by I. T. Lucas
41
Yamanu
For about a nanosecond, Yamanu thought of lying. He could have said that yes, he was worried about Lokan, or that he was worried about the safety of the clan, which would have at least been true, but this was Annani, the Clan Mother, and lying to her felt as wrong as lying to the Fates.
Besides, she had the wisdom of ages. Perhaps she could tell him what to do.
Her slim shoulders didn’t look like they could carry his burden, but he knew that to be an illusion. Annani wasn’t powerful just because she was a goddess. The tiny lady threading her arm through his could move mountains with her sheer willpower and determination, and she had.
“I wish I could say that this was the reason I couldn’t sleep, but the truth is that I have other matters on my mind. Personal ones.”
She lifted one perfect red brow. “I heard that you found a mate? Is she not what you have hoped for?”
“Mey is perfect, but I wish that she wasn’t. It would have made my decision much easier.”
Annani stopped and turned to him. “I do not understand. Finding your fated mate should be the best thing that has ever happened to you, a source of joy, not of anguish.”
“For anyone but me, that would be true. But in order for me to be with Mey, I have to let go of my power. And if I let go of it, I leave the clan exposed to danger because no one can do what I can. Or maybe someone can, but I doubt anyone would volunteer once they realize what they have to give up.”
As Annani looked up at him for a long moment, her smart, ancient eyes boring down into his soul, Yamanu wondered whether she’d already guessed his secret.
“Let us take a seat.” She threaded her arm through his again and led him toward the nearest bench. “I have a feeling that this story requires sitting down.”
He couldn’t argue with that.
The bench Annani found was a good spot, not directly on the pathway but inset into the greenery that had grown much higher since it had been planted, which hadn’t been that long ago. The landscape architect who’d designed the village’s outdoor areas had done a great job. What was his name, Ruben? He was one of the younger immortals in the Scottish keep who was born after Yamanu had moved with half of the clan to America.
Yamanu shook his head. He was doing it again, letting his mind wander off-topic to avoid thinking about the big things.
“Okay.” Annani wrapped the shawl tighter around her bare arms. “You should start from the beginning and explain what this is all about.”
He nodded. “Do you remember when you sentenced me to six months of banishment?”
“Of course, I do. You were so guilt-stricken that I figured you needed the time to reflect and forgive yourself. Was I too harsh?”
“Not at all. If anything, you were too lenient. I still felt guilty when I came back. But I digress. The side effect of the banishment was abstinence, which I thought befitted my sins perfectly. What I didn’t expect was the ability to channel all that pent-up sexual energy into my shrouding. I was good at it before the exile, but I wasn’t anywhere near as powerful as I am now. I discovered it by chance when the neighboring village was attacked, and I managed to shroud the entire place, including their fields and livestock. The marauders shook their heads in disbelief and kept going.”
“Maybe the increase in power was the result of your six-month-long contemplation?”
He chuckled sadly. “I wish. The episode happened a day after my return. I volunteered to go shopping for supplies because I wanted to visit the village prostitutes and end my enforced celibacy. After the shrouding, I no longer had the urge. All that energy had been channeled into the shroud. The same thing happens every time I have to perform a massive thrall or shroud. It’s like a climax, just not as pleasurable.”
Annani looked at him with narrowed eyes. “What do you do in between? As far as I can remember, your services are not required on a daily or even monthly basis.”
Smart goddess.
“I found a wise old human who knew a lot about herbs. She brewed a concoction for me that eased my need. I’ve been using her recipe ever since.”
Annani’s brows dipped. “I hope that you have not suffered permanent damage from using it for so long. Even our bodies cannot take that much abuse. If we overeat on a regular basis we get heavy, and if we drink to excess, we get headaches. We are not immune to everything. We just heal fast.”
“I know. But trust me, everything still works fine, except for the potion, that is. With Mey around, it seems to be ineffective. In fact, I got aroused even after all the energy I used up on the shroud I pulled last night.”
“Do you still feel guilty?”
“About what I did to deserve my banishment?”
She nodded.
“Yes. I was stupid and vain, and I caused a terrible tragedy. I don’t think I will ever get over the guilt.”
“That explains it. That is why you remained celibate for so long. But I think that you have paid your dues and then some a long time ago. It is time for you to start living.” She shook her head. “I cannot believe that you have been paying for your sins for so many centuries and keeping it to yourself. Why did you keep it a secret?”
Annani’s response baffled Yamanu. She wasn’t addressing the issue of the clan’s safety at all, thinking that his continued abstinence had been fueled by his guilt.
“I didn’t remain celibate to punish myself. I did that because I became the clan’s shield, and I could not in good conscience stop being that. And as for why I didn’t tell anyone, it was because I didn’t want to be treated like a martyr. I’ve been sacrificing enough, and I didn’t want to put my friendships on that altar as well. I would have made people uncomfortable.”
“I understand. But your martyrdom ends today.”
It was a command, not a suggestion.
“What about the clan?”
