Seth grunted and turned those eyes, still blazing with fury, on Aidan.
Dana didn’t think, she just reacted, her vision strong in her mind.
Raising the tranq gun, she fired.
A dart lodged itself in Seth’s chest.
All around the room, mouths fell open as eyes widened. More than one person gasped.
Seth frowned down at the dart, then looked at Dana.
He didn’t pass out.
“Oh crap.” Dana fired again.
The second dart impaled him an inch or so from the first.
Aidan swung on her. “Are you mad, woman?” He eyed her with what could only be described as appalled astonishment.
She looked around.
All of them eyed her with appalled astonishment.
Except for Zach, who burst out laughing, and little Adira, who just looked puzzled.
Dana frowned up at Aidan. “I thought he was going to attack you.” Her visions always came true. She had foreseen Roland attacking Aidan, and Roland had attacked Aidan. She had foreseen vampires attacking them at her home, and vampires had attacked them at her home. And she had foreseen Seth hacking away at Aidan with a sword, his eyes glowing and fury painting his face as it did now. So a preemptive strike had seemed like the way to go.
No one responded. They all just continued to gape at her.
“Well,” she complained as the silence stretched and frustration rose, “if you didn’t want me to tranq anyone, you shouldn’t have given me the damned gun.”
Zach, who had managed to corral his mirth, burst into laughter again.
Seth’s lips twitched. He looked at Aidan, the bright golden light in his eyes fading. “I like her.”
Aidan chuckled. “Aye. She’s a fighter.”
Around the room, tight expressions lightened with amusement. Shoulders and stances relaxed. And, most important, Seth didn’t attack.
Dana lowered the tranq gun and leaned into Aidan’s side as he wrapped an arm around her.
Seth looked toward the front windows and scowled, his anger resurfacing. “Oh, for fuck’s sake! Are you kidding me?”
A moment later, Dana heard a vehicle approach. A thud sounded as someone exited the vehicle.
Seth crossed to the front door and yanked it open.
The man on the porch raised his eyebrows and eyed Seth’s furious expression with surprise but no real concern, it seemed to Dana. He was about six feet tall with black hair that fell almost to his waist, brown eyes, broad shoulders, and plenty of muscle.
Seth looked at those gathered in the living room and pointed to the newcomer. “Okay, I admit it. This surprised me.”
Nods all around.
Ami offered the newcomer a hesitant smile. “Hi, Bastien.”
Bastien nodded to her, then studied Seth. Backing up a couple of steps, he looked up at the stormy sky, then over his shoulder at the trees that swayed in a rough wind, before arching a brow at Seth. “Did I come at a bad time?”
Seth sighed. “Just get your ass in here.”
Dana looked up at Aidan as Bastien entered and Seth closed the door behind him.
Why did everyone seem so shocked to see this particular immortal?
Aidan glanced down at her. Bastien is the black sheep of the Immortal Guardians family. He once raised an army of vampires in an attempt to defeat us all and is not well liked by some as a result. Roland, in particular, bears him a great deal of animosity because Bastien once kidnapped Sarah.
Dana slid Roland and Sarah a look.
Both seemed more concerned about Seth’s anger than Bastien’s appearance.
She returned her gaze to Aidan’s. So no one likes him? she thought. That’s why they all look so shocked?
Zach likes him, he clarified. Those two are birds of a feather. And the others present have gradually come to accept him. But the shocker is that Bastien rarely concerns himself with the lives of other immortals. So his coming here is… He frowned. Actually, I’m not sure why he’s here.
Seth scowled at Bastien. “If the others defied me, I don’t know why it surprises me so much that you did, too. Why are you here?”
Bastien motioned to Aidan. “Aidan has been good to me.”
Surprise lit Aidan’s features. “I have?”
Bastien nodded. “You’ve gone out of your way to help Cliff. And Cliff is like a brother to me. So I’m here to have your back.”
Love and pride filled Dana as she looked up at Aidan. These men and women, his brethren, all loved him so much for the things he had done for them in the past that they had risked Seth’s wrath to be here for him, which apparently was pretty ballsy.
How could she not love him, too?
He glanced down at her.
Her eyes widened. “Don’t read my thoughts,” she blurted.
His forehead crinkled. “I’m not. I only read the others because you sent them to me.”
“Oh.” Good. Now did not seem like the most appropriate time for declarations of love.
Bastien motioned to Seth’s chest. “What’s with the darts?”
Glancing down, Seth plucked them from his chest and tucked them in a pocket. “Dana tried to tranq me.”
Bastien’s eyes widened as a startled laugh escaped him. Clamping his lips together, he turned to look at her. “You’re the psychic?”
Dana nodded.
Smiling, he strode forward and offered her his hand. “Sebastien Newcombe. Pleasure to meet you.”
Shifting the tranq gun to her left hand, Dana shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, too.”
Bastien covered their clasped hands. “If you or Aidan ever need anything, large or small, don’t hesitate to call me. Aidan has my number.”
She returned his smile. “Thank you. That’s very kind of you.”
Someone—Ed, she thought—whispered, “Did Dana tranq Bastien and I just didn’t see it? Because he is not acting like himself.”
Muffled laughter.
The amusement that rose within Dana died a swift death as the comfy living room faded away, replaced by a stark white room littered with splintered furniture. In the vision, a young man gripped the front of her shirt as he stared up at her with eyes that glowed orange and sparkled with tears.
She clasped his shoulders with Bastien’s large hands and gave them a squeeze.
The young man mouthed something she didn’t hear and released her shirt. Naked joy blossomed on his face.
Then, in the blink of an eye, she drew a sword and severed his head.
A scream sounded beside her as anguish filled her.
Her eyes welled with tears.
Bastien released her hand.
Dana returned to the present, to the living room full of immortals. But that lump of grief remained lodged in her chest.
Bastien stared down at her uneasily, then looked to Aidan. “Did I say something wrong?”
Dana hastily blinked back tears.
Aidan smiled. “No. She’s just touched by your show of support. As am I.” Don’t mention what you saw, he murmured in her mind. It was a moment from his past that still causes him great pain and sorrow.
Dana forced a smile. “And the past forty-eight hours have been pretty exhausting.”