ÉTIENNE: Yes. Fortunately, my brother is good at dodging weapons.
SHELDON: [consults tablet] You’ve lived a couple of centuries, give or take. What was your favorite decade?
ÉTIENNE: This one. I found Krysta in it. [music wafts from his pocket] Excuse me. [takes out his cell phone] Yes? … Sheldon is interviewing me for the network. What about you? … [his brown eyes acquire an amber glow] Really? … [voice drops] I’ll be right there.
SHELDON: [watches him tuck his phone away] I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that was Krysta.
ÉTIENNE: You guessed correctly.
SHELDON: Say no more. We can continue the interview tomorrow. Maybe you can bring Krysta along with you.
ÉTIENNE: [smiles] You’re a good man, Sheldon.
October 2013
Darkness Rises Blog Tour
SHELDON: Hi, guys. Thanks for taking time out of tonight’s hunt to finish the interview.
KRYSTA: What is this for again? Étienne never told me.
ÉTIENNE: Because you kept distracting me.
KRYSTA: [winks] I didn’t hear you complaining.
SHELDON: Don’t start flirting with him. His eyes are already beginning to glow, and I’d like to at least get a handful of questions answered before he carries you off to do I-don’t-want-to-know-what to you.
KRYSTA: [laughs] All right. I’ll behave. So… what is this for?
SHELDON: The network of humans who work to protect Immortal Guardians and shield their existence from society. There’s been a lot more immortal traffic down at network headquarters lately, and most of the employees are still pretty nervous around them.
KRYSTA: [looks at Étienne] I know you explained this to me, but it still seems weird that humans are risking all to protect immortals when immortals are the ones with the preternatural speed, strength, and senses.
ÉTIENNE: [shrugs] Most business is still conducted during the day, and you’ve seen what happens to us when we’re exposed to sunlight. We need Seconds like Cam and Sheldon to handle all the crap we can’t.
SHELDON: [nods] The rest is simple math. Immortal Guardians have been single-handedly keeping the vampire menace in check for millennia, preventing those who are driven insane by the virus from preying upon humans. But there are very few Immortal Guardians in the world. Far fewer than there are humans or vampires. So the loss of even one immortal would be felt in a big way. The humans at the network all feel the same way I do—that it’s worth risking our lives to ensure that immortals can continue to risk theirs to protect humanity.
KRYSTA: That’s pretty much what Étienne said. It just still seems weird.
SHELDON: [grins] I guess it does to newcomers. But you’ll get used to it eventually. So. First question. Krysta, did you ever imagine yourself falling in love with an old fart like Étienne?
ÉTIENNE: [scowls]
KRYSTA: [laughs] Don’t say that. He’s sensitive about his age.
SHELDON: Dude, you’re like 230 years old. Roland is damned near a thousand, and he isn’t sensitive about his age. Man up.
ÉTIENNE: First of all, Roland is the exception to every rule. And second, I’m not sensitive about my age. I just don’t want Krysta to think I’m too old for her.
KRYSTA: [flutters her eyelashes] You’ve proven many times over to my immense satisfaction that you aren’t.
ÉTIENNE: [smiles] Minx.
SHELDON: Hey, I was serious about the no-flirting thing.
KRYSTA: Sorry.
SHELDON: Let’s see… [consults notepad full of questions] Étienne, is it true that Krysta tried to decapitate you the first time you met?
ÉTIENNE: Yes. I stopped the shoto sword mere inches from my neck.
SHELDON: That is so hot.
ÉTIENNE: [laughs] I thought so, too.
SHELDON: I assume, Krysta, that you thought he was a vampire?
KRYSTA: Yes. I kept expecting him to try to kill me and couldn’t figure out why he didn’t. And you have no idea how confusing it was to actually find myself attracted to him. I totally thought he was messing with my head.
SHELDON: Were you messing with her head?
ÉTIENNE: [scowls] Of course not.
SHELDON: Does it bother you, Krysta, that Étienne can read your mind?
ÉTIENNE: I told you in our previous interview that most of the time, I can’t read her mind. I just catch the occasional stray thought or two.
KRYSTA: Yes, but it still bothered me in the beginning because the stray thoughts you did catch were always the embarrassing ones.
ÉTIENNE: [grins] They didn’t embarrass me. [grunts when she elbows him] Besides, you’ve paid me back many times since then by intentionally sending me naughty thoughts at totally inappropriate moments.
KRYSTA: [smiles back] What can I say? I like to see you squirm.
SHELDON: You seem to be taking all this in stride, Krysta.
KRYSTA: I didn’t in the beginning. I actually tried to decapitate him a second time.
SHELDON: Again… that is so hot.
KRYSTA: [laughs] I had never heard of immortals and didn’t know how they differed from the maddened vampires I slew every chance I got, so… I didn’t know what to think of him. Étienne was clearly different, but—for all I knew—he really could have been messing with my head.
ÉTIENNE: And yet you risked your life to save mine.
KRYSTA: After you risked yours to save mine.
SHELDON: [sighs] And now his eyes are glowing. Fine. This interview’s over.
ÉTIENNE: Thank you.
SHELDON: I’ll see if I can find someone else I can pester with questions. You guys have a nice night.
KRYSTA: You, too, Sheldon.
September 2014
Night Unbound Blog Tour
SHELDON: So… you and Zach, huh?
LISETTE: Me and Zach.
SHELDON: You are freaking ballsy, lady.
LISETTE: [laughs] If you say so.
SHELDON: I’m serious. Seth is the oldest and most powerful immortal on the planet. He’s the leader of the Immortal Guardians. He loathes Zach. And you decided to date the guy?
LISETTE: If by date you mean risk everything to be with him, then yes.
SHELDON: Why?
LISETTE: Because from the moment I first saw him, I was drawn to him… more so than I have been to any other. Because Zach woke me up and made me feel more alive than I had in two centuries. I needed to know where that could take me.
SHELDON: [slow nod] I can understand that.
LISETTE: Because there is someone you would be willing to risk everything for?
SHELDON: [flushes bright red] Maybe. Don’t read my thoughts!
LISETTE: As you wish.
SHELDON: Thank you. Now… I heard there was… an incident.
LISETTE: [arches a brow] Which one?
SHELDON: [laughs] Not the explosive one that ended with David’s house needing a little redecorating. The other one.
LISETTE: I’m afraid you’re going to have to be a little more specific than that.
SHELDON: Really? There were others?
LISETTE: Surely that doesn’t surprise you. Zach isn’t exactly beloved by my fellow Immortal Guardians.
SHELDON: That’s just because he’s the first immortal—at least as far as anyone knows—whom Seth wanted to kill.