The goddess waved a dismissive hand. “A different solution will be found. You’ve paid your dues.”
Yamanu rubbed a hand over his jaw. He hadn’t shaved since yesterday, and he didn’t like the stubble that had sprouted on his face.
His mind was doing it again. Taking him away from where he needed to be.
“I’m terrified, Clan Mother. If something happens to the clan because I cannot defend it, I would never forgive myself.”
She put her hand on his arm and leaned in closer. “The Fates have rewarded you with a truelove mate. To refuse their gift is dangerous. If you anger them, they might take away your love as well as your powers.”
Yamanu was a believer, and Annani had raised a valid point. “I hadn’t thought of that. But that only scares me more. I’m damned if I do, and I’m damned if I don’t.”
Annani sighed and leaned away. “I think you still suffer from the affliction of vanity. There is always another solution, and no one is irreplaceable. We can try what Sari’s people are doing and combine the power of several strong shrouders. Over there, the shroud does not need to be as strong because they are just keeping their castle hidden, not the sounds of explosions and the like, but I bet their method can be improved on. Also, technology is progressing, and our William might invent us a cloaking device.”
He chuckled. “Have you been watching Star Trek, Clan Mother?”
“Yes, and it is a wonderful show. It shows us what is possible. The idea has to come first, and then someone finds a way to make it a reality. The science fiction of today is the technology of tomorrow, am I right?”
“Absolutely. I think all of Jules Verne’s inventions became true.”
Annani smiled and patted his arm. “Start living, Yamanu. The clan will survive without your shield. And who knows? Perhaps the Fates will smile upon you and allow you to keep both your love and your powers. Have you thought about that?”
“I didn’t dare to hope.”
42
Losham
“It was the clan, sir. They were dressed in SWAT uniforms, but those were Guardians.”
> Losham eyed the lone warrior who had managed to escape the massacre.
Was he a hero or a traitor?
Sixty-five warriors were gone, and they had been the best the Brotherhood had to offer, handpicked to charm female students into accompanying them to the island.
What a loss.
It was a catastrophe Losham wasn’t sure how he was going to recuperate from. The other time he’d managed to cover the mass defection with a fake plane crash, but he couldn’t use the same cover twice.
Besides, there was the lone survivor. Shafen.
“How can you be sure of that? Did you see fangs? Did you see anyone getting bitten?”
The guy shook his head. “I didn’t wait around to see what happened. I drove away.”
“How far away were you?”
“They blocked the street, so it was pretty far, but I saw the building, and I saw them storming it. I backed away and got as far from there as I could.”
“Why did you wait so long to call me?”
Shafen scratched his beard. “I was scared. Being the bearer of bad news is dangerous. I went back there a couple of hours later, and it was all over. They'd put yellow tape on the entrance.”
“Perhaps they were the real police? It might have been a drug bust.”
“The men would have thralled the policemen, not shot at them.”
Losham narrowed his eyes at Shafen. “How did you know the men shot at the troopers? Didn’t you just say that you drove away?”
Each warrior had a handgun and a silencer, but since it had been a surprise attack, they might have not stopped to assemble them. Shafen might have heard the shots.
“When I returned, I saw bullet holes in some of the windows. I can go back and talk to the neighbors, ask if they heard anything.”
Why would the men fire at the windows?
The only reason would have been to create an escape path. If the policemen had gone through the door, that left the windows as the only option.
After the defection, Losham had investigated possibilities for attaching trackers to the warriors’ spinal cords, but Navuh had objected. Mostly, because he didn’t know that Losham’s previous crew had not perished in a plane crash, but had absconded with the money and the drugs.
Still, if Shafen was right and the clan took his comrades, then the trackers would have been invaluable. At least they could find the bodies and verify the causes of death.
And if the police had taken the men, it would have enabled Losham to find them and free them.
The question was what story he was going to tell Navuh.
If he went with the police scenario, Navuh would task him with finding the men, which would buy Losham time to investigate. But if he claimed that the men had been taken by the clan, Navuh might get angry and respond in one of two ways.
He would either recall Losham and punish him for his failure to safeguard the warriors, or he would send an army to find the clan’s stronghold and finally take them out.
It was risky.
On the one hand, Losham might get further demoted, but on the other hand, he might be put in charge of a large force and given the okay to hunt the clan.
It wasn’t a decision he could make on the spot.
He looked at Shafen. “Just so we are clear. Are you basing your opinion about the identity of the attackers on the bullet holes you saw in the windows?”
The guy nodded. “That’s only one thing. I know these men. They weren’t stupid or inept. If they'd been faced with human police, they would’ve gotten away.”
“Not if they were neutralized before they had the chance.”
Suddenly, Shafen didn’t look as convinced. “I don’t think that the police would have just shot them without trying to apprehend them first.”
Losham put a hand on the guy’s shoulder. “The men might have panicked and shot first. If even one bullet was fired, it would have given the police justification to open fire.”
