Nothing alarming. Then . . .
A single heartbeat.
Zach’s eyes went to the ceiling.
Not Tracy. She had remained at David’s to give them some privacy. And this heartbeat was slower than a human’s.
Not vampire. The sun had risen. No vampire could withstand even the slightest exposure.
And not one of the Others. Had they discovered Zach’s whereabouts, they would have come en masse and would not have been subtle.
Slowly, he uncurled his long legs and rolled toward the edge of the bed.
Lisette reached back and grabbed his arm. “Where are you going?” she mumbled, still half asleep.
Leaning forward, he smoothed the hair away from her face and kissed her cheek. “I’ll only be gone a moment.”
Giving his arm an affectionate stroke, she settled back into sleep once more.
Damn, he loved her. And was not thrilled over having to leave her, even briefly.
Tugging on the leather pants he had discarded earlier, Zach took his time and scaled the stairs at mortal speeds.
Bright light framed the curtains that covered every window.
His bare feet carried him silently across the cool bamboo floor to the back door. Zach punched in the security code Lisette had given him and stepped out onto the back deck. Morning dew glistened on every blade of grass below him. A cool fog slowly crept across the ground.
Releasing his wings, Zach let them carry him up to the roof.#p#分页标题#e#
Another winged figure already occupied it. This time Seth performed gargoyle duty, his butt parked in the same spot Zach had so often occupied.
Zach settled himself beside the Immortal Guardians’ leader and squinted into the rising sun. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?”
Seth grimaced. “Don’t you start on me. David has been riding my ass for days, trying to get me to rest.”
“Perhaps you should listen to him.”
Seth responded with a cranky growl.
Minutes ticked past. Minutes Zach would have vastly preferred to have spent in Lisette’s arms. “You’re hanging by a thread, Seth,” he commented at last.
Seth loosed a heavy sigh.
“David’s right. You need to get some sleep. Clear your head. And David isn’t the only one who sees it. Lisette sees it. Darnell sees it. Chris sees it. I think even Ethan sees it. It’s only a matter of time before the rest do, too. If they weren’t so distracted by everything that’s been happening, they would have already noticed.”
“Can you read Ethan’s thoughts?” Seth asked, his weary voice carrying curiosity.
“No. I gave him a nosebleed trying until Lisette stopped me.”
Seth nodded. “You know Ethan and Lisette used to be lovers, right?”
Zach’s hands tightened into fists as jealousy tore through him. “No,” he snarled. “I would have given him more than a nosebleed had I known.”
“There’s no reason to be jealous. She never loved him. And he’ll soon realize he doesn’t love her, at least not as more than a friend. They were just lonely and needed someone they could cleave to whenever they craved comfort.”
Zach fought the urge to take to the air and hunt Ethan down. He didn’t know what he would do to the American immortal when he found him, but . . .
“Don’t even think about it,” Seth warned. “If you kill him, Lisette will never forgive you. And, as I said, there’s no reason to be jealous. It’s clear to me that her heart belongs to you.”
Zach forced his fingers to uncurl, his muscles to relax. “They were friends with benefits?”
Seth glanced at him, eyebrows rising. “I’m surprised you even know that term.”
“Roland explained it to me.”
Seth’s look turned speculative. “I’ve been dying to ask you for some time now. . . . Why did you let them capture you that night? Why let Roland, Sarah, and Lisette interrogate you?”
“Why do you think?”
“Lisette?”
Zach nodded. “I had never been close to her before she crept up behind me that night and tried to tranq me.” It seemed so long ago. Years rather than months. “Letting them take me gave me a chance to spend time with her, to speak to her.”
“You love her.” The simple statement conveyed both surprise and conviction.
“Yes, I do.”
Seth faced the sun once more.
A bird alighted upon the edge of the roof. Two men with wings must have been a confusing sight for the little creature. Twittering a good-bye, it fluttered down to one of the bird feeders Lisette hung on the front porch and treated itself to a crunchy breakfast.
Zach wondered idly if any of the immortals, aside from David, had ever seen Seth’s wings.
Seth sighed. “It wasn’t you, was it?”
Again with the vampire army?