Night Unbound (27 page)

“Zach,” Lisette warned.

“Fine. I won't bury anyone's memories. Can I still send Richart and Jenna back to wherever they came from so we can go back to what we were doing?”

Jenna laughed.

Richart relaxed.

Lisette just shook her head. “I think that ship has sailed.”

Zach groaned.

“That's just wrong,” Richart said.

Lisette gaped at him. “After you just . . . And all that bitching and moaning . . . You can't . . .” She clenched her teeth. “Tell me again why you're here?”

In much calmer tones, Richart repeated, “You didn't answer your phone.”

“So? I let it go to voice mail all the time.”

“So, a week ago you were incapacitated by a tranquilizer dart and we nearly lost you.”

“Oh.” All hostility fled. “Right.”

“When you didn't answer your phone,” Richart continued, “I feared you had been sedated again. So I called Zach and mistook the strain in his voice for anger.”

Zach frowned. “You thought I'd harmed her?”

Richart shrugged. “I don't know you, Zach. I have no idea what you are or aren't capable of or how you treat Lisette when the rest of us aren't around.”

And Lisette had once had a husband-turned-vampire who had beaten her on a regular basis. All without her brothers' knowledge.

They hadn't learned the truth until the night her husband had turned her.

Well, that killed Zach's erection.

Wrapping an arm around Lisette, he drew her into his side. “In the future, when you call to inquire about her, I will endeavor to be more specific.”

“But not
too
specific,” Richart requested with a smile.

Zach laughed.

Lisette sighed. “Unless I'm fighting vampires, I'll start answering my phone whenever it rings. At least until we've conquered this new enemy.”

“Thank you.”

“Anyone else smell that?” Jenna asked suddenly, her nose wrinkling.

Lisette looked down at her shirt. “What? The blood on my clothing?”

Zach shook his head. “The vampires headed our way.”

Though Jenna was younger than anyone else present, she had been transformed by Roland at Richart's request. So, like Sarah, she had the power of a nearly millennium-old immortal and was far stronger and faster than the French siblings, with more acute senses.

“Ugh.” Lisette grimaced. “I smell them now.”

The four of them eased back into the shadows.

 

 

Eight vampires loped into view. Scraggly, unkempt hair partially concealed eyes glowing from a recent kill. Multiple blood types stained clothing that reeked of stale sweat and unwashed bodies.

With her sharp eyes, Lisette could see dirt and she didn't want to know what else caked beneath their fingernails. Some hands still bore the blood of their latest victims, sticky and glistening like strawberry jam.

All were of the usual variety of vampires, infected for a few years by the looks of them and well on their way to becoming totally psychotic. All but one.

One vampire ate up the ground in long, confident strides rather than slump-shouldered lopes or shuffling steps. Both his body and his clothing were clean, his hair cropped short and recently shampooed. He walked at the back of the pack, curling his lip at the others while he studied his surroundings with a razor-edged gaze.

One of the new breed of vampires is with them
, Lisette thought to the others.

Richart took Jenna's hand.

Lisette,
Zach spoke in her mind,
does Seth intend to awaken tonight?

She glanced up at him.
Tonight or tomorrow
.

Zach's eyes narrowed as he watched the vamps.

Why?

Because I want to try something.

Apprehension pricked her.
Zach
—

Remain here,
he said. This time she could tell he directed the command at all three of them.

Richart held up a hand.
Seth said not to engage any of the new vampires
.

Seth told
you
not to engage the new vampires,
Zach corrected.
Not me. Have you a tranquilizer gun with you?

Lisette, Richart, and Jenna each drew one and held it up.

Lisette's had just been delivered by the network that morning. Usually she only carried EpiPen-like auto-injectors full of the sedative.

Only use them if you have to,
Zach ordered.

Zach!
Lisette protested, afraid he intended to do something reckless.

Dipping his head, he brushed a light kiss across her lips.
I'll be fine. Stay here.

