Aidan followed Bastien inside and stopped short.
Chris nudged them forward enough for him to enter behind them, then closed the door. “I didn’t want the vampires to find out.”
At the other end of the boardroom, Cliff was curled up on Chris’s sofa with Emma.
Both slept soundly.
Aidan gaped at Chris. “You knew?”
Chris arched a brow. “Of course I knew.”
Bastien grunted. “The bastard knows everything. He’s as bad as Seth.”
Chris laughed. But his laughter died quickly as the three of them studied the couple.
Emma’s face reflected the peace she had found in slumber.
Cliff was another matter. His brow furrowed, his muscles tense, he clutched Emma tightly, as though he feared his violent dreams would tear her from his arms.
But at least he slept.
“I’m surprised you didn’t put a stop to it,” Aidan murmured.
Chris shook his head. “I like Cliff. He’s smart as hell. He’s brave. He’s honorable. If he were human, he’d be one of my higher-ups here at the network. I knew you didn’t take him into the sun today and could see he was struggling. So I brought them both in here.”
Bastien turned to the network leader. “Thank you.”
Chris shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe whatever Melanie learns from Dana’s transformation might also help Cliff.”
Aidan sure as hell hoped it would.
Chapter Twenty
A cool breeze ruffled Aidan’s hair as he eyed the small bandage at the bend of Dana’s arm. “Are you sure you don’t want me to heal it?”
She laughed. “I’m sure. It was just a tiny needle prick, Aidan. Honestly, I would feel like a total wuss if you healed it for me.”
Nevertheless, he wondered if he couldn’t find some way to heal it without her knowledge. Particularly since his sharp vision caught the beginnings of a bruise peeking out from under the bandage.
Heather laughed and handed Dana a sandwich. “Ethan’s the same way. I’m a lot stronger and faster than he is, but he still freaks out over every little scratch I get.”
Ethan grunted. “Because some of those scratches aren’t so little.”
They sat atop Davis Library on UNC Chapel Hill’s campus. Minutes earlier, Aidan and Ethan had taken out eight vampires below. And the four of them now were pretty much just hanging around until the network’s cleanup crew finished working their magic below—making sure no security cameras had captured the battle, removing blood from the pavement, that sort of thing.
Heather handed Aidan a sandwich.
“Thank you.”
Apparently Reordon’s kitchen crew at the network had packed them a very nice snack to take along on their hunt.
The two humans below tossed the immortals sitting near the roof’s edge a wave.
Aidan and the others waved back and watched the men head back to their van and drive away.
“This is good,” Dana commented after taking a big bite of her sandwich.
Aidan grinned. Yes, it was. And this was good. This moment of normalcy, or what passed for such in his world. Just sitting and chatting and sharing a meal, Dana’s shoulder brushing his arm.
“It still feels weird,” Heather said, “staying up here and doing nothing while you guys do all the fighting down there.”
Aidan shook his head. “You have the most important job here, Heather—protecting Dana.”
Dana grimaced. “I wish I were already immortal. Then I could protect myself.”
A scent rose on the breeze.
Aidan looked to the west. “Do you smell that?” he murmured.
Heather set her sandwich down and followed his gaze. “Yes.”
“How many?”
She drew in a deep breath. “Fifteen.”
“Excellent. You didn’t let the scents from our earlier kills distract you.” He handed his sandwich to Dana and rose.
Ethan stuffed the last bite of his sandwich in his mouth and stood, drawing two sais.
The vampires that approached spoke little. Very odd. Insanity rarely bred silence.
Perhaps they simply hadn’t fed yet tonight and had no recent kills about which they could brag.
Aidan looked to Ethan. “Ready?”
“Sure.”
Dana and Heather stood, abandoning their meal.
Aidan leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to Dana’s lips. “This should only take a moment.”
“Okay. Be careful.”
He hated the worry he saw in her gaze and wished that becoming part of his world would not require her to accustom herself to nightly violence.
Stepping off the edge of the roof, he enjoyed the quick uptake in the wind and the thrill of being able to fall eight stories and land easily on his feet. Perhaps little perks like that would make up for the darker side of becoming immortal for Dana.
He drew his swords as Ethan landed beside him. “They’ll be here momentarily.”
The sound of a phone number being dialed carried down from the roof.
“Reordon.”
“Hi, Chris. It’s Heather.”
“Everything okay? My boys just called and said they were headed in.”
“Everything’s fine, but you’d better go ahead and tell them to turn around. Looks like our night isn’t over. We’re about to create another mess for them to clean up.”
Chris laughed. “Will do.”
Aidan shared an amused look with Ethan.
The vampires came around the corner a minute later. All looked to be newly turned, their clothing neat, their hair well groomed. Good hygiene tended to be the first thing to go when insanity blossomed.
All the vampires stopped short upon seeing the two men waiting for them.
Aidan read as many minds as he could in the time allowed.
The vampires took in the two men in long black coats sporting swords and concluded they faced Immortal Guardians. They also recognized Aidan, whom they believed had ordered them to attack him in earnest the next time they encountered him so his woman would transform for him.
Damn Gershom for that.
Two vampires yelped as darts struck them in the chest, fired from the library’s roof. Eyes rolling back, they sank to the ground.
Aidan grinned. Looked like Dana was trying to protect him again.
The other vampires drew blades and raced forward, eyes glowing, fangs bared.
Another dart hit its mark, dropping a third vampire in his tracks before Aidan and Ethan dove forward and began cutting a swath through the throng.
Aidan didn’t think a dozen vampires would be much of a problem but nevertheless kept an eye on Ethan to ensure the younger immortal didn’t end up surrounded. One lucky strike from behind was all it would take to end it for an immortal.
Opening the carotid arteries of the vamp in front of him, Aidan spun and blocked the swing of the vampire behind him. The vampire howled in fury when Aidan rid him of his weapon. Drawing two more daggers, the vamp leapt forward.
Aidan swung.
The vampire’s head left his shoulders and fell to the ground, his body toppling after it.
Two down.
His swords flashed as two vampires attacked him, one from the left and one from the right.
Two more down.