“I didn’t want to tell you in front of the others that I’ve chosen Tanner to be your Second. I thought you might say something stupid like—”

“I don’t need a Second,” Bastien protested.

“That,” Seth finished.

Tanner examined Bastien thoughtfully. “You needed a Second when you were working with the vampires.”

“That was different.”

“Not really.”

Seth held up a hand to forestall whatever Bastien intended to say. “If you want to execute your duties as an Immortal Guardian without a babysitter, as you put it, you need a Second.”

“No, I don’t.”

Tanner frowned and propped his hands on his hips. “I thought you were happy with my work.”

“I was.”

“If you’re worried that I won’t be able to fight by your side, you can relax. The network’s been training me for almost two years now.”

“It isn’t that.”

“Then what is it?”

Melanie was curious to know that herself. She would’ve thought Bastien would be happy with the arrangement.

“If you become my Second, you will be ostracized at the very least and—”

Tanner laughed. “Hell. Is that what’s worrying you? That I won’t be accepted by the other Seconds? This isn’t high school, Bastien. I don’t give a rat’s ass who likes me and who doesn’t.”

Chapter 4

Bastien stiffened. While he didn’t appreciate his concerns being so easily dismissed, he thought Tanner wasn’t seeing the full picture. “You’re right. This isn’t high school. It isn’t a popularity contest that means nothing in the greater scheme of things. It’s life or death. If the other Seconds don’t accept you, you won’t be able to count on them to back you when you need them.” He looked at Seth. “Tell him.”

Seth shook his head. “They’ll back him or they’ll answer to Chris Reordon.”

“Who would love nothing more than to see me fall. I’m sure he would feel the same way about anyone he considered my ally.”

Melanie spoke. “If that were true, I wouldn’t have a job.”

Bastien stared at her. “What?”

“Who do you think pushed Mr. Reordon to allow you more frequent visits with Cliff and Joe?”

“Seth.”

“Actually,” Seth said, “it was Dr. Lipton. I merely offered my approval.”

“And Richart and I both refused to let Mr. Reordon chain you up in the holding room,” she said. “He may not have liked it, but he didn’t fire me.”

Bastien still didn’t understand why Richart had stood up for him. Or Dr. Lipton for that matter.

As for Tanner . . .

Bastien glanced uneasily at Melanie. He would really rather not do this in front of her, but didn’t see any way to avoid it. Seth wasn’t going to leave this unresolved.

“Look,” Bastien told the only man he had truly considered a friend in many, many years, “the last decade has been beyond fucked up for you. What happened to your son was horrible enough.” Tanner’s boy had been kidnapped and murdered by a pedophile, whom Bastien had himself tracked down and punished . . . very slowly. “Then you got tangled up in my folly and lived every day surrounded by vampires who apparently wanted you dead whenever I wasn’t around.”

“Vampires who aided me in my quest to get every fucking pedophile off the street.”

“I’m just saying this is a chance for you to have something better. If you serve as my Second, people will give you shit every time you turn around. You don’t need that.”

“Sure I do,” Tanner retorted with a grin. “Kinda makes life interesting, don’t you think?”

Bastien stared at him a moment, then shook his head. “All right, you crazy bastard. I was trying to help your sorry ass, but if you’re determined to be miserable . . .”

“Misery loves company,” Tanner quipped.

Bastien, Seth, and Melanie all rolled their eyes.

“Now that that’s settled, Tanner can move into David’s place.” Seth tilted his head to one side and seemed to listen for a moment. “I’ll take him there now so he can get settled.”

Him? “Aren’t we all going back?”

“No. I think it would be best to let David’s place clear out a bit before you return.”

“Don’t want to taint them with my presence?”

“No. Just trying to save David’s new furniture. The paint is still drying from the scuffle that arose at the last meeting we held. And the new furniture hasn’t even been around long enough to gather dust. I don’t want to risk your opening that mouth of yours and saying something asinine that will give the others an excuse to kick your ass again.”

“It isn’t my fault if they can dish it out, but can’t take it,” Bastien said.

