Seth drove only far enough away from Dana’s shop to leave the sight of any late-nighters. Stopping the car, he closed his eyes and teleported himself and the vehicle to the barn behind David’s home, which served as a huge garage. Parking the car in Ami’s spot, he cut the engine, got out, and left the keys above the visor.
By the sounds of it, the Immortal Guardians and Seconds who had assembled at David’s home for the meeting remained where he had left them—at the dining room table. Voices overlapped as everyone speculated over what might be happening with Seth, Roland, and Aidan.
Seth strode down the drive and around to the front of the house, taking a couple of minutes to dampen his anger and gather his thoughts.
He’d had no idea Aidan was seeing someone.
Aidan had said nothing. And, contrary to popular belief, Seth didn’t like intruding on his friends’ thoughts, seeing all their secrets and private moments, so he didn’t do so nearly as often as most assumed he did.
Joy crept in. Aidan had found someone. After seemingly endless lonely centuries, he had found a woman he loved who was also falling in love with him. Or who had been before Roland had mucked it all up.
Bitterness invaded. Why did all hell have to break loose whenever an immortal found love? Couldn’t one damned courtship go smoothly?
Grinding his teeth, Seth opened the front door and closed it behind him with a little more force than he’d intended.
All conversation ceased.
Entering the dining room, he crossed to the foot of the table and retook his seat.
A long minute passed.
“Seth,” Ami said tentatively, “are you okay?”
“Yes,” he gritted, though anger continued to pummel him.
The men and women seated at the table exchanged uncertain looks.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “Because your eyes are really bright. And I’m pretty sure I just heard thunder.”
He swore, then muttered, “Give me a minute.” But when he closed his eyes, he saw again the dread that had darkened Aidan’s features. The fear that he would lose Dana. The dying hope.
Thunder rumbled outside, louder this time.
Opening his eyes, Seth pointed at Chris. “You need to get your shit together and stop persecuting Aidan. From now on, when you come to this table, you will damned well leave all bias at the door.”
Chris stiffened and held up a sheaf of papers. “This isn’t bias,” he insisted.
“Bullshit,” Seth countered. “You’re holding a grudge.”
“I don’t hold grudges.”
Laughter erupted around the table.
Some of his anger easing just a bit, Seth arched a brow.
“Okay, okay,” Chris ground out when the laughter was slow to die down. “I get it. You all think I hold grudges.”
“Hell yes you do,” Bastien uttered.
Chris shot him a scowl, then met Seth’s irate gaze. “But, Seth, when it comes to Aidan, can you really blame me?” He motioned to their audience. “You consider all the immortals and Seconds at this table—as well as the immortals and Seconds who aren’t at this table—members of your family. And you worry about them and protect them accordingly. Well, that’s how I feel about the network employees. I think of them as my family. And Aidan erased the memories and damaged the brains of several of them.”
Eyes widened.
“What?” Marcus murmured. “Aidan did that? Why?”
Seth shook his head. “I won’t go into that right now.”
Bastien cleared his throat. “In his defense, Aidan only erased a minute or two of their memories, so the damage done was negligible.”
“Only a minute or two?” Sheldon snorted and waved a hand. “Hell, I probably damaged my brain more than that binge drinking with my buds in high school.”
étienne eyed him curiously. “Is that why you’re the way you are?”
Sheldon and Tracy both laughed.
Chris clenched his teeth. “Any damage is unacceptable.”
Seth held up a hand. “I have no problem with your being pissed about that. But I do object to your letting it cloud your judgment.”
Chris sent him an incredulous look. “How is it clouding my judgment? We know for a fact that Aidan was the last person to see the six women who have disappeared. We even now have three of those encounters on video.”
“Yes,” Seth said. “But those aren’t the only gifted ones who have gone missing. You conveniently left out the fact that three men have disappeared as well. And there is no evidence whatsoever that Aidan had any contact with them.”
Everyone looked at Chris, awaiting his rebuttal.
Chris frowned. “I just hadn’t gotten to that part yet.”
David spoke up. “Because you were focusing all your suspicion on Aidan.”
Seth nodded. “I know you dislike him, Chris. I know he gave you reason to. But you need to get past that now. If all I knew of this matter was what you told us right before Aidan left, I would believe Aidan guilty of harming those women.”
Sheldon nodded. “You did kinda make Aidan sound like a serial killer.”
More nods.
“Had you instead,” Seth continued, “begun your presentation by saying that nine gifted ones have gone missing, three males and six females, then explained that we have strong reason to believe that someone bearing Aidan’s appearance was seen with several of them shortly before they vanished—”
“Not someone bearing Aidan’s appearance,” Chris corrected. “Aidan.”
Ethan spoke up. “I still don’t think it was him. I think it was someone else. One of the Others maybe.”
Chris rolled his eyes. “You’re biased and don’t want to believe he could do anything bad because he transformed Heather for you.”
Heather huffed a laugh. “And you aren’t biased?”
“I have three videos that say I’m not,” he countered.
Heather raised her eyebrows. “Really? And if the man in the videos appeared to be Seth or David, would you still be so quick to disregard Ethan’s input?”
That actually seemed to give Chris pause. “I trust Seth and David.”
Ami leaned forward. “Then trust Seth’s judgment. When Gershom hit us on multiple fronts last year, we trusted Aidan to keep Adira safe and he did.”
All eyes went to the redheaded toddler who slept in Marcus’s arms.
Marcus nodded. “Aidan risked his life to protect her. He knew there was a good chance Gershom would follow him. He knew he couldn’t outrun Gershom or beat him in a fight. Yet he still didn’t hesitate to put his life on the line, whisk her away, and do everything he could to keep her safe.”
Heather spoke once more. “Ethan remembers every tiny, insignificant detail he sees. If he says he doesn’t think the man in the video is Aidan, then I believe him. And I think you would, too, if that man looked like anyone else here.”
Chris ground his teeth for a full minute, then sighed and sank back in his seat. “You’re right. I fucked up.”
One might think that would assuage Seth’s anger, but it didn’t. “Yes, you did. And because you did, Roland followed Aidan, attacked him, and did his damnedest to kill him.”
Gasps of dismay.