his eyes.
Soon conversation began to flow below. Movies. Books. The latest goings-on at the network.
Here at the table no one spoke.
The tension rose. All present, like Étienne, believed an ax was about to fall.
At last, Seth spoke. “A situation has arisen. Something unprecedented. Something that has left even David and I uncertain how to proceed.”
Roland shifted slightly. “I thought you two had seen and done it all.”
“So did we. What we discuss here will remain between those seated at this table. Do not share this with your Seconds or with any other mortal members of the network. Torture will not extract this information from immortals. It
will
, however, draw it from most mortals. Considering the many enemies we have faced in the last few years, we cannot take that risk.”
All nodded.
What the hell was Seth going to tell them?
“I’ve misled you. I did it intentionally for the reason I just disclosed. I have kept from you a secret that was not my own to share and intended to keep it from you longer, but circumstances have eliminated any further hope of maintaining silence.”
Roland leaned forward. “Any secret you share with us will be guarded with our lives. Should anyone here betray you, I will take care of him or her myself.”
The pledge may have surprised everyone present, but none doubted the veracity of it. Roland may be antisocial and grumble, but he could be ruthless when defending a loved one and was a man any warrior would feel fortunate to have guarding his back.
“Thank you.”
A faint thumping began to distract Étienne. It took him a moment to realize it was the heel of Ami’s boot striking the floor as her knee bobbed up and down.
She stilled as everyone looked at her. “I’m sorry. I’m nervous.”
Marcus glared daggers at everyone.
Hell
. This was going to be big, wasn’t it?
“As you know, Ami was a primary target of Emrys, who gained knowledge of her association with us through Montrose Keegan, then passed that knowledge along to Donald and Nelson.”
All nodded.
“Because mercenaries who may be linked to Donald and Nelson’s group have risen against us, I feel compelled to explain why it is more important than ever that we keep Ami out of their hands.”
It
was
unusual to order immortals to risk their lives to protect Seconds instead of the other way around. Immortals were very rare in the greater scheme of things, so the loss of even one had great impact.
Richart frowned. “Why did they want her so badly before? Did they find out she’s a
gifted one?
”
Seth leaned forward. “Ami is not a
gifted one
. She’s an extraterrestrial.”
Étienne stared at him blankly.
And he wasn’t the only one.
“She’s from another planet,” Seth clarified.
Dead silence.
Ami nibbled her lower lip. Marcus . . . was preparing to kill them all by the looks of his darkening features.
“That is so cool,” Krysta said, daring to speak first.
Étienne glanced over and found her staring at Ami with a combination of awe and delight.
“What planet are you from?” she asked.
Across from Ami, Sarah nodded. “Are you from Jupiter? Because I’ve always wanted to know what’s at the center of that big-ass storm.”
Some of the anxiety left Ami’s face, replaced by a tentative smile. “No, I’m from a planet called Lasara in another solar system. But I can tell you what’s in the storm on Jupiter.”
Seth held up a hand. “Let’s save that for later.”
Roland leaned forward. “Are there others from your world here?” His gaze remained on Marcus, though he spoke to Ami.
If either immortal were telepathic, Étienne would swear the two were silently communicating.
Then again, they
had
known each other for eight hundred years. Speech may no longer be necessary.
Ami shook her head. “No.”
“
Will
there be others?”
“No.”
Étienne felt Krysta tug his hand and listened to her thoughts.
She’s all alone? Do you think she crashed?
I don’t know.
A slew of questions leapt from lips all around the table.
David cleared his throat. “Your questions can wait. And, if Ami isn’t comfortable answering them, I trust none of you will press her.”
In other words, leave her the hell alone. Message received. Ami wasn’t comfortable discussing her origins. Not surprising, considering she had been tortured by the humans who had captured her. Or, at least, he assumed Emrys and his men had captured her.
That also explained why they had pretty much dissected her, taking advantage of her regenerative capabilities to learn everything they could about her alien race, the bastards.
“There’s more,” Seth said, face somber.
More?
Everyone gave him their full attention.
“Ami is pregnant.”
Several immortals gasped.
Sarah’s face lit up. “Oh, my gosh! Congratulations!” She started to jump up, intending to run around the table and embrace the couple, but Roland stopped her.
Étienne peeked at her thoughts and caught her confusion, then her understanding.
Krysta squeezed his hand.
Is this as bad as I think it is?
Yes.
He felt for Marcus. No wonder he had been so tense lately.
They don’t know how the virus will affect the baby?
Right.
Or what will happen with the whole human and alien DNA combining thing?
Gifted one
and alien DNA. Yes.
“Jenna,” Melanie said. “You’re the only immortal we know of who has ever had a baby, so I would appreciate your input as I guide Ami through her pregnancy.”
Jenna nodded. “Of course. I don’t know how much help I’ll be though.”
Bastien spoke up. “Did you cramp when you were pregnant?”
