He heard the rumble of an approaching vehicle.
“Can they do that to you?” she asked and tightened her hold on him. “If they find you, can they drain your power and take you away from me?”
Yes, they could. And would, if he wasn’t careful.
Zach rested his chin on the top of her head and rubbed her back. “That isn’t going to happen, Lisette. I won’t let it.”
He had too much to lose.
Kidneythieves singing “Before I’m Dead” drew Lisette from slumber. She had been having the most marvelous dream about Zach. He had been laughing—his handsome face carefree, his manner playful—as he walked backward and tugged her after him through a forest. She had been laughing, too, but couldn’t remember why. Just that she had been happy to have his fingers curled around hers and awed by the brilliant rays of sunshine that streamed through the branches and dappled them with light.
Light that didn’t harm her.
Opening her eyes, she found herself stretched on her back on her bed at home. Naked. The covers bunched around her hips. Zach sprawled facedown beside her, pressed up against her side, his head on her chest, a heavy arm draped across her stomach.
“I’m going to kill whoever is on the other end of that line,” he muttered groggily.
“You’ll hear no complaint from me.” She fumbled for the phone she had placed on the bedside table.
“I was having the best dream,” he continued, voice gravelly from sleep.
She looked to see who was calling. Tracy.
“We were in a forest.” He snuggled closer.
Lisette smiled. “Were you holding my hand and pulling me after you?”
He lifted his head. “Yes.”
She winked at him. “I was there.”
He smiled, so damned irresistible with his hair tousled.
“What’s up?” she asked her Second.
“Chris has called another meeting. Everyone needs to be at David’s an hour after sunset.”
“Thanks. We’ll be there.” She returned her phone to the bedside table.
“Perhaps the vampire we tagged produced some fruitful intel.”
“I hope so.” She brushed his hair out of his eyes. “You’ve been pulling me into your dreams, haven’t you? Intentionally?”
He nodded. “I knew you missed the sun and wanted to share it with you.”
Her eyes burned as tears rose. “Thank you,” she whispered.
He brushed a kiss across her lips. “Anything for you.”
Chapter Eighteen
Immortal Guardians and their Seconds once more gathered around David’s long dining table. Ami’s chair remained empty as the coma, as Dr. Kimiko and Melanie now called it, continued to hold her in its grasp.
Was this, Lisette wondered, what it had been like for the others when she had been trapped in that awful darkness? The waiting. The wondering. The worrying.
They had at least had some hope that the drug would eventually wear off in Lisette’s case. With Ami, none knew what to expect, because none were certain what was causing her coma. Every day that she lay unresponsive, hope suffered another blow. When she had been gravely wounded early in her relationship with Marcus, she had completely recovered within twenty-four hours without any help from Seth or David, her alien DNA having given her incredible regenerative capabilities.
Now, even their aid seemed incapable of returning her to them.
Roland and Sarah had coaxed a weary Marcus into leaving his wife’s side long enough to attend the meeting. Linda now sat with Ami in his stead.
Seated at the table, Marcus cradled his infant daughter to his chest.
Lisette didn’t think she had seen him set the babe down once other than to change her nappy, something for which Jenna had praised him endlessly.
I loved John’s father, Jenna had said, but that boy wouldn’t have changed a dirty diaper if someone had offered him a million dollars to do it.
Marcus had exhibited no such reluctance, though he had been pretty intimidated by the babe’s tiny size the first few times.
His daughter stirred and opened her eyes, a beautiful green like her mother’s.
Beside Marcus, Roland smiled and reached over to cup the soft, downy head in his large hand and give it a gentle stroke. He alone, of all the men present, had had children in his mortal life.
Lisette thought she detected a certain wistfulness in his dark eyes and wondered if he were wishing he and Sarah could have a child together.
Zach squeezed Lisette’s hand under the table. I’m sorry we can’t have a baby.
She smiled up at him. Me too. Immortal Guardian couples had never been able to conceive children.
Conversation floated around the table.
Only David and Seth were absent. David remained in the infirmary, channeling healing energy into Ami until the meeting began. Seth was . . .