The soldiers instantly did as bidden, standing shoulder to shoulder a few rows deep with their backs to them.
General Lane looked up at the camera attached to the ceiling near the doors. “Shut off the video feed!”
The red light on the camera went dark.
“Okay,” he said. “Go ahead.”
Ed knelt beside Ethan and opened the cooler.
Ethan thought the general’s face lost a little color when Ed started lifting out bags of blood and distributing them to the immortals.
His eyes on Heather’s father, Ethan raised the bag to his lips and sank his fangs into it, letting them siphon the blood into his veins. He was so depleted that he barely felt a difference after one bag, making him wonder just how much blood he had lost. Strength did flood Ethan’s limbs, however, with further infusions, drawing a sigh of relief from him.
Sitting up, he looked to the doors as Lisette and David entered.
“Where’s Seth?” Ethan asked.
Lisette swallowed. “We don’t know. He and Zach disappeared after Ami showed them where to find Gershom.”
A spark of worry flared. Both Seth and Zach could communicate telepathically over long distances. Surely they would have kept David and Lisette informed if they could.
“You’ve had no word from them at all?” he asked.
“None,” David admitted, face grim.
Heather paced David’s living room, unable to sit still.
An hour earlier, Richart had appeared out of nowhere, his face and form splattered with blood, and announced that Ethan was down. After ordering Ed to bring as much blood as he could carry, he had then teleported them both away. A moment later, he had returned for Tracy and Sheldon, then disappeared again.
“Ethan is okay, Heather,” Darnell assured her. “We would’ve heard by now if he wasn’t.”
He and the rest of the Seconds clustered around laptops, helping Chris and the network monitor the fallout, keeping an eye on the Internet to make sure none of the soldiers at the base tried to upload images or video to YouTube, Instagram, and similar sites.
Heather’s worry didn’t lessen. “Is there anything I can do to help?” she asked, tucking her hands in her pockets. “The waiting is driving me crazy.”
Tanner, a tall blond who was so neat and tidy he looked like an accountant, entered from the hallway. “Would you like to help me get things ready for the immortals’ return?”
“Okay.” She thought Tanner might be Bastien’s Second.
Tanner guided her over to the dining room table, where they collected the leftover autoinjectors and returned them to a room he called the Armory.
Heather’s jaw dropped. Geez, it’s a good thing the ATF doesn’t know about this place.
The extent of the weapons stored there—so many that there were plenty left behind even with the immortals out and armed for bear—made her stare so long her eyes dried out.
Tanner laughed. “I know, right? I had the same reaction the first time I saw it.”
Heather closed her gaping mouth and helped him put away the autoinjectors. “How exactly did you manage to buy so much without . . .”
“Triggering any government agency red flags?”
She nodded.
“Chris Reordon.”
Heather began to think that, even though he was human, Chris Reordon might just be as scary and intimidating as the immortals. That man had his hands in everything.
Once they had tucked away the autoinjectors, she and Tanner returned the handful of tranq guns and other weapons that had been left behind where they belonged. They then piled neatly folded towels on the dining room table and added bowls of fruit, along with a couple of platters heaped with dozens of sandwiches they prepared together.
“Judging by Richart’s appearance,” Heather broached hesitantly, “the battle was . . . pretty grisly. I don’t understand how they can eat after that.”
“It isn’t because they aren’t affected by it or have become desensitized to it over the centuries,” Tanner responded. “It’s just the way their bodies work. They burn through calories and energy faster than we do, particularly when fighting, so they’re always ravenously hungry after a battle.” He grinned. “Especially Lisette.”
Heather wrinkled her nose. “But won’t they be covered in blood?”
“Yeah. After a battle this size, they’ll pretty much look as if they went swimming in a vat of it. But they can shower it off and be back up here, ready to eat, in seconds. The towels are for their hair. None of them will take the time to dry it.”
Heather applauded Tanner for thinking of everything the immortals would need upon their return, things she would have never thought of herself. But at the same time, she thought it sad that the powerful men and women had been through nights like this so often that he would know what they would need afterward.
