a hard swallow. “You guys are Immortal Guardians?”
“Yes.”
Cliff shifted his weight from one foot to the other and tightened his hold on his weapons. “Did you kill Bastien?”
“No. We have no intention of killing him. Bastien is one of us.”
Shock tore through Cliff. His jaw dropped. “Bastien is an immortal?”
“Yes.”
No way! He couldn’t be! Immortal Guardians didn’t help vampires. They killed them. That’s why Bastien wanted to wage war against them. At least, it was one of the reasons. “He said he was a vampire like us!”
“Because he thinks he is,” the leader replied matter-of-factly. “Bastien is… confused. He was fed false information by the one who transformed him. We’re here to help him, not hurt him.”
Before Cliff could call bullshit, Vince motioned belligerently to the carnage around them. “Then why are you killing all of us?”
Joe nodded, his face dark with fury.
“Bastien’s vampire followers have not been confining their feeding to those on the lists they were given.”
Cliff frowned. Every sunset, Tanner—Bastien’s human assistant—gave each vampire a list of men they could drain. Every name on the list was that of a pedophile. And Cliff, Vince, and Joe had steadfastly stuck to those lists. It was a win-win. They got the blood they needed to survive and at the same time protected who knew how many children from the monsters determined to prey upon them.
Had some of the other vampires strayed?
As if to confirm his thoughts, the imposing warrior continued. “They’re killing innocents. I’m afraid we cannot allow such to continue.”
Joe shook his head. “But Bastien said immortals kill innocents.”
“As I said, he was misinformed. Immortal Guardians only kill those who prey upon the innocent, those who threaten to reveal our existence to the mortal world, and those who seek to harm us. We protect innocents.”
The giant sheathed one katana, pulled out a throwing knife, and hurled it into the throat of a vampire who had snuck past another Immortal Guardian and was circling around to attack his back.
Cliff glanced at his friends and jerked his head toward the tunnel behind them.
All three took a couple of steps back and huddled together while they kept an eye on the immortal blocking their path.
“Do you think it’s true?” Joe blurted. “Do you think Bastien is an immortal?”
Cliff strained to hear what was taking place at the end of that unguarded hallway and finally managed to glean a little information. “Bastien is injured, but Roland hasn’t struck a death blow.”
“Yet,” Vince added.
Joe nodded.
Cliff’s glance strayed to the powerful immortal who left them to their discussion while he tossed daggers and throwing stars at other vampires as casually as one might toss bread crumbs to a flock of pigeons. “Before they struck, I heard this one tell the others to try to keep Roland from killing him.”
“What?” Joe asked, eyes widening.
Vince scowled. “Maybe he just wants to kill Bastien himself.”
“Or maybe,” Cliff forced himself to say as doubt crept in, “he’s telling us the truth. Maybe Bastien is an immortal and was fed a bunch of bullshit by the vamp who turned him. I’ve spent more time with Bastien than you have.” The two of them had forged a strong friendship. “I know his history. The vamp who turned him was his best friend. Bastien would’ve had no reason to doubt whatever he told him.”
Vince’s scowl turned into a pucker of worry. “Bastien is the oldest vampire I’ve ever met.”
Cliff nodded. “Most of us go crazy within a few years of transforming. Bastien didn’t.” It made what the Immortal Guardian leader had told them frighteningly plausible and pretty much annihilated their reasons for fighting.
Straightening his shoulders, Joe cleared his throat and addressed the immortal. “What exactly are our options here?”
“How long has it been since you were turned?” he countered.
“Six months.”
“Fourteen for me,” Cliff said.
“About two and a half years,” Vincent answered.
“How’s the bloodlust?”
“Controllable,” Joe answered.
Cliff nodded. “Same here.”
Vincent hesitated. “It’s pretty bad,” he admitted, surprising Cliff with his honesty. “I… I’ve been having… thoughts… lately that scare me.”
“Have you acted upon them?”
“No.”
Cliff hastened to assure the immortal. “He hasn’t killed anyone who wasn’t on Bastien’s list.”
Joe nodded. “We made sure. One of us is always with him.” Because both had seen the signs that Vince was beginning to struggle with the madness the damned virus caused.
The immortal regarded them thoughtfully. “You have two options then, gentlemen. We can either fight to the death today—your death, I’m afraid.” Yep. That was what Cliff had thought. “Or should you prefer it, you can