Immortal Becoming

by Wendy S. Hales

  Stunned, he exclaimed, “You cheated.” She slowly circled him lying on the mat, still exaggerating her hip swing.

  “Who, itty bitty little me? I need every advantage I can get against big bad boys like you.” Her voice dripped false innocence.

  He reached out using his Elven speed, which luckily she wasn’t prepared for. He caught her behind the leg, bringing her down beside him, and rolled his body above hers, pinning her arms above her head.

  “Still think you’re all that?” he asked, his lips a breath away from hers.

  “Absolutely.” She wiggled her body against his obvious arousal. He had her pinned to the mat, but she still held all the power. Groaning, he closed the distance, capturing her lips in a searing kiss that left them both breathless.

  Aymee popped her head in. “Hey, just thought I’d warn you. Eric’s paced a hole in the office. You got some ruffled feathers to smooth, sista.”

  “This sucks,” Jess muttered. Shane grinned down at her. Being on the outside looking in, he could see why her family and friends were worried. On the other hand, he also understood Jess’s annoyance. They did seem to treat her with kid gloves. Couldn’t they see that she was hardly fragile? Hell, she could take out the whole place if she wanted to.

  “I’m sure Eric will be fine.” He looked down into her eyes and rubbed her cheek with the back of his fingers. “Want me to come with you to talk to him?” Debating, she bit her bottom lip before shaking her head. “Alright, how about if I go pick up some lunch then?” That would give him time to feed, too. Jumping up, he held his hand out to help her stand.

  “Oh, there’s a chicken place a few block away that is just to die for.” Jess brightened just at the mention of food. The place she was talking about was two blocks from the Red Cross center. That would work out perfectly. “I’ll call it in.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Enlil awoke groggy. He must have been dormant for a while, and his physical hunger was beginning to make its presence known already. How long had it been this time? In the last few unmemorable centuries, he had spent much of the time to ground since the murder of his beloved Etana. He missed her so much. No matter how much he wanted to be a part of his people, his son’s life, and the hunt for her killer, ultimately the pain of her loss would cripple him and he would be forced to return to ground for a time. Most gave up their life when a bloodmate died. Only the desire for vengeance and his fear of breaking the bond to his twin kept him from doing just that.

  He remembered how the high ones had breathed a sigh of relief when he and Etana had found each other. She had been entirely too good for him. She was from a long line of respected land producers. The farms of her family were known for working in harmony with nature even before it was understood how they came to be that way.

  He was a wild warrior, going wherever there was battle, never staying in one place. Against all odds they had found each other. She had given him a sense of balance, stability, and love. She had made him want to be as good a male as she believed him to be.

  Etana had been full of vision, compassion, and hope. To her, colonizing was about learning to appreciate the land, its people, and its animals so they could get the most out of a harvest. She was his wonder and his world while she lived.

  When she’d died at the hands of a Morsdente, she had been pregnant with their second child. His pain had been so great, Enlil had misused his abilities and created a storm that flooded and nearly destroyed her entire beloved colony. Others before him had exposed their true form to an occasional human, but his demonstration was the first one to have a written account. It had taken the combined efforts of Sargon, Ninlil, his own son Ediku, and the entire warrior community to arrest his rampage.

  Most Elven of the time still regarded humans as nothing more than chattel, or slaves, a subjugate species to be used for manual labor, a blood source, and occasionally physical pleasures. Etana was adamant about teaching the colony language skills and was a prominent advocate of mutualism between the species. She believed that Elven had a duty to aid humans and other species in reaching their potential. Because she taught humans to read and write, his grief-induced tantrum was forever misinterpreted in a written account, and the legends and myths began. Until the High Ones determined that the myths and legends were inevitable, regardless of Enlil’s actions, he’d been punished.

  Etana’s ideal helped in creating a symbiotic format that became the Symbiosis of Species Council. A political structure whose main purpose was to understand, appreciate, and protect the planet’s species and individual habitats. Unifying in peace all known enlightened species, together with the interests of the pre-enlightened human species, the council combined their strengths for the greater good.

