Phantom Shadows

Chapter 15

Melanie awoke not knowing where she was or how she had come to be there. The lights were off. No windows provided ambient light. Soft sheets cushioned her back. Others were drawn up to her neck.

Habit left her squinting at her surroundings until she realized she could see them clearly in the darkness without squinting.

Raising her head, she examined the bedroom. It was odd, seeing it this way. In pitch blackness, much of the color had been leeched from the walls, bedding, and other decor.

Was this how immortals saw things? Was this how cats and dogs and nocturnal creatures saw things at night? Because this was very cool.

Lowering her head to the pillow, she decided the toothache plaguing her, on the other hand, was not cool. Nor was the throbbing headache.

At least the nausea was better.

She tried to raise one hand to rub her pounding temples and couldn’t. The large fingers twined through hers tightened and drew her arm up against a hard chest.

Melanie slowly turned her head on the pillow.

Bastien slept beside her on his side, her hand and forearm now tucked against his chest. The stubble on his chin abraded her knuckles.

His eyes were closed, his brow furrowed in sleep. She had never noticed how long his eyelashes were. Those warm, beautiful brown eyes of his always distracted her, particularly when they burned with amber flames.

She rolled onto her side, facing him.

He looked tired. He must not have been feeding.

How long had he been caring for her and watching over her?

His lashes lifted. Those chestnut eyes met hers.

Melanie reached up with her free hand and drew her fingers down the side of his handsome face.

His eyes began to glow. “Don’t leave me,” he whispered.

Her own eyes pricked with tears at the stark plea. “I won’t. I’m better now.”

He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it fervently. “Can I get you anything?”

“No. Just rest,” she murmured and scooted closer.

His lids lowered. A long sigh brushed her knuckles. His brow smoothed out as his breathing deepened.

His grip on her hand, however, never lessened.

Smiling despite the headache and toothache, Melanie closed her eyes and let sleep claim her.

Bastien jerked awake when a hand clamped around his throat. Golden eyes blazing with fury met his in the darkness.

Seth. Oh shit.

Bastien glanced to the side where Melanie slept.

If Seth intended to kill him, Bastien hoped he would do it elsewhere.

“As you will,” the immortal leader snarled.

The two of them teleported to the training room. Edward and Ethan were there, training with Étienne and Lisette, while Tracy sparred with Sheldon.

All movement ceased when the others got a gander at their leader slowly choking the life out of Bastien, who wore only sweatpants.

“Out,” Seth snapped.

Weapons slid into sheaths. The immortals exited as slowly as the humans did, feet shuffling, necks craning, reluctant to miss the action.

“Now!”

That got them moving, leaving only Bastien and his executioner.

Bastien thought fleetingly that Seth should have teleported them to his castle in England instead. Then they would have come full circle, having acted this scene out before.

Seth yanked him closer. “Ah, but that time I let you live.” What felt like a fist tightened around Bastien’s heart. Pain streaked through his chest.

“Oh, hell no!” Marcus entered, scowling darkly as he stomped toward the duo. “If anyone’s going to kill that asshole, it’s going to be me.”

In his dreams. No way in hell would Bastien let Marcus be the implement of his demise. The bastard had nearly gotten Ami killed on at least two occasions.

Seth dropped him like a stone. “Are you kidding me? That’s why I’m going to kill you! You put Ami in danger!”

Bastien coughed and choked and sucked in air. The pressure in his chest vanished.

“You’re really going to kill him?” Yet another new voice.

All three turned to see David lounging in the doorway.

“Yes,” Seth and Marcus both answered, then scowled at each other.

“Well, try not to make too much of a mess. I’m tired of all of the blame-it-on-Bastien shit wrecking my home.”

Bastien’s throat finally expanded enough for him to speak. “I thought you wanted to kill me, too,” he wheezed.

David shook his head. “I just planned to kick your ass.”

“Gee, thanks.” Any way it went, he was screwed. His big battle with Roland a couple of years ago had shown him quite clearly that any immortal hundreds of years older than him could pretty much wipe the floor with him. Sure, he’d get some hits in and do some damage of his own, but that’s about all he would do.

He looked from one to the next to the last and thought of Melanie curled up in his bed, still ill from the transformation.