He vanished, then reappeared only a few feet in front of the pack.

Lisette raised the tranquilizer gun and aimed it at the big vamp.

The vampires shuffled to a halt.

“Who the fuck are you?” one demanded, either too insane or too stupid to be afraid.

Zach smiled. “It doesn't really matter. You won't live long enough to tell anyone.” Drawing katanas, he shot forward.

Lisette gasped as he tore through the vampires like a tornado.

Holy shit, he's fast!
Richart thought and took a step forward, his fascinated gaze glued to the tempest below.

It didn't take long.

Zach stilled in the center of the pack, knees bent, blades dripping, face marbled with blood. Seven vampires sank lifelessly to the ground, their bodies spread around him like the petals of a flower, as the virus went to work and they began to shrivel up like mummies.

The newbie vampire, eyes wide, swiftly raised a tranquilizer gun nearly identical to the one Lisette carried and aimed it at Zach's chest.

Zach straightened and lowered his arms to his sides, hands loosely clasping the hilts of his swords. Face impassive, he arched a brow. “Well?”

What the hell is he doing?
Richart demanded.

Lisette's heart began to pound.
I don't know
.

The vamp pulled the trigger.

Lisette expected Zach to leap aside and dodge the dart, or drop a sword and catch the dart between two fingers. He certainly possessed the speed required to do so.

Instead, he just stood there.

The dart lodged itself in Zach's chest.

She bit back a cry.

Zach stared at the vampire and shifted his shoulders a bit. Tilting his head, he pursed his lips. “Sort of tickles.”

The vamp's eyes widened. He pulled the trigger again.

Zach's face darkened in a blink, twisting into a snarl of rage that caught even Lisette off guard. He dropped a sword, caught the dart, and let it fall harmlessly to the pavement. Before the vamp could get off another shot, Zach zipped forward. Wrapping the fingers of his free hand around the vampire's neck, he shoved him up against the nearest building.

The vampire struggled at first, swinging a meaty fist that connected with Zach's jaw, then went still.

Dangling in Zach's hold as though paralyzed, he stared at Zach with eyes full of terror. His mouth opened in a silent cry as his face contorted with pain. Blood began to trickle from one nostril. The trickle became a streaming rivulet.

Lisette lowered her gun. Striding forward, she stepped off the roof.

Richart and Jenna appeared beside her.

“I told you to stay on the roof,” Zach snapped.

None of them moved.

Blood emerged from one of the vamp's ears and slipped down to soak his collar. His other ear began to bleed, too. Then his eyes.

Zach's hand at the vampire's throat began to glow.

Lisette could only stare.

Veins soon stood out on the vamp's temples and forehead as his face mottled. The cords of his neck stood out as he snapped his teeth together and ground them with a moan. Blood oozed from his mouth.

Zach, as far as Lisette could tell, didn't breathe. Not until he opened his fingers and let the vamp fall to the ground.

The vampire's body instantly began to shrivel up as the virus went to work. Soon he would be as the other vampires: no more than a pile of clothing.

Air rushed from Zach's lungs in a whoosh. His chest rose and fell as though he had been running.

Lisette took a cautious step toward him. “Zach?”

Face set in harsh lines, he turned to them. “The next time I tell you to stay on the roof, you'd better
stay on the fucking roof!
”

Jenna nodded swiftly, Richart more slowly.

“The battle was over,” Lisette said. And she had wanted to get a closer look at what Zach was doing, wanted to see for herself that he was okay after being tranqed.

“There could have been more of them lingering downwind,” Zach said.

True. She had been so distracted she hadn't thought of that.

Face taut with anger, he surveyed their surroundings. “We have to get out of here.”

He blurred, moving past her like a breeze, sweeping up the vampires' clothing as he went. Lisette heard a Dumpster lid clang off to their right. Then Zach returned and tucked the vampire's tranquilizer gun in the back of his pants.

He looked to Richart. “Go home. Now.”