  Enlil lay there waiting to feel the familiar sense of loss overwhelm him. Perhaps it was tempered by that sense of urgency that was holding him tenaciously, or perhaps the unimaginable had happened, and time had finally eased the constant ache in his chest that had been like a companion to him. He felt a touch of guilt at his lack of pain, and his immediate inclination was to return his body to a dormant state. That feeling was followed by the drive to find and kill the Morsdente who had taken her from him.

  He felt a breeze on his face and a change of air pressure, and then he was pulled from his location. Very few individuals remained who held that level of power or the audacity. Without opening his eyes, he could tell he was not within the Oracles and High Ones Council Chambers or the SOSC. That left—deep breath in—yep, the hint of freesia. His sister, Ninlil, was forever prodding and pushing him through their bond.

  “What’s wrong, Ninlil?” he growled at her, sitting upright. His voice was rough from lack of use. “Because you had better be on the brink of death to yank our bond like this.” He felt a goblet pressed into his hand, and he smelled the rich, metallic-laced, fruity liquid it contained. His dentes slid into his watering mouth and he brought the cup to his lips, taking care not to gouge himself with the fingernails that had grown unattended during his dormancy. He couldn’t suppress the moan that escaped him as the blood slid down his throat and into his emaciated stomach.

  Only when he’d finished the blood-wine did he open his eyes to look upon the worried face of his beloved twin. She was chewing her bottom lip the way she always had when there was much on her mind. Her dentes were retracted even though she was surrounded by the residual scent of the blood wine, so she was well fed and healthy. Ninlil offered him a second goblet of blood-wine, which he took and began to sip, waiting for her to answer his question.

  She finally sighed. “Can’t I just miss my brother?” He raised an eyebrow at her in response. “You look like shit, you know.” Wrinkling her nose at him, she reached up with a nervous hand to unnecessarily smooth her perfectly coiffed, light-red hair. Hers was a color one shade deeper red than his strawberry blonde. She regarded him with eyes that matched his own, the exact shade of emerald green with a gold starburst pattern that encompassed the pupil.

  “Look who’s picked up the modern American slang.” He smirked.

  She sent him a single finger gesture. “Picked up more than the slang.” Her voice had a naturally soothing, calming cadence to it. She had a gift for being able to temper strong emotions using only her voice. He’d watched her drain battle rage out of an enemy by simply humming.

  “You hooked up with their forms of plumbing? A long bath sounds pretty good about now.” He took in her clothing “I take it we are in a human dwelling.” She nodded. “So, running, heated water? Or do I need to have it pulled?”

  “You have been asleep for awhile.” She pointed at a door. “Through there. You’ll figure everything out.” Grinning, she added, “I’ll send up clean cloths and bandages.” Ninlil handed him an electronic device. “Here, bring yourself up to speed with the world while you’re at it. In answer to your question, I pulled you here at the request of Gilgamesh. He would never make that request of me if it weren’t important. He wants us to meet him at his home
as soon as we can.” She smoothed her perfect hair again. “I will be going as soon as I arrange those items for you, so join us, please.”

  He shakily stood and headed to the door she’d indicated, then turned and asked, “Are you still the human advocate to the Symbiosis of Species Council in the Americas?”

  She nodded. He was about to ask about his son Ediku and Etana’s Morsdente killer. She must have bond-known his intent, because her brow furrowed and she shook her head in response. With a deep, sad sigh, he shut the bathroom door.

  His son was still not integrating into the SOSC—his mother’s dream—nor had her killer been caught. He’d hoped that when Ninlil had called to him, he would finally get to face her killer.

  He’d never forgiven himself for the selfishness he had demonstrated that fateful day. Death by Morsdente was a horrible way to die. Using fangs to kill, Morsdente tapped into the victims’ psychic energy, stealing it. The energy could not survive outside its rightful body forever and would only enhance the Morsdente for a short time. Stronger energies would live longer, retaining some level of awareness. By the time he had been freed from his forced dormancy punishment, the trail of the Morsdente had long grown cold. Short of death, no one knew how long the thread of energy from a victim would remain cognitive.

