“I’m fine, Dad. Vampires didn’t attack me this time.”
Zach arched a brow. “Which begs the question why.”
Ethan wondered the same thing.
Seth shook his head. “We’ll have to worry about that later. The base the vampires are attacking has even tighter security than the other one did.”
Sheldon frowned “Seriously?”
General Lane nodded. “There are people who would pay a lot of money to break out the prisoners we keep there. Even more money than they would for the bioweapons.”
Sheldon’s eyes widened. “Who the hell are you holding there?”
“That’s classified.”
Seth moved forward to touch Ethan’s and the general’s shoulders. “Zach, bring Lisette, Sheldon, and Tracy to David’s place.”
The room went black.
David’s living room replaced Lisette’s.
David, Darnell, Marcus, and Ami played with Adira on the floor. Aidan, Chaahk, and Imhotep were present as well.
Zach appeared with Lisette, Sheldon, and Tracy.
Seth addressed Aidan. “I want all the local immortals here now. Their Seconds, too.”
Nodding, Aidan vanished.
The others all stood, Ami with Adira in her arms.
“Darnell,” Seth ordered, “call Chris and tell him to send a large contingent of men to guard this house, then call Richart and tell him to teleport Chris here as soon as Chris has made the arrangements.”
Darnell drew out his phone and started dialing.
“And, Darnell?” Seth added. “Tell Chris to lock down the network and let the vampires out to play. I want to cover all bases and don’t want to leave the network unguarded.”
Darnell nodded and turned away to murmur into his cell phone.
General Lane held on to Heather as the room erupted into activity.
Chaahk and Imhotep raced to the armory in a blur, then returned loaded down with weapons they donned and distributed to various sheaths and loops and pockets.
Aidan reappeared with Roland and Sarah, then vanished again. Bastien, Melanie, and their Second Tanner were with him when he returned. Then he disappeared again. Étienne, Krysta, and their Second Cam popped in with him next. Then Alleck and Linda.
“No,” Seth said, before Aidan could disappear again. “Alleck, Linda, we have a situation. I don’t expect any trouble at the network, but can’t rule anything out.”
Ethan frowned. “Do you think the attack on the base is a diversion? Something to draw us away from here?”
Seth shook his head. “I don’t know what Gershom’s plan is.”
Linda took a step forward. “Vampires are attacking another base?”
Seth nodded. “I want you and Alleck to guard the network. Darnell is telling Chris to lock it down, then let the vampires out to provide backup.”
General Lane frowned. “I thought vampires were the bad guys.”
Heather patted his back. “They are, Dad. Most of them anyway, but a few good ones work for the immortals.”
Aidan teleported Alleck and Linda away, returning seconds later.
The room began to fill. The mortals, having been up all afternoon taking care of business for their immortals, wore their usual black cargo pants and T-shirts. The immortals’ state of dress ranged from hunting gear to hastily donned sweatpants and, in the case of Melanie and Sarah, robes that Ethan suspected concealed bare bodies.
David motioned to the hallway. “Everyone get dressed and arm yourselves.” David always kept a substantial supply of clothing in his home for immortals or their Seconds to change into if they dropped by after hunting. Or for emergencies such as this.
All the immortals, except for Ethan, Seth, and David, sped from the room in a blur.
Ethan caught Heather’s gaze. “You should change, too. I want you to arm yourself as heavily as the Seconds.”
Heather pried herself from her father’s embrace. “I’ll be back in a minute, Dad. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Ethan hoped she was right.
Lisette zipped back in and took Heather’s hand. “Come on. I’ll show you where all the good girly stuff is.”
Ethan almost laughed as the women strode from the room. The girly stuff consisted of clothing identical to the males’, only in smaller sizes.
Seth rested a hand on David’s shoulder. “We shall return shortly. I want to gather as much intel as we can.”
The two vanished. Ethan assumed Seth returned to the building from which General Lane had called.
General Lane turned to Ethan and looked him up and down.
Awkwarrrrrd.
“So . . . you two were on a date?” the general asked.
“Yes, sir. I was teaching Heather how to swing dance when you called.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Heather can dance?”
“She can now,” Ethan said with a smile as he began to back away. “Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to change and grab some weapons.”
