Rogue Darkness by Dianne Duvall

Now Sean could only hope he would meet his future wife soon. His father, born with precognitive abilities, had admitted Sean would marry an immortal woman. But when Sean had asked him who that woman was and when he’d meet her, his father had shrugged and said he didn’t know, that he had only seen her in visions.

“You could always do it doggy style,” Nicole suggested helpfully. “If she isn’t facing you—”

“I already thought of that. But it’s been so long that just kissing a woman and holding her close makes my eyes glow. Wouldn’t you want to be held and kissed and stroked before a guy spun you around, bent you over, and took you from behind?”

“Definitely.” She frowned. “And now I’m turned on.”

A statement that merely increased his arousal. “That isn’t helping.”

“Sorry. Maybe you could wear contact lenses that—”

“I tried. They only change the color my eyes glow.”

“That sucks,” she said again.

Yes, it did.

The sound of an approaching vehicle reached his ears. “Are we expecting company?”

“No.” She frowned. “Why? What do you hear?”

“A car, still a few miles out.” On a road that led only to this house.

Nicole shoved her chair back and rose. “Sometimes I envy telepaths.” Turning away, she headed up the hallway to the armory.

Sean had to agree with her. Being able to peek into the driver’s mind and determine whether the approaching person was friend or foe would’ve been nice. But he was secretly glad Nicole couldn’t delve into his mind. He doubted she’d appreciate the images that had flitted through it during the past few minutes. “It’s probably just my mom and dad stopping by.”

“Evelyn usually calls ahead first,” she responded, out of sight.

True. And Krysta either texted or had Étienne send him a mental heads-up when they planned to visit.

Unwilling to abandon his meal, Sean tightened his grip on his fork and put on a burst of speed, determined to finish his lasagna in record time.

Head down, he heard Nicole return.

“Oh, for Pete’s sake!” she blurted.

He glanced up.

Her face awash with exasperation, she fastened the bulletproof vest she’d donned. “I’m gearing up for war and you’re in here stuffing your face?” She now wore a shoulder holster that housed two Glock 18s with thirty-three-round mags.

Laughing, Sean nearly choked on the last forkful.



Closing the distance between them, Nicole pounded Sean on the back.

“I can’t help it,” he protested once he swallowed. “It’s too good to waste.”

Her eyes went to her now-empty plate and narrowed. “Wait. Did you finish mine, too?”

He grinned.

Laughing, she gave him a shove. “Go arm up.”

Sean rose, gathered the dishes in a heartbeat, conveyed them to the sink, and headed for the armory.

Shaking her head, she left the kitchen.

Nicole hadn’t expected any immortal she served to contribute to the mundane household tasks. Kinda hard to imagine a powerful immortal being spending his nights hunting and slaying psychotic vampires to protect humanity, then heading home to do laundry or the like. Particularly since—in recent years—Immortal Guardians’ duties had expanded to include preventing freaking Armageddon.

Yet, on numerous occasions, Sean had beaten her to the dishes.

“You know I’m supposed to do that for you, right?” she’d asked once.

He’d shrugged. “That doesn’t mean you should when I can do it myself. Besides, you cook most of our meals.”

He was a good guy. A good friend, too. She’d thought moving in with a man she didn’t know from Adam would be awkward. And yet she’d ended up getting along far better with him than she had with her first college roommate. That girl could make a saint swear like a sailor.

Nicole grabbed the assault rifle she’d left by the stairs and crossed the foyer. Drawing the curtains back a bare inch, she peered outside.

Bright solar-powered floodlights illuminated the front yard. This house was parked in the middle of she-wasn’t-sure-how-many acres of field and forest. By design, no trees obscured the view from the house on any side for the first fifty yards or so.

Immortals and their Seconds liked to see their enemies coming.

No headlights illuminated the meadows yet.

An unexpected visit like this usually wouldn’t cause much of a stir. The network was incredibly efficient in its multitudinous efforts to keep the rest of society from knowing vampires, immortals, and gifted ones existed. But a lot had changed in the past decade. Groups had arisen that posed a real danger to Immortal Guardians and those who worked with them. Lives had been lost, both mortal and immortal. So as Nicole waited for the car to appear on the winding road, she mentally prepared for battle.

Unease infiltrated her, driving her to shift her feet restlessly.

“Anything?”

She jumped. Sean could move as quietly as a mouse. “Not yet.”

“You getting any bad feelings?”

The precognitive abilities Nicole had been born with sometimes gave her “bad feelings” when something foul was about to go down. “Yes.”

Swearing, he drew the curtains back and peered outside, exercising none of the caution she had.