Shane pulled their linked hands to his lips. “Thank you, Beauty. I love …”
Innanna cut him off. “Shanley, I must interrupt. I am sorry. There really is little time.” Innanna spoke crisply. “The universe is a fluid entity. A well-timed sacrifice has power. That is what you have the opportunity to do.”
Innanna looked between them. What could they possibly sacrifice? “I am going to give you a choice, an important one. Jess will Become as soon as she takes your blood, Shane. She will also enter her first estrus. If she is coupled, the result will be a female child. The pain of Jess’s Becoming and estrus would be reduced as well because you would be able to share it with each other.”
She paused. “Or you can sacrifice the relief joining would give you for the benefit of the operation rather than the joy of each other. You are a siphon, Jess. That is a phenomenal asset to this mission. Your abilities will be magnified a thousand fold by the pain of Becoming and the hormones generated during estrus. It will become a force unto itself.”
That made sense. She’d always felt an inner power, the thing she now recognized as her gift, during times of strife. “What if I siphon the good guys?” Jess had to ask. She hadn’t forgotten the effect she’d had on Nin.
Innanna smiled sweetly. “With Enlil to direct it, you will be capable of drawing enough energy into yourself to slingshot the Heredity victims that will be found in this operation to a secure location, including your non-psychic aunt. Enlil can make sure the energy you siphon will come from Fualth’s soldiers, simultaneously helping cripple Fualth’s ability to retaliate.” Innanna looked from Shane to Jess. “I gave you images of what is happening in the target locations so that you would see, should you decide to make this sacrifice, those it would benefit in addition to Moira. Those images reflect what your aunt has fought against. It is also the real reason your mother died: to protect you from this fate, Jess.”
Jess had a million questions spinning through her mind. Instead of voicing them, she looked to Shane, who nodded back at her in both agreement and understanding of her confusion. She was about to agree to the sacrifice. They’d get Moira back, and then she could be with Shane.
That dream illusion shattered with Innanna’s next words. “Before you answer, you must also understand that the Becoming and subsequent estrus will last for two weeks, during which you will be able to retain the psychic energy of the rogue soldiers and keep them weakened. This is a once in a lifetime occurrence. Jess, you know how painful it is to be psychically overwhelmed?” Jess nodded, biting her bottom lip. “That will be multiplied by more than you have ever imagined. Add to it the physical pain of developing wings, dentes, and new cranial musculature for directional hearing. Then stir in an unquenchable yearning for sex. That is what you will be subjecting yourselves and each other to should you decide to agree. The pain will be tremendous. Bonded, you will both be forced to endure it without relieving each other in any way. You will not be able to connect during this time physically, sexually, emotionally, or psychically. The psychic overload from her talent in addition to the pain and pheromones is the dynamic that offers the greatest hope for these females.”
“What will happen to the operation if we decide not to offer our sacrifice?” Shane asked. Jess had the same question.
“This group will succeed with or without you. Your sacrifice would increase the level of success, enabling more people to be saved with less loss of life. Your siphoning and retention will also hold the enemies at bay for a few weeks. The rogues have taken blood from these females. Without the sacrifice, they could be driven insane by the bonds that have been forced on them. You would be giving the saved a better chance to disappear without being re-captured or further tormented. The females and women will need full blood transfusions, psychic healing, physical care, and life training. Your two weeks of suffering will give them the breathing room that could make the difference.”
“Could we have a minute?” Jess asked.
“That’s about all you’ve got left.” Innanna gave her a sympathetic smile, stepping away. Miguel followed her. There was a soft buzzing sound growing louder every second.
Turning into Shane’s embrace, Jess laid her ear to his chest and listened to his heartbeat. Shane’s cheek lay against the top of her head. He rubbed her back lovingly. “What do you think?” she finally asked.
“I love you, Jess. I am prepared to do whatever needs to be done to be with you forever. There is no sacrifice too great, except your future happiness. No pain I wouldn’t endure for you.” Shane said exactly what she needed to hear.
