Phantom Shadows Part 19

What the h.e.l.l had she been doing hunting vampires with them?

No matter.

Something else was agitating his brother.

What is it? he had asked his brother mentally in French.

How soon can you be ready to go? had come his response even as he continued speaking with the others.

A minute. Maybe two. How soon do you need me? He hadn't asked for what. It didn't matter.

Get dressed. I don't want to alarm the others, but . . . I may need help reining in Bastien when I return to UNC.

etienne had frowned. What do you mean, reining him in?

You'll see when we get there. I must go.

etienne had lost the connection when his brother had teleported away.

Swearing, etienne lathered and rinsed his body at preternatural speeds, then shut off the shower.

David kept a ready supply of new clothing for immortals and their Seconds that rivaled one might find in a department store. So many men and women tromped in and out of the elder immortal's home (which really did feel like home to many of them), often coming straight from battle, their clothing torn or bloodstained. David liked to be prepared and enjoyed providing his family with anything they might need or that might make them more comfortable, including spare bedrooms and the aforementioned clothing.

etienne pillaged the wardrobe in the guest room he had been using more and more often of late, pulling out cargo pants, a long-sleeved T-s.h.i.+rt, boxers, and socks. All black.

He didn't know if David and Darnell had caught on yet, but ever since the immortals in the area had learned that this Emrys p.r.i.c.k was itching to get his hands on Ami, they had begun to spend more of their free time here to ensure her safety.

Not that David couldn't protect her singlehandedly. She just seemed so small and fragile, despite her astonis.h.i.+ng ability to kick vampire a.s.s.

And she could kick some serious vampire a.s.s. etienne had only seen her in action once, but he would never forget it.

Besides he liked it here. His Second, Cameron, had fallen hard for a woman recently and spent every minute he could with her. The house he and Cam inhabited just felt so d.a.m.ned empty now. Since Ami and Marcus had moved in, David's house was constantly bustling, always entertaining, never boring.

Never lonely.

Dressing in short order, etienne added his comfy, but battered boots, then packed on the weapons.

I may need help reining in Bastien when I return to UNC.

What the h.e.l.l did that mean?

Ready for whatever his brother needed him to do, etienne scaled the stairs to the ground floor.

Ami and Darnell spoke in tense sentences in David's study.

It sounded like Dr. Lipton wasn't going to make it. etienne didn't really know her, but would mourn her pa.s.sing nevertheless. She had helped him and the other immortals during the vampire king's uprising. And, as David often said, she didn't have to be immortal to be a member of their extended family.

"Seth needs to tell Roland to cut the s.h.i.+t and let Richart know where he lives," etienne p.r.o.nounced as he pa.s.sed through the doorway into the study. Roland was fanatical about ensuring no one knew where he lived. Had he not been so paranoid and antisocial, Richart could have teleported directly to his home and Dr. Lipton would have been healed by now.

"I'm pretty sure he will after this," Darnell said.

Ami agreed. "Richart is meeting Roland at a halfway point so he can teleport him the rest of the way to the network, but even then he may be too late."

The two were huddled around Darnell's phone.

"One of the nurses on call is giving us live updates," Ami explained.

etienne made himself comfortable in one of the chairs across from David's ma.s.sive desk. A copy of the latest Stephen King novel rested atop the gleaming surface, a page near the middle marked with a Stephen King bookmark.

David was a big fan of the horror writer.

Darnell swore. "She's cras.h.i.+ng."

Richart appeared, the front of his coat and s.h.i.+rt saturated with blood.

How much of that, etienne wondered as he rose, was vampire blood and how much was Dr. Lipton's?

His brother met his gaze. "Ready?"

"Oui."

Richart touched his shoulder.

etienne knew that most immortals and Seconds found teleporting uncomfortable and disorienting. He'd been teleporting with his brother, however, since Richart had first discovered he could do it as a very young boy, so it didn't disturb him in the least.

They appeared in the shadows of UNC Chapel Hill's Peabody Hall.

etienne-like all of the other immortals who were stationed in the area-was well acquainted with the quiet campus.

The stench of blood and death and fear that traveled on the wind tonight staggered him.

Holy h.e.l.l. What had happened here?

A quick examination of his brother's thoughts revealed that Richart had only aided in killing a party of vampires.

But eight destroyed vampires wouldn't create this stench.

Something moved behind them.

etienne and Richart both swung around, ready to attack.

Bastien stepped from the deeper darkness, eyes glowing, hair loose and disheveled and sticky with blood. Nearly every inch of him was coated with the liquid. His face was crimson with it. His expression was as feral as the most insane vampire etienne had ever fought. And his thoughts . . .

etienne drew his swords and motioned for Richart to step back.

Richart grabbed his arm. "What are you doing?"

