Dark Choices: The Quandary (The Children Of The Gods Paranormal Romance Series Book 41)

by I. T. Lucas

“We can ask Kalugal to do a more thorough compulsion removal than what Lokan has done.”

  Wendy grimaced. “Talk about embarrassing. But I have to find out. What time is it?”

  “I have no idea. My phone is next to the television.”

  “I’ll get it.” Wendy padded to the dresser and lifted the device. “It’s ten after nine.” She handed it to Vlad. “Do you have Kalugal or Jacki’s number? I want it done as soon as possible.” Another shiver rocked her body. “I feel so dirty.”

  “Come here.” Vlad reached for her and pulled her into his arms. “I’m sure it was the tampons, so stop freaking out. I just didn’t think of them as a possibility because immortal females don’t get periods and don’t use them. So, it wasn’t in my frame of reference. But it’s a much more logical explanation than Marisol compelling you to have sex with someone and then to forget it. That’s not how she did it with the others. She just compelled them to like each other and the rest was up to them, right?”

  Wendy nodded. “Jin didn’t have sex with Richard, which given how brazen she is should have been a big, fat clue that he wasn’t her choice. She and Arwel hooked up on the first day.”

  “You see? Even Marisol wasn’t a complete bitch. She didn’t compel anyone to have sex. It just happened because people thought that they were in love with each other.”

  Wendy sighed. “Yeah, but I might have been the exception.”

  “Why would you think that?”

  A tear slid down her cheek. “Because my uncle had the hots for me. I thought that he had never acted upon those urges I felt empathically, but maybe I just don’t remember it. If it were one of the trainees, I wouldn’t have felt as awful because he was a victim of compulsion as well, but if Simmons had sex with me, it was rape.” More tears slid down her cheeks. “Way to ruin what should have been the best morning of my damn life.”

  “I’m sorry.” Vlad hugged her to him, his strong arms encircling her in warmth. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “It’s not your fault.” She kissed his jaw. “You were amazing last night. Better than I could have ever hoped for.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m sorry too.”

  “For what?”

  “For saddling you with a bag of damaged goods.” Wendy pressed her forehead to Vlad’s chest. “The last thing I needed on top of all the other crap I’ve been through was rape. Now the clusterfuck that’s called my life is complete.”

  “Don’t say that. You don’t know if it’s even true.”

  “Can you text someone in Kalugal’s house?”

  “I don’t have any of their numbers. But Bhathian can probably put me in touch with one of the Guardians assigned to them.”

  62

  Kalugal

  “Rufsur is worrying me,” Jacki said quietly. “I think he has feelings for Edna, but she doesn’t reciprocate.”

  Kalugal had watched his lieutenant at the party, and he had to agree with Jacki’s assessment. Although what Rufsur found attractive in the woman was beyond him.

  For the celebration, she’d worn the same loose slacks and button-down shirt that she wore to work, just without the suit jacket. She wasn’t completely shapeless under those clothes, that was true, and her face could have been pretty if she smiled from time to time. She didn’t scowl at people, but the vibe she emitted wasn’t friendly.

  Kalugal had a feeling that Edna was always in character. She was a judge and a council member, and she made sure no one forgot that.

  It was a great way to keep people away.

  “He’ll get over it.” Kalugal wrapped his arm around Jacki’s shoulders and pulled her closer against his body. “Rufsur isn’t used to women refusing him, so his ego must have suffered a blow.”

  “I refused him, and he was fine. He kept joking and flirting even after I made it clear that I wasn’t interested.”

  “Don’t remind me. But that was different. You explained why you couldn’t be with him. You didn’t tell him that he was no good.”

  Jacki’s eyes widened. “Do you think she was that mean to him?”

  “Not everyone is as nice as you, my love.” Kalugal leaned and kissed her forehead. “Many women think nothing about hurting a guy’s feelings, especially when they think he’s too cocky or presumptuous.”

  “Still, it’s mean to tell a person that he’s not up to par.”

  “I agree.”