Jess looked into his eyes. “I love you too. I hate the idea of the man I love in pain, but if we don’t do this, other people will pay a permanent price to spare us a horrible but temporary situation. Two weeks seems small compared to the sacrifices my aunt and mother have already made … but.”
“We will have another chance for an Elven young in twenty-five years or so. In the meantime we can just practice or we can try to conceive a Hulven if we are ready sooner. I would also love to marry you, Beauty. In the way you are familiar, with our friends and family. Take a long honeymoon. We will have the rest of our lives to make beautiful memories. We may even cherish them more for having given this one in the aid of people unable to help themselves. That is what warriors have done for eternity.” He was showing her a strong front. Jess was afraid, saddened, and determined to do the right thing. It wouldn’t be a sacrifice if it weren’t difficult.
Innanna and Miguel approached. The buzzing had become much louder. “It’s time.” Miguel nudged Shane and Jess to the left. The buzzing became louder and louder, and the air began to shimmer from the cumulative energies of the approaching entities, followed by colors, then fuzzy shapes that gained detail. Time was catching up with them. They were surrounded again. Enlil’s elbow touched Jess’s shoulder. If Miguel hadn’t shifted her and Shane, she would have been standing in the same spot Enlil was.
The room seemed to become aware of their return immediately and went silent. “What say you?” Innanna asked.
Jess and Shane stared into each other’s eyes. Holding a finger up to Innanna, Jess inquired of Shane, “Will you propose again?”
Shane dropped to one knee, holding her hand in his. “Jess Reed, I love you. You are my bloodmate. My miracle. Will you accept my heart, my life, and my bond?”
Jess sighed loudly. “Well, Shanley Einar, I guess you’re stuck with me then. I love you too.” Shane rose to lift Jess into his arms, kissing her with passion. The room erupted in applause. This time Innanna waited until they ended the kiss themselves before politely clearing her throat. She was back to standing on the chair.
“We accept the sacrifice,” Jess told her. Shane squeezed her tighter against him, nodding.
“Both of you.” Innanna clarified. Shane and Jess looked at each other once again and nodded at Innanna. “So be it.” She bowed respectfully and whispered, “Thank you both for this sacrifice. It will never be forgotten.” Rising, she fluttered to land in the center of the mapped table. “Males and females of the Symbiosis of Species Council, if you please,” she said, indicating the chairs around her. Shane and Jess went to sit at the end of the table where Sargon had originally directed them. Congratulations flowed from everyone’s lips.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jess and Shane found themselves sitting at the end of the table with one of the males who had been among the enemy soldiers captured earlier. He sat beside a woman who bore a striking resemblance to both Nathan and the male. Who was he?
Jess extended her hand to the female. “Hi, I’m Jess and this is my mate to be, Shane.”
The female smiled, revealing the tiniest hint of a dimple just below her eye, and took Jess’s outstretched hand. “I really should have introduced myself to you sooner, Jess. I know you so well, it’s easy to forget that we are all strangers to you.” She elbowed the male next to her. “This is my brother Sam. Sam has been an undercover informant for the Eurasia
n SOSC since your mother and I were rescued from breeding cages. My name is Sara, and Nathan is my son. I work an Underground Railroad society in Montana for your aunt in addition to helping her locate and help any females in need.”
Shane and Sam shook hands. Jess was trying to wrap her brain around the “mother rescued from a breeding site” statement. Jesus, everyone talked to her as if she were supposed to know all this shit. It was starting to make her crazy. Her question-cup runneth the fuck over already.
Jess had been impressed by Gil and Napoleon’s command of the room’s attention. They had nothing on Innanna. She was like Wonder Woman up there. Woman? Okay, that didn’t really fit. Maybe Wonder Brat. Her eyes met Jess’s and she gave her a quirked brow. Holy shit, did she hear my thoughts? Jess bit into her lip. “Sorry,” she sent out to Innanna.
