Shadows Strike(21)
“Erased,” Seth confirmed. “As you know, we identified Gershom as the Other who is hell-bent on sparking Armageddon. Matching me and Zach in age, Gershom is capable of mind control, of planting instructions in one’s subconscious, impulses one would be helpless to deny. And he has apparently been doing such with Whetsman for over a year now, essentially making Whetsman his puppet.”
“Shhhhhit,” Sheldon whispered.
Melanie nodded. “I didn’t notice anything different in his behavior. Nothing at all.”
“I didn’t either,” Linda said. “If I hadn’t actually seen him with the vials of sedative, I never would’ve guessed anything was up.”
Seth sighed. “That’s how mind control works when implemented by an elder.”
Lisette looked from Seth to Zach. “If Gershom wanted the sedative, why didn’t he just pop in and take it himself? He certainly has the power to do it. Why involve Whetsman?”
“We don’t know,” Seth admitted.
“Plausible deniability?” Zach suggested. “He’s already attempted to lay the blame for his actions at my feet once. Perhaps he thinks if he avoids being captured on surveillance video that he can still make that claim.”
Aidan cleared his throat. “If he were to erase the guards’ memories of his presence in the network, none would remember seeing him so none would have any reason to look at the video footage again. No one would even know they had caught him on tape.”
Chris shook his head. “Erasing the guards’ memories wouldn’t have kept us from seeing him in the surveillance footage. Certain events,” he said with a distinct edge in his voice as he sent Aidan a cutting look, “drove me to enhance network security. So video surveillance footage isn’t just monitored twenty-four seven by the guards on duty at network headquarters. It is also streamed live to guards on duty at two undisclosed locations, many miles away. Unless Gershom can be in three places at once to wipe the other guards’ memories at the same time, those guards will alert us to the Other’s presence in our midst if the special alarms I had installed to detect preternatural motion don’t warn us first.”
Damn. Chris really did think of everything, didn’t he?
Roland’s scowl deepened. “If he uses the mortals at the network to do his bidding for him, then any one of the network employees could potentially betray us.”
Ethan waited for Chris to explode with anger as he usually did when the dedication of his employees was questioned. But he didn’t.
Chris sighed. “I can only protect you from what I can see. I can’t see someone fucking with my employees’ brains and turning them into puppets. I don’t know how to combat that.”
David cuddled Adira closer, rocking a bit from side to side. “Seth, Zach, Aidan, and I will have to take turns scanning network employees’ minds for any anomalies.”
“Not Aidan,” Chris declared. “Lisette and Étienne can help you instead.”
David shook his head. “Younger telepaths wouldn’t know what to look for.”
“Then bring in another elder,” Chris snapped, “because I don’t trust Aidan.”
Ethan examined all involved. Why didn’t Chris trust Aidan? Was it because Aidan was still new to the team in North Carolina? Or had something happened? Seth and David shared a long look. Ethan was pretty sure they were consulting each other telepathically. He’d been around Lisette and her brothers enough to recognize the signs.
Seth turned to Chris. “For now, we’ll accede to your wishes. David, Zach, and I will scan the minds of your employees.”
“And Seconds,” Roland added.
All of the Seconds at the table frowned.
“We don’t know what Gershom’s plan is,” Roland continued, “so we don’t know how he might try to fuck with us next.”
“I agree,” Zach said.
Seth nodded. “So be it. I’m sorry, Seconds, but after what happened with Whetsman, we can’t take any chances.”
“Okay,” Sheldon said, face somber, then tapped his temple with one finger. “But I gotta warn you, you’re gonna see a lot of porn up there.”
Tracy laughed and jabbed her elbow into his side. “Freak.”
Grinning, Sheldon clutched his abused ribs. “Seriously, though, I’d rather you guys read my thoughts however often you need to than end up being some asshole’s puppet. It would kill me to find out I had betrayed you while under someone else’s control. So . . . scan away.”
The other Seconds reluctantly nodded.