  How long was her beautiful spirit trapped inside a monster? And what of their unborn child? Shaking off the tormenting thought, he focused on figuring out the electronic device Nin had left him while the giant bath filled with streaming water.

  ****

  “Eric, my baby brudder.” Jess hugged Eric’s stiff frame, despite his anger at her. She held the hug, feeling his irritation at her grow, making her grin. Once he was good and pissed, she pulled away just enough to tickle him.

  “Stop that!” He wiggled away from her. “I am really mad at you!” He swatted at her tickling fingers, and she finally stopped tormenting him, “What the hell. You just fucking vanish off the planet for hours; scare the shit out of everyone. Then you act like nothing’s wrong.” He was not going to let her off the hook at all.

  Sighing in resignation, she sat at her desk. He took Aymee’s chair. “I met someone,” she began.

  Eric cut her off. “No, you didn’t. You may be able to pull that shit with Aymee, but I know you better. You can barely stand to be around mom and me when we argue over a Scrabble word. So don’t even try that with me. Where were you, really? If you had to check yourself into the hospital because of that class yesterday and then didn’t even call me, I swear I will call and demand Mom come home right fucking now!” Eric’s jaw was clenched, reflecting his fear, disguised as anger.

  Feeling badly for having worried Eric this much, Jess was also getting angry herself. Is it so unbelievable that maybe, just maybe, Jess may have had one normal moment? Well, relatively speaking, and omitting the whole Elven/Volaticus thing … whatever. Okay, fine, not normal then, but intimate.

  “Fuck you, Eric,” she snapped back, causing Eric’s eyes to widen in the face of her almost-never-seen anger. “I didn’t go to the hospital. I told you yesterday I felt fine. I didn’t call you because I didn’t need you. God, get over yourself. Last night wasn’t about you.” Standing with her hands in fists at her sides, she was almost shaking in her anger. “I did meet someone and I liked him a lot, enough to go home with him, and thank you labia lord, I happily tossed away the twenty-six fucking years of virginity I’ve been packing around. That’s it. That’s all. Your big sister was behaving like an adult. If you’ve got a problem with that, keep it to yourself!”

  “AAAHHHEMMMMM.” Aymee cleared her throat from the doorway behind Jess. “I’m just gonna shut this door, since the eight-year-olds in the class next door don’t need the four-letter-word education.” It was obviously everything Aymee could do not to bust out laughing.

  Jess turned back to Eric, all anger having been drained out of her at Aymee’s announcement. She wasn’t sure what to expect from Eric, but it sure wasn’t the shit-eating grin he was sporting.

  “I’m a dick,” he stated matter of factly, smiling even bigger at the comment.

  “Yes, you are.” She half-grinned back at him.

  “So do I get to meet this guy, or are you going to turn into a man-eater like Aymee?” The familiar joke between Eric and Aymee about their shared interest in promiscuity, aimed at Jess, made her laugh. Aymee called Eric a He-Hore. They both truly enjoyed their sexualities. Either of them could disappear for entire weekends and no one thought anything of it.

  “He ran to grab us all some lunch.” Jess could feel herself blush in the face of her brother’s obvious joy at her deflowering. “He was at the academy yesterday, in the bleachers.”

  Eric gave her a confused shake of his head. “I didn’t notice anyone in the bleachers.” Then he gave her an annoyed look. “Why is he hanging out here? Doesn’t he have a job?” He switched from friend and brother to overprotective father again.

  “He wouldn’t have been able to see me, Beauty. Only you and Jerika.” Shane’s voice stopped her from giving Eric hell about being an unobservant cop.

  “Are you eavesdropping on my conversation?” Jess asked, trying to figure out how to deal with Eric, who was looking at her as if she was now hallucinating about the guy in the bleachers. Or worse, he was going to ask what Shane did for a living. She had no clue. She really was acting out of character.

  “Tell him I was only there for a second just before he took his test and then we met in the parking lot after. He was too busy focusing on his test to notice someone popping through the bleachers,” Shane recommended.

