by I. T. Lucas
He smiled. “I’m the one who should be thanking you. You brought me back to life. I didn’t realize that I was living on mute for all those years.”
Leaning down, he cupped her cheek and planted a soft kiss on her lips. “I was so worried that I called Kian in the middle of the night. He told me that it was normal.”
Even as drunk as she felt, Mey blushed. That was so damn embarrassing. After that, how was she ever going to look Kian in the eyes?
“It wasn’t your first time with a human. It must have happened to the others you’ve been with too.”
He shook his head. “Half an hour or an hour. That was the maximum time I remember. You were out for over six.”
“Really?” Mey glanced at the window.
The automatic shutters were up, which meant that the night was over and that the sun had risen. It was still dark outside, but the sky was starting to lighten.
“Yeah, really. That’s why I was so worried. I was afraid that I overdosed you, but Kian assured me that the same had happened to Syssi their first time together.”
Well, if Kian had shared such private intel with Yamanu, then she had no reason to be embarrassed about Yamanu calling him up and reporting that they had started her induction process.
“Interesting. And what did they do after Syssi woke up?”
“Kian didn’t say.”
Mey smiled coyly. “I bet that they went for another round.”
Yamanu’s eyes started glowing. “Are you up for it? A moment ago, you couldn’t lift your arms.”
“I still can’t. But I’m fine with you doing all the work.” She smirked. “You told me that you didn’t need any time to recuperate, and it has been six hours.”
60
Yamanu
By the position of the sun, it was late morning, but Yamanu didn’t want to move even to pick up his phone from the nightstand and check the time.
Lying on his side, he watched Mey sleeping. Her cheeks flushed, and her hair mussed, she was the most beautiful female to ever walk the earth. He wondered if the ghost of a smile on her lips meant that she was dreaming about him.
His heart overflowing with love, he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.
Mey was his entire world.
They had made love three times, and he’d bitten her twice. After the second bite, Mey drifted away and hadn’t woken up even when he’d used a bunch of warm washcloths to wipe her from top to bottom. They had both worked up quite a sweat.
This time, however, he didn’t worry. Kian had assured him that it was normal. And besides, Mey had every right to be exhausted. As much as he’d tried to be gentle, it must have been brutal for her.
Thank the merciful Fates for the venom’s healing properties. Even as careful as he’d been, without the venom Mey would have woken up covered in bruises.
Fates, he adored this woman. So strong and so brave, she’d given him everything she had and then some. Fearlessly, selflessly, she’d made last night as special and as memorable as she could for him, achieving her goal and then some.
He’d been worried that the first time wouldn’t last long and that he wouldn’t have enough memories of it. Except, his mind had merged the entire night and morning into one first, and he was going to commit it to memory as such.
Epic.
That was the best word he had for it.
Life-altering was fitting as well. Mey had literally brought him back to life.
One thing Yamanu was sure of—no matter what happened, he was never going back to celibacy. Let someone else carry that load. He was never giving up Mey or the life they were going to have together.
She wanted a house full of children, and he was going to give it to her. And if she wanted to run a fashion business with her sister, he was going to quit the force and become a stay-at-home dad.
How was that for a career change?
Yamanu chuckled. It might not be considered manly, but he didn’t give a fuck. His vanity had always gotten him in trouble, it was time he shoved it aside and concentrated on what made him happy and not what others thought of him.
Was he strong enough to actually do that, though?
It took guts to go against social norms and expectations. Even for someone who had proved his worth as a Guardian.
But those musings were premature. First, Mey had to transition, then they would get married in whatever tradition she preferred, and then they would try for a child.
He’d almost forgotten about Jin. Finding her needed to happen after Mey’s transition and before the marriage. Mey would want her to be at the wedding.
As his stomach rumbled, reminding him that they hadn’t finished dinner last night, Yamanu gently kissed Mey’s forehead. When she didn’t react, he pushed a strand of hair away from her cheek and kissed it too. She didn’t react to that either.
He should let her sleep and go get breakfast.
Mey would love to wake up to the smell of fresh pastries and cappuccinos from the café.
Just in case she woke up before he returned, he scribbled a note and left it on the nightstand next to her phone. She would see it when she checked the time.
First, though, he needed to shower. He loved smelling Mey on himself, but he had no intention of advertising what they had shared last night by walking into the café with her scent all over him.
Thankfully, when he got there, the place wasn’t packed, with only two of the tables occupied and just Wonder behind the counter.
“Good morning.” He smiled at her. “Any pastries left after the breakfast rush?”
“Take a look.” She pointed at the display.
There wasn’t much, but it would do. “Can I get all of it? And two cappuccinos, please.”
She tried to hide the smirk. “Someone woke up hungry this morning.”
Damn. Mey must have told Callie about her plans for last night, and the rumor had probably spread all over the village. The question was, what exactly had she told them?
