This was bad. This was so bad.
Ethan tightened his hold on Heather’s hand. “Why?” Why would the Other single out Heather and fuck with her mind?
“We don’t know,” Seth admitted. “That’s what we’re trying to determine.”
A leaden hush descended.
“Who is Gershom?” Heather asked, the question timid, as though she too recognized the gravity of the situation.
Ethan looked to Seth. How to explain it?
“I have led the Immortal Guardians for thousands of years,” Seth told Heather.
Her eyes widened. “You’re that old?”
“Yes. Zach is, too. Aside from David, my second in command, no one else can even come close to us in terms of age and power . . . except for the Others.”
“The Others?” she parroted.
“That’s what they call themselves, yes.”
“There are over a dozen of us. Of them,” Zach corrected himself. “Seth and I are . . . willing exiles, if you will. Defectors.”
Heather’s brow creased. “I’m sorry. I’m not following you. You keep saying others. Other what?”
Seth leaned forward and braced his elbows on his knees. “Others are the eldest immortals on the planet. As such, we possess incredible power. Power that can alter the world if we wield it. But we decided long ago that we would not, under any circumstances, interfere with the natural course of mankind. We believed—and had good reason to do so—that any interaction with humans would alter that course and inevitably bring about Armageddon.”
Heather stared at him. “Armageddon. As in the end of the world.”
“Yes,” Seth confirmed. “We really did have good reason to believe it, but I can’t go into that with you.”
Heather cast Ethan a questioning look.
“David once compared it to time travel,” Ethan attempted to explain. “Have you ever seen time-travel movies in which those who traveled back in time were warned to alter nothing, that even stepping on a bug or killing a butterfly could change the course of history?”
“Yes.”
“That’s what the Others believe. That any interaction at all with humans will irrevocably set into motion changes that will bring about an apocalypse and destroy us all.”
Her gaze slid to Seth. “I don’t understand. You’re here, right now, interacting with me. And you protect humans from vampires every night. Doesn’t that contradict what you just told me?”
“As Zach said, he and I defected from the Others. I fell in love with a human woman many millennia ago and was willing to risk everything to be with her. Once I became part of the mortal world and began living amongst humans, I couldn’t let vampires prey upon them unchallenged. Since vampires and immortals share similar characteristics in terms of speed, strength, and regenerative capabilities, I believed immortals protecting humans from vampires would balance the playing field rather than tilt it. And such gave immortals a purpose.”
Heather’s gaze slid to Zach.
Zach’s lips tilted up a bit. “I thought Seth was full of shit and sided with the Others until recently.” He glanced down at Lisette. “Until I understood what it meant to be willing to risk all for the woman you love.”
Smiling up at him, Lisette rose onto her toes and pressed a kiss to Zach’s chin.
“The Others,” Seth told Heather, “believe we’re in the wrong and still maintain that any interaction with humans will bring about Armageddon . . . and their own demise. They would like nothing more than to kill me—and Zach—to end our interference in the matters of mankind. But last year, one amongst them . . .”
“Lost his fucking mind,” Zach snarled.
Seth glanced at Zach, then nodded at Heather. “Yes. Gershom apparently has lost his mind and actually wants to bring about Armageddon. At least, that is what we believe, since we can find no other explanation for his actions.”
Heather looked up at Ethan. “Seriously? He wants the world to end?”
Ethan sighed. “Yes. He already tried to get things rolling once by giving Shadow River the virus so they could raise their mercenary vampire army.”
Her throat moved in a swallow. “That would do it.” Then the color fled her face as she studied them all. “And now you say this Other, this Gershom, is screwing with my head, planting dreams in my subconscious?”
“Yes,” Seth acknowledged.
“Why?” she asked as her hand began to tremble in Ethan’s grasp. “Why me?”
“We don’t know,” Seth answered.
Zach cleared his throat. “It could be your connection to your father. I understand he’s a high-ranking officer in the army.”
