by I. T. Lucas
“Do you mean that she’s inhumanly beautiful, or are you talking about the glow?” Wendy asked.
“Both. But it’s more than that. She’s like a force field. You can feel the energy emanating from her.”
“True.” Wendy nodded. “I thought that what I felt was awe, but you are right. When she enters a room, it feels like the air is sizzling with energy.”
“That sounds scary,” Margaret admitted. “I hope she’ll be too busy to notice me.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Stella said. “Annani will not seek you out. You will only see her from afar when she presides over the mating ceremony. When you transition, she might grant you an audience.”
Margaret blew out a breath. “That’s a relief. I’m barely ready to meet immortals. I’m not ready for a goddess.”
“I want to meet Annani.” Anastasia turned to Leon. “Can you introduce me?”
He shook his head. “The Clan Mother chooses who she wants to talk to. I can’t initiate it.”
“Since you’ve transitioned already, Annani will want to welcome you to the clan,” Stella said. “Newly transitioned females are the key to our future.”
Anastasia frowned. “In what way? I mean besides providing a child or two if we are lucky.”
Stella turned to Leon. “Didn’t you explain?”
“I thought that it was self-explanatory. All Annani’s descendants are considered closely related. That’s why we need the infusion of new genes, especially female because the heredity is determined by the mothers.”
“We need genetic variety, period,” Wendy said. “Both males and females can contribute.”
Stella shook her head. “I see that my son didn’t do any better job of explaining than Leon. Every new female immortal that is not Annani’s descendant is a potential originator of a new maternal line. Her descendants can mate with Annani’s, and the more lines we have, the better.” She looked at Margaret. “You might be blessed with another child, and this time, you can actually enjoy raising it.”
Margaret swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “I don’t think I can have any more children. I’ve been taking contraceptive shots for years, and I can’t even remember the last time I menstruated.”
“The transition will fix whatever has gone wrong with your body.” Stella chuckled. “You never know. I’m sure Wendy would love to have a little brother or sister.”
Wendy wrapped her arm around Margaret’s shoulders. “Babysitting will be good practice for Vlad and me.”
Richard pushed to his feet. “With the way the Fates like to mess with us, you are both going to have babies at the same time.” He offered Stella a hand up. “Let’s go home and start working on a baby of our own.”
Vlad groaned. “TMI, Richard.”
Taking her boyfriend’s hand, Stella cast her son a loving smile. “Wouldn’t you like a little brother or sister to practice your parenting style on?”
“I would love it, and you know it. I just don’t want to hear about you and Richard making it.”
13
Eleanor
“Good afternoon.” Eleanor walked into Emmett’s cell, holding a tray. “I have a treat for you. Alfie got fresh blood from the butcher.”
The silent Guardian walked in behind her, looking appropriately threatening.
Emmett dipped his head. “Many thanks, my friend.”
“Enjoy.” Alfie turned to Eleanor. “If he gives you any trouble, I’ll be here in a heartbeat.”
“I know.” She cast him a thankful smile.
The truth was that having the Guardians watching the feed from the other suite was far from ideal, and it limited what she could do with Emmett. For now, though, Arwel had agreed to mute the feed, so at least their conversations would be semi-private. But if things got heated between her and Emmett, they would have an audience.
As the door closed and they were left alone in the cell, she put the tray on the coffee table and sat on the small couch next to him. “Eat.”
“Thank you for keeping me company.” Emmett eyed the tall paper cup filled with blood but didn’t reach for it.
“It’s okay. Go for it. It’s not going to gross me out.”
He arched a brow. “Yesterday, you started gagging and had to leave. I don’t want to lose your company.”
“This time, I’m mentally prepared.” She waved at the cup. “If we are to be friends, I need to get used to your culinary preferences.”
Emmett’s expression was the picture of surprise. “You want to be my friend?”
She shrugged. “It might come as a shock to you, but I don’t have many friends, and most clan members still don’t trust me. So I sympathize with you. You are all alone in here, and you don’t have any friends either.”
Lifting the cup, he held it between his palms. “It depends on who you consider a friend. I happen to like Arwel, and I enjoy his company. Does that make him my friend?”
She scoffed. “He’s your jailer.”
“So are you, my dear.”
“True.”
He shifted to face her. “Let me ask you a question if you don’t mind.”
“Ask away.”
“If you haven’t earned the clan’s trust yet, how come Kian made you my Guardian?”
Damn. Way to go giving herself up.
“I’m not a Guardian yet. I’m a Guardian in training, and I’m supervised. But I was assigned to guard you because I’m immune to your compulsion.”
“Arwel and the others wear those specialty earplugs that render my compulsion useless. Kian didn’t need an immune to guard me. What’s your agenda, Eleanor? Or should I ask, what’s Kian’s agenda?”
The guy was too smart to play games with. She had to give him something, or he would clam up and not tell her anything.
“I asked Kian for the position.” She reached for the mixed nuts, which were supposed to be Emmett’s dessert.
“Why?” He took a slow sip from the cup, careful not to let even a drop spill on his chin.
