by I. T. Lucas
What did she do all day? Think about what she’d been through?
It couldn’t be healthy for her to cook in her own juices like that.
And if she needed an assistant, he would jump on the opportunity to be with her in any capacity she was willing to have him.
“I like the idea,” Kian said. “Anything that brings donation money and eases our financial burden is welcome.”
Bridget pulled out her tablet and opened a page. “After Julian told me about it, I did some research on these kinds of fundraising platforms. There are several of them, with one being the clear leader, but I expect many to pop up in the near future because they are getting so popular. It’s a new and fascinating phenomenon. People donate straight from their phones, supporting either someone they know who needs a helping hand or a cause they believe in. I was surprised to find how successful a fundraiser for fertility research was. Apparently, we are not the only ones struggling with the issue. Many humans are as well.”
Kian snorted. “Who knows. Maybe Merlin’s potions are the answer to our financial difficulties. If they work on us, they should work even better on humans. But that depends on how many would be willing to tolerate the foul taste.”
Bridget cast him an amused glance. “I’m not sure about it working at all. But since Merlin tailored it for us, it might not be suitable for humans. In any case, I just wanted you to know that Turner and I are going to start the treatments too, so at least you and Syssi won’t be alone in your suffering.”
Shifting in his chair, Turner tightened his lips into a thin line. He was either uncomfortable with Bridget talking openly about their conception attempts, or perhaps he wasn’t enthusiastic about becoming a father and was only agreeing to it to please her.
Julian wished them luck.
Having a little brother or sister was something he’d never even wished for because it was like wishing for the moon. Now that it seemed possible, he was rooting for his mother and her mate’s success.
Hopefully, Merlin wasn’t as loony as he appeared, and his potions were not just snake oil.
“We need to discuss logistics and security,” Turner said. “For this to succeed, the videos need to be done professionally, but on the other hand, bringing in a professional camera crew and a director to run the show is out of the question.”
“What if they are all female?” Bridget asked.
“I wasn’t even thinking about the girls’ reaction to a bunch of strangers with cameras showing up in their sanctuary. I’m concerned about word getting out. For their safety, we need to keep the location secret. It’s next to impossible to get civilians to keep a secret, especially if selling the story can bring them a nice cash reward.”
Kian drummed his fingers on the conference table. “What if we have everyone sign non-disclosure agreements with steep penalties for violations?”
Turner shook his head. “Not tight enough as far as safety is concerned. There is too much at risk. My recommendation is to keep the recording in-house. You can get Ella a professional camera and an assistant to handle the lighting.”
He glanced at Julian and winked. “I think Julian could do that.”
To see Turner wink was so shocking that for a moment Julian just gaped.
“As much as I adore my son, and as sweet as he is, I think a female assistant is a better choice.” Bridget cast Julian an apologetic glance. “You can help with the editing, though. It’s very labor intensive. I’ve seen a documentary about filmmaking, and I was astounded that a five-minute end product required hours of work in the editing room. Sometimes even days. I expect you and Ella will be spending a lot of time on that.” His mother waggled her red brows.
They meant well, but they made him feel so damn pathetic.
“Do you have a particular female in mind?” Kian asked. “Because if you’re thinking about Sylvia, don’t. She’s just started on another master’s degree.”
With all due respect to education, Sylvia was taking it too far. The woman was a perpetual student. It was a perfect example of why Turner’s suggestion to demand volunteering from clan members had merit.
“I was actually thinking about Tessa,” Bridget said.
There were rumors about Tessa having been through some rough times as a teenager, but Julian didn’t know the details. Did his mother know? Had it been something similar to what Ella and the girls in the sanctuary had been through?
“Tessa is a good choice,” Kian said. “But she works full time for Eva.”
Bridget waved a dismissive hand. “Eva’s detective agency is now running less than half the jobs it used to when Eva was active. She is only offering its services to old clients who she doesn’t want to lose during her maternity leave. Sharon is too inexperienced for the more complicated field jobs. Nick is only a tech guy, not a detective, and Tessa is an office person. Eva just doesn’t have the personnel needed to run more jobs. With the diminished workload, I’m sure she can spare Tessa for a few days.”
Turner perked up. “If Eva doesn't need Nick full time either, I can certainly use him.”
“I’ll ask her,” Bridget said.
“Good.” Kian tapped his palm on the conference table. “Bridget, you are in charge of talking to Eva. If she can spare Tessa, talk to the girl and see if she’s game.” He turned to Julian. “If that goes well, explain the arrangement to Ella and coordinate a meeting between her and Tessa.”
Julian nodded. “I’ll do that. But what about the camera and other equipment as well as training on how to use them?”
“I’ll call Brandon and see what he can get us. The equipment can be rented, or we can buy used stuff. We don’t need the latest and best for this. I hope he can hook us up with someone to train our new filming crew.”
22
Losham
As Losham was escorted into his father’s reception chamber, he was unpleasantly surprised to find the brothel’s manager sitting across from Navuh and sucking on one of his expensive cigars.