  When the door opened, and Rufsur walked in, a dark cloud followed him inside. Hopefully, that was temporary. Kalugal missed his cheerful friend.

  “Theo got a text from Bhathian, who got one from Vlad. The kid is asking if he and Wendy can come over. She suspects that they compelled her in the program to forget some things, and apparently, Lokan didn’t do a thorough enough job of removing that compulsion.”

  Jacki frowned. “I can’t imagine what Marisol could’ve compelled Wendy to forget. Her usual shtick was to compel loyalty to the program and limit communication with outsiders. She did compel people to hook up, but not Wendy. I’ve never seen her with anyone.”

  “We will find out soon.” Kalugal pushed to his feet and walked out to the front porch, where their two Guardians spent their days. “Tell Vlad that he and Wendy are welcome to come whenever they wish. I’ll gladly help the girl.”

  It wasn’t as if he had anything better to do. He couldn’t access his stock portfolio from the clan-issued devices or conduct any other business. The upside was that he was spending his days with Jacki, taking relaxing walks through the village, and catching up on his reading. It was sort of a honeymoon, just without the exotic locales that he planned on taking Jacki to when she fully recuperated from the transition.

  When Theo’s phone buzzed with a return text, he read the message and then lifted his head. “They will be here in ten minutes.”

  “Excellent.” Kalugal turned to Rufsur. “Can you brew coffee for our guests?”

  His second-in-command glared at him. “I’m not your damn maid, Kalugal. You can load the coffee maker yourself. I’m going to the village café.” He looked at Hivak. “Are you coming?”

  Hivak cast Kalugal a worried glance. “I’ll brew the coffee first, and then we can go.”

  The best approach in a situation like that was to ignore the insubordination and pretend that it had never happened. Rufsur was in a bad place, and he could cut him some slack.

  “That’s okay, Hivak. Rufsur is right. I don’t know how to operate the oven, but I do know how to load a coffeemaker. Go and enjoy yourself watching the clan’s single ladies.”

  “That’s what I intend to do.” Rufsur walked down the steps. “There are plenty of fish in this pond, and they are all mighty fine.”

  Poor guy, to talk like that, he really had to have it bad for the judge.

  “I’ll come with you.” Jay pushed to his feet. “Theo can stay here.”

  By now, even their Guardians thought that watching them twenty-four-seven was ridiculous, but they had to follow orders. At least Kian had eased the rules by allowing their group to split into two, so they no longer needed to go everywhere together.

  63

  Vlad

  By the time they reached Kalugal and Jacki’s place, Wendy had worked herself up into a full-blown panic frenzy of rage and despair.

  Vlad prayed that what she feared hadn’t happened because if it had, it would break her. And this time he wasn’t sure he, or even Vanessa, would manage to pull her back together again.

  “Go ahead.” Theo, the Guardian assigned to keep an eye on Kalugal and his group, waved them over. “They are expecting you.”

  “Thanks for arranging this for us.” Vlad knocked on the door.

  “No problem.” Theo cast a worried look at Wendy but said nothing.

  Jacki opened up. “Good morning. You are right in time for coffee.” She pulled Wendy into a quick hug. “What’s the matter? You are as pale as a ghost.”

  “Thank you for agreeing to see us,” Wendy said in a strained voice. “Is K
alugal available?”

  “Yes, of course. Come on in.”

  As they entered the living room, Vlad was glad to see that Kalugal’s men weren’t there. It would be difficult enough for Wendy to share what was on her mind with Kalugal. She didn’t need the additional male audience.

  “Hello, Wendy, Vlad.” Kalugal motioned to the couch. “Please, take a seat.”

  He sat on an armchair across from them and leaned forward. “So what is this all about, and what did my brother fail to do?”

  “He didn’t fail,” Wendy said. “He didn’t know that I would want to leave with Jin and the others, so he did only what Jin had told him to do, which was to free me from the compulsion to trust Marisol. He also didn’t want to sound too obvious, so he did it as a pickup line. He told me that he was a trustworthy guy and that he was the only one I could trust. That was enough to break Marisol's compulsion to trust her, and at the same time to mistrust strangers. He didn’t think that anything else was needed.”