  Before she could feed Eric the lie, Shane walked into the office. The aroma of chicken and fixings emanating from the bag he placed on her desk had her belly rumbling. Leaning in for a quick kiss, he teased, “You have the noisiest stomach, Beauty.” His easy reference to one of her quirks made Eric relax somewhat. He was still eyeballing Shane like he was something stuck to the heel of his shoe. Shane kept a teasing look focused on Jess, feigning oblivion to Eric animosity.

  Jess reached into the bag to retrieve her order and the one she’d placed for Shane. She handed the rest of the contents to Eric. “Didn’t know what you would want. I ordered you chicken and dumplings— it’s one of those. The other one is Aymee’s.”

  “Don’t put my food anywhere near that Hoover.” Aymee bounded in and snatched the bag out of Eric’s hand. “Get outta my chair, He-Hore.” Taking her meal out of the bag, she handed the remaining entree to Eric.

  Shane grabbed two of the folding chairs leaning on the wall, handing one to Eric. “You must be Jess’s little brother. Name’s Shane Einar.” He shook Eric’s hand as soon as they both had set their chairs down between the two girls’ desks.

  “Eric Reed.” Returning the handshake, Eric puffed up his chest. “Jess said you met at the academy. Are you on the force?” He talked like a good cop but stared at him like a bad cop. Jess nearly laughed, choking on a bite of her chicken. Eric glared over at her.

  “Nope. Ranger. Twelfth Regiment. I just stopped in at the academy to say hi to friends. I was cutting through the gym and saw your sister and stopped to watch for a minute. I think you were testing out. Nice moves, man.” Shane pointed at him with the fork he’d just picked up.

  Eric beamed. “Thanks. Rangers, huh?” Shane nodded with a mouth full of food. “Bad ass.” One compliment and Eric was suddenly Shane’s buddy. Typical.

  “I thought so too, until your sister spanked me.” Shane offered after he’d swallowed.

  Aymee and Jess glanced at each other, rolling their eyes.

  “She’s hard on an ego that way.” Eric chuckled while Shane nodded, and then thankfully they both shut up to focus on their meals.

  ****

  Shane took in a deep breath, scenting the change in Jess’s chemistry. The smell of her rising iron level was like a call to feed for him. It was everything he could do to appear normal in front of Eric and Aymee. He had always prided himself on his control, b
ut it still remained absent in the presence of Jess. Hell, he still had yet to spend a single minute around her when he didn’t have a raging hard-on.

  Jess started to sway slightly in her chair, and he knew he had to act. She’d told him that her aunt alleviated her symptoms. He had no idea how often she required her aunt’s special drink, and he wondered if she had ever been blood-let. He could take her to the Red Cross and have her donate. How would he explain that? Did he even have time? She was dropping fast.

  “Jess, your blood iron is rising.” He telepathically sent the comment.

  “I know. I shouldn’t have ordered this for lunch. With everything going on, I should not be eating meat. I wasn’t thinking.” There was a slur to her voice even telepathically.

  “What do you usually do in this situation, Beauty?” His concern for her was rising by the moment. He also wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep his response to her condition at bay.

  “I haven’t been this bad in a long time.” She was fading. “It usually doesn’t come on like this.”

  “Does your aunt blood-let you?” He asked, already rising to gather her up, bringing Eric’s and Aymee’s attention to what was happening.

  Eric said, “Oh shit. I think she’s going to seize.” Did her brother not recognize the difference between psychic overload and iron poisoning? Eric raced over to Jess’s desk, dumping the contents of her purse out. “Here, her anti-anxiety pills. This must be the delayed backlash of last night’s class.” He held out a bottle to Shane.

  “Are you alright, Jess?” Aymee asked, her concern evident.

  Nodding, Shane took the offered bottle from Eric. Jess’s eyes fluttered shut, and a stream of blood let go from her nose and mouth just as Shane got his arms under her, lifting her. Keeping his back to Eric and Aymee so they wouldn’t see that his dentes had exploded into his mouth, he headed for the door. Shutting Eric and Aymee in, he used kinetic energy to hold it closed as they tried frantically to open it and follow him, and then he headed for the exit. Eric and Amyee called to him from the other side trying desperately to open the door.