You know what? Fuck that defeatist crap. Melanie needed him. He’d fight every immortal and Second in this house if he had to. He wasn’t going to let her down.

David groaned and rolled his eyes.

Seth swore.

Marcus looked confused. “What?”

“Had you shown as much concern for Ami,” Seth said, “I wouldn’t wish to reduce you to ashes right now.”

“You think that decision was easy for me?” Bastien demanded. “You think I wanted Ami there? I’ve known her for almost as long as you have and love her just as much as you all do.”

David ambled forward. “Seth and I removed Ami from Emrys’s clutches. You put her directly in his path.”

“Emrys wasn’t there.”

“But if he had been—”

“Marcus would have ripped him limb from limb and I would’ve had Marcus’s back. I want Emrys dead. The longer it takes us to locate him, the more opportunity he has to share his discovery with others. Chris isn’t making any headway through his contacts. The whole vampire recruitment thing turned around and bit me on the ass.”

“Stuart didn’t betray you,” David mentioned. “From what I could glean from the mercenaries’ thoughts while we fought them—”

“They’re definitely mercenaries?”

“Yes,” David confirmed, then continued. “The men Stuart encountered at Duke listened in on his conversation with the other vampire, observed their attack on the students they fed from, then tranqed them. They knew Stuart intended to meet with an immortal—he was trying to convince Paul to go with him—and decided to use that to their advantage, implanting the tracking device, then leaving him where he might wake up and think he had escaped. They tranqed the other vamp twice by accident and destroyed him.”

Well, at least Stuart didn’t screw him over like certain other vampires had.

“Stuart’s behavior isn’t at issue here. Yours is,” Seth reminded him.

“I couldn’t reach you,” Bastien said. “And I knew Ami had the ability to find any of those soldiers again if we could just get her near them.”

“David could track them without detection.”

This again? Really? “I didn’t know he could shape-shift!”

“What’s going on?” Ami entered the training room. “My ears are burning.” She looked to Marcus. “That’s a saying, isn’t it? My ears are burning? Because someone’s talking about me?”

“Yes, love.”

“Well, Lisette, Étienne, and the others came upstairs, then everyone started looking at me funny. Marcus, you didn’t punch Seth again, did you?”

“No, sweetling. We were just . . . having a little discussion.”

She pursed her lips and eyed them with skepticism. “You’re picking on Bastien for inviting me to the battle, aren’t you?”

Seth moved toward her. “Ami—”

“It was a smart move,” she defended, thrusting out her chin.

“David was fully capable of tracking the soldiers who escaped without detection.”

“Yes, David can tell you where they went. But David can’t tell you if they stayed there or where they went if they didn’t. I can.”

“Ami—”

She held up a hand, craning her neck to look up at the eldest immortal. “I already told you I want to play an active role in bringing Emrys to justice and David agreed that I have that right. Marcus did, too.” She caught and held her husband’s gaze. “Didn’t you?”

Marcus sighed heavily. “Yes.”

“Then we don’t have a problem, do we? Now, let Bastien get back to Melanie. He’s been worried sick about her.”

Bastien waited a full minute. When no one objected, he cautiously exited the room and headed down the hallway to the second of two quiet rooms David had added recently.

Seth appeared in front of the closed door.

Bastien stopped in front of him and waited.

Seth reached out and gripped Bastien’s shoulder.

Bastien stiffened as the hallway around them fell away and was replaced by visions Seth implanted in his mind. Pain accompanied the visions. Hours of agony as men in scrubs and surgical masks cut him, burned him, removed bits of flesh. Over and over again. Hundreds of slices. Thousands of samples taken. Organs removed. Fingers and toes cut off. White hot bolts of electricity delivered to his head, his heart. A live dissection.

He had never experienced such suffering and opened his mouth to shout with it.

Seth released him. The visions vanished. The hallway resurfaced.

A cry died in Bastien’s throat before he could free it. The strength left his knees. Panting, he sank to the floor and waited for the pain to recede.

“What the hell was that?” he gasped. Bracing a hand against the wall, he struggled to regain his feet.

“That,” Seth said, “was a fraction of what you risked Ami being subjected to again when you called her to the battle.”

