Ethan shared a look with his wife. “Then why did you tell Chris you need Richart’s help?”
“Because Richart is there with them now. If Seth is calling for my head, Heather and I will see it in Richart’s thoughts.”
“And if you don’t?” Ethan asked.
Aidan forced a smile. “Then Richart teleporting you two will keep me from expending unnecessary energy.” And help him remain at full strength in case Seth had not opted to disregard the vampires’ memories.
He stood.
Dana rose beside him, clinging to his hand and curling her other hand around his biceps.
Ethan and Heather rose, too.
Richart appeared just inside the front door. When he saw them, he strolled over to join them and offered Dana a smile. “You must be Dana.”
She nodded and forced a smile but failed to erase the pensive look from her pretty face.
“I’m Richart d’Alen?on. I believe you’ve met my sister Lisette.” He extended his hand, palm up. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” When Dana placed her hand in his, Richart carried it to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles.
“Nice to meet you, too.”
Giving her a friendly smile, Richart released her hand and met Aidan’s gaze. “If you’re conserving energy, I can take all three of them but will have to make two trips.”
Richart was only a couple of centuries old, so teleporting more than one or two people at a time was difficult for him.
Aidan gave the young French immortal’s mind a quick scan and found nothing to indicate they were about to face Seth’s wrath.
He glanced at Heather, whose face lit with hope. “If you take Ethan and Heather, I can take Dana.”
Richart nodded. “Shall we go then? Seth wants us to teleport directly to Chris’s office.”
Ethan and Heather clasped hands and moved to stand beside Richart. The French immortal touched Ethan’s shoulder, then looked to Aidan.
Aidan glanced down at Dana and murmured, “Here we go.”
When she gave him a silent nod, he teleported to Chris’s office.
Richart, Ethan, and Heather appeared beside them just as Chris entered through the boardroom doorway.
He dipped his chin in a brief nod of greeting as he set some papers on his cluttered desk. “Thanks for coming. This shouldn’t take long, then you can go back home and get some rest.”
Well, hell. That sounded good. Had Aidan been wrong? Had Seth seen through the vampires’ bullshit memories? Could Dana’s vision of Seth trying to kill him be wrong?
Or had they, perhaps, managed to alter the course of events so it would never come to pass?
She had dreamed the vampires who attacked them in her home would kill both her and Aidan. But they had survived.
Chris strode toward them and offered Dana his hand. “You must be Dana. I’m Chris Reordon, head of the East Coast division of the network that aids Immortal Guardians.”
Dana started to take his hand but jerked her own back at the last minute. “Wait. Did you say Chris Reordon?”
“Yes.”
She narrowed her eyes as her brows drew down in a disapproving scowl. “Are you the asshole who keeps trying to make Aidan out to be the bad guy?”
Ethan barked out a laugh, then caught himself.
Aidan struggled to contain his own amusement as Heather grinned and masculine laughter floated out of the boardroom.
Much to Aidan’s surprise, Chris took no offense.
Smiling, Chris said, “I used to be the asshole who was trying to make Aidan out to be the bad guy. But,” he hastened to add when Dana opened her mouth, ready to verbally lambaste him, “I’m now the guy who is trying to help everyone else prove that Aidan is not the bad guy.”
Her expression still unwelcome, Dana grudgingly shook his hand.
Unperturbed, Chris got down to business. “Aidan, would you join us in the boardroom? Richart, you can come, too. Heather, Dana, Ethan, please make yourselves comfortable. If you need anything, my assistant is right outside that door.” He pointed.
Aidan gently disentangled himself from Dana’s grip. “I’ll be back in a minute.” Dipping his head, he gave her a swift kiss, then followed Chris into the boardroom.
Richart entered behind them.
The door snicked shut.
Seth, Zach, and a man Aidan didn’t recognize stood on the opposite side of the room.
The third man was garbed much like Zach usually was. Black pants, black boots and nothing else. Like Zach, he apparently didn’t wear a shirt so it wouldn’t restrict the huge dark wings that peeked over the man’s shoulders.
Fury filled Aidan. Was this Gershom? Had they caught him?
“You son of a bitch,” Aidan growled and lunged forward.
Richart grabbed him by the arm and struggled to hold him back.
Seth threw up a hand and stepped in front of the Other. “This isn’t Gershom.”
Aidan stilled. “What?”
“This isn’t Gershom,” Seth repeated.
Confusion filled him. “But he’s an Other.” Seth, Zach, and Gershom were the only Others who had strayed from the path.
Weren’t they?
“Jared has been working with us in secret for about a year now,” Seth said, moving aside so Aidan could examine the newcomer. “The Others don’t know it. Nor do most of the immortals in the area.”
Aidan stared at the Other.
Jared was playing both sides, pretending to walk the line with the Others while aiding the Immortal Guardians? That was pretty damned ballsy. Zach had once been tortured by the Others just for telling Seth his phone wasn’t working when the immortals in North Carolina had needed him. What the hell would the Others do if they found out Jared was actually working with them?
“Why take the risk?” Aidan couldn’t resist asking.
Jared’s lips turned up in a grim smile. “A prophetic vision showed me Gershom succeeding in launching Armageddon. In the vision, no one survived. Humans, gifted ones, immortals, vampires, and Others all perished.”
Hell. Aidan looked to Seth. “Isn’t Jared being here with us dangerous?”
“Yes,” Seth answered. “But we want to confirm something and could use his aid.”
Confirm what? “Is this about the vampires we captured?” May as well put it right out there.
Seth shook his head. “They’re being held at another location. I haven’t had a chance to see them yet.”
Damn. There went the hope that Seth had read their minds and seen past the bullshit.
“This is about the surveillance videos,” Seth explained.
“The ones that showed my doppelg?nger with the gifted ones?”
“Yes. I’d like to try something.”
As Aidan watched, Seth’s shape changed.
Zach and Jared’s forms shifted as well.
When the three finished transforming, Aidan smiled.
Maybe all hope wasn’t lost.
Ethan watched Dana’s knee bob up and down, her teeth nibble her lower lip, and wished he could reassure her, but he felt as anxious as she looked.
She sat in one of the chairs by Chris’s desk.
Ethan and Heather shared a nearby sofa that was so long Ethan guessed Chris probably slept on it on occasion.
The door to the boardroom opened.
Chris leaned out. “Ethan, will you join us?”
Ethan squeezed Heather’s hand, then rose and crossed to the boardroom.