Night Unbound (36 page)

He smiled, so damned irresistible with his hair tousled.

“What's up?” she asked her Second.

“Chris has called another meeting. Everyone needs to be at David's an hour after sunset.”

“Thanks. We'll be there.” She returned her phone to the bedside table.

“Perhaps the vampire we tagged produced some fruitful intel.”

“I hope so.” She brushed his hair out of his eyes. “You've been pulling me into your dreams, haven't you? Intentionally?”

He nodded. “I knew you missed the sun and wanted to share it with you.”

Her eyes burned as tears rose. “Thank you,” she whispered.

He brushed a kiss across her lips. “Anything for you.”

Immortal Guardians and their Seconds once more gathered around David's long dining table. Ami's chair remained empty as the coma, as Dr. Kimiko and Melanie now called it, continued to hold her in its grasp.

Was this, Lisette wondered, what it had been like for the others when
she
had been trapped in that awful darkness? The waiting. The wondering. The worrying.

They had at least had some hope that the drug would eventually wear off in Lisette's case. With Ami, none knew what to expect, because none were certain what was causing her coma. Every day that she lay unresponsive, hope suffered another blow. When she had been gravely wounded early in her relationship with Marcus, she had completely recovered within twenty-four hours without any help from Seth or David, her alien DNA having given her incredible regenerative capabilities.

Now, even their aid seemed incapable of returning her to them.

Roland and Sarah had coaxed a weary Marcus into leaving his wife's side long enough to attend the meeting. Linda now sat with Ami in his stead.

Seated at the table, Marcus cradled his infant daughter to his chest.

Lisette didn't think she had seen him set the babe down once other than to change her nappy, something for which Jenna had praised him endlessly.

I loved John's father,
Jenna had said,
but that boy wouldn't have changed a dirty diaper if someone had offered him a million dollars to do it
.

Marcus had exhibited no such reluctance, though he had been pretty intimidated by the babe's tiny size the first few times.

His daughter stirred and opened her eyes, a beautiful green like her mother's.

Beside Marcus, Roland smiled and reached over to cup the soft, downy head in his large hand and give it a gentle stroke. He alone, of all the men present, had had children in his mortal life.

Lisette thought she detected a certain wistfulness in his dark eyes and wondered if he were wishing he and Sarah could have a child together.

Zach squeezed Lisette's hand under the table.
I'm sorry we can't have a baby
.

She smiled up at him.
Me too
. Immortal Guardian couples had never been able to conceive children.

Conversation floated around the table.

Only David and Seth were absent. David remained in the infirmary, channeling healing energy into Ami until the meeting began. Seth was . . .

Actually, she didn't know where Seth was. But, based on the two days Zach had spent walking in the shoes of the Immortal Guardians' leader, she assumed he was taking care of some emergency.

The front door opened.

Chris Reordon strode in, his usual battered briefcase in one hand and what looked almost like a rifle carrying case gripped in the other.

Darnell rose and crossed to take the rifle case.

“Thanks.” Chris nodded a greeting to everyone and joined all of them in the dining room. “Is David with Ami?”

“Yes.” Darnell set the case on the table across from Lisette and Zach, who occupied two chairs near the end beside Seth's empty seat.

Chris dropped his heavy briefcase on the floor with a thump and reached for the rifle case.

Wondering what it contained, Lisette watched him flip the latches and open it.

Long rolls of paper the size of posters were stacked on top of each other inside, along with wooden sticks she watched him assemble into some sort of display easel.

While Chris positioned the easel on Lisette's side of the table near Seth's chair, Darnell left the room. He returned a moment later, carrying a large corkboard he leaned against the nearest wall.

When Chris nodded, Darnell phoned Seth and let him know they were ready.

Seth appeared at Zach's elbow seconds later.

David entered from the hallway, his expression telling them there was still no change in Ami's condition. Face somber, he seated himself at the head of the table.

Seth took the seat at Zach and Lisette's end and adjusted his chair a bit so he could see whatever Chris intended to show them on the easel.

Immortals and Seconds shifted their seats.