Horror suffused him. He had known that whatever had happened to her had been bad, but . . . “That’s what they did to her?”

“That and more. They spent six months torturing her and dissecting her without sedating her or giving her anything to numb the pain.”

Seth was right to want to kill him.

“I won’t make the same mistake twice,” Bastien vowed. Even if Ami hadn’t been the closest thing he’d had to a sister since Cat had died two centuries earlier, he wouldn’t risk her being caught and subjected to such atrocities again. He hadn’t wanted to risk it when he hadn’t known what she had suffered. If her safety had been threatened at the network and Marcus had failed to protect her, Bastien would not have hesitated to give his life to protect her himself, but . . .

Now that just didn’t seem like enough.

Seth moved away from the door and slapped Bastien on the back. “I knew you were worth saving.”

Bastien stared at him. “You said you wanted to kill me!”

The elder immortal shrugged. “Ask Roland how many times I’ve wanted to kill him. It’s a family thing.”

Bastien frowned. Did he really want to be a part of that kind of crazy-ass family?

“Yes, you do. Trust me.”

“I’d have an easier time doing that if you didn’t keep trying to choke me.”

“You pissed me off. I suggest you think twice about doing so again. As long as you always place Ami’s safety first, you and I will be good. She’s precious to me. If your stupidity should cause her death, you shall swiftly follow her into the afterlife.”

Which raised another question. “How precious is she to you?” Bastien had never seen any romantic moments pass between the two. But Seth was extremely protective of her.

Seth cuffed him on the side of the head. “Don’t be impertinent. Ami is in love with Marcus.”

“And that doesn’t really answer my question.”

“She’s like a daughter to me. Is that clear enough?”

Bastien nodded. “That’ll do.”

“Then we’re finished here. Keep me posted on Melanie’s transformation.” Seth smiled suddenly and waved at someone down the hallway.

Bastien glanced over his shoulder and saw Ami standing just outside the training room. Marcus loomed in the doorway behind her.

Ami squinted her eyes at Seth and crossed her arms over her chest.

Seth held his hands out to the sides, palms up with a What’d-I-do? expression.

Marcus grinned.

Ami shook her head, rolled her eyes, and headed upstairs.

Bastien decided he had had enough from his surrogate family and ducked into the room he now shared with Melanie.

Standing beside the bed, Melanie nearly wilted with relief when Bastien entered. “Are you okay?” Even though she wore nothing but one of Bastien’s large, black T-shirts, she had been prepared to leave the room in search of him.

“Yes.” He hurried to her side, his handsome brow creased with concern. “What are you doing out of bed?”

“Seth woke me when he said, ‘As you will.’ I opened my eyes just in time to see him teleport you away.” And she had not liked the murderous gleam in those luminescent, golden eyes.

“I’m fine. We were just . . .”

“Don’t tell me you were shooting the breeze.”

His eyebrows rose.

“I guessed right, didn’t I? That’s what you were going to say?”

“Yes. And it’s scary that you know me so well.”

She almost smiled. “He had his hand wrapped around your neck, Bastien.”

Bending, he swept her up into his arms. Melanie looped an arm around his neck as he turned to deposit her on the mattress.

“He was pissed about Ami.”

“What happened to Ami? She wasn’t captured, was she?”

“No. None of the soldiers got near her. But I was the reason she was there. I was the one who put her in harm’s way. I convinced Marcus to let Richart teleport them in so she could learn the mercenaries’ energy signatures.”

“That was smart.” Melanie patted the mattress.

“Seth didn’t think so.” Bastien sank down beside her. “How do you feel? Is your stomach still upset? Would you like me to get you some club soda?”

“No. I want you to stay here and snuggle with me.”

He smiled. “I can do that.”

He scooted closer and stretched out.

Melanie cuddled up against his side and rested her head on his chest.

Much better.

Curling her arm around his torso, she raised one knee and draped her leg across his groin. She smiled when his body reacted to the contact. “I can hear your heartbeat,” she murmured.

He brushed a hand over her hair. “Your ear is right above it.”

“I could hear it from across the room when you entered. And I could hear Seth’s out in the hallway before you closed the door.”

“You’ve almost finished transforming then.”

“I could hear Lisette and the others talking upstairs. They were betting on which immortal would kill you.”