Theirs was a dark and dangerous world. So contrary to the afternoon she had shared with Ethan, Lisette, Zach, Tracy, and Sheldon. The romantic dinner. The dancing. The laughter.
As she waited for Ethan to return, Heather vowed to give him many more days and nights like that in the future.
Richart and Ethan suddenly appeared.
Heather jumped. Her heart lodged itself in her throat when she saw the blood that coated Ethan and how many cuts and tears and bullet holes his clothing sported.
Tears burned the backs of her eyes as she hurried forward.
Ethan took a quick step back and raised his hands. “Let me get cleaned up first.”
Stopping short, she nodded.
Ethan dashed out of the room.
Richart vanished.
Heather crossed her arms and turned to face the others.
The tapping of computer keys ceased as they all leaned back, faces grim, and waited.
Ethan returned in an amazingly short time. His fresh clothing bore a few damp patches, indicating that he hadn’t taken the time to dry off properly. His hair looked as though he had just finger-combed it and slicked it back.
But he appeared undamaged, she was relieved to see. Undamaged and beyond weary.
As soon as he opened his arms, she rushed into them and hugged him tight.
“Are you okay?” she whispered.
“I’m fine. Your dad is, too.” His arms tightened. “I can’t stay. I just knew you would be worried and wanted to reassure you.”
“I was worried,” she admitted, not wanting to let him go. But cold water drip-drip-dripped from his hair onto hers.
Stepping back, she reached for one of the towels on the dining table.
“Thank you.” Ethan produced a tired smile as he took the towel and dried his hair.
Darnell stood. “The other immortals?”
The rest of the Seconds stood.
“All good,” Ethan assured them. “Except for Seth and Zach. Gershom put in an appearance. I didn’t see him myself. But Ami said he was there and showed Seth where. Both Seth and Zach took off after him, and . . . we haven’t heard anything from them since.”
“Has David?” Darnell asked with a frown.
“No.”
“What about Ami?”
“She hasn’t heard anything either. Richart is taking her and Marcus to the network to be with Adira and will have Aidan help him start teleporting the other immortals here.”
“What about Lisette?” Tanner asked. “I thought she and Zach were pretty much always in contact telepathically.”
Ethan shook his head, lips tight. “She tried contacting him and got no response.”
“How’s she holding up?”
“She’s worried as hell. We all are.”
“What’s the body count at the base?” Darnell asked.
“I don’t know yet, but it’s high.” Ethan looked at Heather. “Your father and David are on the phone right now, talking with Chris, trying to help him concoct a cover story the military and government will accept.”
Her dad was helping them? Working with them? What an incredible relief.
“Chris has conferenced in the heads of all the Russian branches of the network,” Ethan went on, glancing at the others. “Every one of the vampires wore a Russian uniform.”
Somber silence.
“Were they really Russian?” Darnell asked.
Ethan sighed. “I don’t know, but whatever they spoke sounded Russian to me.”
Heather didn’t know how they could keep something so huge—so international—like this from hitting the news. “What about the other soldiers at the base? How are they handling it?”
“As well as can be expected. They saw us save enough of their buddies that they’re cooperating and seem to be accepting us. David is having the toughest time of it, I think. He’s being pulled in three directions and has to divide his time between helping Chris, listening to the soldiers’ thoughts for anything that might bring more trouble, and listening for Seth. Lisette and Imhotep are helping him, but he has his hands full.”
Ethan tossed his damp towel over a chair and gave Heather a look of regret. “I’m going to head back and see what I can do to help. Your dad and the other soldiers seem more comfortable around me, so . . .”
Heather didn’t want him to go. She wanted to hug him tightly for at least twenty-four hours straight to assure herself he was really okay. But she understood duty. One couldn’t have a father in the army without learning that very quickly.
Turning to the table, she grabbed a towel and tucked some sandwiches into it. “Here.”