“Most likely,” Aidan replied.
Dana zipped the bag closed. “Who are Ed and Brodie?”
“Our Seconds,” Aidan explained. “Seth assigns every Immortal Guardian a Second, or human guard, to protect him or her during the day and lend some semblance of normalcy so nosy neighbors won’t ask too many questions when they only see us at night.”
Dana studied him. “So Seconds are like Dracula’s Renfield or Blade’s Whistler?”
He smiled. “Yes.”
Heather grimaced. “Only they don’t eat bugs.”
Aidan regarded her with surprise. “What?”
Heather shrugged. “In some of the Dracula movies I’ve seen, the Renfields were rancid guys who ate bugs.”
Aidan looked at Dana with something akin to alarm. “Brodie isn’t like that,” he insisted, as though he feared she’d think the worst. “Ed isn’t either. They’re like Sheldon.”
Ethan laughed. “Only older, wiser and much more competent.”
Heather grinned. “In other words, they’re like Tracy.”
The immortals all laughed.
Dana smiled. “Well, I guess I’m ready then.”
Aidan grasped the handle of her bag, then wrapped his arm around her and drew her up against his side.
Ethan did the same with Heather.
Then Aidan rested his free hand on Ethan’s shoulder.
Dana looked up at him, a little nervous about the whole teleportation thing. What exactly did that entail? Disassembling all their molecules, then reassembling them somewhere else?
That sounded pretty terrifying.
Aidan dipped his head and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Teleportation is fun. Once you get used to it, I think you’ll like it.”
“If you say so,” she responded and forced a smile.
His eyes crinkled at the corners.
Darkness abruptly swallowed her. The floor seemed to fall away beneath her feet as an odd feeling of weightlessness struck, much like that she sometimes experienced in an elevator. A second later, she found herself standing in a large, brightly lit, tastefully decorated living room.
Gaping at her new surroundings, she tightened her hold on Aidan. Excitement filled her. Elation, too.
Tilting her head back, she grinned up at him. “That is so cool!”
His face brightened with a grin. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Can we do it again?” she asked, as eager as a child wanting another piggyback ride.
He chuckled. “Maybe later, when I’m at full strength.”
A man entered the room from the adjoining kitchen. “Glad to see you all survived the battle.” He glared at Aidan. “Next time you can damned well take me, too. My job is to protect Ethan and Heather. I can’t do that if you leave my ass behind.”
Aidan nodded. “My apologies, Ed. Time was short and I was low on energy.”
He nodded. “I’m guessing that wasn’t all you were low on.”
Dana dropped her gaze to the dark bags he carried. The excitement tingling in her belly sank like a stone. “Is that blood?”
Ed glanced over at her, seeming to notice her for the first time. Dismay flashed across his handsome features. “Oh, shit.” He tucked the blood bags behind his back. His gaze flew to Aidan. “I was so worried about Ethan and Heather that I forgot…”
Beside her, Aidan loosed a long sigh.
She glanced up at him. “It is blood, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
She tried to school her face into an expressionless mask so he wouldn’t see her disgust. “And you drink it?” Gross. “Immortals drink blood like vampires?”
“No. We don’t drink it,” he corrected. “Our fangs behave like needles and siphon the blood directly into our veins.”
“Oh.” That was less gross. “I thought you said you didn’t need blood.” She had asked him as much before they fell asleep earlier.
“I lied,” he admitted.
“Because you didn’t want to scare me?” she guessed.
“And because you were the only source available to me at the time.”
Dana opted to forgive him the lie. She didn’t know what she would’ve done if he had told her yes, he needed blood and would like to partake of some of hers. “Does blood loss weaken you?”
“Yes.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw the others share an uneasy look and understood better why he had not revealed all this sooner. By answering her honestly, he had just revealed a vulnerability that could be used against every immortal in this room, not just himself.
But if blood loss left him weaker…
She frowned. “You weren’t at full strength when you fought the vampires?”
“I was strong enough.”
“But you weren’t at full strength,” she pressed.
A muscled jumped in his jaw. “No.”
The knowledge chilled her. He could have lost his life, simply because he hadn’t wanted to frighten her by taking her blood.
She motioned to Ed. “Give him the blood.” She looked up at Aidan. “And you do whatever you have to do to restore your strength.” And stay alive. She didn’t want to lose him.
He shook his head. “I’ll do it later.”
“Do it now,” she insisted. “You want me to know everything, don’t you? You want me to see it all?”
Clamping his teeth together, he nodded.
“Then show me.”
Without another word, Aidan set her bag down and crossed to Ed.
Ed brought his hands out from behind his back and offered Aidan one of the blood bags. “Sorry, man. I wasn’t thinking.”
“No worries,” Aidan murmured.
While Dana watched, Aidan parted his lips. Just as they had at her place, two long fangs descended.
His eyes on hers, Aidan raised the bag and pressed his fangs into the plastic. Almost immediately, the bag began to lose its fullness, sinking in on itself as the blood it contained found its way into Aidan’s veins.
When the bag was empty, he handed it to Ed.
Ed gave him a second bag.
Dana looked at Ethan and Heather, both of whom watched her warily. “You, too.”
The couple joined Aidan and sank their teeth into bags of blood Ed handed them.
After two battles—the first with Roland, then the second with vampires—Aidan must have been dangerously low on blood, because he consumed more bags than the others.
No. Not consumed. Infused himself with?
Dana wasn’t sure. But the unease that painted every expression save her own gradually began to amuse her. “You all look like you’re waiting for me to faint or something.”
Aidan handed Ed an empty bag. “You Tasered Roland. You’re not the fainting type.”
Ed laughed. “Everyone is going to love you for that one.”
“Why?” she asked. “Is Roland a bad guy?”
“Nah.” Ed chuckled. “He’s not a bad guy. He’s just not a very likable guy.”
“I sure as hell don’t like him,” she muttered. The man had tried to kill Aidan.
Aidan laughed, his fangs retreating and leaving straight white teeth that bore no bloodstains. “Let’s go ahead and get settled, shall we?” he suggested, picking up her bag. “Ed, did you call Brodie?”
He nodded. “He’ll be here any minute.”
“Good.”