Night Unbound(56)

“What does it mean?” Étienne asked.
Seth said nothing.
“Are these vampires men we’ve encountered in previous battles?” he pressed. “I know we let some humans live the first time we came up against Donald and Nelson, and you two buried their memories.”
“I don’t recognize them,” Seth said.
“Nor do I,” David pronounced.
“Only a telepath can bury memories,” Étienne said, “so a vampire couldn’t have done it.” Once more, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, every movement expressing unease. “Could there be another Bastien out there, Seth? Another gifted one whose transformation you missed?”
There were three phenomena Seth always felt internally, no matter how far away they took place. The birth of a gifted one produced a sort of breathless tingling sensation in his chest. The death of either a gifted one or an immortal provoked a feeling of emptiness. And the transformation of a gifted one into an immortal prompted a sick feeling of dread. If Seth focused on that dread, the individual’s fear and pain would serve as a beacon he could follow to track him or her down. While Seth had no control over the first two, he had always felt and followed the third, guiding each newly initiated immortal through the difficult transition and helping him understand his new existence.
With one exception: Bastien. So many immortals had been transformed that year, so many voices had called out to him, that Seth had somehow missed Bastien’s.
Or had it just been the one exception?
“I don’t know,” Seth responded at last.
A heavy silence descended upon them.
“I didn’t want to say anything in front of the others,” Étienne murmured.
David nodded. “We appreciate your discretion and will look into it.”
Étienne just seemed glad to end the conversation.
“Thank you,” Seth added. He teleported Étienne back to David’s study, then returned. “Could I have missed another one?” he asked David, dismayed by the thought. If he had missed two gifted ones’ transformations, how many others might there be? How many other immortals had lived their lives believing themselves vampires destined to descend into madness?
“No,” David answered, utter conviction in his voice. “Could Zach have returned?”
Seth shook his head. “Even the merest hint that Zach might defect as I did and meddle in mortal affairs would have made the Others shit their shorts. After his little deviation a few months ago, they will have taken him well in hand and won’t let him loose again. You can consider him under house arrest for the rest of eternity.”
“He couldn’t escape?”
“With so many eyes constantly monitoring him? I don’t see how.”
“Perhaps all eyes aren’t monitoring him.”
“What do you mean?”
“All of the Others are telepathic. Tampering with vampires’ memories would be child’s play for them. Perhaps one of them is guilty of raising this army.”
“To what end? You know how fanatical they are. The Others believe any interaction at all with humans is dangerous. It’s why they live in total isolation. They observe. They don’t act. They never act. They fear even the slightest contact with humans would interfere with the natural course of mankind and bring about not only their own destruction, but that of the world.”
“The irony, of course, is that if you had not strayed and dabbled in mortal affairs, vampires would have roamed unchecked and would have long since slain every human on the planet.”
“And brought about the end of the world. Or at least, would have ended humanity’s role in it. But the Others don’t see it that way and never will. They believe humans must make their own destiny. And have good reason to think thusly.”
“I admit they do.”
Seth shook his head. “When I abandoned the path we all chose, they spent years trying to capture me and force me back into the fold. And, when that didn’t happen, they spent years trying to kill me. And I was helping humans. The rest of them stayed true to their beliefs. Thousands of years have come and gone, and I was the only one who deviated.”
“Until Zach.”
“Until Zach.” Seth looked out over the darkened ocean. “If there is such a thing as lockdown mode where the Others reside, they will have instituted it for the long haul. I do not doubt that, even as we speak, Zach is being tortured for his defection. And all he did was unbury the memories of two men. He played no role in the rest of their game.”
“Well, whoever we are facing now isn’t just tampering with vampires’ memories. He’s raising and training the army himself. Choosing them himself. Infecting them himself.”