Dark Stranger The Dream: New & Lengthened 2017 Edition (The Children Of The Gods Paranormal Romance Series)

by I. T. Lucas

  “Phew, you got me scared. A call from you this early, I thought you heard something from Mom and Dad.”

  “No, but I’m going to call them next. Are you at work already?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “Are you going to be there all day?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Call me before you head home. Will you remember?”

  “No problem. Can you do me a favor and text me after you talk with Mom and Dad?”

  “I will.”

  Next, she called her father’s sat phone. Everything was fine over there. They were getting ready for bed. And no, they had no plans to visit anytime soon. She texted the update to Andrew.

  Okay, who else?

  Amanda?

  The premonition must’ve been about her. She was probably going on some last minute romantic getaway with one of her boy-toys, and something was going to happen to her. Syssi needed to call Amanda back, caution her again, and hope her boss would heed the warning.

  “Yes, darling,” Amanda answered, all traces of her pretend sickness gone from her voice.

  “I just wanted to remind you to be careful. Remember that bad feeling I had? I was just hit with another wave of it.”

  Amanda was silent for a few seconds, and when she answered, she no longer sounded as cheerful. “Staying in bed over the weekend seems like a good strategy to avoid risk, don’t you think?”

  “If that is what you’re really going to do.”

  “I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

  “Promise?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. Stay safe, and get well.”

  “I will.”

  The good news was that the panic had eased. Whatever Amanda had decided to do following Syssi’s call would keep her safe.

  Otherwise, Syssi knew the panic would not have ebbed.

  Chapter 27: Amanda

  Amanda ended the call and put her phone back in her purse. Syssi’s premonition must’ve been about what had happened in the lab yesterday. And the bad feeling persisted because of the traumatic experience.

  She hadn’t spoken with Kian since leaving him alone with Syssi yesterday, but Amanda was sure he’d thralled the girl before sending her home with Okidu.

  Syssi’s conscious mind didn’t remember what had happened, but her body and her subconscious did. It took time until the elevated levels of hormones released during fight-or-flight went back to normal.

  She should question Okidu about Syssi’s state of mind when he’d taken her home. It was possible that the girl’s powerful mind had helped her resist the thrall. Kian might have been able to submerge her memories of him and what had happened in the lab, but perhaps not as deeply as he thought he had.

  Pulling on a pair of leggings under her sleep shirt, Amanda didn’t bother with shoes before padding across the vestibule to Kian’s penthouse, and she didn’t knock before entering either.

  If he wanted her so close under his nose, she would make sure that it tickled.

  There was no one in the living room or the kitchen, but she knew Kian was home. His office was the last room at the end of the long hallway, but even though she couldn’t hear him, she sensed his presence.

  Except, she wasn’t looking for her brother. Not yet.

  “Okidu, dear, where are you?”

  One of the doors along the hallway opened, and the butler hurried out to greet her.

  “Mistress Amanda, how can I be of service?”

  Good question. It wasn’t as if Okidu could describe Syssi’s emotional state.

  “When you took Syssi home yesterday, did she say anything to you on the way?”

  “Master Kian took Mistress Syssi home. I offered to save him the trouble, but he said it was his pleasure to drive her himself.”

  Oh, this was good. Amanda smiled. Very, very good. Kian never bothered getting his thralled partners back home, he sent Okidu, same way she did with hers, having Onidu take care of getting them back safely, either to their home or to the club she’d picked them up at.

  Kian must’ve felt something for the girl.

  “Do you know if he thralled her before taking her home?”

  “No, Mistress, he certainly did not. I must assume he did it later at her place of residence.”

  Fantastic.

  Amanda should thank the Doomers for helping her plans along. Without their surprise visit, Kian would not have been forced to spend time with Syssi.

  What surprised her, though, was that Syssi had gotten under Kian’s skin in such a short time, and that was without doing a single thing to encourage him or even show him that she was interested. Not that it hadn’t been obvious.

