Zach gently brushed her hand aside and tucked his own hand in the pocket. When he withdrew it, the tracking device was carefully pinched between his thumb and forefinger.
He waved the mercenary over.
The soldier approached robotically and waited patiently while the immortal picked up one of the discarded M16s, then attached the device to it.
Lisette wanted to protest when he handed the man the weapon, but couldn’t find enough breath for it.
“You saw neither of us tonight. Vampires attacked your squad and only you survived,” Zach said.
The mercenary nodded, then turned and jogged away.
Zach swiveled to face her.
“M-mind control?” she managed to ask.
He nodded.
She tried to ask about the others, but could only motion to them.
“Ruptured aneurysms. I’ve never altered the health of a human before and am actually surprised it worked.”
She nodded. Her knees buckled.
Zach caught her before she could hit the ground. “Easy,” he said, his voice soft and deep. Kneeling, he laid her on the ground with her upper body cradled in his lap.
Moonlight formed a halo around his head as she stared up at him, struggling for breath.
The bullets had done a lot of damage. She knew that, rather than kill her, excessive damage would send her into a sort of stasis not unlike the hibernation of a water bear. But she had never done that before and couldn’t help but fear the prospect as she felt her heart rate slow. And slow some more.
He rested a hand on her chest.
At first she thought he was feeling her up and forgot everything else in a few seconds’ shock. Then she realized his thumb rested upon her collarbone and his fingers weren’t splayed enough to reach her breasts.
His hand heated, warm and comforting. A tingling feeling engulfed her, part pleasure and part pain, beginning in her chest and sweeping down her arms to her fingers, down her torso to her thighs, calves, and toes. Misshapen bullets emerged from her flesh. Bleeding ceased. Wounds closed. Bones shattered by bullets fused themselves back together. Her collapsed lung reinflated. Her breathing grew easier. The pain receded, then vanished entirely.
He removed his hand from her chest, curling it into a loose fist, then rubbing his thumb against his fingers as though touching her had made him tingle.
She sat up, but didn’t move away. Just to double check, she pulled the neckline of her sticky shirt away from her body and peered down through it at her bare chest and bra-encased breasts. No wounds. Only dried blood.
She let the material fall back against her and stared up at him, too tired to attempt to stand yet. He had healed her wounds, but severe blood loss still rendered her weak.
A shiver shook her.
He unfurled his beautiful wings and cupped them around her like a tent, keeping the breeze at bay.
“Who are you?” she asked when she could find her voice. “Really?”
“Zach,” he said simply.
“That only tells me your name, not who you are.”
He shrugged. “Seth calls me Cousin.”
“You’re Seth’s cousin?” Merde. He really was an elder. She had never heard of any immortal other than David being so close to their leader in age. Or who may actually be able to match his power.
And that had been quite a power display, killing the mercenaries without even touching them.
“Why have I never heard of you?” she asked. “Why don’t you ever come inside when you visit David’s? Why do you keep your presence a secret?”
“Neither Seth nor David would want me there.”
“Why? Did you have a falling-out?”
He seemed to weigh his words. “Seth and I chose different paths when we were still young men and disagreed with each other’s choices.”
David would have, of course, taken Seth’s side. He and Seth were like brothers.
“Are you enemies?” She was pretty sure she would have heard about it if this man had been actively trying to kill Seth or wage war with him.
“No.”
Just no. Nothing more.
She had a feeling she wasn’t going to get anything more specific than that, but tried anyway. “So, you’re immortal, but don’t lead the life of an Immortal Guardian? You don’t hunt vampires or have a Second?”
“Correct.”
“Until tonight.”
“Technically, I let you slay the vampires, then took care of the mercenaries when you faltered.”
And saved her life. Had he not stepped in when he did, the mercenaries would have captured her. “So you intervened where, in the past, you would not have.”
He hesitated. “Yes.”
“Why?”
He clenched and unclenched his jaw. “I couldn’t let them take you.”
“Why?”
His brow furrowed. “I don’t know.”
If she didn’t need blood so badly just then, she was sure her heart would have begun to beat faster.
Had he veered from his chosen path for her?
“You need blood,” he pointed out.
She nodded, a shock of excitement darting through her at the idea of leaning into him, pressing against that wide, muscled, bare chest, and touching her lips to his neck.
“I can’t give you mine,” he said, his deep voice full of . . . regret?
“Okay.” What the hell was she doing? Was she attracted to him? A man who had freely admitted he was at odds with Seth, the wisest man she knew and to whom she owed her life and allegiance?
Snapping out of it, she fumbled with her coat, seeking the right pocket and—fingers tangling in a couple of holes—managed to draw out her cell phone.
Or what was left of it. A bullet had forged a hole through it on its way to her liver.
Wonderful.
“May I borrow your phone?” she asked. “I need to call my Second.” Tracy could take care of notifying Chris that a cleanup crew was needed and have Richart bring Lisette some much-needed blood.
“I don’t carry a phone.”
Okay. Plan B.
She looked at the lifeless mercenary bodies around them. Tucking them away, out of sight, seemed a monumental task as low on energy and strength as she was right now. And when her energy was low, her telepathic range diminished greatly.
Étienne? she called. Perhaps he and Krysta were hunting nearby.
Nothing. Étienne! I need you.
Still nothing.
Richart? She had an even smaller chance of contacting Richart because he couldn’t send his reply telepathically. He could only think it and hope she would pick up on it.
“I can take you where you need to go,” Zach said, his eyes never leaving her.
She shook her head. “I can’t leave these bodies here. I need to contact the network and have them come clean things up, hide what happened from the humans.”
He sighed. “If I were a different man, I’d say you owe me one.”
One what? And shouldn’t being in this powerful immortal’s debt alarm her? “For killing the mercenaries and saving me?”
“No, for this.” He closed his eyes.
He was so handsome. Straight nose. Strong, shadowed jaw. Ebony brows over eyes so dark a brown they were almost black . . . when they weren’t glowing golden. Just like Seth’s.
He opened those eyes and met hers. “Help is on the way.”
“It is?”
“Can you sit by yourself?”
She hadn’t even realized he had been supporting her with an arm behind her back.
“Yes.” She sat up straighter.
Withdrawing his arm, he rose and backed away.