All waited with bated breath.
Seth held out a hand, palm facing out in a just stay calm motion, and slowly backed toward the vampires. Kneeling, he placed a hand on the first vamp’s blood-soaked head.
Minutes ticked past. Seth touched the other, every second he took to scan them seeming an hour, then rose.
“You see?” Zach demanded, the two words filled with wrath.
Seth shared another look with David. “What have you done to Lisette, Zach?”
“Watched over her. Tried to protect her when you wouldn’t.”
That arrow hits its mark.
David’s eyes lost their glow.
Seth’s dimmed. “What happened tonight?”
“Lisette and I went hunting together.”
Seth opened his mouth.
“That’s right! Together!” Zach bellowed before Seth could speak. “Did you think I was going to leave her unprotected while you pissed away your time and let the vampire army grow in strength and numbers? Let them get their shit together? Let them nearly capture her?”
All Ethan could do was watch with wide eyes and think, Shit!
“The two of you were hunting,” David said, his voice so full of calm it made Ethan feel better just to hear it. “What happened next?”
“We took on a dozen of the new breed of vampires. I thought with me at her back she would be safe. But . . .”
“You can defeat a dozen vampires without lifting a weapon,” Seth pointed out.
“Killing one or two with a thought wouldn’t draw any notice. But the kind of power it would take to kill a dozen would have alerted the Others to my location. If they found out about her, learned what she means to me—”
“You just exerted more power than that here.”
“They’ll assume it was you.”
“Fuck this,” Ethan blurted when he could stand it no longer, and clambered to his feet. “We don’t have time for if-I-woulda-coulda-shouldas. What’s wrong with Lisette?”
Zach swallowed, nostrils flaring, moisture rising in his eyes. “I can’t wake her.” He clutched Lisette closer, rubbed his chin across her hair. “Her presence in my mind vanished, and when I turned around . . . she was falling.”
Seth took a step forward. “Give her to me.”
“Fuck you! I’m not letting you anywhere near her! Not after that little conversation you had with her.” His gaze circled the room. “Do your Immortal Guardians all know you accused her of collaborating with the vampires?”
Richart’s and Étienne’s heads snapped toward Seth. “What?” they both demanded.
Ethan stared at Seth.
Seth’s face remained impassive. “If you don’t want me near her, why did you bring her to me?”
“I didn’t.” Zach looked at Melanie. “I came here for you.” His gaze shifted to Bastien. “And for you.”
Melanie glanced at Seth and David, waiting for their approval before she moved.
Bastien didn’t wait. He just sheathed his weapons and strode forward, broken glass crunching beneath his boots.
Ethan thought him either the ballsiest or stupidest immortal on the planet.
Melanie approached Zach with caution and felt Lisette’s pulse. Peeling Lisette’s eyelid back, Melanie then looked for whatever the hell it was doctors looked for in eyes. Pupillary response? Lack of response? Dilation? He didn’t know. “Any major arteries severed?” She began checking them herself even as she asked.
“No.”
“So not a lot of blood loss?”
“No. Most of the blood that coats her is vampire.”
Seth took a step forward. “You didn’t give her your blood, did you?”
Zach glared daggers at him. “Of course not. I’m not an idiot.”
What the hell did that mean?
More calmly, Zach told Melanie, “We were holding our own against them very nicely before she collapsed. She suffered no major injuries as far as I could see, hear, or smell.”
Melanie glanced around at the debris-covered room, then motioned down the hallway. “Could I get you to place her on a bed in the infirmary so I can examine her more thoroughly?”
Zach’s arms tightened around Lisette as his eyes flashed brighter.
Melanie raised a hand. “Okay. It’s okay. I’ll just . . . see what I can learn here for now so you can have another minute to . . .” She floundered. “So you can have another minute.”
Ethan wouldn’t know what to say either. Zach looked pretty feral. How the hell was Melanie going to get Lisette away from him?
Bastien seemed to be dividing his attention between helping his wife check for injuries and keeping an eye on Zach to make sure he didn’t threaten Melanie in any way.
Ethan glanced around.