“Ravenous.” He winked, hoping she would volunteer what she knew.
Wonder blushed and turned toward the pastries display. “Would you like me to heat them up for you?”
“Yes, please.”
While the pastries were in the oven, Wonder made the cappuccinos and handed Yamanu a tray with the two tall paper cups. When the oven beeped, she took out the pastries, put them in a paper bag, and handed it to him as well.
“Say hi to Mey for me and tell her that I wish her luck.”
He cocked a brow. “Luck with what?”
Wonder frowned. “Transitioning, of course. What did you think I was referring to?”
So that was what Mey had told Callie? That they were about to start working on her transition?
That was good.
“There are many things you can wish Mey luck for. Like finding her sister or winning the lottery. Except, she already won the jackpot. She got me.” He winked.
Wonder laughed. “No, it was actually I who won, but I guess it’s a matter of personal opinion.”
“I guess so. But I’m still the best.”
As he headed back, Yamanu started singing softly, a happy tune from his childhood that matched his joyous mood.
“I know that song.” Merlin appeared from behind the bend. “But it has been a long time since I’ve heard it.” He walked over to Yamanu and offered his hand. “I hear that congratulations are in order. You and Mey started the induction process.”
Yamanu put the paper bag on the tray to free his hand and shook Merlin’s. “Thank you. But it’s really annoying how there is no privacy in this village. How did everyone already hear about it?”
Merlin shrugged. “As long as it’s good news, why not? Your mate is lovely, and we all wish for her to transition easily and join our community.” The doctor glanced around, making sure no one could overhear them.
“Did you test your powers?”
Yamanu shook his head. “Not yet. I’m still celebrating, and I don’t want to sp
oil the mood.”
“Understandable. Later on, when you are done celebrating, you might want to come over to the clinic and freeze some seed for the future.”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m done with celibacy for good. If I come to the clinic, it will be to ask for your fertility potion. Mey wants a house full of children, and I intend to give her everything she wants.”
Merlin laughed and clapped Yamanu on the back. “Slow down, Yamanu. The lady needs to transition first, and then she will probably want a mating ceremony. After that, you might want to ask her when she wants to start working on having children.”
61
Kian
Kian was about to wrap up his meeting with Onegus and Bridget when his desk phone rang.
He really needed to get a receptionist to screen his calls. How was he supposed to get any work done with his cellphone or desk phone always ringing?
He snatched it off the receiver without glancing at the display. “I’m busy.”
“You want to make time for this,” William said. “I found him.”
There was only one him he could be referring to, but it was such unexpected news that Kian had to verify. “Kalugal?”
Bridget and Onegus leaned closer.
“The one and only. I got him on the security feed from a bar not far from his house.”
“Are you sure it’s him?”
“It’s a crappy black and white recording, but he looked straight into the camera. I fed the still through the program, and it’s a ninety-two percent match with the sketch, which is stellar. I also watched about twenty minutes of it as he made his rounds. The way he carried himself and the way he moved was indicative of an immortal with military training. An excellent posture and fluid, economical moves. You can come down here and watch for yourself. I’m afraid the recording is too grainy for me to send to you. The details are blurry even after manipulating the picture quality with my equipment.”
“I’m coming down.”
Bridget grinned. “You can call Alena and her crew back home.”
“Not yet. We need to verify that it’s really him first.”
“How are you going to do that?” Onegus asked.
“I’ll worry about that later. Right now, I want to see what William has. Either of you want to join me?”
Bridget shook her head. “I wish I could, but I still have work to do before I can close shop for the weekend.”
“I’ll walk you over there,” Onegus said.
On the way to the underground structure, Onegus pulled Kalugal’s picture up on his phone. “Tim is a real asset. It’s hard to believe how accurately he draws those sketches just from listening to other people’s descriptions.”
“Maybe he has supernatural talent?” Kian said it as a joke, but then he frowned. “I’ll be damned. Tim might be a Dormant. Just like Nick’s talent with electronics borders on magic, so does Tim’s with his sketches.”
Onegus snorted. “Do you really want that guy to join our community? He is an annoying prick.”
The pavilion’s sliding doors parted, and they walked through, heading for the elevators. “That’s an interesting moral question.” Kian called the cab up. “Do we pick and choose who we want to induce? We haven’t faced that problem yet, but we might.”
“I say that we do.” Onegus followed him inside the elevator. “This is our community, our village, and we don’t have to invite anyone we don’t want. We’ve been lucky so far, with all the Dormants being great people and finding mates. But we need to have a system in place in case an undesirable Dormant shows up on our steps.”
It was a good suggestion. Kian didn’t want to have to decide on whether someone deserved immortality or not. Because if a person was rejected by the village, he or she could not be induced.
Perhaps the big assembly should decide on such matters. Someone would need to represent the Dormant and present his or her case to the village.