"Seth and David made a mistake. I don't know how or why but . . . somehow they missed it."

"Missed what?"

"Bastien isn't immortal. He's vampire."

"No, brother. He's immortal."

etienne shook his head. "You can't read his thoughts. There's nothing there but chaos and bloodl.u.s.t and violence."

Bastien emitted a low warning growl. etienne wasn't even sure Bastien knew whom he faced.

"Stand down, etienne," Richart enjoined. "He isn't maddened. Not the way you think."

"Bulls.h.i.+t."

"Look deeper into his thoughts. He cares for Dr. Lipton. More than he will admit even to himself. He fears he has lost her. That the mercenaries have killed her."

What?

etienne did as his brother advised and delved deeper into Bastien's thoughts. Normally he would have had a hard time doing so. Bastien was one of those unique immortals who could sometimes protect his thoughts from telepaths. But the doors he usually erected were down, sundered by the white hot rage that teemed within him. And there beneath it all was what Richart had seen without etienne's gift: burgeoning love for Dr. Lipton.

The other immortals thought Bastien visited the network on a nearly daily basis to calm the vampires, but Melanie (as Bastien thought of her) was just as great a lure to him. Her kindness. Her patience with Cliff and Joe. The way she seemed to look at Bastien as a man and not the monster everyone else thought him.

etienne lowered his weapons and looked at his twin.

He didn't know what to think of it. He loathed Bastien. Not only had the blackguard started all of the s.h.i.+t they were dealing with now by pitting a f.u.c.king vampire army against them and employing Montrose Keegan, he had killed Ewen. Both etienne and Richart had been friends with the Scottish immortal.

Richart spoke to Bastien as though the latter were a wild horse he sought to calm. "What happened here?"

"Is she dead?" Bastien growled.

"Not yet," Richart responded, then etienne heard his brother curse silently.

"Not yet?" Bastien choked out. "She can't be saved?"

Richart had been right. Not madness. Fear and grief.

Bastien's hands tightened around the hilts of his swords.

etienne braced himself to fight the immortal, should he choose to attack the messenger.

"I meant no," Richart corrected swiftly. "Roland is with her."

Some of the tension in Bastien's shoulders eased. The threat seemed to pa.s.s.

etienne risked taking his eyes off the dangerously wound immortal long enough to glance around. He could see several bodies in the distance, shoved up against the wall of the next building behind some shrubs.

"That's why I was late," Richart continued. "I met Roland at a halfway point and teleported him the rest of the way."

Bastien swallowed. "Thank you."

"What happened here?" etienne interrupted. Judging by the smell, those bodies were only the tip of the proverbial iceberg. "What did you do?"

"Nothing they didn't deserve," Bastien replied darkly.

etienne remembered Bastien claiming the vampires had had to fear him to follow him. Seeing him now, he had no problem understanding why the vamps had been afraid of their former leader. "How many were there?"

"I lost count."

"Did you leave none of them alive?"

"Not one."

"Chris won't like it."

"I don't give a flying f.u.c.k what Chris does or doesn't like." Bastien turned to Richart. "Take me to Melanie."

Did Chris Reordon know Bastien had a thing for his top researcher? etienne would think Chris would have limited Bastien's visits to the network if he had.

"I can't," Richart refused bravely. "Not until the cleanup crew arrives."

"They'll-"

Richart held up a hand to halt the coming argument. "You've left a trail of bodies from here to Fetzer Hall. I don't want any innocents to stumble upon them and have to be dealt with. We stay until the cleanup crew arrives."

Jaw clenching, Bastien nodded.

Richart frowned as Bastien staggered backward and leaned against the brick exterior of Peabody Hall. "Are you injured?"

Bastien closed his eyes. "It's nothing."

The hum of an engine drew their attention to a chartered bus rumbling up South Columbus Street.

Richart stared. "Chris took you seriously. He actually sent a bus."

"They'll need it," Bastien said, sounding so weary now etienne began to look for tranquilizer darts. The despised immortal appeared ready to pa.s.s out at any moment.

The bus slowed and pulled into the drive between Peabody and Sitterson Hall.

Bastien straightened. "This will go faster if we retrieve the bodies for them." Wiping his weapons on the cleaner inside of his coat, he sheathed them. "I'll get the ones on the roofs. You get the ones on the ground."

As Bastien sped away, etienne shared a look with Richart.

"Had we gotten here earlier, that would not have gone nearly so well." Richart nodded at the men stepping off the bus. "It would be best, perhaps, to warn them what they will face."

etienne nodded. "I'd encourage them to stay the h.e.l.l away from Bastien, too."

Turns out the latter wouldn't be too difficult.

The humans who had just disembarked yelped and leapt out of the way as two men dressed in Special Ops uniforms plummeted from the sky and hit the pavement beside the bus with a sickening thump.