The general nodded.
Ethan shot away in a blur.
In record time, the Immortal Guardians donned hunting gear and piled on the weapons. Katanas. Shoto swords. Broadswords. Short swords. Daggers. Sais. Throwing knives. Throwing stars.
Ethan headed back upstairs with the others, noting the females’ absence. Lisette, Melanie, Sarah, and Linda must be waiting for Heather to finish dressing and arming herself at mortal speeds so she wouldn’t be left alone. He made a mental note to thank them later.
Darnell waved them all over to the dining room. “Don’t forget these, gentlemen,” he said, motioning to the tranquilizer guns lined up on the table next to a box full of EpiPen-like autoinjectors that contained the antidote to the only known sedative that affected immortals and vampires. “Make sure you have one of the autoinjectors in every pocket.” He handed a tranq gun to Ethan, then one to Roland. “We don’t know what weapons these guys will be carrying, so if you see any immortals fall, get them to a teleporter immediately so they can be transferred to the network’s infirmary.”
General Lane moved closer, giving the tranq guns a look. “What are those?”
Darnell eyed the general. “Until we’re confident we can trust you, those are classified.”
The general studied Darnell for a moment, then nodded. “Fair enough.”
The women entered the room.
“Over here, ladies,” Darnell called.
Ethan stared. Heather was decked out in a black T-shirt and black cargo pants with heavy boots. Her hair had been drawn back into a braid like Lisette’s, ensuring it wouldn’t get in her way during a skirmish. A pair of holstered Glock 18s adorned her thighs. Extra thirty-three-round mags poked out of a couple of pockets. And sheathed knives were strapped to her wrists.
Though small (at least compared to him), she looked like she could totally kick ass.
Why did that turn him on?
Zach greeted Lisette with a kiss and drew her over to the weapons table.
Ethan wished he could greet Heather with a kiss, but her father was watching, damn it.
“How do I look?” Heather asked as she stopped before Ethan and looked up at him.
“Like you can kick ass,” he told her with a smile.
She grinned. “I can kick ass.”
“Yes, I know. It’s one of the many things I l-like about you.” Hell. He had almost said love. It was too soon for that, wasn’t it?
General Lane stepped up beside Ethan and cleared his throat.
Ethan sighed and made a mental note to ask Étienne how the hell he dealt with his wife Krysta’s parents.
Heather winked at her father. “Bet you never thought you’d see me looking like this.”
He shook his head. “You do look like you can kick ass.”
She laughed.
Seth and David reappeared.
“Okay, gather round,” Seth called.
Ethan placed a hand on Heather’s back and guided her over to the living room as a circle of warriors and their Seconds formed around the eldest immortals. The other immortal males shifted to allow Ethan to maneuver Heather to the front so she could see. Zach and the other married males did the same with their petite wives.
“I have the location of the base,” Seth announced. “The attack is taking place as we speak. The military doesn’t know yet that vampires are besieging it. I’ve shut down the power and the backup power at the building General Lane and the others were using to monitor the situation, have locked it down so no one can enter or exit, and have disrupted their video feed and phone service. David and I buried the memories of everyone we could in the short time we were there to delay a response by America’s military. Chris is working on his end to disrupt their information flow and to keep everyone else out of the loop.”
General Lane pushed forward to stand beside Ethan. “You can do that?” He looked understandably appalled.
Seth nodded. “I saw the video feed, General. I saw what your men missed in the chaos because their eyes couldn’t catch what mine could in the blurs of motion they watched.” His gaze roved the immortals. “The vampires are wearing Russian military uniforms.”
Curses erupted.
Richart appeared with Chris and Jenna.
Seth met the general’s gaze. “You know what will happen if America thinks Russia has attacked two of its bases, don’t you?”
General Lane nodded, looking as shaken as his daughter, who had gone pale.
Every mortal in the room paled.
“We need to shut this shit down,” Seth told them. “Security at this base is tighter than the other one. It’s built like a fucking bunker with most of it underground. Even with their preternatural strength, the vampires are having a hard time getting inside.” He looked to General Lane. “Do you have the authority necessary to command the soldiers at that base?”