“He is. But if this Gershom wants to use my father, why not plant the dreams in my father’s mind? Why go through me? What did he think I would do? And if I’m so important to him, why did he mislead me in the last set of dreams? Why did he let that vampire stab me?”
Ethan frowned. “What do you mean? Mislead you how?”
“In the dreams of the battle we fought last night,” she told him, “you always died.”
Shocked silence took the room.
“What?” Ethan breathed.
“That’s why I didn’t call you and tell you about them,” she said, her face full of sorrow. “I was afraid it would make them come true. In the dreams, I was always leaning down to grab one of the fallen vampires’ weapons when that last vampire came up behind you and stabbed you in the back. In the dreams, you fell to your knees and . . .” Her voice faltered.
“He took your head,” Seth said grimly. “In the dreams, the vampire decapitated you.”
“Yes,” Heather whispered.
Ethan stared at her. “That’s why you threw yourself at my back? Because you knew if he stabbed me it would weaken me enough for him to decapitate me?”
She nodded. “I couldn’t let him kill you.”
Releasing her hand, Ethan wrapped an arm around her shoulders and drew her close. “What does it mean?” he asked Seth. Zach. Lisette.
Seth shook his head, his expression grim. “We don’t know. We can’t even decide who his real concern is. Is it Heather and her connections? Or is it you? Did he purposely mislead her in the dreams so she would save your life?”
“If he wanted to save my life, why did he orchestrate the vampire attacks in the first place?” Ethan demanded, frustration rising. “I mean, what the fuck, Seth? I don’t know this guy from Adam. What the hell would he want with me? I don’t even have a mind he can control. My damned head is too hard.” Unease trickled through him. “Wait. That couldn’t be it, could it?” He looked back and forth between the elders. “He can’t control my mind, can he? Could he want to manipulate me the way he did Whetsman because he knows you never read my thoughts and wouldn’t guess it?”
Seth visually consulted Zach for a long minute.
Ethan didn’t like the look in his eyes, when Seth again met his gaze.
“It’s possible. We hadn’t considered it from that angle.”
Ethan swore.
“But,” Seth qualified, “considering the pain it would cause you, I find it hard to believe he would be able to get you to sleep through his intrusion.”
“But you’d know it if you saw it, right?” Ethan pressed. “You’d see some evidence that he’s tampered with my mind if you took a look?” He did not want to end up like Whetsman. Ethan did not want to be some prick’s puppet and end up betraying his friends.
And he didn’t want to hurt Heather.
“Yes,” Seth responded, no less grim.
“Then do it,” Ethan said.
Seth swore. “That isn’t necessary. We aren’t there yet. We can just monitor things and see what happens—”
“Do it, Seth,” Ethan gritted, understanding his leader’s reluctance.
The elder dragged a hand down his face and again looked at Zach.
Hell, even Zach looked grim.
Lisette’s face filled with dread. “Ethan, you don’t have to do this.”
Again Ethan thought of Whetsman, who had worked with Gershom for who knew how long and had aided Shadow River, something that had inevitably resulted in a loss of lives, both mortal and immortal.
Yes, he did.
Straightening, Heather frowned up at him. “Why don’t they want Seth to read your mind?”
He tried to shrug it off. “Because it will hurt like hell, but I can take it.”
“It can also cause brain damage,” Seth told her. “Brain damage I won’t be able to repair. Ethan’s mind is wired differently. Negotiating it is extremely difficult.”
Alarm filled her features. “Then don’t do it!” She turned back to Ethan. “Ethan, don’t. You don’t have to. Seth said he can wait and—”
“And what? See if I hurt my friends? See if I hurt you?” Ethan shook his head. “Fuck that. I’m not going to let this asshole turn me into a weapon he can use against you all. The last time he did that, we lost two immortals and seven members of the network. Seth, just do it and get it over with.”
“Zach,” Seth said.
Straightening away from the mantel, Zach crossed the room and circled the sofa to stand behind Ethan. He rested his hands on Ethan’s shoulders. “I’ll try to alleviate some of the pain.”