It was helpful, but it didn’t solve the problem. She could still smell the blood, and her gag reflex kicked in.
Looking away, she popped another nut in her mouth in the hopes that it would drown the smell. When she was done chewing, she cast a quick sidelong glance at Emmett.
He was watching her like a hawk. “I’m still waiting for an answer.”
Affecting the expression of a blasé attitude, Eleanor shrugged. “I felt something back in Safe Haven, and I need to figure out what it was.”
Emmett’s eyes shone with interest, the nearly black of his irises turning a lighter shade of a dark purple. “What did you feel?”
Fascinating.
Eleanor shrugged again. “You know what I felt. I bet your sense of smell is just as good as that of the other immortal males. What I want to know is whether you emitted some kind of potent pheromones that messed with my hormones, or whether I was genuinely attracted to you.”
His smile could only be described as wolfish. “How about now? Are you still attracted to me?”
She’d been doing her best to suppress her reaction to him, mainly the horniness, but if his sense of smell was as acute as Greggory’s, he’d probably sniffed it already anyway.
“You tell me,” she challenged.
Putting the cup on the tray, he leaned toward her and smelled her neck. “Oh, yes. Definitely. The smell of blood masked your feminine scent, but I can smell it now.” He shifted closer to her. “What are we going to do about this, my sweet Eleanor?”
Calling her sweet was like calling a badger cuddly.
She lifted a hand to stop his advance. “For now, nothing. I want to get to know you. And I want you to get to know me. I’ve traveled the road that started in a hookup and turned into a relationship. That hasn’t worked well for me in the past, and you know what they say about repeating the same mistakes and hoping for different results.”
Getting her meaning, he shifted a few inches away. “It’s th
e definition of insanity.”
She lifted her eyes to him. “Have you experienced the same?”
Emmett seemed conflicted. “All I ever wanted from women was sex and a little taste of their blood. Nothing else could have been possible because of the charade I had to maintain, and I definitely didn’t want to father children that I would outlive. The friendship you propose is something I’ve never tried before.” He pushed his fingers through his thick hair. “I’ve never had a real friend, either, let alone a partner, and I’m not sure I have what it takes to form a relationship.” He eyed her from under lowered lashes. “That’s what you’re after, correct?”
14
Emmett
Eleanor looked unsure, but she nodded. “Yes. Well, I don’t know. It depends on whether you are worthy. But since I have a terrible track record of determining who is and who isn’t, I don’t trust myself, and I don’t know what I’m looking for.”
Emmett might never have had a relationship, and given the way he’d been raised and the community he’d grown up in, he should know nothing about the special bond between loving partners, but he was an excellent observer, and he was well-read. He’d spent a long time pondering the philosophical topic of the human condition.
Eleanor yearned for love, that much was evident to him, and the question was how he could use that yearning to his advantage.
The clan’s culture seemed to be more similar to the humans’ rather than the Kra-ell’s. They chose mates and formed lasting, exclusive bonds. Furthermore, Eleanor had been a human up until not too long ago, and she no doubt was still a human at heart, with all that implied.
He could use what he’d learned from fiction, psychology, and philosophy to manipulate her. A woman in love might go to extremes for her man, perhaps even betray her people to help free him.
Eleanor was a fighter. She was cunning and, to a degree, devoid of scruples. Also, she’d worked for the government, which meant that she had a lot of experience manipulating people to do her bidding.
Perhaps she’d even possessed some undercover spying skills.
She was a compeller, had been one even as a human, so it hadn’t been difficult for her to manipulate her victims. But she couldn’t compel immortals, and yet, only three months after getting captured by the clan while trying to entrap them, she’d managed to convince the suspicious Kian to let her go on a mission and then to give her a Guardian position.
Emmett couldn’t have asked for a better ally.
The woman could be an incredible asset to him, provided that he could make her fall in love with him. The trick would be to make her believe that he loved her as well, and that wasn’t going to be easy. She was jaded, had gotten jilted more than once, and was mistrustful by nature. If he was to convince her that he was worth saving, he would have to put up the best performance of his life.
Since she was wary, his best tactic would be reverse psychology. Instead of insisting that he was worthy, he would do the opposite, presenting himself as a lost cause and giving her a challenge.
Assuming a contemplative expression, he shook his head. “I’m probably an even worse bet than the others who’ve disappointed you. I come from a society that doesn’t believe in love and scoffs at the concept of exclusivity. It’s not that I’m enamored with the multi-partner lifestyle and can’t see myself giving it up. I would do it in a heartbeat if I knew how to be different, but I don’t.”
She looked at him with sadness in her eyes. “Have you never been in love?”
The good news was that Eleanor hadn’t gotten defensive, which meant that she’d bought his act, and that was the first step toward building trust. The bad news was that she seemed despondent.
He needed to give her hope.
“I’ve loved many, but I’ve never been in love with one particular woman.”
She straightened her back and looked at him down her nose. “What do you mean by loving many?”