Chris removed a poster from the rifle case and began sliding off the rubber bands that kept it tightly rolled. “All of you probably know by now that Cliff tagged a vampire with a tracking device.”

Lisette was pleased to see the young vampire included in their meeting again.

“Well, last night we hit pay dirt. The vamp finally led us home.”

Those who knew that Zach had had to tag another vampire remained silent, wanting Cliff to have his moment.

Chris placed the large corkboard on the easel, then unrolled the paper and fastened the corners to the corkboard with thumbtacks. “This is where he led us.”

When he stepped back, Lisette felt her heart drop into her stomach.

“Tell me that isn't what I think it is,” Roland gritted.

“It's a mercenary compound,” Chris announced, inciting a new round of swearing. “Or rather it's
part
of a mercenary compound.” He grabbed another poster roll, stripped off the rubber bands, and attached it atop the first.

Lisette stared.

“Shhhhhit!” Ethan exclaimed.

The satellite image provided them with a faintly blurry bird's-eye view of an enormous compound, encompassing she-didn't-know-how-many acres, with multiple buildings.

Warehouses. Hangars. Training fields.

“Is that a runway?” Sheldon asked, wide-eyed.

“Yes. And a helipad.” Chris bent and removed a file from his briefcase, along with a handful of thumbtacks he dropped with a clatter onto the table. One by one, he tacked up eight-and-a-half by eleven-inch satellite images. “I called in aid from damned near every contact to get these. There's a runway. Airplanes. Military helicopters. Civilian helicopters. Tanks. Humvees. Armored personnel carriers. Various and assorted other kick-ass vehicles. Warehouses. We believe these two buildings here house the soldiers. We estimate each is at least forty-thousand square feet.”

“Shit!” someone else—Stan's Second, Alexei?—exclaimed.

“There are dozens of firing ranges that rival those down at network headquarters in size and sophistication. A breeching range.”

“What's a breeching range?” Lisette interrupted.

“Doors—indoor and outdoor—and iron fences soldiers use to practice breeching buildings. There's also a tactical driving track. Small town and maritime mock-ups. This is the main building here. Aside from jumping the razor wire-topped fence or entering by plane or helicopter, there is only one way in or out. This road here. And, naturally, it's heavily guarded. It's also probably outfitted with bear claws to keep unauthorized vehicles out.”

“How big is the compound?” Darnell asked.

“Roughly four thousand acres.”

Stunned silence took the room.

“Exactly,” Chris said. “These guys are who Donald and Nelson aspired to be. These guys are doing their damnedest to give the big guns a run for their money.”

Seth studied the pictures. “Are they affiliated in any way with the government?”

“We haven't gotten that far, but it wouldn't surprise me at all if they've landed government contracts.”

It was damned close to the worst-case scenario.

“Who are they?” Sheldon asked.

“Shadow River.”

The name meant nothing to Lisette.

Judging by the expressions of the other immortals, it meant little to them as well.

The mortals in their midst, however, looked worried.

“I've heard of them,” Tracy said. “They don't call themselves mercenaries. They call themselves a global security company. And their reach really does extend overseas.”

Chris nodded. “From what we've been able to ascertain thus far, they're often hired to protect foreign dignitaries and important figures both here and overseas, to train foreign soldiers or police forces in war-torn areas, to protect American contractors. That sort of thing. But you haven't seen the worst of it yet.” He removed another poster and tacked it up. “I had one of my contacts do a thermal-imaging scan of the compound this afternoon.” He stepped back. “The red figures on the training fields and scattered about the compound are human. The yellowish-green ones here in this housing building are vampire.”

Lisette traced her gaze over dozens of green figures who clearly slumbered in beds. Rows and rows and rows of them.

Those vampires weren't prisoners.

Chris turned to Seth. “Do you still have that phone I gave you?”

Seth nodded.

“If any of my contacts call you, we'll know just how far this company's reach extends. If Shadow River is in bed with the military or has close ties with the government, my contacts' actions won't go unnoticed.”

A heavy silence ensued, as though all waited with bated breath to see if Seth's phone would ring.