That was a privilege that only Losham had been granted up until now. How the hell had the sniveling Herpon gained such favor in their leader’s eyes?
“Greetings, my lord.” Losham bowed low. “You wanted to see me?”
He wasn’t used to sharing his father’s time with another, not even his half-brothers. Losham wasn’t a military man, so there was no need for him to attend the mundane field-operation decisions his brothers dealt with.
Usually, the issues Navuh wished to discuss with him were confidential.
Besides, the leader liked to take credit for all of Losham’s good ideas, which would have been difficult to do with witnesses. He would have been forced to eliminate them, and that was wasteful.
“Yes. Take a seat, Losham. Herpon came to me with a problem that I think you can solve for him. I will let him explain.”
Even though the man was good at what he did, Losham detested Herpon. He was an underhanded and cunning bastard who had somehow managed to rise in the ranks despite his lowly parentage. He was a crude and offensive fellow, who pretended to be refined in front of Navuh.
Not successfully, though.
Losham doubted his father was fooled by the fake mannerisms, but then Navuh cared about results and not the means to get them.
“The customers are tired of the Eastern Bloc stock we have,” Herpon said. “Most of the girls can’t speak any English, and those that know a few words would do better using their mouths for something else.”
Raising a brow, Losham crossed his legs and leaned forward. “Since when do customers care about the whores’ conversational skills? They come here to fuck, not to talk.”
Herpon shook his head. “Things are always changing and shifting, and what was good a decade ago is no good now. The more sophisticated customers, those who are willing to pay the most, want to do both. They want a girl they can take out for a drink or to dinner, have a pleasant conversation with, and after that take her to their bungalow and fuck her all night long.”
Losham shrugged. “I don’t see how I can help with that. You need to discuss this with our suppliers and demand that they bring in a higher caliber stock.”
“I did. The answer I got was that girls like that were difficult to obtain, and the cost I’ve been quoted per specimen was too high.”
“I still do not see where I can be of help.”
Navuh lifted his hand. “We need college girls, not the runaways and junkies that we usually get, preferably from English-speaking countries, but other Western Bloc countries will do as well. As long as they are fairly educated and intelligent, we can teach them English in some form of an accelerated program.”
Losham smoothed his hand over his beard. “I’m sure we can get educated Russian and Ukrainian girls and teach them English. They are not going to be as costly as those from English-speaking countries because it’s not as dangerous to obtain them on the Eastern Bloc and then ship them over here.”
Navuh’s brows drew tight. “I did not bring you here to hear suggestions and excuses. I want solutions. You are a smart man. I’m sure you can come up with a way to supply the island with the kind of stock our top customers require.” He leaned toward Losham and pinned him with a hard glare. “The law of supply and demand states that where there is unmet demand, someone will figure out a way to meet it. If we cannot satisfy these customers, someone else will, and we will lose them.”
That was not what the law of supply and demand stated, but in principle Navuh was right.
“Perhaps I can pull warriors away from the drug trade and have them visit local colleges. Most of the men are not big charmers, but they can thrall well enough to have girls come with them. The question is what to do after that.”
Navuh waved a dismissive hand. “Even if we have each girl escorted by a warrior and pay for plane tickets for both, we are still going to save a lot of money compared to what we are paying the suppliers now. And the one thing we have no shortage of is men. You can have your pick of the most handsome and charming ones.”
That was doable. While posing as a couple on vacation, the soldier could keep thralling the girl through several plane rides and airports. Naturally, Losham would have to come up with a number of different routes and use international airports that didn’t employ facial recognition software. Another option was cruise ships. People disappeared from those all the time.
With their natural ability to learn new languages as well as the local vernacular, the men could pretend to be American or British or Australian. It would be easier to lure a girl away from her college friends if the man didn’t appear foreign.
“When I’m back in San Francisco, I’ll organize several test runs. One way or another, I’m going to get you what you need.”
Navuh smiled. “I knew you’d find a solution, my son.”
To call Losham ‘son’ in front of Herpon, getting quality stock for the brothel must have been of utmost importance to Navuh.
Losham pushed to his feet and bowed. “I will keep you updated, my lord.”
“Very well. You may take your leave.”
23
Julian
By the time the meeting was over, Carol’s café was closed, but the vending machines still had a selection left over.
Choosing a Danish, Julian inserted his card into the slot, pressed the right number combination, and then watched the wrapped pastry getting grabbed by the mechanical arm and dropped into the receptacle.
“Julian, how are things going for you?” Jackson parked his loaded cart next to the sandwich machine.
Great, he was about to get dating advice from the kid.
No thank you.
“I’m just getting a Danish and coffee and then heading home. Since when are you doing deliveries in the evenings?”
Jackson opened the back of the machine and started refilling the empty rows with new sandwiches. “I’ve gotten complaints about the machines emptying by seven in the evening. People get hungry, and there is nothing to eat. They have to drive half an hour to the nearest fast-food joint or to a supermarket. So I hired another part-timer to prepare an evening batch.”