As they reached the lab, Kian was surprised to find Ella there, sitting next to Roni at his station. Not that he minded. After all, she had been instrumental in finding and catching Lokan, and without Lokan, they wouldn’t be looking for Kalugal. He just found it odd that she was spending time with Roni. As far as he knew, they weren’t pals. Then again, they were about the same age, so there was that.
“Hello, everyone,” Onegus said. “I was told that a special screening was happening here today.” He made quotation marks with his fingers. “The immortal reclusive billionaire.”
Ella smiled. “The title needs work.” She tapped the tip of her nose with her finger. “The reclusive billionaire’s secret.”
William shook his head. “Are you all done?”
“They are,” Kian said. “Please proceed.”
As the recording played in slow motion on one of William’s huge computer screens, Kian pulled out his phone and glanced at Kalugal’s portrait, then back at the screen. “Can you zoom in on the face and freeze it?”
William did as he asked, enlarging the picture as much as he could without making it too blurry.
Kian looked between the two pictures. The hair cut was different, and unlike Tim’s sketch, the guy on the big screen wasn’t smiling, the different expression making it difficult to compare. Also, the black and white didn’t show eye color.
“Can you bring up Tim’s portrait right next to this?” Onegus asked.
With a couple of clicks, the two pictures were one next to the other, appearing on two adjoining screens.
“We need to catch him smiling,” Kian said. “I’m not sure it’s the same guy.”
“I’m sure,” William said. “As good as your eyesight is, you can’t compete with a computer. Ninety-two percent is as good as a hundred in this case. Don’t forget that we are working with a drawing, not an actual photograph.”
Onegus nodded. “I think it’s safe to call off the New York operation. Our guy is right here in California.”
“Perhaps.” Kian leaned to take a closer look. “But I see no harm in Alena completing her modeling gig. The other plan can serve as backup in case this is not our guy.”
“That’s true,” Onegus agreed.
“By the way,” Roni started and then glanced at Ella. “Is it okay if I tell Kian about your aunt?”
“Sure. I was going to do it anyway.” She grinned. “We might have another potential Dormant on the loose.”
Kian frowned. “I thought that your mother was an only child?”
“She is, but my father had a sister.” Ella rolled her eyes. “Talk about a recluse. I don’t even remember what she looks like because we hardly ever got to see her. But my mom says that Eleanor was always an odd bird.”
“That doesn’t make her a Dormant,” Onegus said.
“True, but there is more.” Ella pointed to her head. “My telepathy is much stronger than my mom’s, and my brother’s compulsion ability is extremely rare. As far as we know, only Navuh and his two sons have it. That got me thinking that maybe my father was a Dormant as well. According to Amanda’s theory, immortals and Dormants feel a special affinity for each other, so I think it’s safe to extrapolate that Dormants feel it for each other as well. Which can explain why my mother and father clicked right from the start. And if my father was a Dormant, then Aunt Eleanor is a Dormant too.”
“And that’s where things start getting really interesting,” Roni said. “Ella asked me to find out what her aunt was up to recently, and I did a little snooping around. What I found reminded me of Eva’s story. Eleanor no longer works as a pharmaceutical rep, she is a ghost. I found a bank account in her name, with lots of money in it, but it hasn’t been touched in over two years. The address on it is the apartment she used to live in before she ghosted, and the bank statements are delivered to her old email address. It looks like she reads her emails, but she doesn’t send any out. Next, I checked her tax returns. She didn’t file for the last two years, and it says that she’s exempt from filing, which is also odd. The IRS is one of
the hardest networks to hack into and change anything, so her exempt status had to be government approved.”
The more Roni talked, the more Kian’s interest was piqued. Could it be that Eleanor had been accidentally turned like Eva had?
“Did you check her driver's license?”
Roni cast him an offended look. “Of course. I was getting to it.” He shifted in his enormous chair. “I ran her old driver's license picture through the facial recognition program, and guess what?”
The kid loved drama.
“What?”
“Her doppelgänger popped up with a West Virginia driver license under a different name.”
The gears in Kian’s head started spinning. Two years wasn’t long enough for Eleanor to show signs of aging, so that couldn’t have been the reason behind a new license.
“How old is your aunt?” he asked Ella.
“She is thirty-eight,” Roni said. “Thirty-nine in December.”
“That’s not old enough to be overly concerned with signs of aging.”
Ella lifted a brow. “What are you talking about?”
Kian leaned against the desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “When Roni said that Eleanor’s story reminded him of Eva’s, it got me thinking that maybe she was accidentally turned immortal and fled because of that. But she is obviously too young to worry about not showing age. So that’s not the reason she’s ghosted, as Roni put it. Besides, she was a pharmaceutical rep, not an undercover agent like Eva. The simple explanation could be that she got in some kind of trouble, either personal or professional, and needed to disappear. But the West Virginia license makes me think of another possibility.”
William nodded. “The mythical paranormal division that might not be mythical after all.”
62
