Darkness Rises(128)

Seth delved into their minds. Was it a hard drive? A laptop? A hidden backup server? An e-mail? What had they missed? How had Donald and Nelson rediscovered vampires and immortals and begun the hunt anew?
When Seth found the answer, shock seized him.
“What is it?” David asked, brow crinkling with concern.
“It isn’t possible,” he whispered.
“What isn’t?”
Seth met his gaze. “Their memories have been restored.”
David stared at him, the same disbelief Seth felt writing itself upon his face. “That’s not possible.”
“It shouldn’t be. We buried them ourselves.” So deeply the memories could never have surfaced again on their own. Nor with drugs. Nor with hypnosis. Not even manifested in dreams.
“Humans lack the ability to accomplish such a task on their own,” David said.
“Yes.” Rage began to simmer within him.
“Such could only be accomplished . . .”
“With the help of an immortal,” Seth finished for him, speaking the unimaginable.
Had one of their own turned against them?
David looked at the mercenaries in question. “Can you see who did it?”
The mercenaries’ faces contorted with pain as Seth ruthlessly tore through their memories.
“No.”
“We can’t let them live.”
Seth agreed. They had only let the mercenaries live before because their PMC was elite enough that Chris had feared the deaths of both men might draw too much scrutiny. But they had no choice now. No human with any memory of this operation could be allowed to live.
Seth stopped the men’s hearts.
David let them fall to the floor.
An immortal had aided the enemy.
The building around them began to tremble as Seth’s control slipped, succumbing to the fury and, yes, hurt, swelling within him.
A clap of thunder split the night. Then another. Cracks opened in the walls. Sheetrock fell from the ceiling.
David reached out and rested a hand on Seth’s shoulder.
They stared at each other.
Calm seeped into him from David’s touch, dampening some of the fury.
Seth took several deep breaths.
The building stilled.
Utter silence reigned outside for several long minutes.
Gradually, work and conversation resumed.
David shook his head. How could any immortal betray you like this?
Betray us, Seth corrected, feeling sick. Whoever it is has betrayed us all, put us all in danger.
After you helped him adjust to his new way of life and did a thousand other things to improve his existence and foster happiness and contentment.
Or her.
David looked as ill as Seth felt.
Boots struck linoleum, carrying someone up the hallway toward them.
They faced the doorway just as Chris stopped in it, garbed in black and carrying an automatic weapon. “Everything okay?” he asked tentatively. Only he would have the balls to approach them now.
Seth nodded as David dropped his hand.
Wise man that he was, Chris said nothing of the thunder and tremors that had resulted from Seth’s slip. “All is secure. The compound is ours and we’ve already begun the cleanup.” As his gaze strayed to the three dead men, he swore. “So it was them. How the hell did they regain the information? What did we miss?”
“Nothing,” Seth said, unable to tell him yet that they had been betrayed by one of their own.
Chris scowled. “What do you—?”
“Later,” David said with a shake of his head.
Chris looked from David to Seth and gave a slow nod. “Sure.”
The walkie on his shoulder squawked. Chris mumbled something into it as he left and retraced his steps up the hallway.
Silent, Seth and David followed and stepped through the hole in the front of the building.#p#分页标题#e#
The air outside was heavy with the scents of smoke and death. The helicopter Krysta had crashed still burned. Network guards carted bodies to the hangars. More walked the fence and manned the gated entryway. The immortals . . .
The immortals clustered together about twenty yards away, smiling and laughing as Krysta recounted Étienne’s antics in the hangar. Some partook of the blood Chris had brought them. None were sorely wounded. All gave the appearance of being relaxed and pleased with the victory they had achieved.
Normally, Seth would join them, slapping backs and congratulating them on a job well done.
Tonight, however . . .
Tonight he knew that one of them had betrayed him.
How could any of them be working against us? David murmured mentally.
I don’t know, Seth said, already dreading the punishment he would have to deliver.

Chapter 20
The next day, Seth stood outside Lisette’s home, procrastinating.
The sun clung to the center of the sky, no clouds creeping past to obscure its light. Birds twittered. Squirrels scuttled about in the detritus, looking for goodies.