by I. T. Lucas
When she disappeared inside the plane, Rufsur chuckled and slapped him on the back. “Someone is in trouble.”
“What did I say wrong?”
“Haven’t you heard about Women’s Lib?” Amanda sauntered by him. “You should read up about it.”
Shaking his head, he followed Dalhu up the stairs.
The former Brother wisely stayed out of the conversation, pretending that he hadn’t heard anything.
The interior of the jet wasn’t as luxurious as Kalugal had expected from the clan, but it was as well-appointed as any self-respecting, first-class cabin on a commercial airline, which was perfectly fine with him. It wasn’t as if he had a private plane of his own, but perhaps he should.
When he took the seat next to Jacki, she turned to him and smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. For some reason, every little thing annoys me now.”
“Are you scared of flying?”
Jacki shook her head. “I was scared the first time. It was when Marisol flew me to West Virginia. But when the clan helped me escape, we hopped from airfield to airfield using small private planes, and I’ve gotten over it.“
“Is it the temperature? Aren’t the pills helping?”
“They do, but I’m restless and itchy.” She pulled her hair forward and reached behind to tug on the collar of her blouse. “Like this damn tag. It’s scratchy, and it’s driving me crazy.”
“Let me help you.” He reached for it with the intention of ripping it off.
“No, don’t. You will tear the fabric. I just want to fold it inside out.”
“It’s the transition.” Syssi released her seatbelt. “Don’t be surprised if you get weepy for no reason. It’s like getting your period but times a hundred.” She pulled out a pouch from her purse. “I have a sewing kit with scissors.”
Kian beamed with pride. “Syssi is always well prepared. Whatever you need, just ask, and she’ll pull it out of her purse.”
Syssi chuckled. “That’s an exaggeration.” She leaned over and cut the tag off.
“Thank you.” Jacki let out a relieved breath. “You’re a lifesaver.”
“You’re welcome. By the way, I don’t know if Bridget mentioned it, but one of the perks of turning immortal is no more periods.”
Kalugal really missed his phone. If he had it, he could’ve pretended to be reading messages or emails and not listening to the conversation.
Jacki frowned. “How can we get pregnant with no ovulation?”
“This is nature’s way of preserving our eggs. They drop only when there is a chance of pregnancy. When you get to the village, you can make an appointment to see Merlin. He’s the expert on immortal fertility.”
Kian chuckled. “He’s more like a witch doctor, but I’m not complaining. He helped us get pregnant.”
The pilot poked his head into the cabin. “Everybody, please sit down and buckle up. We are next on the runway.”
When he ducked back into the cockpit, Kalugal leaned toward Kian, who was sitting across the aisle from him. “Is the pilot one of yours?”
“Of course. That’s Charlie. Besides him, we have three other pilots.”
“I should have one of my men take flying lessons. I like the idea of owning a plane.”
Kian raised a brow. “I would have expected a guy like you who loves expensive toys to have a selection of private jets.”
“Somehow, it never occurred to me. I enjoy flying commercial incognito. You get to meet a lot of interesting people when you fly first class.” He smirked. “And everyone likes talking to Professor Gunter.”
“Who’s that?”
“That’s me, of course. That’s my archeologist alter ego.”
“The old, pudgy man with glasses?” Wonder asked. “The one I saw in Egypt?”
“Indeed, it was I, Professor Gunter, a renowned archeologist.” Kalugal affected a heavy German accent.
Jacki giggled. “You sound so funny.”
“Do I, liebling?”
When Jacki giggled again, Kalugal decided that he would use his German accent as often as he could. He loved hearing her laughter.
As the plane reached flight altitude, Kian unbuckled and pulled a couple of sleep masks from the compartment in front of his seat.
Dangling them from his fingers, he extended his arm over the aisle. “I know that you think I’m paranoid. But I want you and Jacki to put these on and take a nap. Anandur is making sure that Rufsur and Hivak do the same.”
With a long-suffering sigh, Kalugal took the masks and handed one to Jacki. “Like it or not, we are going to take a nap.”
“No problem.” Jacki took the mask, lowered her seat until it was fully reclined, and then put it over her eyes. “Wake me up when we land.”
62
Wendy
Vlad must have talked half the night, and at some point Wendy had drifted off to sleep, and apparently so had Vlad because he was sleeping next to her in her bed.
They were both fully dressed and on top of the blanket, but Vlad’s arm was draped around her, and it felt nice.
“Good morning,” he murmured with his eyes still closed. “I’m sorry that I fell asleep in your bed.”
“I’m not.” She pushed his bangs away from his face. “It’s nice waking up with you. What time is it?”
“It must be late.” He looked at the open window. “I hear the guys practicing outside.”
She chuckled. “Naturally, I can’t hear anything with my inferior human ears.”
“They must know that I stayed the night. Does it bother you?”
“Nope. None of their business. We are both adults.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “How old are you? Are you really twenty?”
“Yes. I’m a baby immortal.”
“Hold on.” Wendy lifted a hand. “When did you go through puberty? And please don’t tell me it was a couple of months ago. That will make me feel like a pedophile.”
