Night Unbound(110)

“What the hell was that?” she panted.
“That,” he said, “is one of the perks of making love with an elder.”
Raising her head, she smiled down at him, her face still flushed with pleasure. “Why couldn’t you have found me two hundred years ago?”
Zach laughed and hugged her closer, never wanting to let her go.
 

 

Seth teleported to Melanie’s lab at network headquarters, his stomach full of dread. She and Bastien were there with Cliff, Stuart, and the five newer vampire recruits. All seemed on edge, and Seth soon ascertained why.
Out of sight, in one of the holding rooms, Aidan hurled constant curses at the top of his lungs and banged the hell out of . . . something.
“Good evening, Melanie,” Seth said.
When the room’s occupants turned to face him, every expression screamed, Finally!
“Hi, Seth,” Melanie greeted him with unconcealed relief. “Umm . . . your prisoner’s awake.”
“So I hear.” That had been fast.
Aidan’s voice quieted, but the loud clanging noises increased.
“He’s been a little loud,” Melanie said, the words carrying an apology. “It’s starting to irritate the vampires.”
“We passed irritated half an hour ago,” Cliff said. “Now we’re just pissed and want to kick his ass.”
“Yeah,” Stuart added. “Would you please shut that guy up? He’s giving me a headache. And I didn’t even know vampires could get headaches!”
Melanie muttered something indecipherable. “Do you want me to sedate him?”
“I’d be happy to knock the bastard out for you,” Bastien offered courteously. “No drug necessary.”
“Honey, you’ve said that like ten times since he woke up. You’re not helping.”
“I’ll take care of him,” Seth assured them.
Melanie smiled. “Thank you.”
Nodding to them, Seth stepped out into the hallway and followed the racket to a holding room several doors down.
No guards stood before it. Instead, they all congregated at the opposite end of the hallway in front of the elevator and the door to the stairwell.
Smart fellows. Mind control tended to require close proximity.
All nodded a greeting to Seth as he approached the holding room door. As promised, Chris had welded it shut.
Seth teleported inside.
He wasn’t sure what he had expected to find, but it wasn’t Aidan doing his damnedest to free himself.
The immortal appeared to be somewhat groggy. Though the effects of the drug had worn off enough for him to awaken, his telekinesis and other gifts seemed to be hampered.
That didn’t, however, dampen his determination to escape.
Zach had shackled each limb twice and bound Aidan to the wall with titanium chains the width of a muscular man’s biceps. Even if Aidan were strong enough to teleport, he couldn’t do so as long as he was connected to the wall without taking the entire building with him.
So Aidan had opted to remove the shackles.
Lacking the strength needed to break them and robbed of his telekinetic ability, he had instead broken what appeared to be every bone in his hands to force them through the two tight wrist cuffs on each side. Both arms were free, his hands a mangled mess only barely, sluggishly beginning to heal.
Now Aidan sat on a cement floor splattered with his own blood, trying to toe off his boots.
“You should have removed them before you broke your hands,” Seth said.
Aidan’s head snapped around. Leaping to his feet, he backed away and eyed Seth warily. Chain links rattled with his every movement. “You had me chained to the wall like a lowly vampire,” he accused.
“Dude,” Stuart said in the lab, “we can hear you.”
Aidan’s brow furrowed as he cast a fleeting glance at the door.
Seth studied him and wondered what truths would unfold in the coming minutes. Had loneliness stolen Aidan’s sanity despite the companionship of Seconds? Had bitterness driven him mad as Roland had suggested? Or was Aidan simply pissed? Seth didn’t recall ever having seen the Celt lose his temper.
“Well?” Seth said when the silence stretched. “Have you nothing to say to me?”
Aidan stiffened. “What are you waiting for? That bastard who captured me said you wished to kill me.”
“I thought I would let you have your say first. So talk while I’m still of a mind to let you.”
A moment passed. “Why didn’t you tell me an immortal was plotting against you?” Aidan asked.
Seth arched a brow and crossed his arms over his chest.
Aidan’s eyes flickered with something Seth thought might have been hurt. “How could you think it was me? After all the years we’ve known each other, how could you think I would betray you like that?”