Free Phantom Embrace by Dianne Duvall Page B

at the bay window in confusion, finding no evidence that it had ever been broken. Clean panes revealed darkness outside overlaid by reflections of light and the figures inside the room. No lingering shards of glass littered the floor. No splinters from the broken windowpane frames stuck out of upholstery. No stray feathers from the winged male who had leapt through the window rested upon the floor.
    Brow furrowing, she looked around the room. The coffee table that had been shattered by the first vampire’s body had been removed and replaced. The chairs and sofas that had been overturned in the immortals’ haste to get out of the paths of the shattering glass and the bodies hurled inside had been righted and now provided seating for Immortal Guardians and their Seconds as they engaged in casual conversation as though nothing had happened.
    Her eyes fell upon Marcus, seated next to his wife. For once he neither avoided meeting her gaze nor looked uneasy. Instead he appeared to . . . welcome her presence?
    A figure near Marcus rose.
    Yuri.
    Relief suffused her.
    He was all right, then, his face and form as perfect as ever.
    His eyes met hers and began to glow a faint amber. He cocked his head toward the hallway.
    Nodding, she started toward it, weaving her way through the men and women present. She had never grown comfortable with passing through the living, so she ducked and dodged them as she would have had she still been alive herself.
    She and Yuri reached the hallway at the same time.
    As they passed the infirmary, she glanced inside and saw the winged man, sans wings, sitting beside a bed, clutching the hand of a slumbering Lisette. Seth sat at Lisette’s head, his hand resting on her shoulder and glowing.
    Cat followed Yuri downstairs to the basement. Though he was taller and walked with much longer strides, she had no difficulty keeping up with him. Another peculiarity about her existence. No matter how slow her steps, she could progress forward as quickly as she wished.
    As soon as they were ensconced in the privacy of his room and could not be overheard, he swung around to face her.
    â€œWhat happened?” they asked simultaneously.
    She bit her lip.
    â€œMe first,” he insisted. Even that defied the norm. Yuri had not been born in this century and still bore the ladies first mind-set.
    â€œAll right.”
    â€œWhat happened?” he repeated. “Where were you?”
    The questions only heightened her confusion. “What do you mean? I was upstairs.”
    â€œNot just now,” he said, raking a hand through his hair. “Before. Where have you been since Zach arrived? I’ve been so worried about you.”
    â€œWho is Zach?”
    â€œThe winged immortal who tossed two vampires through David’s bay window, then dove in after them with Lisette in his arms.”
    â€œI don’t understand. That just happened while I was upstairs. While we both were.”
    Yuri frowned. “What?”
    â€œThat just happened,” she repeated, bewildered. “Minutes ago. It just happened. But . . . I don’t . . .” She glanced up at the ceiling, recalling how normal the room and its occupants had appeared, then met his gaze once more. “How did you get it all cleaned up so fast? I didn’t see . . .” She trailed off. Immortals could move fast, but they couldn’t move that fast. They couldn’t have cleaned it up so quickly that she wouldn’t have seen at least some of it unfold.
    Yuri stilled, his iridescent amber gaze sharpening.
    Didn’t his eyes only glow when he was gripped by strong emotion?
    â€œYou think Zach just arrived?” he said.
    â€œWell, yes. Didn’t he?”
    A quiet moment passed while he considered her. “Tell me what you remember.”
    Anxiety rose. “We were sitting in the living room. Together. On the love seat you’d claimed. The bay window shattered when two vampires were tossed through