“Immortals go through puberty at the same age humans do.”
“Oh, good.” She let out a breath. “I need to use the bathroom.”
“Me too. I’ll go to the one upstairs.”
In the bathroom, Wendy squeezed toothpaste onto her toothbrush and looked at herself in the mirror. Her eyes seemed brighter than usual, and the creases between her eyebrows were gone.
Life was full of surprises.
The girl who’d planned on a life of spinsterhood was dating Superman.
Vlad was faster and stronger than an average human, he had better vision and hearing, and he could thrall and shroud.
Immortal.
A descendant of gods.
Wow.
How had she gotten that lucky? What had she done to deserve him?
Nothing.
It meant that there was a catch and that what seemed fantastic now would eventually make her miserable.
Having a Superman boyfriend was cool, and if she had friends, and if she was allowed to tell anyone about him, she would have done some serious bragging.
But the truth was that his immortality was a problem.
She couldn’t marry Vlad and have a couple of kids with him even if she wanted to. He would forever be a twenty-year-old while she would age.
Still, she could adopt Jin’s attitude and live for today. Vlad loved her, and she loved him back, and that was more than she’d ever hoped for.
If Kian was as good as his word and gave her a decent job in one of the clan’s hotels, she and Vlad would date and spend time with his immortal friends, and maybe with Jin and Arwel too.
How old was Arwel?
Now that she knew he could be any age, she suspected that he was much older than he looked. The guy acted very old-fashioned.
And what about Bowen and Leon? How old were they?
Damn, she had so many questions.
That also explained why Vlad had to lie about his mother being thirty-six. Stella probably looked much younger than even that. And Vanessa really was Jackson’s mother,
and she hadn’t had any plastic surgery done.
After brushing her hair, Wendy went back to the bedroom for a change of clothes, but Vlad was already back. “I brewed coffee. Do you want some?”
“Oh, yeah. I wanted to shower and change, but I’ll have coffee first.”
“Great. Would you like me to make you an omelet?”
“Maybe later.” She followed him out of the room. “Right now, I just want coffee and for you to pick up from where you left off last night.”
“I don’t remember what the last thing I told you was.”
“I don’t either. At some point, I fell asleep.” She chuckled. “I think my brain was full to capacity, and it shut down.”
“It was a lot to absorb, and I just gave you an overview. There is so much more.”
Wendy pulled out a chair. “Maybe you should slow down and give it to me in small increments.”
When Vlad’s pale cheeks reddened, Wendy snorted. “Come on. I know that you want to, so just say it.”
“Say what?” Pretending innocence, Vlad poured coffee into two mugs.
“That’s what she said.”
“If you say so.”
“As if that’s not what you were thinking.”
“It wasn’t.” He put the mug in front of her.
As she considered what other thoughts her comment could have triggered, Wendy felt a blush wash over her face. And then it got even worse when the thought turned into a visual in her head.
63
Vlad
Wendy’s innocent comment had caused a chain reaction that had them both flustered while drinking their morning coffee.
The scent of her arousal triggered his own, and as his fangs started elongating, Vlad wondered whether Bowen had gotten the condoms for him last night and where he’d put them.
“Your eyes are glowing,” Wendy murmured into her mug. “Are your fangs growing as well?”
He opened his mouth.
“Oh, wow. That was fast.” Her blush deepened. “Let’s talk about something else. How old is Arwel?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I guess it’s a few hundred. I know that he was born in Scotland.”
“And Yamanu?”
“He’s older than Arwel, but I don’t know by how much. Age is irrelevant to immortals, and it’s not something that comes up in conversation.”
“Okay, then no more talking about age. Except, how old is your mom for real? You must know that.”
“Three hundred and one.”
“Wow.” Wendy put her cup down. “And you are her only child?”
“Yes, and she counts herself lucky. It’s very difficult for immortal females to conceive. Nature makes sure that there aren’t too many of us.”
“Right. I hadn’t thought about that. If none of you ever die, then you just keep multiplying. How does that work?”
“Some of us died. But you are right. Even with our extremely low birth rate, in many thousands of years, we might overrun the planet.” He rubbed his jaw. “Maybe that’s why we are naturally aggressive?”
As Wendy recoiled, he realized that it had been the wrong thing to say. “Those are just impulses. We are very civilized.”
“What do you mean by aggressive? How does it manifest?”
He shouldn’t mention sex. That would have Wendy running for the hills.
“We have fangs. That’s like always carrying a weapon. Maybe if there were too many of us, immortal males would fight each other. I don’t really know. But I’m sure nature has an answer for that. If you take rabbits for an example, they are defenseless, so the way they survive is by rapid procreation. With us, it’s the opposite.”
Wendy grimaced. “I once saw a nature show about infanticide. Do you know how widespread that is? Lions and primates and other species kill the young of their competitors, and it’s all about sex. When a lion takes over a pride, he kills the cubs of his predecessor because lactating females are not fertile and he wants to mount them. He kills their babies and then has sex with them. How twisted is that? And the same happens with primates. In some species, the females kill the babies of other females, so there will be less competition for resources.”