  “I see.” Kalugal nodded. “So what exactly do you want me to override?”

  Wendy swallowed audibly. “I’m afraid that Marisol compelled me to do things that I wouldn’t have done of my own free will, and then she compelled me to forget that I’d done them.”

  Thankfully, Kalugal was smart enough to figure out what Wendy meant and didn’t ask her to spell it out. “So basically you want me to override a compulsion to forget. That should be easy to do. I just need a moment to figure out how to phrase it precisely, so I don’t accidentally compel you to do or not to do something unrelated.” He smiled. “Since I’m not actually removing Marisol’s compulsion, but overriding it with my own, it needs to be very precise.”

  Wendy nodded. “I understand.”

  “Would you like something to eat?” Jacki came out of the kitchen and handed a cup of coffee to Wendy and another one to Vlad. “I can put some ready-made waffles in the toaster.”

  Vlad could have done the polite thing and said no thank you, but he was famished. They’d rushed over without eating breakfast. “I would love some. Thank you.”

  Jacki smiled. “I’ll be right back.”

  Several long moments passed with Kalugal smoothing his fingers over his chin while deep in thought. “If I compel you to remember everything that you’ve forgotten, your brain won’t be able to process it. What I can do is command you to remember everything that Marisol told you to forget. Would that suffice?”

  “Yes.” Wendy put her coffee mug down. “I don’t care about other things I might have forgotten. I only care about specific things that I might have done in the program.”

  He looked at her gravely. “I really don’t want to pry, but it would be better if you told me what you suspect. That way, I can target very specific memories. Perhaps whatever Marisol compelled you to forget was upon your own request and would be better left alone?”

  Wendy glanced at Jacki, as she returned from the kitchen with two additional coffee mugs. “There is something I haven’t told you. In fact, Vlad is the only one who knows, and I would appreciate it if neither of you mentioned it to anyone else.”

  “No problem.” Jacki handed Kalugal one of the mugs. “I’m very good at keeping secrets.”

  “And so am I.” Kalugal brought the mug to his lips and took a sip.

  “Director Simmons was my uncle.”

  “That explains a lot.” Jacki sat down on the other armchair. “You called him because he was family. I get it. But what do you think he made you do? Or told Marisol to compel you to do?”

  Wendy looked down into her coffee mug. “He had the hots for me. I could feel it, but I thought that he never acted upon it, and thinking bad thoughts is not a crime, right? I've thought of killing several people over the years, but I can’t be arrested for that, true? But what if he did act on those perverted urges and then told Marisol to make me forget?”

  Jacki frowned. “Gross. But what makes you suddenly suspect that?”

  Wendy cast a sidelong glance at Kalugal and then shrugged. “Whatever. You will probably figure it out anyway. So, until last night I believed that I was a virgin, but then Vlad and I made love, and it didn’t hurt, and there was no blood.”

  Jacki chuckled. “That’s all? That's what made you lose your shit?” She glanced at Kalugal apologetically. “Can I tell her?”

  He nodded. “It’s your story to tell.”

  “I’ll let you in on a secret. I was a virgin on my wedding night, and I also didn’t experience any pain, and there was also no blood. We are just both lucky to have such gentle and thoughtful men who know what they are doing.”

  Vlad’s ears started burning. He was not in the same league as Kalugal. While the guy was a pro who’d probably shagged hundreds if not thousands of women, Vlad was a greenhorn. He’d had no clue what he’d been doing, but somehow his instincts had been spot on.

  Letting out a breath, Wendy slumped against the couch cushions. “God, I hope you are right. Do you think it was the tampons’ fault?”

  Jacki shrugged. “Maybe. Who cares? It’s not important. I had nothing to prove. I’d stayed a virgin because I didn’t like the idea of casual sex, not because I wanted to save myself for my husband and prove to him that I hadn’t been with anyone else. My word should be good enough.”

