Dark Spy Conscripted

by I. T. Lucas

  “I do, but I’m a considerate guy.” He ducked to the backseat and waited for Arwel to join him. “Mey and Jin want to talk.”

  “I love you.” Mey sent him an air kiss.

  They were so cute together that it was sickening. Arwel was glad that he’d moved out because watching and sensing their mutual adoration would have been too much for him to handle.

  Hell, was he jealous?

  As Kian eased into traffic, Yamanu leaned into Arwel. “What’s eating you?” he whispered.

  The sisters were deep in conversation, and as far as Arwel was aware, Mey’s hearing hadn’t improved significantly yet. Still, it was probably much better than Jin’s.

  Nevertheless, at some point he was going to ask Mey’s advice anyway, so it didn’t really matter if she heard his conversation with Yamanu.

  “Jin. I’m so obsessed with her that I can’t think straight.”

  “I knew it!” Yamanu’s whisper was so loud that both sisters turned around.

  “What did you know?” Mey asked.

  Arwel braced for the most embarrassing moment of his life, but Yamanu proved that he was great at improvising. “That the Lakers were going to win against the Hawks.”

  “Oh.” Mey and Jin both lost interest and went back to talking in hushed voices.

  “Good save,” Arwel whispered.

  “That’s great news. You found your mate. Why are you upset?”

  “I’m not upset. I’m nervous. She is so strong-willed and so outgoing, and I have no idea how to approach her. I don’t know how to woo and how to date. I only know how to seduce, and I’m not that good at it either. Usually, I just let the eyes do the work.”

  Yamanu arched a brow. “The eyes?”

  Arwel pointed at his peepers. “The ladies love them. When I go hunting, it’s enough that I look at a woman, and she does the rest.”

  “Hmm.” Yamanu rubbed his chin. “Perhaps you should go with that. If it’s worked for you so far, it might work with her as well.” He motioned with his head at Jin.

  “I don’t know if she’s interested in me.”

  Both of Yamanu’s brows shot up. “You are an empath. How can you not know?”

  Arwel pushed his overgrown bangs back. “Since I saw her picture, I’ve been a nervous wreck, and my empathic ability has gotten all jumbled up. She is not broadcasting much, and I have a hard time quieting my inner turmoil enough to distinguish between my own feelings and hers. It’s even impacting my work, which stresses me even more.”

  Nodding, Yamanu put his arm around Arwel’s shoulders and sighed. “Love has a way of messing with our heads. But the moment you give in and admit your feelings to your lady, the storm becomes a gentle breeze.” He chuckled. “With the occasional thunder and lightning.”

  “It’s not love. I don’t know her well enough to love her. It’s a crazy attraction, that’s all.”

  Yamanu grinned. “Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

  “I’m not in love.”

  “Maybe not, but you will be. This is more than attraction, though. This is the Fates at work.”

  Arwel rolled his eyes. “You and your Fates. I don’t want to belittle your faith, but I don’t share it.”

  “Bullshit. Deep down, you believe in them too. You are just not secure enough in your masculinity to admit it.” The idiot leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “You are so full of it, Yamanu. Faith or the lack of it has nothing to do with my dick.”

  Both May and Jin turned their heads and looked at him.

  What a great way to impress Jin. Now she could add crass and unsophisticated to schlump.

  “My apologies, ladies. I didn’t realize that I raised my voice.”

  Jin chuckled. “No apology is needed. I agree with you. One has nothing to do with the other.”

  38

  Jin

  Arwel must be really old-fashioned to apologize for saying dick, or really old, not just old-fashioned.

  Jin had used that word in conversation and had never felt the need to apologize for it. It was mild compared to the language her friends used, but no one got offended by any of it. So far. The PC police were adding to the list of prohibited words by the day, but for some reason, the worst of them hadn’t made it there yet.

  Glancing out the window at the farmland they were passing by, Jin wondered why Arwel’s age wasn’t creeping her out. It boiled down to perception. He looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties, and that’s how she thought of him. Did it really matter how old he was?

  And how old was Yamanu? Did it bother Mey?

  There were still so many questions she wanted to ask her sister. They would have to drive all the way to Los Angeles for her to have time to ask them all.

  “How long is the drive to the airfield?”

  “About an hour and a half,” Mey said. “Do you want to take a nap? All this excitement must have exhausted you.”

  “I don’t think I’m going to sleep anytime soon. My head is buzzing with ten thousand questions. But first, I want to hear all about your new pointy teeth and about turning immortal and all the other goodies you dangled in front of me but never got to explain.”

  As Mey glanced back at Yamanu and Arwel, Jin followed her eyes. The two were busy whispering in each other’s ears like a couple of yentas, and in the front, Kian and Syssi were holding hands over the center console.

  Was Mey checking if they were listening? And what if they were? Everyone knew about her fangs, so it wasn’t as if she was going to divulge some clan secrets.

  “I’m waiting.” Jin nudged her. “You spaced out on me.”