“That’s terrible. I didn’t know that.”
Wendy crossed her arms over her chest. “Of course you didn’t. They don’t teach stuff like that in school, and people grow up thinking that everything in nature is wonderful and that only humans are bad. Wrong. The whole ecosystem is cruel and horrible.”
Apparently, that was not a good topic for conversation either. What could he say to lighten the mood after that?
“Would you like me to make you a sandwich?” That should be a safe topic.
Wendy sighed and uncrossed her arms. “I want to shower first. But if you are hungry, go ahead and eat.”
“That’s okay. I’d rather eat with you.”
She smiled. “I’ve seen the quantities you eat, and now I know where it all goes. It fuels your incredible speed and strength. I also know that the popcorn machine that you lifted off me would have crushed me and that a regular human wouldn’t have been able to move that fast.”
That was a positive change of topics.
Smiling, Vlad nodded. “For some reason, I’m even stronger than most immortal males, and it’s totally wasted on me because I have no desire to become a Guardian.”
“What’s a Guardian?”
“Guardians are the clan protectors and law enforcers. You’ve met several of them. Bowen, Leon, Arwel, Yamanu, Anandur, and Brundar. They are all Guardians.”
“What about Dalhu? Amanda’s husband or boyfriend. Is he a Guardian?”
Vlad chuckled. “No. He used to be a Doomer, that’s what we call our enemies, but he fell in love with Amanda and crossed over.”
Wendy scratched her head. “I remember you saying something about enemies, but it must have been when I was falling asleep because I can’t remember it.”
“Do you remember the story about the Clan Mother?”
“The goddess.” Wendy shook her head. “That’s so surreal.”
“So she was engaged to a god named Mortdh…” Vlad stopped and listened. “The guys are coming in. I will have to continue the story some other time.”
“Okay,” Wendy whispered.
“Hello, kids.” Bowen walked in with a big grin on his face. “Did you sleep well?”
64
Jacki
As an unbearable pressure in Jacki’s ears woke her up, she covered them with her hands and yawned, but it didn’t help.
“Pinch your nose and blow.” Kalugal’s voice sounded as if it was reaching her through a pool of water. “Just don’t force it. Do it slowly.”
“Okay.”
She did as he suggested, and her ears popped open. Yawning again, she reached for her sleep mask, but then remembered that it was serving as a blindfold.
“Can I take the mask off?”
“When we land,” Kian said. “Which should be…” the wheels connected with the runway “…right now.”
Jacki took the mask off and looked out the window, but there wasn’t much to see. It wasn’t an airport, not even a rural one. Just the one landing strip that their plane was coming to a stop on, a hangar, and a bus.
“Nice,” Kalugal said. “You have your own airstrip. But shouldn’t we wear the sleep masks all the way to the village?”
Unbuckling, Kian pointed to the bus pulling up to the plane. “Remember the opaque windows I told you about? This bus is equipped with them as well.”
Kalugal released his seatbelt and got up. “I hope the driver’s windows are not.”
“Of course not.”
Standing in the aisle, Mey stretched her arms over her head and turned to her sister. “Do you want to come with Yamanu and me, or do you want to ride the bus with Jacki?”
“The bus.” Jin patted Jacki’s shoulder. “I want to be there when Jacki sees the village for the first time. Maybe I can show her and Kalugal around.” She glan
ced at Kian. “Is that okay?”
He shook his head. “They need to get settled first. William will come over to the house that has been prepared for them and put cuffs on Rufsur and Hivak.”
“Both of you need to stay put and rest,” Bridget said. “The walkabout can wait for after your transitions.”
“Yes, doctor.” Jin saluted and then leaned to whisper in Jacki’s ear. “I can show you all the important stuff on the way to your house.”
Mey pulled her sister into a quick hug. “I’ll come over to check on you later.”
As the pilot opened the door, Mey and Yamanu disembarked first.
With how close the bus was parked to the plane, only a few feet separated its open door from the foldout staircase. The middle-aged driver, whose name Jacki had forgotten, was loading the luggage into the belly of the bus, handling each suitcase with care as if there were breakable items inside.
“Who is that?” Kalugal asked.
Jacki shrugged. “The driver. He is also Kian’s butler.”
Kalugal chuckled. “I meant, what is he? He is obviously not immortal, and he is not human either.”
“That’s Okidu,” Kian said. “I’ll tell you about him on the way.”
“That should be interesting.” Kalugal followed Jacki into the bus.
When everyone was seated, the driver closed the partition separating the driver’s seat from the rest of the cabin. A moment later, the engine turned on, and the windows slowly turned opaque.
Kalugal, who’d taken the aisle seat, leaned toward Kian. “You know that sight is not the only way to figure out a direction or a location.”
“I wasn’t born yesterday. But unless you have GPS installed in your brain, you need to know where the origin point is to estimate the distance and direction. That’s why I asked you and your men to put the sleep masks on.”
“Smart. Luckily for you, I don’t have a GPS chip installed. But what if that’s someone’s special talent? A natural ability to ascertain global positioning.”