“At Ruth’s?”
Jackson peeked at him from behind the machine. “So it’s Ruth’s now, eh? Don’t let Nathalie hear you say it. It’s called Fernando’s Café, and technically it’s half mine and half Nathalie’s. We are equal partners now.”
Julian didn’t know what business arrangement Jackson had with Nathalie, and frankly, he didn’t care. “That’s nice.”
“How is Parker doing?” Jackson asked. “I haven’t seen him since the transition ceremony, and I feel bad about not checking up on him. I’m supposed to be his mentor and all that. But I’m so fucking busy all the time.”
“He’s doing great. His fangs finally came out, and he would be very happy to show them to you.” Julian leaned on the machine’s side and crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you play War of the Dragons?”
Jackson lifted his head and looked at him. “Does it look like I have time to play computer games?”
“I meant do you know how to play it? It’s an old game, but it’s one of Parker’s favorites. He’d love it if you played with him.”
Pushing his long bangs away from his forehead, Jackson let out an old man’s sigh. “In my previous life as a carefree bachelor, I played it.”
Julian frowned. “You sound like you’re not happy to be mated.”
“Are you kidding me? No way! Tessa is the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I thank the merciful Fates every day for her. I just wish I had more free time. I miss hanging out with my buddies, and I miss kicking it with a good video game and a box of lousy pizza.”
“I have an idea. How about you and I both go to play with Parker? But instead of lousy pizza, we can munch on your sandwiches and pastries.”
Jackson rose to his feet and closed the back of the machine. “Let me check with Tessa. She’s babysitting little Ethan so Eva can take a breather. I told her I’d join her there, but maybe she can do without me for the next hour.”
As Jackson exchanged texts with his mate, Julian wondered whether Bridget had already spoken with Eva and Tessa about the video project. His mother was a pragmatic lady who didn’t postpone until later what could be done right now, so chances were that she had.
“I’m good to go,” Jackson said. “Tessa is taking Ethan to Nathalie’s and is going to hang out with her until Eva and Bhathian are back.”
“Did she tell you anything about the video project Ella came up with?”
“No.” Jackson pushed the empty cart behind the café’s counter and handed a box filled with sandwiches and pastries to Julian. “What is it about?”
As they made their way to Ella’s house, Julian told Jackson about the fundraiser, the videos Ella wanted to shoot, and about Bridget suggesting Tessa as Ella’s production assistant.
When he was done, Jackson shook his head. “I’m not sure Tessa would want to do that.”
“Why not?” He had his suspicions, but he didn’t want to assume anything.
“She likes working for Eva.”
“I understand that at the moment things are slow at the agency.”
“They are, which means that Tessa can take it easy. She’s working on reorganizing files and transcribing the old ones into the computer. When Eva first started her agency, she kept handwritten files.”
Julian chuckled. “Turner still does, even though he’s several decades younger than Eva. But that’s because he’s paranoid and doesn’t trust cyber encryption. I’m trying to convince him that for the right amount of money he can have an impenetrable system, but he insists that any system can eventually get hacked, and that some information is too crucial to keep anywhere other than in his notes.”
“What if someone breaks into his place and steals them?”
“I think he has some form of personal encoding he uses.”
Jackson nodded. “So does Eva. She has a shorthand script that she inv
ented, and no one other than her and her crew can decipher it.”
“Don’t you just love all this cloak and dagger stuff?”
“I love hearing about it, but not living it. I’m not a big risk taker.” Jackson chuckled. “I get my thrills from making money.”
“Different strokes for different folks.”
Jackson was working his ass off, and even though none of it was glamorous or overly exciting, it seemed like he was loving every moment of it.
Julian, on the other hand, didn’t feel passionate about anything. Except for Ella, of course, but that was an obsession, not an occupation.
He loved being a doctor, but he wasn’t as passionate about it as he’d been at the start of medical school. Money didn’t thrill him either, and what Turner did for a living required nerves of steel he didn’t have. Besides, strategizing wasn’t Julian’s thing either.
“When I was a kid, I wanted to be a rock star,” Jackson said. “I had fun. Gordon and Vlad and I even got some gigs of the non-paid variety. It didn’t take long for me to realize that performing wasn’t a good way to make money, and that I needed to find something else. Still, if not for Bhathian introducing me to Nathalie, I might not have discovered my entrepreneurial streak so early in the game.”
“I’m glad that you found your groove. I’m still looking for mine.”
Jackson frowned. “You’re a doctor, dude. There is nothing nobler than that. You can save lives, or at least improve them.”
“That’s why I chose to be one. But reality kind of slapped me in the face. I’m too empathetic to work with humans because it’s torture for me to absorb all that suffering and worrying and grief. And with Merlin here, I’m not really needed in the village. Kian dropped an assignment on me that I'm unqualified for, mainly because I have the time to do it.”
“What’s the assignment?”
