Darkness Rises(113)

His hand heated, warm and comforting. A tingling feeling engulfed her, part pleasure and part pain, beginning in her chest and sweeping down her arms to her fingers, down her torso to her thighs, calves, and toes. Misshapen bullets emerged from her flesh. Bleeding ceased. Wounds closed. Bones shattered by bullets fused themselves back together. Her collapsed lung reinflated. Her breathing grew easier. The pain receded, then vanished entirely.
He removed his hand from her chest, curling it into a loose fist, then rubbing his thumb against his fingers as though touching her had made him tingle.
She sat up, but didn’t move away. Just to double check, she pulled the neckline of her sticky shirt away from her body and peered down through it at her bare chest and bra-encased breasts. No wounds. Only dried blood.
She let the material fall back against her and stared up at him, too tired to attempt to stand yet. He had healed her wounds, but severe blood loss still rendered her weak.
A shiver shook her.
He unfurled his beautiful wings and cupped them around her like a tent, keeping the breeze at bay.
“Who are you?” she asked when she could find her voice. “Really?”
“Zach,” he said simply.
“That only tells me your name, not who you are.”
He shrugged. “Seth calls me Cousin.”
“You’re Seth’s cousin?” Merde. He really was an elder. She had never heard of any immortal other than David being so close to their leader in age. Or who may actually be able to match his power.
And that had been quite a power display, killing the mercenaries without even touching them.
“Why have I never heard of you?” she asked. “Why don’t you ever come inside when you visit David’s? Why do you keep your presence a secret?”
“Neither Seth nor David would want me there.”
“Why? Did you have a falling-out?”#p#分页标题#e#
He seemed to weigh his words. “Seth and I chose different paths when we were still young men and disagreed with each other’s choices.”
David would have, of course, taken Seth’s side. He and Seth were like brothers.
“Are you enemies?” She was pretty sure she would have heard about it if this man had been actively trying to kill Seth or wage war with him.
“No.”
Just no. Nothing more.
She had a feeling she wasn’t going to get anything more specific than that, but tried anyway. “So, you’re immortal, but don’t lead the life of an Immortal Guardian? You don’t hunt vampires or have a Second?”
“Correct.”
“Until tonight.”
“Technically, I let you slay the vampires, then took care of the mercenaries when you faltered.”
And saved her life. Had he not stepped in when he did, the mercenaries would have captured her. “So you intervened where, in the past, you would not have.”
He hesitated. “Yes.”
“Why?”
He clenched and unclenched his jaw. “I couldn’t let them take you.”
“Why?”
His brow furrowed. “I don’t know.”
If she didn’t need blood so badly just then, she was sure her heart would have begun to beat faster.
Had he veered from his chosen path for her?
“You need blood,” he pointed out.
She nodded, a shock of excitement darting through her at the idea of leaning into him, pressing against that wide, muscled, bare chest, and touching her lips to his neck.
“I can’t give you mine,” he said, his deep voice full of . . . regret?
“Okay.” What the hell was she doing? Was she attracted to him? A man who had freely admitted he was at odds with Seth, the wisest man she knew and to whom she owed her life and allegiance?
Snapping out of it, she fumbled with her coat, seeking the right pocket and—fingers tangling in a couple of holes—managed to draw out her cell phone.
Or what was left of it. A bullet had forged a hole through it on its way to her liver.
Wonderful.
“May I borrow your phone?” she asked. “I need to call my Second.” Tracy could take care of notifying Chris that a cleanup crew was needed and have Richart bring Lisette some much-needed blood.
“I don’t carry a phone.”
Okay. Plan B.
She looked at the lifeless mercenary bodies around them. Tucking them away, out of sight, seemed a monumental task as low on energy and strength as she was right now. And when her energy was low, her telepathic range diminished greatly.
Étienne? she called. Perhaps he and Krysta were hunting nearby.
Nothing. Étienne! I need you.
Still nothing.
Richart? She had an even smaller chance of contacting Richart because he couldn’t send his reply telepathically. He could only think it and hope she would pick up on it.