A brief flicker of fear entered Cliff’s brown eyes. “Been there. Done that. Would rather not do it again.”
“And,” David added, “he could use what he finds in your mind against us.”
“Okay.” His disappointment palpable, Cliff consulted the elders. “So what should I do if I encounter one? I don’t think they would expect immortals to have a vampire as an ally. It just seems like you ought to be able to use that to your advantage in some way.”
Chris’s face brightened. “Do you think you could plant a tracking device on one?”
“You mean like slip it in his pocket?”
He shook his head. “The tracking devices are magnetic. If you can get close enough to attach it to one of their weapons, it might go unnoticed long enough for us to find whatever lair their leader keeps erasing from their memories.”
“Yeah. I should be able to do that.”
“I don’t like it,” Bastien spoke dourly, ever protective of his vampires. “If the vampire realizes what’s happening, he could destroy Cliff. That or turn him over to his leader.”
“Bastien’s right,” Seth agreed. “Let the Seconds do their digging. I’ll continue to scan memories and see what I can learn myself.”
“And the rest of us?” Lisette asked.
“Hunt in pairs. All of you. Even the elders. I don’t want any of you to hunt alone until further notice. Am I understood?”
Nods all around.
“If you encounter one of these new vampires, don’t even try to engage him. Just tranq him and call me. If he attacks before you can tranq him or if he tranqs one of you first, the hunting partner should tranq him or kill him as swiftly as possible, then get the fallen immortal to the network. Don’t buy time and try to read his thoughts or emotions. Don’t try to capture him or question him. Just kill him or tranq him. Period. Any immortal who doesn’t leave the house with auto-injectors containing the vampire’s dose of the sedative in every pocket will answer to me, if you live long enough to do so.”
Lisette looked to Étienne and Krysta. That last part had probably been directed at them. Three immortals with not one auto-injector between them?
Yeah. They had screwed up.
Krysta cleared her throat. “It might be a good idea, too, for immortals to do as the mercenaries we fought last time did and check in with our Seconds at the top of every hour. That way if both immortals are tranqed . . .”
Seth nodded. “Do it.”
The danger had never been so great.
Melanie raised a finger. “One more thing. I don’t think Lisette should hunt tonight. I think she should rest for a couple more days before she jumps back into things.”
Seth looked at Lisette. “You heard her.”
Lisette thought it best not to complain.
Seth visually consulted the rest of those present. “Anything else?”
Grim silence.
“Then our meeting is adjourned. Safe hunting to you all.”
“Are you sure you’re all right?” Zach asked. Wrapping an arm around her, he guided Lisette up the steps to her home.
She smiled. “For the hundredth time, I’m fine, Zach.”
“I think you should have spent another day under Dr. Lipton’s supervision.”
“Melanie said I’m fine.”
“If you were fine, she would have cleared you to hunt tonight.”
“So she’ll clear me tomorrow or the next night. And we’ll both sleep better here.”
Lisette now knew what it must feel like to live as a lab rat. All of those eyes studying them and scrutinizing them twenty-four hours a day. Immortal and mortal alike. Every mind bursting with questions they wished to launch.
Fortunately, Zach tended to be rather intimidating.
It had taken her a day and a half to regain most of her strength. The knowledge that their current enemy possessed a drug that could do that to an immortal—could completely incapacitate him or her for days—terrified her. Lisette couldn’t even remember the battle that had resulted in her being tranqed. The drug had stolen the memory of it from her. Zach had replayed the battle for her mentally, letting her see what had happened from his perspective.
Étienne had shown her what had happened afterward.
She still couldn’t believe Zach had tossed two bodies through David’s window.
And Seth, perhaps the greatest surprise, had shown her the rest: Zach’s refusing to leave her side and rendering himself unconscious over and over again in his attempts to heal her.
Once inside, she ditched her keys and let Zach remove her coat.
“Do you want me to fix you something to eat?” he asked as he hung it up and turned back to her.