  “Sorry. I was just trying to figure out the best way to explain it.” Mey pushed her hair behind her ears. “Immortals have fangs, but they are not the same for males and females. Females have tiny ones that look like pointy canines, similar to what I got. Males have really big ones that elongate and retract more or less on demand. They also have extra glands that produce venom in response to two different triggers. One is aggression, and the other is arousal. The venom produced differs according to the trigger, but both kinds can induce transition in a Dormant. Naturally, to induce a male, the immortal needs to get aggressive, and to induce a female, he needs to get aroused.”

  “I saw Amanda’s, and hers are barely noticeable. Yours are longer. How come?”

  Mey groaned. “Because we are the freak sisters. I told you before that this is uncommon, but the truth is that this is the first time it’s happened. The clan females have those tiny fangs that look like sharp canines, but since they are induced when they are little girls, they grow them together with their adult teeth. Aside from me, none of the other adult Dormant females lost their canines while transitioning, and they didn’t grow fangs.”

  Frowning, Jin leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. “Any explanation for that?”

  “The clan’s doctor thinks that our ancestor might have been a goddess who had fangs. Aside from the recent influx of Dormants, everyone in the clan descends from one goddess, and she is a petite, gorgeous redhead with glowing skin.” She chuckled. “The formidable Clan Mother looks like an otherworldly eighteen-year-old. Only when you look into her eyes, you realize that she is ancient.”

  Jin gaped. “No freaking way. The Clan Mother is a real goddess? And she is still around, and you saw her?”

  Mey laughed. “I was so nervous, but she is so nice and friendly and not scary at all. Yamanu told me to think of her as a queen and act accordingly, and that’s what I did. But after half an hour, I was calling her by her first name and chatting with her as if we were best friends. She is awesome.”

  Syssi turned around. “I love Annani. She is the best mother-in-law.”

  “Figures.” Jin tapped her temple. “That’s why Kian looks like a god. He is Annani’s son.”

  “I’m right here,” Kian muttered.

  “I’m sorry. You are right. When I saw you, I thought that you looked like a
god. A stormy god of thunder.”

  Rolling her eyes, Mey elbowed her.

  Me and my big mouth. Jin never knew when to put a sock in it. “I mean, you are gorgeous, and you look formidable,” she quickly added.

  He chuckled. “Thank you, but there is no need for flattery. I’m well aware that I’m an intimidating asshole, and that is on a good day.”

  “No, you are not.” Syssi cast him a reproachful look. “You have a lot on your mind, and you are always stressed, which makes you frown a lot and look intimidating, but you are a kind and loving man.”

  He lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “I love you.”

  39

  Mey

  Mey and Jin exchanged knowing smiles.

  Love could blind a woman and make her see only the good side of her partner. It was true that Kian was kind, and he was entirely devoted to his clan and deeply in love with his wife. That being said, he was also gruff, demanding, and not very friendly. Still, his positives outweighed his negatives by a wide margin. He was a good man and an excellent leader.

  “I will probably get fangs too.” Jin dipped her head to take a better look at Mey’s teeth. “They are not too bad. Are they still growing?”

  “God, I hope not. As they are, I can still pass for a human, but if they get any longer, I will have to have them filed down on a regular basis. One of the perks of immortality is that everything grows back. Forget about tattoos and piercings. We can’t have them.”

  Jin cast her an amused glance and leaned to whisper in her ear. “I can live without those, but big freaking fangs could be problematic, and not only aesthetically. How do the immortal males kiss? If their fangs elongate when they are aroused, which happens when people smooch, they could cause some real damage.” Jin frowned. “And if their glands produce venom when that happens, I guess it has to go somewhere. Do they bite only to induce transition or every time they get randy?”

  Crap. That wasn’t a talk Mey wanted to have with her sister in front of others, but knowing Jin, she would just keep pestering her until she did. She had two options. She could either state things matter of fact like a mother explaining the birds and the bees to her daughter, or she could talk in vague terms and not go into intimate details.

  Except, explaining the fangs and the venom bite without mentioning that sex was part of the deal would be misleading.

  Damn, what to do?

  Jin and Arwel were obviously interested in each other, but the moment Mey explained about sex being a necessary part of transitioning, Jin would feel pressured to choose an immortal male to induce her, and that would kill the romance.

  “They know to be careful when they kiss. And even if they nick their partner by accident, their saliva contains healing properties, so no harm is done.”

  “Yeah, but it must hurt, and then the mood is gone.”

  Mey leaned and whispered, even though she knew it was futile. “It hurts only for a split second, and when you are all excited, it hardly registers. Besides, sometimes, a little hurt can enhance the pleasure.”

  That was vague enough. Hopefully, the explanation would satisfy Jin for now.

  40

  Jin

  Mey was being evasive, but given that they weren’t alone, it was understandable.

  There was no point in pestering her for more details because she was obviously not going to supply them until they had a chance to talk privately. And that wasn’t going to happen for many more hours.

  Still, Jin could deduce things from what little Mey had told her.

  Since the males’ fangs elongated when their venom glands got activated, it meant that whenever a guy got aroused, his fangs would grow large in tandem with the other part of his male anatomy that responded to sexual stimuli in the same way.

  It didn’t make sense for that to happen only when an immortal male was about to induce a Dormant.

