Night Unbound(25)

“He’s that powerful?”
She nodded. “You saw what he did with the vampires’ hearts.”
“Did he do that with the mercenaries?” A spark of malicious pleasure glinted in Ethan’s eyes at the notion. The mercenaries had been vicious men who had committed numerous atrocities, unconcerned by the innocents they killed in their quest to obtain the virus.
“No. He gave them all ruptured aneurisms. All but one of them.”
Ethan whistled beneath the handkerchief.
“That one he tagged for me. Then he summoned Seth. He was gone when Seth arrived, but Seth saw all that had happened in my thoughts. He told me not to mention Zach to anyone and later told me to stay away from him, but didn’t say why or even how he knew Zach.”
Brushing the handkerchief aside, Ethan drew her close and locked his strong arms around her in a tight hug. “I can’t believe I came so close to losing you and didn’t even know it.”
She hugged him back.
“Don’t ever do anything that stupid again,” he admonished, burying his face in her hair.
They held each other for a long moment. “Do you understand now?” she asked.
Withdrawing with some reluctance, he stared down at her. “Why you’re helping Zach?”
She nodded.
“Yes, damn it,” he grumbled, the battle he waged within obvious. “At least you aren’t doing it because you think he has a nice ass.”
Lisette laughed and headed over to the area in which the vampires had fallen. Only their clothing, weapons, dental fillings, and watches remained. “I’m sorry he hurt you.”
Ethan grunted. “At the time, I thought he was just being a dick. But, after what you just told me, I think he might have actually been watching out for you, making sure Seth wouldn’t find out about all of this.” He picked up a nice-looking dagger, wiped it on one of the empty shirts, and tucked it into an inner pocket of his coat. “Why do you suppose Seth dislikes him so much?”
“I don’t know.” Lisette claimed the other dagger. “Zach mentioned once that they had chosen different paths a long time ago and disagreed over which was the right one.”
“What, like path of life kind of paths?”
“I don’t know.” She picked up a bloody pair of pants and started checking the pockets. “How’s your head?”
“Better. Is my nose still bleeding?”
She looked up. “No.”
“What are you doing anyway?”
“Trying to find some clue as to who the muscled vamps were. We’re going to have to call Chris about this.”
“I thought you didn’t want anyone to know.” He picked up another pair of pants and searched the pockets.
“Not about Zach. We’ll have to leave that part out of it.”
“No humans saw us. The mess is quick and easy to clean up. Toss the clothes in a Dumpster. Confiscate the weapons. Let the sprinkler system wash away the blood. No big deal. Why call at all?”
“Because Richart and I encountered a vampire like the big ones a couple of weeks ago.”
“You did? He could fight like these two?”
“Yes. I thought it a fluke at the time. You know how it goes. Not every vampire led a sedentary life before he was turned. Some actually trained in martial arts or boxed. But those are rare. To encounter three who matched us in skill in such a short time . . .”
“Is no accident,” he finished for her, brow furrowing. “Do you think another Bastien is raising a vampire army?”
Much to her surprise, Lisette found she disliked the comparison.
Sure Bastien had once been a villain. But he had redeemed himself since Seth had pretty much forced him into the fold. He had fought by their sides countless times. He had always been kind to Ami. Hell, he had even tested on himself the antidote Melanie had concocted to counteract the mercenaries’ sedative to ensure no other immortal would be harmed if it went really wrong. Without that antidote, the Immortal Guardians would have been screwed many times over.
And he had done Lisette a huge favor last night.
“Not another Bastien,” she corrected. “Bastien’s on our side now.”
Ethan sent her a crooked smile. “Won you over last night, did he?”
“He was already on his way to doing that before. I was just being stubborn because I liked Ewen.” The Scottish immortal Bastien had slain so long ago had been a friend to all.
“You said yourself that Ewen attacked him.”
She nodded. “I saw as much in Bastien’s thoughts. But I also saw Ewen die.”
“That sucks.”
She collected the lanky vampires’ flashy bowie knives. “Anyway, we may have another Dennis on our hands.”