  Amanda wanted to dance a victory dance around Kian’s living room.

  But there was another piece of information she needed before she could celebrate. “Okidu, could you tell me what time it was when Kian took Syssi home, and then when he returned?” The Odu had an internal clock that recorded everything. He could provide her with the exact timing of anything he’d witnessed.

  “Certainly. Master Kian left at six twenty-four and returned at seven fifteen.”

  Amanda tapped a finger on her lips. Not enough time for a hookup, but possibly some kissing. She had to find out. If Kian had managed not to touch Syssi at all, she would have to reconsider her assessment of their compatibility.

  Him driving her home was a good start, but something along the lines of not being able to keep their hands off each other would’ve been better.

  According to her mother, true love mates were always desperate for each other—more so than other horny, run of the mill immortal couples.

  But she was getting ahead of herself. Kian would’ve said that she was letting her romantic fantasies cloud her good judgment. There was no guarantee Syssi was even a Dormant, let alone Kian’s true love mate.

  “Thank you, Okidu. That will be all.” She dismissed him before heading down the corridor.

  He rushed after her. “Mistress Amanda, Master Kian is working with Master Shai, he asked not to be disturbed.”

  She put a hand on his shoulder. “Thank you, Okidu. But it doesn’t apply to me.”

  “Yes, Mistress.” Okidu bowed.

  Kian’s closed door didn’t even slow her down. Amanda pushed the handle and entered.

  “Good morning, gentlemen.”

  Kian looked over her attire, or lack thereof, and grimaced. “Go back to your place and put something on, Amanda.”

  There were two chairs in front of Kian’s desk. Shai occupied one, and Amanda took the other while casting them both haughty glances. “What’s the matter, don’t you like my fashion statement?”

  Keeping a straight face while watching their confused expressions was a struggle. They didn’t know if she was being sarcastic or serious.

  Smart man that he was, Kian knew when he was out of his element and changed the subject. “What can I do for you, Amanda?”

  She smiled. “I wanted to talk to you about your date with Syssi yesterday.”

  Shai’s head snapped around, and he gaped at Kian. “A date?”

  Kian waved his hand. “There was no date. It’s just Amanda’s twisted sense of humor. Would you excuse us for a few moments, Shai? I’ll call you when I’m done.”

  His voice had sounded cultured and polite, but both she and Shai had heard the menacing undertones. The difference was, Shai got scared and scurried away, while Amanda smiled sweetly and got ready to spar with her brother.

  Let the games begin.

  She was going to get details out of him, and she wasn’t going to stop until she did. Kian had no idea what he’d brought upon himself by insisting she move into the keep.

  When the door closed behind Shai, Kian dropped the polite mask and growled, “I don’t care what fashion statement you’re trying to make, but this is a working office. You will dress appropriately when you come in here during working hours. Is it clear?”

  She batted her eyelashes. “Of course. But you’l
l need to post a schedule on the door. As far as I know, it’s always working hours for you.”

  Kian’s lips lifted in a little smirk. “Then I guess you always need to dress appropriately when you come in here.”

  “I don’t know what your problem is, Kian. There is no one here that is not family. Why should you or anyone else care what I wear?”

  “According to your logic, I can spend my workdays in boxer shorts, or better yet, naked.”

  Amanda couldn’t help the snort that escaped her throat. Imagining her stuck-up brother working in the nude was just too much. “Okay, I agree.”

  Kian lifted his hands. “Hallelujah. For once, I win an argument with you.”

  Let him think that. It would put him in a more compliant mood. “You see? I can be reasoned with. By the way, how did it go with Syssi yesterday?”

  Immediately, his expression closed off. “Fine.”

  Damn, she would have to pull it out of him one crumb at a time.

  “Did she stay long after I left?”

  “No.”

  “What did you guys talk about?”

  “Nothing. I took her home a few minutes later.”