  When the venom got produced in response to an aggressive trigger, it was designed to aid the male in a fight. And when it was produced in response to a sexual one, it was designed to be used during sex.

  Why?

  That part was unclear. Perhaps they marked their partners? Was the venom a catalyst to the strong bond mated couples shared? Mey had said that immortals stayed mated for life, so that was probably what made it possible.

  Except, if the females didn’t have venom, how was the bond created in both partners?

  That would be question number ten thousand and one.

  Bottom line, biting was part of sex. Which meant that in order to transition, Jin would have to get bitten, and that would probably involve having sex with an immortal male.

  She didn’t mind the sex part, especially if it was with Arwel, but she did mind getting bitten.

  Ouch.

  Then again, judging by the passionate looks she and Yamanu had been exchanging, Mey didn’t seem traumatized or reluctant to engage in bed sports. On the contrary, the two looked as if they couldn’t wait to jump on each other, and the same was true for Syssi and Kian.

  Jin leaned and whispered in Mey’s ear, “I know you can’t talk, but just tell me one thing. Does the bite make the sex hotter?”

  Mey blushed, which didn’t happen often, and then nodded.

  As Syssi chuckled softly and Kian shook his head, Jin realized that they had heard her question, which meant that Arwel and Yamanu had heard it too.

  Turning to look at Arwel over her shoulder, Jin expected to find him smirking, but he appeared to be absorbed in whatever he was reading on his phone, or perhaps he was just pretending for her sake.

  It was nice of him to try to save her the embarrassment, but she wasn’t shy, and her question had been one hundred percent legit.

  Despite Mey’s explanation, she still couldn’t figure out how kissing would be possible once the fangs elongated, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about getting bitten either. In theory, it might have been hot. In reality, it probably hurt like hell. Besides, it was weird. Jin had never fantasized about having sex with a vampire and found the whole sucking of blood thing disgusting.

  She wasn’t a Twilight fan.

  Except, the immortals didn’t need blood for nourishment, hopefully, and they bit for different reasons, which were still not a hundred percent clear to her.

  Mey couldn’t or wouldn’t tell her more with the others present, and that was a major bummer. They were not going to be alone for the duration of the trip, and once they reached their destination, they would probably part ways. Mey would go back to the lovely village, and Jin would accompany her friends to the underground facility.

  Ugh, she hated living like a freaking mole.

  Now, that was funny. A mole that didn’t wish to live as one.

  Except, she was no longer training to be a spy, and hopefully the clan wouldn’t ask her to serve in that capacity. She’d been willing to sacrifice five years of her life to save up for her and Mey’s dream, but she wasn’t willing to spend her immortal life spying.

  Perhaps others found it exhilarating, but not Jin.

  Her excitement was all about building a business and running it honestly and successfully with no spying involved.

  There were so many things she wanted to talk with Mey about. “I wish I could come with you to the village, but I really can’t leave my friends. They regard me as their representative.”

  “They’ll be fine,” Kian said. “You should go home with Mey and Yamanu.”

  Right. Jin had no wish to become the third wheel and ruin their honeymoon. “I can’t.” She turned to Mey. “I hope that you’ll come to visit me often. We have so much to talk about.”

  “I have an idea.” Mey’s eyes widened with excitement. “If you can’t come to live with us in the village, perhaps Yamanu and I can come live with you in the underground facility.” She leaned forward between the two front seats. “I assume that you will want to post Guardians to keep an eye on the trainees. Yamanu and Arwel can do their guard duty there.”

  “Do
we have enough furnished cells?” Syssi asked.

  Cells? Jin and her friends were about to be locked up in a freaking basement, and Mey was okay with that?

  “Are you putting us in a dungeon?”

  Syssi turned around. “Relax. It’s not what you think.”

  Kian cleared his throat. “It’s exactly what she thinks, but we are not going to lock anyone up. We have a nice one-bedroom apartment that is beautifully furnished. In fact, my sister and her mate spent quite some time in there. We also have several studio style rooms, but only one is furnished. I called our interior designer and asked her to prepare three more for our guests. But if Mey and Yamanu are going to join you, I need to tell her to prepare another one.”

  Syssi smiled. “It’s really not as bad as it sounds. Each of the rooms has its own bathroom, and the underground has a gym, a swimming pool, a movie theater, a commercial kitchen, offices, classrooms, and even a banquet hall and an assembly hall. It’s like an underground city.”

  “I just came from one,” Jin said. “And although what you are describing is impressive, it’s nowhere near on the scale of that facility. The place is so big that there are streets with electric vehicles traveling back and forth. They have simulated lighting that mimics the real thing, and there are windows in the buildings overlooking the streets. Still, it’s located in the belly of a mountain, and living there is not the same as living topside.”

  Kian glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “How many people live in there?”

  “I don’t know the exact number, but I estimate thousands. The place was designed as a fallout shelter, but it is currently used for countless secret projects. Don’t ask me what they are because I don’t know. We were instructed to keep what we did secret, and so were the others. But there is cooperation. Like I was taking classes in Mandarin with normal future operatives, and our group practiced in the same shooting range as everyone else.”