“No way,” Ami objected.
Marcus met and held Roland’s gaze. “Promise me you’ll protect her.”
Roland nodded. “You have my word.”
Sarah’s brow furrowed. “I promise.” Ami knew she must be hoping she would never again have to make such a choice.
Marcus smiled, once more the amiable warrior she loved. “Then we’re good. What’s going on with the d’Alençons?”
Sarah curled her arm around her husband’s waist. “Étienne and Lisette are still groggy, but getting stronger. Richart finally called in and said he’s in the same condition.”
Marcus closed the front door and motioned them over to the living room. “What happened to him? Where did he go?”
“The drug screwed with his gift,” Roland said as he sat in Marcus’s favorite armchair and pulled Sarah down on his lap, “made him get his wires crossed. You know how your thoughts were all over the place right before you passed out?”
“Yeah.”
When Ami sat on the sofa, Marcus sank down beside her and looped an arm around her shoulders.
“Mine were the same way. So were Richart’s. Except, when Richart had a stray thought regarding a certain human woman, he unexpectedly found himself standing in her living room instead of teleporting Ami to safety.”
Marcus’s eyes widened. “What?”
Ami gasped. “Did she know he wasn’t human?”
“No, but she does now.”
Marcus grunted. “Who is this woman? I didn’t know Richart was seeing anyone.”
“More stalking than seeing,” Roland muttered.
Sarah elbowed him in the ribs. “Apparently he’s been drawn to her for some time.”
“He actually blushed when he admitted it,” Roland drawled. “Can you believe it?”
Ami found the notion of a two-hundred-year-old warrior blushing over a woman rather charming.
“He’s been a little hesitant to act on his feelings,” Sarah went on, “because of the whole Immortal Guardian thing. And we don’t know who she is. He won’t say. He’s afraid Chris will frighten her in his determination to gain her consent not to reveal what she knows to anyone.”
Roland snorted. “I don’t blame him. When I met Sarah, I threatened to kill Reordon if he came near her.”
Sarah looked at him with surprise. “You did?”
“Yes.”
She smiled and ran a finger along his jaw. “Ohhh. That’s so sweet.”
An adorably sappy smile slid across the dour immortal’s face.
Marcus squeezed Ami’s shoulder and leaned down to murmur in her ear, “I see why the Sectas think we’re a tad bloodthirsty.”
She laughed.
“Who are the Sectas?” Roland asked.
Marcus shook his head. “Inside joke.”
Marcus tensed when a large figure suddenly appeared in the foyer.
Sarah emitted a squeak of surprise, then sighed.
Garbed in dusty, sweat-stained khakis, Seth swayed with weariness. His already tan skin had been darkened by hours in the sun. At least what little of it Marcus could see beneath the grime.
The immortal leader’s long raven hair was pulled back into a braid that hadn’t been tended to in some time. Long, tangled strands fell about his face. So much dirt and dust powdered his hair that it appeared gray.
Beside Marcus, Ami sat up straight. “Seth?”
Seth blinked and looked their way. “Ami.” He took a step toward them. “I came as soon as I heard. Are you okay?”
Nodding, she jumped up and hurried over to him.
Seth wrapped long arms around her and hugged her tight. He was so much taller than Ami that he couldn’t even rest his chin atop her head without bending. “Are you sure?”
She nodded.
Much to his relief, Marcus felt no jealousy toward the other man, not after learning the role Seth had played in saving Ami.
“Are you okay?” Ami asked, her words muffled by his clothes.
He nodded. “Just tired. David sends his love. He wanted to come, but time is a factor.”
She drew back. “Have you been able to save any?”
“Not enough,” he professed, face grim. “Thousands are missing and feared dead.”
“Come sit down,” she urged.
Marcus scooted over to the far end of the sofa, making room so Ami could sit beside him with Seth on the other side of her.
Seth nodded to Roland and Sarah. “Just so we’re clear,” he said, “this isn’t going to happen again.”
“What isn’t?” Ami asked with a frown.
“Your being taken.” He speared the others with a glare. “Ami is to be protected at all costs.”
Marcus stopped himself just short of punching the air and shouting, Yes!
If Seth ordained it, it would be done.
“Seth!” Ami objected. “You can’t just—”
“Even if it means risking exposure to the humans,” Seth clarified, “you are to do everything in your power to prevent Ami from falling into the hands of our enemies.”
