“Yes,” Zach confirmed again.
“Is it all you thought it would be?”
Zach faced the sun once more and shook his head. “I didn’t even know what love was until I met Lisette. And I never could have imagined anything like this. It is so much more than I ever guessed.” He locked eyes with Seth. “I would have died inside if that damned drug had destroyed her.”
Seth nodded. “It was the same with my wife.”
Another bird joined the one at the feeder, the two chirping hellos to each other.
“Do you still miss her?” Zach asked.
Seth looked away into the sun. “Every damn day.”
Zach frowned at the golden ball as a vulture with a truly impressive wingspan swept through its rays.
Seth glanced at him from the corner of his eye. “Now what’s wrong. You’re scowling again.”
“I don’t know,” Zach said, puzzled. “For a moment I just felt this peculiar . . . I don’t know . . . non-murderous connection to you or something.”
“It’s called kinship, asshole.”
“Ah.”
In the basement, Lisette laughed.
“I thought you were asleep,” Zach said, his whole being lightening at the sound.#p#分页标题#e#
“Who can sleep with you two chatterboxes up there yakking away?” she retorted. “Come inside, and I’ll fix us all something to eat.”
Zach looked at Seth. “The woman is always hungry.”
“I heard that,” she said.
Laughing, Zach and Seth rose.
Lisette donned a nightgown and robe and met them in the kitchen. Her heart swelled as the two men entered, Seth tugging on a T-shirt.
What a sight. Seth, standing six feet eight inches tall. Zach, standing six feet ten inches. Both with shoulders as broad as the doorway. Bodies slender, but ripped with muscle. Chiseled faces more handsome than any she had ever seen. Jaws unshaven and bearing a deliciously rough, dark stubble that, in Zach’s case, would have left marks on her skin from their torrid lovemaking had she been human. Eyes so dark and full of history and pain and power, framed by amusingly feminine, long lashes.
They made a swoon-worthy pair.
Seth seated himself at her table. Zach did, too, after catching her hips in his hands and pulling her to him for a brief kiss.
“Do you want something hot or cold?” she asked as she crossed to the refrigerator.
“Cold,” both said.
Though autumn had replaced summer, temperatures had been a trifle warm of late.
Lisette opted for cold sandwiches and went to work.
A trebly version of “Down With The Sickness” filled the room.
Zach retrieved Seth’s phone and, brushing Seth’s outstretched hand aside, answered. “Seth’s phone.”
An uncertain pause followed. “Seth?” a male voice Lisette didn’t recognize asked.
She hadn’t realized until then how alike the two elders sounded.
“Seth isn’t available,” Zach said. “I’m filling in for him. What do you need?”
“Who the hell is this?”
Zach opened his mouth.
Lisette waited for a blistering response.
He looked at Seth, then sighed and droned, “His long-lost cousin recently welcomed back into the fold.”
She laughed.
Seth rolled his eyes. “This isn’t going to work.”
“Was that Seth?” the male asked.
“Yes,” Seth responded without raising his voice or taking the phone. “I have some business I must attend to, so Zach will be handling my calls for a couple of days, Lucius.”
“Oh. Is he a healer?”
Zach scowled. “He can answer for himself. Yes, I am.”
“Then I could use your help.”
Zach vanished.
Lisette stared. “Where did he go?”
“To heal Lucius, I imagine.”
“He can follow the cell signal or whatever it is you follow? He’s that powerful?” Richart could only do that with her and Étienne, she assumed because they were siblings.
“Apparently.”
“You don’t look too happy about that.”
“Because I still find his new position as an ally . . .”
“Too good to be true?”
“Yes.”
“After my history with men,” she said, assembling sandwiches, “I fear he’s too good to be true myself at times. I just refuse to let that interfere with the happiness he brings me. Do you want jalapeños on yours? I know you usually like your meals spicy.”
“Yes, please.”
Zach reappeared, his right hand wet with blood. “Done.” Striding over to the sink, he washed away the red and dried his hands on the towel Lisette offered.
She motioned for him to reclaim his seat at the table and finished building the sandwiches.
Seth grinned when she set his on a plate before him. The thing was massive, so crammed with vegetables and organic meats that it would be a struggle for him to fit it in his mouth.