“No problem. I kind of like the sound of Wonder Brat. Bearing in mind that I was present during the fall of Atlantis.” Innanna’s voice held humor, thank goodness. Jess breathed out a sigh of relief.
“Shane,” she called to her male. The term had a nice ring to it.
“Yes, my love.” His response was immediate, sending a rush of pleasure through her.
“When did Atlantis fall?” Funny how with all of the questions swimming in her mind, that was the one she asked.
“Nearly ten thousand years ago. Why?” He looked at her in question.
Holy shit. “No reason.” She was so not going to tell Shane she’d just called a ten thousand year old female Wonder Brat.
When Innanna began to speak, her voice was magnified, with an odd echoing cadence to it. At first she couldn’t figure out the sound quality. Then she noticed that the Aquaties around the table were all moving their hands in a gentle, snaking “S” shape in front of their chests.
“What are they doing?” Jess asked Shane telepathically.
“They are amplifying Innanna vocals using sonar. That is one of the species’ psychic abilities. When they use it together, it creates a surround sound, amplifying any who speak so that all will hear them. Volaticus hearing is powerful, but theirs is more so. Yet the Hulven, the Tellus, and humans, if any were in attendance, do not have sensitive hearing. The Aquaties are using that power to assist. It is much more powerful in water.”
It was such a subtle movement. Graceful. Beautiful. Since it was being done to assist her, she appreciated it even more. She wasn’t sure she would be able to hear Innanna if not for the dance of the Aquaties.
“The success of this mission is assured,” Innanna bestowed. “The members of the Oracles and High Ones who have joined the room are offering their assistance to the SOSC in any way we can.” Behind the seating more Aquaties, Volaticus, and Tellus were appearing. The room filled with power. “The last time a joint power of this magnitude was needed or offered was in the creation of the SOSC itself.”
Innanna continued as the powerful beings of all three species added their presence, “We have a few requests and suggestions to make before we would encourage you Warrior Leaders, Generals, and Commanders from every species to continue planning. To begin, we would like the abilities of the Oracles and High ones to be included in the planning for each phase of engagement. Also, to aid in the extraction phase requiring Jess’s and Enlil’s talents, it is imperative that they be protected directly by warrior members of family bond. That would include, of course, Jess’s mate Shane upon bond completion.” Two males and two females appeared directly behind Shane while Innanna spoke. “By that bond, Shane’s brother Gregor, his mate Teja, their daughter Irsu, and Shane’s brother Conlon.” The four linked hand to shoulder with Shane, and they all nodded to Jess. What a strange way to meet her in-laws.
“Ninlil, Sargon, Gilgamesh, Enlil and Ediku.” Enlil stepped behind Jess, placing both of his hands upon Jess’s shoulders. The other named members of Jess’s family came to stand behind Enlil, linking hand to shoulder, mirroring Shane’s family. Through Jess and Shane’s clasped hands, the two families were linked together. To Jess it felt like a ceremony, not a traditional marriage. It felt like a union just the same.
As Jess leaned her head against Shane’s shoulder, the members of her family moved fluidly with her. Shane pressed a kiss of understanding to her forehead. She’d never felt so surrounded by love and support in her life.
“Furthermore.” Innanna pulled attention back to her. “It is preferable for the Volaticus to engage, the Tellus to stun and the Aquaties to place the soldiers into a hypothermic state. We would like as few casualties as possible, on both sides of the battle.” The Tellus and the Aquaties were nodding around the table to Innanna request.
“The High Ones will be sending a world-wide telepathic message offering clemency to any who wish to renounce Fualth’s organization and voluntarily surrender to warrior members of the SOSC. That offer will be for a period of seven days following the raids. No longer. Most of the soldiers have been raised under Fualth’s regime and don’t know anything else. However, we will not bring the enemy into our fold until we are sure their intentions have integrity and honor. We will create temporary chortals from the raided locations to the surrender location, allowing any who desire clemency to reach the SOSC warriors and High Ones who are waiting.” Innanna looked around the table again.