“Yeah. I heard. Since you’re one of them now, you may as well know that those guys will wager on anything.”

She rolled onto her stomach, folded her hands on his chest, and propped her chin on them. “You’re one of them, too, Bastien.”

“I’ll never be one of them. My past won’t allow it.”

“Have they all had such perfect pasts, then?”

“As far as I know, I’m the only immortal who has ever killed another immortal. You may be able to get them to forgive that, but they’ll never forget it. I’ll always be the one who lived as a vampire. I’ll always be the outsider. They’ll never trust me.”

“Seth seems to trust you.”

He snorted. “Not anymore. Not after I endangered Ami.”

Melanie hoped he was wrong about that. He really needed Seth as an ally.

She studied Bastien’s face, the tightness around his mouth. “You seem tired.”

He gave her a weary smile. “I am.”

She drew a circle on his chest with her index finger and sent him a flirty look. “How tired?”

Some of the tightness in his features eased as his smile broadened. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, now that my stomach is settled and my fever is down . . .”

“Yes?”

She drew in a deep breath. “You smell really good.”

His eyes began to glow. “So do you.”

“And I admit I’m curious about something.”

He wrapped his arms around her and shifted her so that she was stretched out on top of him. “What’s that?”

She slid up his body, creating as much friction as she could, and leaned over him, her weight propped on the hands she planted on either side of his head. Her hair fell down around them, forming a curtain around his beautiful face. Her lips hovered inches above his. She lowered herself until they were only a breath apart. “What’s it like to make love as an immortal?”

“With another immortal? I wouldn’t know,” he admitted, voice low. “I’ve never done it before.” He settled his hands on her hips. “But I wouldn’t mind finding out. Care to educate me?”

Melanie smiled and kissed him. His lips were soft. Warm. Aggressive as they took control and claimed her with the same rising passion she felt for him.

“Mmmm,” she hummed her approval. “I thought you tasted good before. Now you taste so good it’s ridiculous.” Almost good enough to make her forget the toothache still plaguing her.

His chuckle turned into a moan as she leaned back and straddled his hips. Only the loose material of his sweatpants separated them.

“I wonder if all of you tastes so good.” She rolled her hips, ground her core against his erection. Pleasure shot through her.

Every muscle in Bastien’s body tensed as he clamped his hands on her hips and held her still. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

Her heart pounded in her chest. “You can feel what I feel, can’t you?” Again she rolled her hips.

He groaned. “Yes.”

“Then there’s your answer.”

Because she could feel . . . everything. And hear everything. His heart raced, thudding against his broad chest as he slid his hands up her sides beneath her shirt and closed them over her breasts. Sizzling lightning zigzagged through her.

Could he feel that? The sparks that burned her as his thumbs found her nipples? Could he feel her arousal through his gift? This vividly?

He lunged upward, slid his arms around her, eyes bright with desire that more than matched hers.

Oh, yeah. He could feel it.

He yanked the shirt she had borrowed over her head.

Melanie smiled what she hoped was a siren’s smile.

Bastien growled and lowered his head. His lips hovered before her breast. Every breath was like a touch, the brush of warm fingers.

She moaned. “You don’t play fair.”

The low chuckle with which he responded was so full of sensual promise she nearly climaxed then and there. “I’ve only begun to play.”

His lips closed on the hard, tight bud. Sensation shot through her as he drew on it, laved it with his tongue, teased it with his teeth.

Melanie cried out and buried her fingers in his hair. His long, soft, beautiful hair.

She hadn’t realized immortals’ sense of touch could be so acute. Every nerve ending in her body tingled. By the time this night was over, she may very well become the screamer Sheldon had accused Bastien of being.

He palmed her other breast, drew his thumb over the taut peak.

Her head fell back. She rocked against him.

Bastien had never felt anything so good in his long existence.

Until Melanie leaned forward and urged him down onto his back.

Her eyes glowed a bright amber. Her dark brown hair fell down around her flushed face as she leaned over him with the smile of a temptress. Her lips, swollen from their kisses, parted, revealing the tips of her new fangs.

She was more beautiful than ever.

He surged up against her, felt the answering flare of passion that claimed her.