  Ugh. “Why did you take her home yourself instead of letting Okidu do it?”

  “Where are all these questions leading, Amanda? I have work to do and you’re wasting my time.”

  Well, if he wanted her to get to the point she would. “Did you like her?”

  A shade of melancholy flitted over Kian’s harsh features. His eyes were trained on her, but there was a faraway look in them. Amanda held her breath. Kian wouldn’t lie to her, but he was perfectly capable of refusing to answer and kicking her out.

  “Yes, I did.” He pushed his hair back, racking his fingers through it. “I erased myself from her memory along with everything that happened in the lab and after.” He sighed. “I wish I could do the same for myself. She will be difficult to forget.”

  Poor Kian. He was drawn to Syssi but fighting it with all he had. And for what? For some misguided sense of honor? For upholding a definition of right and wrong that he himself had written?

  Or was the formidable Regent afraid of feeling something after nearly two millennia of feeling nothing—of burying himself in work and duty while clinging to a code of honor in an effort to anchor himself to something and not disappear completely?

  The task she’d undertaken was going to be even tougher than she’d anticipated. Both Syssi and Kian had built themselves an armor made out of routine and habit. Feeling safe and at home inside the little bleak cubicles they had crawled into, they were terrified of venturing out.

  There were only two ways to force them to change. Blow up their safe zone, or tempt them with something they couldn’t resist.

  Chapter 28: Dalhu

  So this was what a university looked like.

  Dalhu strolled along the winding pathways between grassy lawns and flower beds, observing the small groups of young humans sprawled on the grass. Books open, laptops propped on upturned knees, they were socializing more than studying.

  A ping of envy coursed through him. He’d never had the opportunity to devote time to learning, or to socializing for that matter. He didn’t know how to relate to people other than as a soldier to commander or a commander to soldier. He knew how to take orders and issue them, but not how to conduct a conversation.

  Not entirely true.

  The other thing he was an expert on was seduction. Lucky for him it didn’t involve much talking. His kind exuded powerful pheromones females found difficult to resist. He didn’t know it for a fact, but it made sense. Otherwise the ease with which he entrapped women would have been hard to explain.

  Even here, in the open air, he could scent the surge of lust his appearance induced in the young females he was passing by. Perhaps after he was done with what he came here to do, he would pick up one of them and take her home with him.

  No, this was a really bad idea. He would take her to a hotel instead. Bringing a lone girl into a house full of horny immortal males was asking for trouble. Human females were fragile. They could barely satiate one immortal male and survive it. Even hookers had trouble keeping up. If he ever brought a woman to the Beverly Hills mansion, he would make sure to bring one for every one of his men as well.

  Hire a whole damned whorehouse for a night.

  “Excuse me.” He forced a smile for the girl he’d stopped. “Could you please point me toward Dr. Amanda Dokani’s laboratory?”

  The girl pushed her glasses up her nose as she looked up at him. Way up. He tried to smile again.

  “Are you volunteering for her extrasensory tests?”

  “Yeah, that is exactly what I’m here for.”

  “What’s your talent?”

  Killing. He was really good at that, but as far as he knew he had no other talents. “I don’t have any.”

  She shrugged. “Oh, well, you never know. Anyway, you see that gray building over there?” She pointed.

  He nodded.

  “The labs are on the lower level. There should be a directory near the entry.”

  “Thank you, miss.” Dalhu bowed his head.

  She cast him a perplexed look. “You’re welcome.”

  He’d messed up again. To humans, he looked no older than a man in his early thirties. He should pay better attention to how they interacted with each other, and make sure he was responding the way someone his perceived age should. Tonight, he was going to watch American television and absorb their contemporary culture. Apparently, the movies he’d watched in preparation for this mission were outdated.

  When he got to Professor Dokani’s laboratory, Dalhu found it underwhelming. It wasn’t big, or fancy looking, and it was one of many. The entire basement level of the building was comprised of various labs, and the place was teeming with activity. There was a lot of research going on in the neuroscience department, and Dr. Dokani was just one of many other researchers.

