Dana barely noticed as she stared up at Aidan, her heart beating faster.
Aidan met her gaze, his handsome face somber, his brown eyes unreadable.
Again she heard Roland’s voice in his memory. When Seth told me he believes you had no role in Veronica’s disappearance and that I had just outed you in front of the mortal woman you love… I felt sick.
Ed leaned over Roland.
“No.” Ethan stopped him. “Wake Sarah first. Roland may not blame Dana for tranqing him, but if he sees she tranqed Sarah, too, he’ll be pissed.”
Nodding, Ed moved to stand over Sarah and leaned down.
Dana is here with you now, Roland had said. Does that mean she hasn’t turned away from you?
She’s here because Seth mandated it, Aidan had responded, so much emotion buffeting him.
Did he really believe that? That she wouldn’t be with him tonight if Seth hadn’t forced her hand?
Ed pressed an EpiPen-like thing against Sarah’s neck.
Sarah’s hazel eyes opened, then flared bright green as she sat up straight and looked around for her husband, almost bumping heads with Ed.
Dana didn’t hear whatever Ethan and the others told her. Didn’t really care, truth be told.
She seems to be accepting it all. Accepting me. I just don’t know if she’s willing to…
Accept it all—and you—on a permanent basis?
Aye.
Aidan loved her.
Deeply.
He wanted to spend the rest of eternity with her. And—even after the amazing day they had just spent together making love—feared she either didn’t or couldn’t feel the same way.
“Aidan,” she whispered.
Face somber, he cupped her face in one hand. “You still have choice,” he murmured, stroking her cheek with his thumb.
Because he would always place her needs and desires above his own. No matter how much he dreaded the centuries of loneliness and regret he believed would follow if she walked away, he wouldn’t press her.
Tears welled in her eyes. Emotion suffusing her, she moved forward, buried her face in his chest, and hugged him tight.
Aidan said nothing, just closed his arms around her and rested his chin atop her head.
“Roland?” Sarah said.
“What the hell happened?” the British immortal replied groggily.
“Dana tranqed you,” his wife told him. “She couldn’t see clearly in the dark. So when you went to shake Aidan’s hand, she thought you were trying to stab him and tranqed you to protect him.”
Dana couldn’t help but notice that Sarah didn’t mention being tranqed herself.
“She did?” Roland asked, his voice lightening with amusement. “First she Tasers me, then she tranqs me.” He chuckled. “I like her. She reminds me of you.”
Laughter filled the room.
A chuckle rumbled through Aidan’s chest beneath Dana’s ear. Tilting her head back, she smiled up at him, and his answering smile bore a hesitance that twisted her heart. She lifted her lips, inviting a kiss.
Smile broadening, he started to lower his head to comply but stopped just short of making contact. He frowned, then turned to look at the front door.
Releasing her, he drew his swords.
The other immortals all followed suit as Aidan stepped around Dana and placed himself between her and the door.
Ed and Brodie both drew what appeared to be 9mms.
“What is it?” Dana asked, wondering if the tranq gun she’d tucked back in her pants still held any darts.
Aidan answered telepathically. Someone just teleported onto the front porch.
All shared an intense look, so Dana assumed he had told everyone, not just her.
Hell. Was it Seth? The other vision wasn’t about to come true, was it? Had Seth returned to kill Aidan?
The doorbell rang.
Heather’s eyebrows rose. “Really?” She took a step toward the door.
Ethan blurred and got there first.
Heather frowned as she moved to stand beside him.
Unperturbed, Ethan opened the door.
Dana’s jaw dropped.
The tallest man she had ever seen in person—even taller than Seth—stood on the front porch beside an absolutely gorgeous woman. The male was only an inch or two shy of seven feet, the woman about five foot six. Both had black hair. The man’s fell below his shoulders. The woman’s was pulled back in a long braid. Both also wore the clothing Dana was coming to associate with just about everyone in the Immortal Guardians world: black pants, black shirts, black boots, and long black coats.
Did the black clothing help them blend into the night better? Or did they wear it to conceal the bloodstains they accrued on their nightly hunts?
She suspected the latter and found the idea unsettling.
Ethan smiled as everyone sheathed and holstered their weapons. “Zach. Lisette. What are you two doing here?”
“Defying Seth’s orders,” Zach muttered with what sounded like a British accent.
Lisette elbowed him, never losing her smile. “There was a game on earlier.” Her voice carried a lilting French accent. “I was hoping Ed recorded it so we could watch it together.”
Ethan laughed. “Bullshit. You’re here to check up on me.”
Her smile turned sheepish. “Mmmmaybe I was a little worried after hearing what happened last night.”
Ethan motioned for them to enter and closed the door behind them. “Dana, this is Lisette and her husband Zach. Both are immortal.”
Lisette strode forward with a big smile, offering her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Dana.”
Returning her smile, Dana shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, too.” At least she hoped it was. Lisette seemed friendly. But Zach gave off kind of a scary don’t-fuck-with-me-or-I’ll-kill-you vibe and seemed to exude almost as much power as Seth.
Patting their clasped hands, Lisette slid Zach a glance. “I know some find my husband intimidating because of his dark and brooding nature, but I assure you, he’s as gentle as a kitten.”
Everyone snorted in disagreement, even her husband.
Lisette frowned. “He is.”
Zach’s lips curled up in a sardonic smile. “I don’t think that one’s going to fly, love. They know me too well.”
Lisette started to reply, then paused and turned a frown on Aidan. “I wasn’t.”
“Yes, you were.” Aidan’s brows lowered. “Don’t do it again.”
Dana glanced at Zach, expecting the warning in Aidan’s voice to anger him.
But Zach merely chuckled. “Looks like he caught you.”
Lisette wrinkled her nose as she released Dana’s hand. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“Do what again?” Dana asked, wondering what she’d missed.
Aidan curled an arm around her shoulders. “Read your thoughts.”
Dana looked at Lisette, anger rising over the intrusion. “You’re a telepath?”
“Yes,” the woman confirmed. “And I’m sorry. I won’t read your thoughts again unless a dire emergency compels me to. I just did it this time—”
“Because you’re nosy?” Ethan suggested with a grin.
She laughed. “Sometimes, yes,” she admitted, then turned back to Dana. “But I really just wanted to know how you were faring.” Her smile gentled as she reached out to touch Aidan’s arm. “Aidan is precious to us.”
Dana glanced up.
Aidan seemed surprised by the pronouncement.