Her head dipped. She touched her lips to his chest, explored. When those dainty teeth closed on his nipple, he groaned. And felt the shock of pain that struck her.

Abandoning his nipple, she continued her exploration, trailing a searing path of licks and kisses down his stomach. But every nip that sent fire roaring through his veins also caused her discomfort.

He curled his hands around her arms. “Melanie.”

“Hmm?”

He bit back another groan. “Melanie, honey, as much as I love where you’re going with this”—just the thought of her warm, wet mouth closing over his cock nearly made him come—“you need to stop.”

She raised her head and frowned. “Why?”

“Because I can feel how much your teeth and gums are hurting and know that any pressure at all makes it worse.”

Frustration shadowed her pretty face as she sat up. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. We have eternity to explore each other, remember?”

That wrung a smile from her. “We do. I just wish my damned fangs would come in so my mouth would stop throbbing.”

“They already have.” Which was another good reason to stop her, now that he thought about it. Until she gained control over her fangs, she probably should steer clear of his—

“I have fangs?” she blurted. Eyes wide, she brought both hands up to her mouth and gingerly felt her teeth. She sucked in a breath.

Scrambling off the bed, she raced for the bathroom.

Bastien groaned and grinned at the same time, thrilled by the view of her bare body as she hurried away.

“Holy crap! My eyes!”

Stripping off his sweatpants, he joined her in the bathroom, as bare as she was.

“Look!” She leaned forward to peer into the large mirror above the sink. “They’re glowing like yours.”

Frankly, he was more interested in the view of her bare bottom as she bent over the sink. Damn, that was tempting.

“And my teeth!” Wrinkling her face up in a snarl, she hissed at her reflection.

Bastien laughed, utterly charmed.

She spun around. “What do you think?”

“Beautiful and fierce,” he declared.

Grinning, she looped her arms around his neck and jumped up, wrapping her long, lovely legs around his waist.

Bastien caught her against him with a groan.

Face glowing, she pressed her mouth to his for an exuberant kiss. “Ow!” She drew back with a frown and touched the fingers of one hand to her lips again. “Damn it! This sucks! I can’t even kiss you!”

“It doesn’t suck,” he said, carrying her back into the bedroom, breath shortening and body burning as she rubbed against him with every step.

“It doesn’t?”

“Nope.”

“Why?”

He tossed her onto the bed and gave her a wicked grin. “Because my mouth works just fine.” So saying, he knelt on the bed, grabbed her ankles and parted her thighs.

He heard her heart skip a beat.

His own did the same as he leaned down and claimed her with his mouth.

Pleasure careened through Melanie.

Moaning, she buried her hands in Bastien’s hair and held him to her as his tongue swept across her clit, then returned for another taste.

He slid a finger inside her.

So good. So damned good she couldn’t catch her breath, panting as he bit and licked and sucked and stroked.

“Bastien.”

“Come for me,” he coaxed, his breathing as labored as hers.

Did he feel everything she felt?

He slipped a second finger inside her, stroked her in time with those long draws of his mouth.

Melanie gasped.

Bastien moaned.

Every muscle in her body stiffened as an orgasm shook her. “Bastien!”

On and on it went, prolonged by the eager flicks of his tongue and magnified by her heightened senses. She collapsed against the sheets.

Bastien fisted his hands in the covers and fought for control. Melanie’s orgasm had nearly sent him over the edge. And her shouting his name in ecstasy . . .

He needed to be inside her. Needed to feel her inner muscles squeezing him. Needed to experience the same ecstasy he had just felt consume her.

Every muscle trembling, he kissed a path up her pale abdomen, paused to delight in her lovely breasts, then stared down at her.

“Melanie?”

He loved the satisfied smile that graced her face as much as the purring rumble that drifted from her throat as she opened glowing amber eyes and stared up at him.

“That was unbelievable,” she murmured and combed her fingers through his hair.

“How do you feel?” he asked. His own emotions were clamoring so loudly now he really didn’t know. If she felt sick again . . .

Abandoning his hair, she dropped her hands to his hips, slid them down over his ass, and drew him down to her. “Eager for more.” Leaning up, she gingerly captured his lips and stroked them with her tongue. “Are you going to come for me now?”

Hell, yes!