“Something you might try to keep in mind,” Seth added, “is that David doesn’t have to open his home to immortals, their Seconds, and members of the network. He does it because he knows how lonely this existence can be and wants to provide us all with a family that we can turn to for company, for comfort, hell, just for fun. Family that we won’t have to watch age and die. I didn’t ask him to mentor you. He offered. When everyone else called for your execution, David welcomed you into his family. The least you could do is refrain from instigating altercations that reduce his home to something that looks like a tornado hit it.”

Damn. Seth really knew how to make a man feel like a teenager being upbraided by a parent. As old as Bastien was, that was quite an accomplishment.

Bastien refused to duck his head and say, “Yes, sir.” He hadn’t asked for any of this.

He would, however, see if he couldn’t restrict his acerbic commenting to the training room where less damage would be done if a fight ensued.

“The others should leave to begin the night’s hunt shortly. I’ll ask Richart to come for you then.” Seth met Melanie’s gaze. “Are you warm enough, Dr. Lipton?”

She smiled. “I’m fine, thank you.”

Seth returned his attention to Bastien. “You have company.”

Bastien looked at Melanie.

“Not her,” Seth said with exasperation. “A handful of vampires are headed this way. You’ll hear them momentarily.” He reached out and touched Tanner’s shoulder.

“Wait!”

“What?”

Bastien stared at him. “What are you doing? Aren’t you going to take Dr. Lipton with you?”

“No. I want her to continue monitoring you.”

“While I’m fighting vampires?” Bastien asked incredulously.

“She’s been trained.” Seth looked at Melanie, who nodded she was okay with it.

Then Seth and Tanner disappeared.

Bastien couldn’t believe it. He turned to Melanie. “What did he mean you’ve been trained?”

She shrugged sheepishly. “I can kick ass.”

She said it with such reluctance that Bastien felt a rush of amusement. His lips twitched as he fought a smile.

“What?” she demanded with a frown. “You think I can’t?” She crossed her arms in a defensive pose that only drew his attention to her lovely breasts.

“No, it’s just . . .” Eyes up. “You looked so chagrined when you said it, like someone admitting they’d just farted or something.”

She laughed and lowered her arms. “It just felt weird to say it. I’ve never been comfortable tooting my own horn.”

Something as simple as her smile should not make his heart race and his body react in unsuitable ways. It really shouldn’t.

But it did. It also cast a spell that made it impossible for him to avoid smiling back.

This was not good.

The sounds of several bodies approaching through the trees reached his sensitive ears. Five vampires ambled in their direction. They were still a couple of miles away and seemed to be in no hurry. The scent of blood—several types—accompanied them. They must be fresh from feeding.

Very odd. The insanity that infused vampires was usually accompanied by extreme paranoia that prevented them from getting along. Even the vampires who had banded together under Bastien’s rule had only refrained from attacking each other over the least provocation because they feared what Bastien would do to them. He hadn’t lied when he had told the others that vampires had to fear you to follow you. Like the vampire king, Bastien had had to make an example of a few before that fear had solidified. He hadn’t done so with a machete. But it had nevertheless been unpleasant.

“What is it?” Melanie asked. She had the loveliest brown eyes.

Keep your head in the game!

“Five vampires, fresh from feeding.”

And damned if it didn’t sound like an ordinary bunch of guys out killing time until the next movie started at the nearest theater.

This could potentially be interesting.

He would’ve looked forward to the confrontation if he weren’t concerned for Melanie’s safety. “What kind of training are we talking here?” he asked. “Self-defense?” He needed to know just how vulnerable she would be when the vampires attacked. He’d like to think they wouldn’t, that he would luck out and find new allies on his first night searching, but vampires always attacked. If they didn’t, they were plotting something.

“Self-defense,” she confirmed. “Martial arts. Weapons. Speaking of which, I’ll need to borrow a few. I don’t usually carry when I’m at work, because Mr. Reordon doesn’t want Cliff and Joe to get their hands on them.” Expression brightening, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out what looked like three EpiPens, but were—he assumed—auto-injectors packing the tranquilizer. “Except for these.”

Bastien considered them thoughtfully. Three auto-injectors. Five vampires. He could work with those numbers. Perhaps he could begin to forge ties with the vampires tonight after all.