For some time now, David had made North Carolina his primary home. A fortunate thing for Ethan, because David’s home here—in recent years—had abounded with activity. All meetings were held there. Most of the immortals in the area spent their downtime there. And Ami, the young mortal from another planet whom Seth and David both loved like a daughter, lived there with her husband Marcus and their beautiful, miraculous baby girl.
Even before Ami had become the first mortal to give birth to an immortal’s baby, she had won the hearts of all the Immortal Guardians. She had been tortured by one of their mercenary enemies for months and had emerged from it changed. She feared all strangers now. Was almost painfully shy. Yet she was one of the fiercest fighters any of them had ever seen.
When Ami had again been targeted by mercenaries, all immortals in the area had felt the need to watch over her and protect her, so David’s large house had become a home away from home for most of them, many even sleeping there during the day now to provide added security.
As they apparently had today.
Several cars already lined the long, curved drive when Ethan arrived. For once, when he headed up the walk and heard the bustle of activity inside, he didn’t smile or feel relieved that the loneliness that afflicted him would soon be dispelled, at least for a time.
Heather weighed heavily on his mind. He hadn’t liked saying good-bye to her. Had wanted to find some excuse—any excuse—to delay his departure. It puzzled him.
He had saved other mortal women in the past. Granted, they had all been drugged by vampires’ bites. But it hadn’t bothered him in the least that they wouldn’t remember him or that he would never see them again.
He knew, without a doubt, that Heather would not be so quick to leave his thoughts.
No, Heather would linger a long time.
Chatter and laughter washed over him as he opened the front door and entered.
It looked as though he was one of the last to arrive. The dozen or so other immortals in the area and their Seconds all filled the huge living room, sprawled in the many chairs and love seats and sofas the room boasted.
Several called a greeting to him.
Ethan waved and closed the door behind him. As he shrugged off his coat and hung it beside the many others that adorned the hooks beside the door, he saw all eyes return to a tiny figure in the center of the room.
Adira, Marcus and Ami’s baby girl, tottered from warrior to warrior, her little hands curling over black-clad knees to help maintain her balance as she grinned up at them. Every warrior smiled with indulgent affection and patted her little back or drew a large hand over her bright orange curls while offering words of encouragement.
How they all adored her.
One of the cats that had found a home with David slunk over to rub up against Ethan’s legs. Adira’s pretty green eyes latched onto it and lit up as she began to make her way forward.
She had almost made it to them when she lost her balance and sat back onto her bottom.
Ethan scooped her up and smiled at her, his somber thoughts fleeing. “Hello, princess.”
She grinned up at him, revealing four teeth. Her little chin slick with drool, she curled her fingers into his shirt.
Ethan had been utterly terrified the first time Marcus had let him hold her. He hadn’t been around children since he had been a child himself. Hell, almost a year later, she still felt far too fragile to Ethan. Even with all of her adorable rolls of fat. The child was built like the Michelin Man. Either that or an NFL linebacker.
The door opened behind Ethan.
Adira’s face lit up. “Wo! Wo!” Kicking her little legs in excitement, she stretched her arms out to the latest arrival.
Ethan didn’t even have to look to know who it was. Turning, he shook his head as the most antisocial immortal on the planet smiled down at Adira.
“Hello, poppet,” Roland said, his deep voice warm with affection. As far as Ethan knew, Roland was the only immortal in the room who had fathered children—a son and a daughter—before his transformation. Unlike Ethan and the others, Roland had been comfortable caring for the babe from the get-go and clearly adored his best friend’s child.
Beside Roland, his petite wife Sarah grinned up at Ethan, then waved at the baby. Sarah, too, had found a home in the hearts of all immortals. She had been the first gifted one in history to ask to be transformed so she could spend eternity with Roland.
“Wo! Wo!” Adira repeated.
“Hi, cutie,” Sarah said with a smile.
“Hi, yourself,” Ethan retorted and winked.
Sarah laughed.
“Wo! Wo! Wo!” Adira damned near hurled her little body out of Ethan’s arms in an attempt to get to Roland.
“Let Uncle Roland doff his coat first, sweetling.” Roland removed his coat in a blur of motion, helped his wife remove hers, then hung them up and held out his arms. “There’s my girl.”
Ethan obligingly transferred the squirming toddler to her favorite uncle’s arms.