“Yes. Throughout most of the pregnancy.”
“How severe were the cramps?” he pressed.
She thought for a moment. “They were like mild menstrual cramps. In fact, for the first two weeks I was pregnant, I kept thinking I was about to get my period and didn’t realize I was pregnant. So they were more annoying than painful. Nothing that would make me reach for pain relievers or anything.” She grimaced and glanced around the table. “I’m sorry. Is that too much information?”
“No.” Bastien turned to Melanie and raised his eyebrows.
She smiled. “I know. I know. You’re brilliant.” Bastien brilliant? Must be an inside joke. “Thank you, Jenna.”
Nodding, Jenna turned to Ami. “Congratulations, Ami. How bad is the nausea?”
Ami grimaced. “Pretty bad.”
“I’m surprised you made it through dinner.”
“I almost didn’t. The smell of most food tends to make me gag.”
Jenna nodded. “I was the same way. I threw up half a dozen times a day sometimes in my early weeks.”
Some of Marcus’s tension eased. “That’s normal?”
“Sure. It—”
“Is Ami infected with the virus?” Roland interrupted.
Marcus met his gaze once more. “No.”
Melanie shook her head. “I’ve found no trace of it in her blood.”
“If she
were
infected,” Roland asked, “would she turn immortal or vampire?”
“We have no way of knowing,” Seth answered.
Somber stares all around. So she couldn’t be transformed.
“If you’re worrying about me growing old, dying, and leaving Marcus alone in a few decades . . .” Ami began.
Yes, they were. Marcus had come very close to the edge after losing a woman he had loved for eight centuries. Like Étienne, everyone present feared what losing Ami would do to him.
“Then don’t,” she continued. “My race is very long-lived. It will take me centuries just to get my first gray hair.”
Their time together would still be finite, but at least they would have centuries rather than decades.
“Ami and the baby are both doing well,” Seth announced.
Thus far
went unspoken. “I trust you understand now why I want Ami to be protected at all costs?”
Everyone nodded. This
was
unprecedented. Étienne didn’t remember ever having heard of an immortal female giving birth
or
an immortal male fathering a child with a mortal. And he
would
have heard it if it had happened.
“Then you also understand why she will not be aiding us in tracking down the mercenaries this time.”
“Of course,” Roland voiced, and glared at everyone else until they nodded or said the same.
Antisocial, but loyal. Roland was going to be protective as hell of that baby once it was born.
If
it was born.
Étienne silently prayed that all would be well with Ami’s pregnancy and that she would give birth to a healthy babe. She had suffered tremendously at the hands of Emrys and his doctors. He hated to think of her suffering more.
Seth thanked them for their discretion and for forgiving his deception. (It had been Seth who had told them all Ami was a
gifted one
.) He then wished them all happy hunting.
Every immortal present, save Seth and David, hugged Marcus and Ami and congratulated them before seeking out their Seconds.
Étienne hugged Ami, then Marcus, slapping him on the back.
Krysta smiled down at Ami. “Are you having any weird cravings? Can we pick something up for you while we’re out hunting?”
Étienne’s chest swelled with what he could no longer deny was love for her.
Ami smiled and shook her head. “I’ve really been having a hard time keeping anything down. Anything but lollipops, that is. They seem to be the only sweets I can tolerate.”
“Lollipops it is,” Krysta promised with a smile.
Étienne and Krysta moved away as Jenna hugged Ami and started to chat her up.
“When do you want me to transform you?” he asked as they sought out Cam to let him know they were leaving.
“Tonight?” she asked hopefully.
He nodded. “Let’s let David know before we leave.”
A few minutes later, calling good hunting to those within, Étienne and Krysta stepped out into the night. As they crossed to his car, Étienne glimpsed Roland and Marcus within the shadows of the forest that surrounded the drive.
Roland dragged Marcus into a rough hug.
Marcus’s hands clenched into fists on Roland’s back, knuckles showing white. His mind was full of what-ifs. And all were terrifying.
Roland’s mind was full of the same, along with a heavy dose of concern for his friend and . . . guilt. Roland was keeping something from him.
Étienne frowned. Who the hell was Zach? And what did he have to do with Ami and Lisette?
“Where do you want to hunt tonight?” Krysta asked, unaware that they weren’t alone.
Étienne hastily looked away from the duo before Roland could catch him staring. Opening the car door, he waited for Krysta to slide inside. “Let’s try UNCG.” Lisette had been hunting there of late.
“Okay. Let’s pick up Ami’s lollipops on the way so we won’t forget.”
“Sure.” He closed the door. Strolling around to the driver’s side, he glanced at the forest and discovered the elder immortals were gone.
 
 
They only encountered three vampires that night. All were insane. So all were destroyed.
Étienne was unharmed in the brief battle. Krysta barely earned a scratch. Yet they both bore their fair share of bloodstains when they returned to David’s home and claimed what Étienne called a quiet room in the basement.
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