He opened his mouth over hers, careful not to apply too much pressure, and settled his lower body in the cradle of her thighs. Melanie reached between them, curled her fingers around his sensitive cock, and guided him to her entrance.

Bastien didn’t hesitate to plunge inside. So warm and wet, squeezing him tight. He felt the same pleasure that engulfed him blaze through Melanie.

“More,” she begged.

He drew back and plunged again. And again. The friction too good.

She gripped his ass and urged him on. “Harder.”

Oh, yeah.

Melanie met him thrust for thrust, loving the feel of him inside her. Looming over her. His hair falling down and caressing her breasts with every stroke as he drove himself into her over and over again. Her breath shortened.

Weight supported by one strong arm, Bastien reached between them and teased her clit. A brush. A stroke. A tug.

Another hard climax rippled through her.

Bastien shouted as Melanie’s muscles clamped down around him. Pleasure seared him as an orgasm swept over him.

Both gasped for breath, bodies bathed in a fine sheen of perspiration.

Bastien had never known the like.

Utterly sated, he withdrew and lay beside her.

Melanie rolled onto her side and snuggled up against him.

A peace he hadn’t known since his sister’s murder enveloped him as he soaked in Melanie’s warmth and contentment. Her breathing deepened, evened.

Closing his eyes, Bastien let sleep claim him.

The voices of the immortals and their mortal friends wafted up to Zach. Sitting quietly above their heads, his butt parked on the icy roof, he carefully modulated his body temperature so shivers wouldn’t jar his wounds.

Damn, they stung.

The moon peered down at him through wispy clouds. All the usual nocturnal culprits moved about in the darkness below and beyond his line of sight.

Laughter erupted in David’s home. How easy it sounded. How free.

Zach tried to remember if he had ever laughed like that and couldn’t.

The back door opened and closed. Footsteps crossed the deck, tapped down the stairs and swished through the dormant grasses on the side of the house. Metal clanked, a hollow sound.

Zach looked to his right.

The top of an aluminum ladder swung into view and gently came to rest against the edge of the sloping roof.

He sighed. What new hell was this?

No one should know he was up here. Even Seth didn’t seem to have registered his presence. That poor bastard had so much on his plate Zach didn’t know why he didn’t throw in the towel and join Zach and the others out of sheer exhaustion.

Feet scaled the ladder’s treads. Hands slid up the sides.

He released his wings, preparing to leave, and lost his breath. Pain cut through him like buckshot. He curled his hands into fists, waited for it to ease.

Are you okay?

The voice was female. Soft, low, and such a shock it actually helped him weather the storm.

Zach looked toward the ladder.

A head full of fiery orange curls popped into view as bright green eyes peered at him over the edge of the roof.

Zach stared at her. It was the woman Seth and David had rescued from the mercenaries two or three years ago.

The woman from another planet.

When he made no move to leave, she must have taken it as an invitation, because she finished scaling the ladder and clambered up onto the roof.

Zach braced himself to dive after her if she should lose her footing. Seth would blame him if she fell, and Zach really wasn’t up for whatever Seth would want to dish out in retribution.

She was amazingly sure-footed for a mortal, her small, sneaker-clad feet carrying her up the rise with ease, then across the peak to his side.

I like your wings.

So she was telepathic. Thank you?

She smiled and seated herself next to him. May I join you?

He noticed she didn’t ask until she had already done so. It almost made him smile. Perhaps if he hadn’t been in so much pain . . . Okay.

Do you mind if we talk like this instead of out loud? I get the feeling you don’t want the others to know you’re here and they’ll come running—well, Marcus and Seth will at least—if they hear us talking.

I would rather not have company, so this will do.

Good.

How did you know I was here?

I felt your pain. Are you all right? Is there anything I can do?

Damn. No wonder Seth and everyone else adored her. She didn’t even know him and was up here offering to help him.

I’m all right.

Why don’t you ask Seth or David to heal you?

He shook his head. That would blow the whole I’m not really here thing.

She nodded.

Don’t you fear me? With her history, he would’ve thought she would be terrified of him. He was, after all, aware of the anxiety that struck her whenever she encountered strangers.

And he was as strange a stranger as she would meet.

No.

Why?

She shrugged. You remind me of Seth.

Well, hell.