Sarah shook her head and smiled up at Ethan. “She adores this man.”
Ethan remarked in a loud whisper, “I don’t see the appeal.”
“I heard that,” Roland grumbled.
Sarah and Ethan shared a laugh.
As the three of them headed into the living room, Roland held Adira high above his head, then bent his arms so she’d dangle upside down behind his back, then straightened his arms and lowered her in front of him, then lifted her high and dangled her down his back again, all the while making what Ethan guessed were supposed to be airplane sounds.
Judging by the expressions of the others in the room, all felt as Ethan did: It was damned odd to see the dour immortal’s face wreathed in such a wide smile, to see him so playful and affectionate.
Adira shrieked and giggled and drooled down Roland’s neck. And chest. On his shoulder. Apparently toddlers did that a lot while they were teething.
Roland didn’t seem to care. Sarah and Adira had fostered so many changes in him. Not that Roland wasn’t still one of the most ruthless warriors among them. As Krysta had once confided, Roland looked like he could kill a man, prop his feet on the body, and eat a sandwich. He just had a serious soft spot for these two ladies.
As Roland and Sarah sat on the sofa across from Marcus and Ami, Ed sidled up to Ethan.
“So?” his Second asked, raising his eyebrows.
“So?” Ethan repeated. No way in hell was he going to discuss Heather in a room full of preternaturally sensitive ears.
Ed had been with Ethan long enough to guess his train of thought and didn’t push for details. “So I brought you a change of clothes. You look like you could use some blood.”
“I could, actually,” Ethan admitted and followed Ed into the spacious kitchen.
Sheldon, Richart’s young Second, passed them on his way out, a gargantuan sandwich on the plate he carried. “Hey, man. How’s it goin’?”
“Same old same old,” Ethan lied.
“I hear ya.”
Ed retrieved a couple of bags of blood from one of two refrigerators the kitchen boasted. (Large warriors tended to consume large quantities of food.)
Ethan sank his teeth into the first bag and let his fangs siphon the blood into his greedy veins. Strength flowed into him alongside it. He swiftly drained a second bag. Much better.
He heard the front door open and close, heralding more arrivals.
“Okay, guys,” Darnell said in the living room, “let’s do this.”
Ethan and Ed headed into the dining room and sat at the long table that dominated it.
Marcus and Ami sat beside each other on the side opposite Ethan, near one end of the table. Sarah and Roland, who still carried Adira, took the chairs beside them.
Lisette appeared at Ethan’s elbow and settled herself in the chair beside him. Zach took the chair on her other side. Lisette’s brother Richart seated his wife, Jenna, next to Sarah, then claimed the seat beside her. Richart’s Second Sheldon and Lisette’s Second Tracy sat across from Ethan, beside Richart.
Ethan studied those two. Rumors abounded that Tracy and Sheldon might be sleeping together. What an odd pairing. Sheldon, the “kid brother” everyone razzed, the youngest Second in their midst. Tracy, a good nine years older and—from what Ethan had observed over the years—usually attracted to rugged bad boys. (Hell, he had even seen her flirt with Ed a time or two.) What about Sheldon would attract her?
Ethan’s stomach growled as he transferred his attention to Sheldon’s sandwich.
“You want half?” Sheldon asked, following Ethan’s gaze.
Nodding, Ethan accepted the tasty offering with a smile. “Thanks. I forgot to eat earlier.” Maybe Sheldon tempted her with his sandwiches, he thought after his first bite. Damn, it was good.
While Ethan swiftly devoured the sandwich, Richart’s twin Étienne, his wife Krysta, and their Second Cam, along with the German immortal Alleck (Ethan didn’t really know him) and the network doctor Linda, took all but one of the remaining chairs on the opposite side of the table. Bastien seated Melanie and himself beside Zach. Their Second Tanner took one of the last two chairs on that end.
Ethan thought the other immortals might have begun to thaw toward Bastien. Ethan’s eyes slid toward Roland and caught the glower that one sent the immortal black sheep.
Well, some of them had softened toward him. Ethan didn’t think Roland would ever forgive Bastien for kidnapping Sarah and giving her a concussion. And Sarah wasn’t exactly thrilled about Bastien’s having tried to kill Roland more than once. So . . . yeah. Some tension lingered there.