  “Can I help you?” A chubby girl with a pretty face gave him the once-over. He did one of his own. It was hard to estimate her height from behind the desk she was sitting at, but she wasn’t short. A big plus. Dalhu liked his women tall, and had no problems with generous curves either. On the contrary. Perhaps she was the one he would take with him after he was done with his investigation.

  “I’m looking for Professor Amanda Dokani.”

  “I’m sorry, she is not in today. Is there anything I can do for you? I’m Hannah, her research assistant.” She offered him her hand and he shook it, holding on as he gazed into her eyes.

  “Do you know where she lives?”

  Caught in his thrall, the girl’s pupils dilated, but she was fighting it. Hannah shook her head and pulled her hand out of his grip. “I don’t. You may want to check with Human Resources.”

  He looked at her with new appreciation. The girl was both pretty and smart. Only those with powerful minds could resist his thrall.

  Still, he couldn’t leave without erasing her memory of him. Bracing his hands on her desk, he leaned forward, putting his face very close to hers.

  “You are a very pretty girl, Hannah. But I need to tell you something.” He leaned even closer. “Your hair is messy.” Dalhu smiled as he pushed full force into her mind.

  Hannah’s hand shot to her head and she finger-combed her chin-length curls.

  “You need to go to the bathroom and brush it.”

  With her pupils completely dilated, Hannah’s eyes turned almost all black, only a thin brown border remaining. “Excuse me, I need to go brush my hair.” She reached for the strap of her purse, lifting it from where it hung on the back of her chair, and pushed up to her feet.

  In a few minutes, she would have one hell of a headache. His thrall had been forceful and not exactly surgical. There would be more than just him missing from her memory.

  Alone in the lab, he walked over to the small office he’d noticed on the other side. Several framed diplomas hung on the walls. Among them, wa
s an enlarged copy of the article his men had found at the programmer’s home.

  Dalhu stood transfixed in front of the professor’s picture, unable to pull his eyes away from her. She was so beautiful that it hurt. His hand went to his chest and he rubbed at his sternum.

  “Excuse me, you’re not supposed to be in here.”

  Dalhu tore his gaze away from the framed article and pivoted on his heel.

  A petite blonde, with a thick mane of hair like that of a lion, was standing with her hands on her hips and glaring at him with a pair of blue-green eyes. She wasn’t fooling him with her bravado, though, he could hear her heartbeat thundering behind her ribcage. She was scared of him. As she should be, and not only because he towered more than a foot over her.

  “I’m sorry. I was looking for Professor Amanda Dokani, and I thought I would find her here. Then I got stuck reading this article.” He pointed at the wall.

  She followed his eyes and smirked. “Yeah, I’m sure it was the article.”

  Dalhu flashed her what he hoped looked like a bashful smile. “Okay, you caught me. I was staring at the picture. She is very beautiful.”

  Her heartbeat slowed as she relaxed and smiled back. “That she is. But she is not here today. You can try again on Monday.”

  Dalhu stepped out of the professor’s office and leaned against the wall, sliding down so he could look into the girl’s eyes. “Do you know where she lives?”

  She frowned. “Why? Are you a friend of hers?”

  What was it with the kids in this place? Were they all brainiacs? This one seemed even more resistant to thralling than Hannah.

  “Yes, I am. What’s your name?” He tried a different approach. If he primed her with questions she didn’t find suspicious she might relax her resistance.

  “Syssi.”

  “Have you been working here long?”

  “No, it’s my second week. Why?”

  “No reason. Just being friendly. Would you like to have a cup of coffee with me?” He wasn’t really interested. Not because she wasn’t pretty, the girl was beautiful in her own way, but she was too small. Dalhu preferred his women tall. Besides, she was blond when he craved a brunette. A very particular brunette. After gazing at the professor’s face, no other woman could compare.