“That might be true. But if that’s what happened, the majority of the men are not dead, and we need to find them and free them.”
Losham nodded. “I hope that they will manage to do so on their own, but if not, we will need reinforcements to search for them.”
43
Mey
For a long time, Mey lay awake in bed, waiting for Yamanu to return. But even as distraught and as anxious as she felt, her body eventually gave in to nature’s demands, and she drifted off into a restless sleep.
In her dream, she and Jin were running away from a bunch of men in black suits, all wearing identical navigator sunglasses and polished shoes. They looked like the agents in The Matrix movies, except that their faces were all different. Nevertheless, even in sleep, she knew it wasn’t real. What felt real, though, was Jin’s hand in hers.
Mey stopped running and turned to her sister. “Are you trying to tell me something?”
Jin shook her head and tugged on Mey’s hand. “We need to keep moving.”
Mey’s eyes popped open. Did the dream mean anything?
Probably not. Sharing dreams had never been something she and Jin had done. They were close, so naturally Jin appeared in some of Mey’s dreams and the other way around, but there had been nothing special about them.
What was real, however, was Yamanu’s big body spooning behind her, and his heavy arm draped over her middle. She must have been deep asleep, not to feel him getting into bed.
“Good morning.” He nuzzled her neck.
Mey debated whether to answer him or pretend that she was still asleep. The truth was that she didn’t feel like talking to him. She’d promised not to pester him to make up his mind, but she was getting tired of his indecision, his irrational belief in superstition, and most of all, she was tired of feeling disappointed.
Heck, she should be used to that.
Every man she had dated had been disappointing in one way or another. Was she expecting too much?
Not really.
Mey’s list of requirements was short and uncomplicated. She wanted her guy to find her attractive and interesting, and she wanted to feel the same about him. She wanted for the two of them to prefer each other’s company to that of anyone else’s, and she wanted fidelity.
Everything else was negotiable.
Yamanu fulfilled all of her criteria, but the problem was that he might choose what he believed was his duty over her. Should she add choosing her first to that short list of requirements?
The problem with that was that she didn’t want her guy to be irresponsible. Someone who just threw everything away for love was not her type either.
She respected Yamanu for his devotion to the clan.
“I know that you are not sleeping.” He moved her hair away from her shoulder and kissed it. “Are you mad at me?”
“I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at the situation. But I promised not to nag you about it, so I’m not going to. I’d rather keep on sleeping.”
“I’ve done a lot of thinking this morning. We need to talk.”
Mey’s gut clenched. If his decision was to induce her, he would have just said it.
The dreaded 'we need to talk' statement could mean only one thing. Yamanu had decided that he couldn’t do it and that he was going to keep his vow.
He would probably coat it with a lot of explanations and apologies, but in the end, he would tell her that she had to choose someone else for her induction.
Could she even do that?
Probably not. But maybe one of the scrawnier clan members would agree to fight her and test her hypothesis that female Dormants could be induced in the same way the males were.
Talk about equality.
For a clan that was headed by a female, they were very close-minded about the traditional induction process. How come it hadn’t occurred to anyone that females could be good fighters? They could spur aggression in males that had nothing to do with sex, and it would make the entire process so much easier for them.
There would be
no need to find a partner and commit to him from the get-go. Kian’s two-week ultimatum was ridiculous.
“I’ll make coffee.” Yamanu planted one more kiss on the back of her neck and got out of bed.
“Okay.”
As Yamanu left the room and shut the door behind him, Mey slid from under the comforter. For a moment, she just sat on the bed and tried to get her stomach under control.
She felt nauseous, but that was probably the ice cream’s fault, not Yamanu’s impending speech about why he couldn’t be with her.
With a sigh, she pushed up to her feet and padded to the bathroom.
Perhaps a long hot shower would help calm her nerves. And if everything else failed, she could puke all that nasty ice cream into the toilet.
In any case, she was in no hurry to join Yamanu in the kitchen.
Prisoners on death row did not rush to their own execution.
44
Yamanu
While waiting for Mey to be done in the shower, Yamanu brewed coffee and made breakfast. He’d even gone on the internet to check out Israeli cuisine. The country’s traditional morning meal included a chopped salad, eggs, and a slice of toasted bread with cottage cheese.
He’d made the salad and the eggs. But he didn’t have the cheese, so he pulled out a jar of jam from the fridge and a pack of sausages from the freezer. It was going to be a hybrid affair, a meshing of Scottish and Israeli breakfasts.
Looking at the assortment, Yamanu was quite proud of himself. Mey, however, didn’t seem to appreciate his efforts. Padding over to the table, she sat down and reached for the coffee mug without saying a thing.
With the pinched expression on her face and the way she was rhythmically tapping her foot on the floor, Yamanu didn’t need an immortal’s super senses to realize how anxious she was.
He’d better get on with it.
“Since you seem stressed, I’ll start at the end of the speech I’ve prepared. I've decided that it is time to break my vow, and not as a temporary measure. I’m ready to close that chapter of my life.”