“With that goal in mind, we recommend the target acquisition order be the following: First, Mount Kenya, Africa, the birthing center and militia-training nest. Yes, it will have the least number of victims. It will also be the heaviest guarded. Once secured, it will be where the High Ones and additional warriors of the SOSC will remain. It will be the location offered for clemency. It is also the location where Moira is being held. An informant is placing Fualth currently at that location.” The commanders seated around the table gave nods of approval to Innanna’s assessment of the first target. “A simultaneous raid upon Fualth’s Maine headquarters will be initiated. We would prefer Fualth captured for questioning rather than eliminated. These locations are the tip of the iceberg, and we need to interrogate him.
“The second target, Mount Gambier, Southern Australia, has the highest victim population. It is a blood and breeding nest with a high ratio of Hulven victims. Therefore the majority of the victims will be able to self-port once they receive a geographic destination, requiring less energy from Enlil and Jess for extraction and hopefully leaving a surplus for the following third target location.
“That third target will be Mount Eccles, Australia. Another blood and breeding nest, it houses fewer victims. It will have a higher number of Heredity humans. It has the most lax security. Keep in mind that this location will require tremendous siphoning by Enlil and Jess for victim extractions. If you feel them unintentionally draw from you or the warriors under your command, take action to protect against it. Enlil will be focusing on drawing energy from only the enemies for both of them. However, accidents happen, so protect yourselves and warn your warriors to do the same.” The warning did much to make the council aware that Jess and Enlil’s powers were dangerous to more than just the enemy.
“The forth and final target will be in China. It is referred to as the nursery, with children from newborn to the Hulven puberty age of fourteen to sixteen and Elven puberty age of twenty-five to thirty. It is brainwashing central, and the victims here will most likely not realize they are victims. They will be resistant to leaving and will also be psychic. Therefore, the psychic weavers will be generating energy netting over the top of the nest’s compound while the first three targets are being infiltrated. That should contain the limited powers of the children to remain within the compound. The children will not be removed from China. We will take over the occupancy, bringing psychic healing and post-cult re-education on-site, where they feel most comfortable. We will not further traumatize these children by removing them from their home. We will also work to unite them with their mothers and trace down family blood lines.”
Giving the perfect length of pause for the room to assimilate her last directive, Innanna fini
shed up, “The Oracles and High Ones will remain here during your planning if you have any need of us. Leaders, Generals, Commanders, and special guests, make this happen.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Shane found himself fascinated with the process of planning the raids. Arial maps for each location were laid out across tables. Smaller groups of warriors surrounded whichever map depicted their individual points of contact. Enlil, Gregor, Sam, Gil, and Napoleon were going from group to group, selecting points within the boundaries of the compounds that represented the best way to get Enlil and Jess to each. Sam’s expertise as an informant was put to good use, giving a function to each building shown in the map, where the heaviest guard was, and why.
Teya, Nin, Irsu, Conlon, and Ediku were deep in conversation with the Tellus and Aquaties members who had volunteered to join in the Enlil and Jess traveling extraction group. The Tellus would generate an electromagnetic field at the most difficult location. The purpose of the Tellus and Aquaties would be to create a potent, stable electromagnetic field surrounding Enlil and Jess to aid the porting of the large groups. The porting would be difficult for the Heredity victims. Having no psychic energy, they would probably at the very least vomit and pass out. They might also have seizures, so keeping the porting field stable would aid in the comfort of travel for the Heredity. That was the genius of the think tank.
Warriors from all three species worked at each location map. The Tellus were tunneling under the compounds, making trenches around each building to determine if any had underground passageways that Sam might have been unaware of. The Aquaties were in the tunnels behind the Tellus checking for the structural integrity of the underground walls and tunnels. If they were only lined with lead, then the unified abilities of the Aquaties and the Tellus working together could penetrate into the walls themselves. Because of the cost and availability of platinum, a lot of the compound buildings could probably be breached from below ground.
Immortal Becoming Page 22