  “I know.” Wendy waved a dismissive hand. “I don’t care about that either. I just want to make sure that I haven’t been raped.”

  “That’s perfectly understandable,” Kalugal said. “And now that I know what this is all about, I can make my compulsion very precise.” He leaned forward again and looked Wendy in the eyes. “Wendy, you will remember if you had sexual intercourse or any other sexual interaction with anyone in the government program.”

  Wendy shook her head. “Nothing. I remember what I did before, which is several flirtatious attempts from the other trainees, but that’s all.”

  Vlad released the breath he hadn’t been aware of holding, but then what Kalugal had said about Wendy wanting to forget something triggered a disturbing thought. What if she’d been sexually assaulted before she’d ever gotten to the program and had suppressed the memory herself?

  She’d fessed up to her ability to disassociate. What if physical abuse hadn’t been the only thing she’d repressed?

  What if her father had raped her?

  It was a terrible thing to consider, but things like that happened, and a man who could physically abuse a child and possibly murder his wife was capable of anything.

  Except, Vlad was not going to repeat his mistake and bring it up. What he was going to do, though, was find the bastard and force his way into his mind to find out the truth.

  The question was whether he was going to kill the maggot even if he hadn’t murdered his wife or raped his daughter. The torment he’d put Wendy through was reason enough to beat him to a pulp and then tear his throat out.

  “Vlad?” Wendy looked at him with worried eyes. “What’s going on? Why are you so angry? Nothing really happened. I just panicked.”

  “It’s the thought of what might have happened. I guess I didn’t allow myself to internalize it until now.” He forced a smile. “Perhaps I should go for a run to let off some steam.”

  It had helped to calm down the murderous rage he’d felt when Wendy had told him about the abuse she’d suffered. Except, this time, Vlad didn’t want to let go of the rage. He was a nonviolent guy, or so he’d thought, but the need to avenge Wendy had triggered instincts that had apparently lain dormant in him.

  There was a reason he’d been endowed with incredible strength and trigger-happy fangs. He was a born predator who’d spent his life pretending that he was a sheep.

  No more, though.

  He would still be the good son he’d always been, and the good friend his buddies could depend on, but now that he was a mated man, his first priority was taking care of his mate.

  He was going to avenge her and find out what had happened to her mother. In fact, searching for Wendy’s m
om would be the perfect cover for the many questions he needed to ask her. Telling her about his latest suspicions and his plans for her father was out of the question.

  It would only upset her, and she wasn’t strong enough yet to deal with that.

  “Instead of going for a run, I can treat you to some good whiskey.” Kalugal pushed to his feet. “Kian has graciously sent us a new supply.”

  Jacki arched a brow. “Isn’t it a bit early for alcohol?”

  “Of course, my love. It’s not even ten o’clock in the morning. But this is a medical emergency. Given the color of his ears, our young friend is in danger of spontaneously combusting.”

  64

  Richard

  “I need a damn phone.” Richard pushed off the couch and walked into the kitchen.

  “There is one right here.” Wendy pointed to the house phone hanging on the wall over the counter.

  “I mean a cellphone with programmed phone numbers.” He pulled a can of beer from the fridge and popped the top. “I don’t know when the ceremony is, or what I need to do to prepare for it, and I don’t have Bowen or Leon right here so I could ask them. I would have walked over to their place, but I don’t know where it is.” He looked at Vlad. “Do you?”

  “I can find out, but it won’t do you any good. They are probably not home. It’s not a weekend, and they were reassigned. The ceremony is usually done close to midnight.”

  “Why so late?” Wendy asked.

  “To symbolize the transition. By the time the ceremony is complete, a new day has started, a new beginning.”

  Richard rubbed a nervous hand over the back of his head. “Maybe I should take a nap, or I’ll be too tired to fight.”

  “That’s a good idea. But if you still want to talk to Bowen or Leon, I have their numbers programmed in my phone. You can call either one.”

  Richard walked up to the kid and extended his hand. “Can I borrow it?”