Sarah nodded, once more looking guilty as hell. Marcus wished her entrance into the Immortal Guardians’ ranks had taken place during less onerous times.
Roland said nothing, just shot Marcus a look that asked him what the hell was going on that he hadn’t been told.
“Roland,” Seth said, “you and Sarah go ahead and begin the night’s hunt. The vampires lost dozens last night. I’m sure their king has instructed them to replenish their numbers as quickly as possible. Sebastien, Yuri, and Stanislav will patrol for Lisette and her brothers. I don’t want them fighting again until they’re at full strength. Reordon notified the immortals in surrounding states of the situation and put them on alert as well.”
Marcus met his gaze over Ami’s head. “Did he warn them about the drug?”
“Yes. The network is already working on combatting this new development in two ways: with protective clothing the dart can’t penetrate—”
“Too constrictive,” Marcus and Roland both protested at the same time.
“It will have to do until they succeed in the other. They’re also trying to develop an adrenaline-like injection to counter the drug.” He looked at Roland and Sarah. “Be careful.”
Nodding, the couple rose and left.
Seth turned his head and stared at Marcus with an intensity that grated. “She told you?”
“Yes,” Ami answered and took Marcus’s hand. “He knows I’m Lasaran. And you were right. He didn’t freak out.”
Marcus scowled at Seth. “No. I freaked out before she told me, when I thought she was a vampire. A little warning would have been nice.”
Seth nodded. “I know. But my hands were tied. And it didn’t occur to me that you would draw that particular conclusion.”
Ami began to fidget. “Okay. I’m an alien. He knows it. He loves me. I love him. Let’s move on. There’s something you need to know about last night that we didn’t tell Chris.”
Seth frowned. “What?”
Ami’s fingers tightened around Marcus’s.
He knew she blamed herself for this and wished she wouldn’t.
“The drug the vampires used against the immortals is the same one developed by the men who held me captive.”
Seth’s eyes flared gold as a thunderclap split the air outside. “What?”
Marcus eyed the windows warily.
Ami nodded. “I’m sure it’s the same. It smelled the same and, when the vampire king …” She frowned. “I hate calling him that. It’s so ridiculous. Anyway, when the vampire king shot me with one of the darts, it had the same effect as the drug they sometimes injected me with during their experiments.”
“That’s impossible. The only people we let live were the grunts who knew nothing about you. We destroyed the facility, and we destroyed all of the computers, servers, and files we didn’t steal.”
Marcus rejoiced in the knowledge that Ami’s torturers had all been killed. “Well, apparently they backed up their files at an offsite location. Do you have any idea how Montrose or the vampires might have hooked up with these guys?”
“No.” Seth ran a hand over his face, sighed, then cast Ami a reluctant look. “We’re going to have to bring Reordon into the loop.”
Ami tensed.
Marcus wrapped his arm around her and drew her close. “Is that absolutely necessary?” Because if Chris said anything to upset Ami, he would end up in the network’s intensive care unit.
“Yes, it is. You know Chris has friends in very interesting places. We need him to contact his men on the inside and connect the dots.”
Ami bit her lip. “Couldn’t you tell him the source of the drug without bringing me into it?”
Seth shook his head. “He needs to see the files and hard drives we took, sweetheart, if he’s going to determine Montrose’s involvement.”
“Then I want Marcus to see the files, too.”
Surprised, Marcus met her gaze as she turned her pensive face up to his.
“No more secrets,” she said. “I don’t ever again want anyone to know something about me that you don’t.”
His heart swelling, he pressed a tender kiss to her lips. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Seth’s eyes narrowed. If she told you about Lasara, then you know her people forbid premarital sex.
Marcus kept his expression blank. I discovered that one a little late, I’m afraid.
If you truly love her, I assume you intend to do the honorable thing and marry her?
Of course, Marcus thought irritably. I just thought we should wait until fewer vamps were trying to either kill or capture us so she can actually enjoy the ceremony. That okay with you?
Seth gave him a brief nod, pulled out his cell phone, and dialed. “It’s Seth. You’re needed.” He gave Ami an affectionate smile and touched her cheek. “Okay. I’m on my way.” He returned his phone to his pocket. “I’ll be back with him in a minute.”