Darkness Rises(61)

Chris waved his hands. “It doesn’t matter who saved whose ass. The point is every mortal poses a threat. Especially now. If you don’t let me interro—ah, interview these women, you place everyone in danger, because sooner or later someone always trusts the wrong person.”
“True,” Seth murmured.
“Ah hah!” Richart blurted at the same time. “You were going to say interrogate! I knew it! That’s why I kept Jenna a secret!”
Chris swore beneath his breath as Roland and Étienne both nodded. “Okay, maybe, in the past, I might have been a tad harsh when ensuring that an immortal’s lover could be trusted. But can you blame me? Look what happened to Mattheus.”
“Who the hell is Mattheus?” Roland grumbled.
“Mattheus got screwed?” Tracy said. “That sucks. He’s so hot.”
“Who’s Mattheus?” Sheldon seconded.#p#分页标题#e#
“He’s an immortal from Brazil,” Chris said. “His mortal lover, whom he thought was completely trustworthy, videotaped them having sex—”
“Awesome!” Sheldon interjected with a grin.
Everyone looked at him.
“What? I like porn.”
Still they stared.
He frowned. “I have to give up booze, parties, and porn? Can’t a Second have any vices?”
Chris sighed. “Anyway. She videotaped them having sex and intended to auction it off to news outlets once it had been authenticated by an expert who would swear the glowing eyes, fangs, and . . . ah . . . unusual speed and other things demonstrated were not special effects produced by a post-production house.”
“Maybe they were,” Sheldon suggested somberly. “Maybe she was out to discredit him. I think we should all watch it and—”
“The tape has been destroyed,” Seth cut in.
“Damn.” Sheldon slumped down in his seat.
Chris met Richart’s gaze. “Anytime you want me to get rid of him . . .”
Richart shook his head. “He amuses me.”
“Chris does have a point,” Seth said, returning to the subject at hand.
At the opposite end of the table, David nodded. “We have seen it countless times. This is a lonely existence that can sometimes drive us to trust where we should not.”
“Chris,” Seth continued, “perhaps if you allowed the immortal to be present when you met with his lover, he would no longer feel wary of your possible treatment of her.”
“Or him,” Lisette tossed in.
Étienne raised his eyebrows.
“What? I can’t date?”
“Fine,” Chris said. “If any of you acquire a lover with whom you wish to share the truth, you can be present when I meet with her. But I do need to meet with her. Or him. If you’d consent to a telepath being present or listening in from the next room, all the better.”
When no one spoke, Seth spoke for them. “They’ll take it into consideration.” The casual words carried the weight of an order. “Is that all, Chris?”
“For now, yes.”
Seth turned to Étienne. “So?”
“So?” he repeated.
David leaned forward and braced his elbows on the table. “Tell us what happened last night.”
 

 

Étienne hesitated. He wasn’t sure how to tell them without explaining Krysta’s role in it. And he thought it best to minimize that as much as possible.
No one seemed to have caught her reference to their hunting together. They had all been too titillated by the idea that he had been hiding away a girlfriend.
Which, as she had pointed out, was not to say that Krysta was his girlfriend.
You’re rambling, David spoke in his head.
Étienne shot him a glance. Much to his surprise, the elder immortal seemed amused. No, I’m not.
Yes, you are, Seth said.
Is everyone listening to my thoughts? he demanded with exasperation. His barriers were usually stronger than that.
No, just us, David answered.
Go ahead and tell them what happened, Seth advised. We’ve already gleaned it.
Étienne leaned forward and braced his elbows on the table. “I was out hunting with Krysta—”
“Wait,” Chris interrupted. “You two really do hunt together?”
Étienne looked at Krysta, who shrugged. “In a manner of speaking.”
Chris threw up his hands. “Okay. Another point of business. Most of the immortals at this table are at least a hundred years old, so I didn’t think I had to remind any of you of this, but you cannot recruit your own Seconds. All Seconds must be assigned by the network, which thoroughly vets and trains them. What the hell, Étienne?”
Now Krysta leaned forward. “I’m not a Second.”