Richart touched Jenna's back and teleported the two away.

Zach took Lisette's arm, his hold less than gentle.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“The Others will have felt the power I just wielded and will be here momentarily.” Bending, he picked up the dart he had dropped.

The campus around them dissolved into darkness, and Lisette found herself in David's home. More specifically in David's study.

Talking on the phone, David took one look at them and told whomever he spoke with that he would call them back. “What happened?”

Zach released Lisette and handed the dart to David. “Courtesy of one of the new breed of vampires. A full dose for Dr. Lipton to study.”

David took the dart. “Do I even want to know how you got this?”

“I caught it before it could hit me.” Reaching back, Zach retrieved the tranquilizer gun and placed it on the desk. “There should be more in here.”

David ignored the gun and lowered his gaze to the dart still poking out of Zach's chest. “And that one?”

“Didn't affect me. So it won't affect Seth.” Yanking it out, Zach tossed it in the wastebasket. “It
is,
however, strong enough that it will likely affect
you
.”

“Good to know.” David set the dart down on his desk between the gun and yet another thick medical tome. “Will it knock me out or just leave me groggy?”

“Groggy.”

“Groggy's not a problem. I don't suppose you were able to tag him with a tracking device.”

“By the time I finished with him, there was nothing left to tag.”

“You destroyed him?”

“Yes.”

“Could you maybe
not
destroy the next one?”

Zach responded with a terse nod.

David studied him. “So, how are you otherwise? You're looking a little . . . tense.”

One hell of an understatement. Lisette thought that, if Seth's phone were to ring in that instant, Zach's head would explode.

“I told them to stay on the roof,” he gritted.

“Them meaning . . . ?”

“Lisette, Richart, and Jenna. I told them to stay on the roof, and they didn't fucking stay on the roof.”

David nodded. “Welcome to our world.” He looked at Lisette. “Next time stay on the roof.”

“I will.”

“See that you do. And impress upon your brother how displeased I will be if he and Jenna don't do the same.”

She nodded. One did not gainsay David anymore than one did Seth.

David met Zach's gaze. “Are we good?”

At last, Zach's shoulders relaxed a little. “Yes, we're good.”

David smiled. “Go get cleaned up and relax for a bit. You can use one of the quiet rooms below. I'll have Darnell redirect Seth's calls to me for the next couple of hours.”

“Thank you,” Zach said, much to Lisette's surprise. “Let me know if you need me to teleport you.”

“I will.”

Capturing one of Lisette's hands in his own, Zach led her from the room and headed down to the basement.

Lisette didn't say a word. She almost wished she could peek into his thoughts so she could better read him, but wasn't sure she would like what she found up there at the moment.

Sheldon passed them in the hallway, Tracy's scent all over him.

Interesting. Lisette made a mental note to remind Tracy of Immortal Guardians' heightened sense of smell.

Zach took them unerringly to an empty quiet room.

Lisette didn't know if Zach had just made a lucky guess—most of the quiet rooms had been occupied of late—or if he was so powerful that he could hear what the others couldn't and had known no one slept within.

Into the large bedroom he guided her, then closed the door behind them.

Butterflies fluttered in Lisette's belly. This was the first time Zach had truly been angry with her. She wasn't sure how to deal with it.

“Zach—”

She only managed to get the one word out before he backed her into the door, slipped a hand around to cup the nape of her neck, and brought his lips down on hers in a ferocious kiss.

Fire flashed through her, igniting her blood and shortening her breath. She parted her lips, her insides melting at the first stroke of his tongue. Rising onto her toes, she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him.

“Zach,” she whispered.

He bent his knees and locked an arm around her. When he straightened, he took her with him, her feet rising to dangle a good foot or more above the floor.

Abandoning her nape, he lowered his hand to her ass and urged her to wrap her legs around him.

Lisette did so eagerly, already wet and aching for him as she rubbed against the hard bulge of his arousal.