Decker hesitated, watching as the sky lit up with lightning. It was followed shortly afterward by a loud crack and then a rumble as thunder rolled overhead, and he nodded. "Yeah. We'll wait it out."
Taking back her hand, Dani turned to lead the way to the bales stacked against the wall. She seated herself on one and plucked a piece of straw from it, then watched him slowly move to join her.
They sat in silence for several minutes and then-unable to stand it any longer-Dani asked, "Is your last name Argeneau or Pimms?" When he glanced at her with surprise, she added, "You didn't seem to be sure when we first met."
He smiled wryly and then plucked a bit of straw out of the bale and began to toy with it. "I was born Decker Argeneau Pimms. My mother is an Argeneau. The Pimms comes from my father. But we've always switched between the two names."
When she raised her eyebrow in question, he explained, "Our kind tend to have to move every decade or so. People get suspicious when you don't age after that period, so we move. Our family also switched between the name Argeneau and Pimms every century or so too. This century they're using Argeneau. At least my parents and sisters are. I'm not sure about my brothers."
Dani wondered about that comment, unable to imagine not knowing what names her brothers and sisters were going by, but merely asked, "How many brothers and sisters do you have?"
"Three younger sisters and three older brothers," he answered easily.
"You have an even larger family than we do," she said with a smile.
"Only one more," Decker said with a shrug. "And we aren't as close as your family appears to be. It's the age difference," he explained.
"How old are they?"
"Let's see." He paused to think and then said, "Elspeth was born in 1872 and Julianna and Vicki-they're twins," he explained. "I think they were born in 1983."
Dani stared at him blankly. "1872?"
Decker nodded.
"But that would make her over a hundred and thirty years old."
"About one hundred and thirty-seven or thereabouts," he said, and then reminded her, "The law about leaving at least one hundred years between each child causes the large gaps."
Dani closed her eyes as everything clicked into place in her head. Decker telling Justin that he hadn't eaten since he was one hundred and twenty, his saying in the van that his grandparents had been treated with the nanos in Atlantis, and his telling her just moments ago that his family was using the name Argeneau this century. They called themselves immortals, and she was beginning to realize it wasn't because they were quick healers. Dani didn't know why she hadn't worked it out before this. She supposed she'd been too stressed out and worried about Stephanie, but she was beginning to understand now.
"Your people don't age and die," she said.
"We don't age," Decker agreed, "But we can die. I did mention that it was Nicholas's life mate's dying that pushed him over the edge."
"I assumed she was mortal," Dani murmured with confusion. "Sam is mortal, and I thought-"
"Sam is only mortal because she isn't ready to turn yet," he explained, and then shook his head and muttered, "I guess I didn't explain things very well last night." He paused and took a deep breath and then said, "The nanos will repair any damage including that caused by aging. They also kill off illnesses, but they travel through the bloodstream, so if you rip out the heart, they aren't going anywhere or repairing anything. The blood will die and so will they."
"So Nicholas's wife died in an accident that ripped out her heart?" she asked with disbelief. "What kind of accident rips out your heart?"
"No. Nicholas's wife, Annie, burned to death in a car accident."
"So fire can kill you too."
He nodded. "And decapitation."
Dani supposed that made sense, and asked, "But otherwise you don't die or age?"
Decker shook his head.
"And your sister is one hundred and thirty-seven?"
"Thereabouts," he agreed.
"And she's younger than you?"
Decker seemed to realize where her questions were leading. Lips twisting wryly he said, "I'm two hundred and fifty-nine years old, Dani."