“Stop talking about me like I’m not here,” Roubal snarled.
The son ignored him and glanced at his watch. “This is Nicolas Delonjay’s grandson, Dad.”
The old man’s face reddened with fury. “Belanger! It’s Belanger!”
“Whatever the hell his name is,” the son murmured absently as he took his father’s arm and urged him along, “this isn’t him. It’s his grandson. Look, we have to go. We’re going to be late.” He nodded at Nick. “Sorry about this.”
“No problem.”
Roubal cursed as the son guided him away.
“I told you, Dad. It’s the cancer,” the son said. “Remember, the doctor said you could experience more confusion?”
“I’m not confused!”
“Bullshit. You couldn’t remember the name of your favorite football team when he asked you.”
The old man frowned up at his son. “It’s the Cowboys.”
“Right. You’ve loved the Cowboys for as long as I can remember. But when Dr. Singhal asked you that, you paused a long time, then said it was the Oilers.”
That seemed to give the old man pause. “I did?”
“Yeah, Dad. And the Oilers left Houston and became the Titans like two decades ago.”
They turned a corner and left Nick’s sight.
Relieved, Nick let his preternatural sense of hearing guide him to the room into which Kayla and the others had disappeared. He tapped lightly on the door. “It’s Nick.” Slipping inside, he closed the door behind him.
Isabel and Eliana were cleaning Kayla, washing away the blood her injuries had left behind. Dr. Ranz stood over by a window, talking on the phone.
Nick appreciated him turning his back while the women worked. He knew the man was a doctor but just couldn’t feel casual about another man seeing Kayla naked if he didn’t need to.
Eliana looked up at his approach. “Close call, huh?”
He nodded.
Isabel cast them a questioning look.
Nick claimed Kayla’s hand once more. “Someone I knew several decades ago recognized me.”
The nurse’s eyes widened. “What did you do?”
“I told his son that the man he’d mistaken me for was my grandfather.”
“Did he believe you?”
“The father didn’t. But his son did. Apparently the elderly man has both dementia and cancer and has been experiencing more confusion as a result. I feel like shit for taking advantage of it, but the only alternative would be to have Seth wipe his memory. And he has enough on his plate right now taking care of this.”
Eliana sent him a sympathetic look. “That happened to me once in New York.”
“It did?”
She nodded. “Millions of New Yorkers, tourists, and visiting businessmen all crammed together in such a small area… Usually your chances of running into someone you know are zilch, so immortals there aren’t relocated as often as immortals in other cities and towns. Then I literally bumped into a man I hadn’t seen in forty years. We’d lived in the same apartment building in Brooklyn for a time when he was younger.”
“What did you do?”
She shrugged, her smile tinged with a hint of melancholy. “The same thing you did. I lied, said the woman he mistook me for was my mother. It broke my heart to do it though. I really liked him when he was younger. I think if he hadn’t been dating a beautiful blonde at the time, I might’ve liked him enough to take a chance and maybe see if we could have a life together for however long it could’ve lasted. But he ended up marrying her.”
Nick didn’t know what to say.
“Did he believe you?” Isabel asked softly, her voice full of sympathy.
“Yes.” Again she shrugged. “Most humans do. Adulthood has a way of eradicating one’s ability to believe in magic or the fantastical.”
Isabel nodded as she draped a clean sheet over Kayla. “It really does.”
Dr. Ranz pocketed his phone and joined them. “Looks like Seth and the network have everything under control.”
The door opened, admitting a lovely Asian woman in a white lab coat.
Dr. Ranz smiled at her as she closed the door behind her. “Perfect timing. Dr. Kim, these are Immortal Guardians Nick and Eliana. Nick, Eliana, this is Dr. Kim.”
Dr. Kim smiled. “It’s so nice to meet you both. Sorry for the delay.”
“No problem,” Eliana said with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”
Nick dipped his head in a nod. “Thank you for helping us.”
Dr. Kim waved a hand. “I consider it an honor.” Her gaze fell to Kayla, who remained unconscious. “Dr. Ranz tells me you’d like me to put a cast on Ms. Dorman’s arm?”
“Yes, please,” Nick said. “Seth healed her, but…”
“You need the cast for appearance’s sake?”
“Yes.”
Dr. Kim smiled. “No problem. I’ll get right to work.”
Chapter Four
Once Seth finished smoothing things over, he found them in Dr. Kim’s office. Dr. Ranz had been called away, but Isabel and the orthopedic doctor remained. Seth took in the cast as well as the scrubs Isabel and Eliana had maneuvered onto Kayla. “All done?”
They nodded.
“Let’s get her home then.”
Nick slipped his arms beneath Kayla’s shoulders and knees and lifted her into his arms. Her head rolled to rest against his chest. “I’d like to take her to my place.”
Eliana gently took the slender arm, which was encased in a cast and dangled down at his side, and shifted it to rest in Kayla’s lap.
Seth nodded, unperturbed, and motioned them closer. After thanking Isabel and Dr. Kim once more, he touched Nick’s and Eliana’s shoulders.
The room around them darkened. That peculiar feeling of weightlessness engulfed Nick. Then the room brightened, and he found himself standing in his living room.
Some of the tension that had strung his muscles tight eased.
Seth caught his eye. “She’ll know when she awakens that all is not as it should be. Should I alter her memories, or do you intend to speak with her?”
The normal procedure would be to alter her memories. The only reason Seth would deviate from that and offer him an option was if the powerful elder immortal had recognized Nick’s feelings for her.
“I’ll speak with her,” Nick replied.
Seth nodded. “Let me know if it doesn’t go well.” He would definitely have to alter her memories in that instance. If Nick had ever doubted the necessity of keeping gifted ones, immortals, and vampires a secret from the general public, the events of recent years had stomped those doubts into oblivion. Anyone who learned of their existence and did not become their ally could not be allowed to retain those memories. The threat was simply too great.
“You can take the night off,” Seth added.
Nick glanced at the window, surprised to find it already dark outside. “Thank you.”
A trebly version of Skillet’s “Monster” filled the air. Seth retrieved his cell phone. “Yes?”
“Seth!” a male immortal blurted. “It’s Miklos. I need your help.”