I suppose I should ask . . . Are you friend or foe?

That was a head-scratcher. Neither?

If you’re not one, you’re the other.

If only things were that simple.

She shivered. The cold must be creeping in through her jacket.

Gritting his teeth, he spread his wings, then drew them in close to form a shield that insulated her from the wintery wind.

She glanced at him from the corner of her eye. I knew you were a friend.

He swore silently, then apologized when he remembered she could hear it.

She grinned. Opening up the front of her jacket, she reached inside.

Was she going for a weapon? Immortals and their Seconds did lean toward violence.

Plastic rattled.

When she withdrew her hand, she clutched two lollipops.

He drew in a breath. One was blueberry. One was strawberry.

Which do you prefer? Strawberryyyyyy? She waved the pink candy under his nose. Or blueberry? Strawberryyyyyyyy? Again she waved it just beneath his nose. Or blueberry?

Hmmm. Let me think. Strawberry?

Perfect! She handed him the pink one.

He smiled. It felt . . . peculiar . . . almost as if he were trying out a foreign language for the first time.

She unwrapped her blueberry lollipop and slipped it between her lips.

Zach unwrapped the strawberry lollipop and stuck it in his mouth. Sweet strawberry flavor flooded his taste buds.

She smiled. They’re good, right?

He nodded and smoothed his tongue over the tasty candy.

Quiet enfolded them. Night creatures occasionally broke it, as did the various conversations and sparring sounds from the house, though he supposed Ami couldn’t hear those.

The wispy clouds parted. Moonlight glinted off the solar panels below them. Fog hovered above David’s tidy lawn, shifting and swirling with the breeze.

So? she said at length. You know what I am.

Yes. Curiosity drove him to ask, Do you know what I am?

She tilted her head to one side and studied him. I suspect I do.

Interesting. How much had Seth confided in her?

Minutes passed while they whittled down their lollipops. When both were left with only sticks, she drew out two more.

Which one do I prefer this time? he asked.

She grinned. Orange mango.

He held out his hand and accepted the yellow/orange lollipop. She unwrapped a pink one that carried a delicious watermelon scent for herself.

It took him until the end of the second candy to realize that some of his pain had ebbed. He heard Marcus asking someone below if they had seen Ami.

Your husband is looking for you.

She rose and made her way over to the ladder.

Zach watched her carefully until she planted her feet on a rung. What will you tell him?

She descended a few rungs until only her eyes and fiery hair were visible. The truth. That I needed some fresh air.

Thank you.

Her eyes smiled. You’re welcome.

He listened to her descent. The ladder swung away from the house and disappeared. Her small feet swished through the grass again, then scaled the few steps to the deck. The back door opened, then closed.

Various immortals and mortals called greetings to her as she walked through the house and down the basement stairs.

“Hi, sweetie.”

“Hi, babe. Hey, you’re cold. Have you been outside?”

“Yes. I needed some fresh air.”

He heard them share a quick kiss. “Mmm. You taste like blueberries and watermelon.”

“I stole some of your lollipops.”

“Really. Well, if you’re in the mood to lick something . . .”

She laughed.

“We can hear you,” Seth called.

“So?” Marcus countered and kissed his wife again.

“So she’s like a daughter to me, jackass.”

“Yeah,” David seconded. “There’s a reason I poured thousands of dollars into soundproofing your bedroom.”

“Hmm.” Marcus sounded thoughtful. “I do believe your family is trying to tell me I should take you to bed.”

“That isn’t what I—oh screw it,” Seth muttered.

Marcus laughed. “Let’s go warm you up.”

Ami chuckled.

A moment later a door closed.

Zach’s feathers fluttered in the biting wind.

He looked down at the short white sticks he twirled between his fingers, all that remained of the two lollipops.

They were the only gifts he had ever received in his long existence.

Conversations started and stopped, overlapped and interrupted, down in the house.

Zach rose stiffly. Again, he was forced to hold his breath until the agony the movement had spawned eased. His fingers continued to toy with the white sticks.

Shaking his head at himself, he tucked them into one of the pockets of his leather pants.

Utterly pathetic.

Gritting his teeth, he bent his knees, leapt up, swept his powerful wings down, and lost himself amid the night sky.