No drink stands, chairs, or umbrellas marred the beach’s beauty. No tourists bathed in the sun’s harsh beams while they fiddled with their cell phones or tablets and did everything they could, it seemed to him, to avoid conversing with one another.
All was quiet. Serene. Yielding no sign of the violence that had taken place there two weeks earlier . . . if one discounted the wide band of foliage at the beach’s edge that looked as if it had been flattened by bulldozers.
David grunted. “These were young vampires. Newly turned.”
Seth agreed. “And still high on their own strength.”
Senses searching, they strolled into the deep green tropical forest.
Seth had wanted Zach to accompany them, but had felt uneasy leaving David’s home unguarded by someone who could defeat Gershom, should he make an appearance. Heather and Ethan remained in David’s home and, for all anyone knew, could be putting everyone else there at risk. None were certain yet if Gershom would attempt to use her again.
Aidan guarded David’s home as well and would cover for Zach when the latter answered emergency calls that normally would have gone to Seth. Just to be safe, Seth had teleported in Chaahk and Imhotep, Aidan’s equals in power and gifts. Those three all seemed tragically excited to face a new challenge.
Guilt pressed down upon Seth. Doing the same old same old night after night for thousands of years had worn on Aidan, Chaahk, and Imhotep. Seth had always tried to dispel the loneliness of immortals by assigning them Seconds, but an immortal could go through a lot of Seconds in a few thousand years. That was a lot of friends to lose.
And a long time to go without love.
As leader of the Immortal Guardians, Seth was kept too busy to dwell on the loneliness he experienced himself. Most days.
Hell, he might—on occasion—bitch about never having any downtime, but going days and nights without sleep could sometimes be a good thing. It prevented him from having to lie in bed alone, remembering what he had once had and missing it with a desperation that made him wish his damned phone would ring again.
“What troubles you?” David asked as they stepped over downed trees and continued forward, following the trail of destruction the vamps had left behind them. David knew Seth better than anyone did.
Seth gave a weary shrug. “Things I cannot change.”
“So nothing new, then?” David joked.
Smiling, Seth motioned to the dead and drooping foliage. “This all seems a bit much, don’t you think? New vampires like to test their strength, to posture and show off, but this? Really? The guards at the base would’ve seen them coming from miles away. Why give them the warning?”
“Hubris? Overconfidence? A desire to see the soldiers shake in their boots?”
“If they shook in their boots, the soldiers shook while filling the trees and vampires full of holes.”
The bedraggled foliage that remained standing began to sport large holes and tears as Seth and David neared the base. Some leaves bore brownish stains that drew flies. Stains that bore the scent of the vampiric virus.
“There seem to be more bullies on the planet today than when I was a mortal,” David observed.
Seth snorted. “There is more of everything on the planet today than way back then.”
Smiling, David gave Seth’s shoulder a hard shove. “These vampires were already reveling in the fear they created with their little dramatic show of strength. Even Nick, according to what Zach showed us, feared fleetingly that a monster approached.”
“And he wasn’t wrong. It just happened to be several monsters instead of one.” Seth drew in a deep breath as he passed a particularly large splash of dried blood on a tree. “You smell that?”
David inhaled. “Rage.”
“Do you think it possible that they didn’t know there was a base up ahead? Could this have been a random accident?”
“Gershom would have known if he was guiding them.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean he would’ve told the vampires.”
“True.”
They exited what was left of the forest and stood facing a tall, thick cement wall that enclosed the entire military base as far as Seth could see. Not much of a deterrent to vampires who could leap several stories into the air with little effort.
In front of the cement wall stood two chain-link fences spaced several yards apart, each woven with razor wire. Or what remained of the fences. The vampires had chosen to plow through them instead of jumping them. Unwise, since more than one of the vampires appeared to have severed an artery in the process. The bare sand beneath the twisted remains of the fences had darkened with the color of old blood. The sand beyond bore gaping holes and craters where vampires had tripped land mines.