Zach glanced at Seth and David. “I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not be the one who scans Sheldon’s mind. Who knows what you’ll find up there.”
Ethan and the others laughed.
“There’s one question,” Roland commented as the chuckles died, “that we’ve failed to ask tonight.”
“What’s that?” Marcus asked.
Roland’s gaze circulated the table. “We defeated Shadow River a year ago. Why is Whetsman still stealing the sedative?”
None could answer that one.
Chapter Seven
Heather stared at the television but, if asked, wouldn’t have been able to say what show she watched. Or didn’t watch, as the case may be.
Two weeks had passed since she had helped Ethan defeat those vampires in the clearing. Two weeks since she had found herself thoroughly enchanted by the powerful immortal who, like her, had always been different.
Ethan hadn’t called once. Hadn’t returned to check on her. He had, it seemed, walked out of her life without a single glance back.
How crazy was it that she felt so . . . heartbroken?
No. That was a bit much. But disappointed didn’t quite cover it.
Heather had gone on with her life as usual. She’d been called in to observe a few interrogations by local law enforcement. She’d also given a lecture at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. Those were always fun. Her student and faculty audience always began by viewing her with a healthy dose of skepticism, if not outright mockery, and left with wide eyes and faces that were either flushed with embarrassment when she demonstrated her so-called FACS knowledge by revealing their lies or with faces wreathed in impressed smiles.
Through it all, she had been unable to stop thinking about Ethan. About his handsome face. His teasing grin. About the laughter they had shared and the kisses that had heated her blood. About . . .
Her gaze slid to the clock on the wall.
About the dreams.
Not the dreams that had plagued her for a year, but the new dreams that had been haunting her ever since she had watched Ethan get in his snazzy car and drive away.
10:47 p.m.
Her stomach tightened into a knot.
Reaching for the remote, she muted the television.
No vampires had come looking for her. Ethan must have been right about the rain washing away the scents of blood and battle. Life had been depressingly mundane.
When she was awake.
Gravel crunched in the driveway.
Leaning forward, Heather lowered her feet to the floor, sat up straighter, and curled her fingers around the grip of the 9mm on the coffee table.
A car door opened. Shut.
Again she consulted the clock.
10:49.
Damn it. Please be wrong, she silently implored.
Ethan stared at the front of Heather’s comfy little home. Though warm light shone behind the curtains, he heard no movement inside, no television droning, no flip of a page that would indicate Heather read a book or a magazine.
Was she asleep? Curled up in bed with the covers tucked beneath her chin, her slender body encased in a barely there nightgown?
He checked his watch.
10:49 p.m. Early for him. But mortals tended to keep different hours. He didn’t know how often or how early Heather got called in to advise or observe interrogations.
Was this too late to call?
He wiped his hands on his pants. I can’t believe my palms are sweating. What the hell am I doing?
Calling himself six kinds of a fool, he collected the items he’d set on the roof of the car and strode up the wooden stairs. Bending, he set the goods to one side, out of her line of sight. Then, taking a deep, bracing breath, he knocked on the door.
Sneaker-clad feet carried Heather to the door.
Good. He hadn’t woken her.
The light behind the peephole darkened. The rattling of bolts being turned and a chain being removed preceded the opening of the front door.
Heather peered up at him. “Ethan. Hi.”
“Hi.” He smiled. She was as beautiful as he remembered. It had been hell, trying to stay away. He had only made it two weeks before he had given in and come to see her. He knew he shouldn’t lure Heather into his world, especially with Chris Reordon waiting in the wings to recruit her, but . . . he had been unable to stop thinking about her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked and looked past him. Not the friendly, flirty response he had hoped for.
His gaze drifted beyond her. Did she have a guest? A male guest?
His hackles rose. “Are you alone?”
“Yes.”
But she neither opened the door wider nor welcomed him inside.
Had he read things wrong with her?
“I was just hunting nearby,” he began.
Alarm swept across her features. “Hunting vampires? You saw more vampires hanging around?”
“No,” he hastened to assure her. “No. You’re safe, Heather.”