“The vampires on the compound . . .” Cliff said. “Do you think the mercenaries recruited them or turned them?”

Lisette answered. “Based on the skill with which these new vampires fight, I'd say they're turning their own men. Any vampires they
didn't
turn themselves were likely captured for study and so the mercenaries could acquire the virus.”

Chris nodded and took the seat across from Zach. “Shadow River has done what Donald and Nelson didn't have the chance to do. They've implemented the virus and begun to build an army of supersoldiers. Whether they intend to hire them out to the highest bidder globally and rack up billions or land a big-ass government contract is anyone's guess.”

Aidan shook his head. “You're sure an immortal is helping them?”

David nodded. “They couldn't have acquired the sedative—the
only
drug that affects us aside from the antidote Melanie developed—without an immortal's assistance. Nor could they have known that the previous dose of the sedative wasn't strong enough to incapacitate an immortal to such an extent that the antidote couldn't counter it.”

“It's inconceivable,” Étienne muttered.

Ethan cleared his throat and cast Zach a nervous glance. “Could it be one of the Others?”

Lisette held her breath.

Did anyone else present even
know
about the Others?

“No,” Seth and Zach answered in unison.

Bastien frowned. “Who the hell are the Others? Other
what
?”

Seth shared a look with Zach and sighed. “Zach is not the only elder immortal out there who is not one of us. Or who
wasn't
.”

“Wait,” Marcus said, voice low so he wouldn't disturb the babe. “There are other immortals as ancient as you two?”

“Yes,” Seth said.

“Why is this the first time we're hearing of them?”

“Because, as I said, they aren't Immortal Guardians. They don't spend their nights hunting and slaying vampires. They chose a different path thousands of years before your birth and live in total isolation.”

Zach nodded. “They have no contact with mankind. Fight no battles. Choose no sides. And they believe Seth has been treading the wrong path all these years.”

“So . . .” Ethan frowned. “You're saying they just sit on their asses and do nothing?”

“Yes,” Zach confirmed. “They merely observe.”

David leaned forward, drawing everyone's gaze. “Have you ever seen one of the many time-travel movies in which those who travel back in time are warned to alter nothing? They're told that even so tiny an action as killing a butterfly or stepping on a bug in the past could have a ripple effect that could change the present in disastrous ways.”

Nods all around.

“That is how the Others view immortal interaction with humans. They think it dangerous on any level and, in those early decades, tried numerous times to kill Seth for daring to stray from the path. Fortunately for us, he prevailed and grew so powerful they couldn't touch him. Zach, on the other hand, is risking his life to join us and be with Lisette.”

“Seriously?” Sheldon asked.

Zach nodded. “The first time I met Ami, she found me up on the roof, riddled with wounds and afflicted with so much pain that I nearly shook with it. Do you know what transgression warranted such punishment?”

“What?” Marcus asked, his gaze piercing.

“The night the mercenaries attacked network headquarters I found Seth in South Korea and told him his phone was broken.”

Lisette had heard none of this and was as stunned as everyone else at the table.

“That's it?” Marcus questioned.

“I also mentioned that his people here in North Carolina were trying to reach him.”

“And for that you were punished?”

“Yes.”

Seth leaned back in his chair. “Because he interfered.”

“By telling you your phone was broken?” Étienne asked incredulously. “You would've figured that out on your own fairly quickly.”

Richart nodded. “It's not like Zach joined the battle or anything.”

“But he killed the butterfly. Or stepped on the bug. However you wish to view it. He took an action, minute though it may seem to you. And the Others are fanatical about not doing
anything
that might interfere with the natural course of mankind.”

Roland donned his usual scowl. “What the hell do they think will happen?”

“If they interact with humans?” Seth said. “Armageddon.”

Leaden silence.

“No, seriously,” Sheldon said. “What do they think will happen?”

“They think any contact with humans could kick-start the Apocalypse,” Seth repeated.

Étienne turned to Zach. “You believed that, too?”

“Until recently, yes.”

“Why?”

“Believe it or not, there was compelling reason to believe it. But I won't elaborate.”