Beyond that stood the wall, then . . . only smoke-blackened remains of the base itself.
One hell of a battle had been fought here.
“How much time have you spent on American military bases?” Seth murmured.
“I don’t believe I have ever been on one.”
“Nor have I. What about foreign military bases?”
“Not since World War One. I know little about them.”
“Perhaps it would be wise to bring someone in who does. I’m not certain I would know if something seemed out of place here, aside from the obvious damage caused by the vampires, and I want to know why this place in particular drew the attack.” Slipping his cell phone from a pocket, he motioned for David to step back into the shade of the forest with him.
David couldn’t withstand as much exposure to sunlight as Seth, so it helped to give him a reprieve from it whenever possible.
Seth dialed Ethan’s number.
“Yes?”
“I need to speak with Heather for a moment.”
A rustling ensued as Ethan murmured, “It’s Seth. He wants to speak with you.”
“Why?” she asked with something akin to fear. “Is it my dad?”
“No, it isn’t,” Seth said, knowing Ethan would hear him even though the younger immortal no longer held the phone to his ear.
“No, it isn’t,” Ethan repeated.
More rustling.
“Hello?” Heather said, her voice full of uncertainty.
“Hello, Heather. Please be at ease. This does not concern your father.”
“Oh. Okay. So . . . what’s up? What can I do for you?”
He smiled. “From what I understand army brats, as I’ve heard Americans call children of servicemen and women, move around a lot.”
“I know we sure did,” she said.
“So you’ve seen a lot of military bases?”
“Yes. Both here and abroad.”
“Would you mind joining us, then? One of the men on Chris’s list gave us the location of the base.”
“Oh. Good,” she said, her relief unmistakable.
“But neither David nor I have spent much time on a military base, so we could use your help determining if there might be anything unique or off about this one in particular that would’ve made it a target.”
“I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but I’d be happy to join you and point out anything that seems off.”
“Thank you. I’m on my way.” Nodding to David, Seth mentally traced the phone signal and teleported to David’s home . . . then promptly gave the couple his back and stared at the bedroom wall. “My apologies. I should have asked if I was interrupting something when I called.” He heard material slide over flesh as Ethan drew on a pair of pants and Heather yanked the sheet up to cover her bare body. “I shall meet you both in the living room.”
Opening the bedroom door, Seth stepped out into the hallway and closed it behind him. One of the hazards of teleportation was catching people by surprise and seeing things he really shouldn’t see.
He shrugged it off. He’d dropped in on immortals in so many inappropriate moments over the millennia that he’d long since ceased feeling awkward about it and didn’t think he could blush if he tried.
On his way up the stairs and out of the comfortably furnished basement, Seth retrieved his cell phone again.
“Reordon,” a gruff voice answered.
“Are you at home or at the network?” Seth asked.
“Network,” Chris answered. “Why? Do you need something?”
“Do you happen to have anyone there who is ex-military?”
“Here right now?”
“Yes.”
“Let me think . . .” A chair squeaked, and Seth imagined Chris leaning back and staring up at the ceiling. “Yeah, I do. Adam Quinly. Ex-army. He’s the one we recruited from Donald and Nelson’s mercenary group. He’s an Iraq War vet. Good guy.”
“I’d like him to accompany us to the base and help us identify anything unusual about it that might have drawn Gershom’s attention.”
“When do you need him?”
“Five minutes?”
“He’ll be in my office in four.”
“Excellent.”
Seth pocketed the phone and strode down the hallway to the expansive living room. Aidan, Chaahk, and Imhotep all sat side by side on a long sofa with their backs to him and their heads tilted downward. On the floor in front of them, Adira sat, staring up at them, her pretty face somber.
None of them seemed to know quite what to make of the other.
“So this is what babies do?” Imhotep asked, his voice full of bewilderment. “They just sit there and stare at you until you start to wonder if you have food on your face?”