He spread his arms. “I was a shepherd, and I truly loved my flock, each and every one of them. Not equally, mind you, some I loved more than others, but they all had a place in my heart.” He put his hand on his chest. “I can’t say that they were like children to me because that would make me an incestuous pervert.” He laughed. “I had sex with every woman who joined my community except for one, and it was only a matter of time before she too would have graced my bed.”
“Are you referring to Anastasia?”
“The one you came to retrieve.” Emmett chuckled. “Your mission was unnecessary. I don’t know what stories her father told your friend, but Anastasia could have left whenever she wished. She was immune to my compulsion, so I can’t be blamed for manipulating her to stay.”
If looks could kill, he would be dead now.
Apparently, bringing up Anastasia had been a mistake.
Eleanor glared at him. “There are many forms of manipulation, and a young, vulnerable woman is putty in the hands of someone like you even without the help of compulsion. And once you had sex with her, how would you have made her forget about the biting? Drugs?”
He lifted his hands in surrender. “That’s old news, Eleanor. Why are you getting upset over it?”
She blew out a breath. “I don’t know. For a moment there, I forgot about the drugs, and your story about bedding every woman in your community reminded me of them.”
He leaned closer to her. “I never used drugs or compulsion to manipulate a woman into my bed. I only used drugs to make them forget the details that would have incriminated me as a bloodsucker.”
15
Eleanor
“You also used it to compel people to stay and worship you without question.”
Emmett might have been able to pull the wool over the eyes of a more trusting soul, but Eleanor wasn’t buying his act. He was well aware that his actions had been self-serving and manipulative.
Still, she wasn’t looking for a saint.
Fates knew that she wasn’t one.
Assuming an innocent expression, he puffed out his sensual lips. “Anastasia is a perfect example of someone I couldn’t manipulate and who still decided to stay. Safe Haven was true to its name. For some, it was a lifeline, and leaving would have been detrimental to their well-being. I acted in their best interest.”
“Are you referring to Margaret?”
“Among others.” He narrowed his eyes. “What do you know about her?”
As far as Eleanor knew, no one had told Emmett about Anastasia’s transition, and he definitely couldn’t know about Margaret being a Dormant. The news was so fresh that only a few clan members were in the know.
Was Arwel one of them?
Probably not.
Should she tell Emmett?
Heck, why not. The news flash would wipe that smug expression off his handsome face.
Leaning back against the couch cushions, Eleanor crossed her arms over her chest. “Did you know that Anastasia and Margaret were good friends?”
“Of course. I knew everything that was going on in my community.”
“Didn’t it strike you as odd?”
“Why would it? Anastasia wanted to become a counselor, and Margaret was an experienced one. She took the younger woman under her wing, so to speak. Also, Anastasia lost her mother at a young age, and Margaret yearned for a daughter. They adopted each other.”
Eleanor shook her head. “Nevertheless, despite having very little in common, they were best friends rather than a mentor and an acolyte. There was a thirteen-year age difference between them. Anastasia was a rich heiress while Margaret had nothing, Anastasia attended a prestigious law school while Margaret has never attended college. What on earth did they have to talk about?”
“They both wanted to help people.” Emmett drank the rest of the blood and wiped his lips. “Where are you going with this, Eleanor?”
Apparently, Emmett didn’t know enough about Dormants and the affinity they had for each other to guess where she’d been leading him.
“A
nastasia and Margaret were both Dormants. That’s why they were drawn to each other.”
His eyes widened. “How? I mean, how did the clan find out that they were Dormants? Peter said that they were extremely hard to find. He also said that Anastasia’s father hired you to retrieve her. He didn’t say anything about her being a Dormant, and he was under compulsion to answer my questions truthfully.”
She’d definitely ruffled his feathers, and it was very satisfying. “Did you ask him whether she was a Dormant?”
He shook his head. “How was I supposed to know to ask that?”
“That’s why he didn’t tell you. You and I both know that compulsion needs to be phrased precisely to be effective, and thanks to me, Peter was aware of its limitations and how to work around it.”
Emmett looked flabbergasted. “I should have suspected something. Margaret wasn’t my type. She was a pretty girl when she came to me, but she was too timid, too weak. I prefer more assertive women. The taste of her blood, however, was delicious.” He looked at her with hooded eyes. “Not nearly as exquisite as yours, of course, but better than that of other humans.”
Eleanor felt stupid for taking his comment as a compliment, but she couldn’t help it. Was her blood the most delicious he’d ever tasted?
“What about Anastasia?”
“I never got the chance to taste her blood, but her immunity should have raised my suspicion. In fact, if she weren’t so wealthy, I wouldn’t have invited her to join the community.” He smiled sheepishly. “The taste of her father’s money was almost as good as Margaret’s blood.”
Eleanor chuckled. “I bet you regret never tasting her. She might have been as delicious as I am.”
He lifted his hand to her face, and she thought he was about to caress her cheek, but something passed over his eyes, and he dropped it. “I doubt that any woman would ever taste as good to me as you do.” He sighed. “I wish you weren’t repulsed by my bite.”
