Dark Secrets Resurgence (The Children Of The Gods Paranormal Romance Series Book 44)

by I. T. Lucas

  “I’m glad you know about David, but you should also know that Sari told him the truth about us, so there is no need to pretend around him. He knows who you are.”

  “That is a little disappointing. I was looking forward to a performance. I planned on shrouding myself to look like a middle-aged woman to fit the role of a matriarch. But I do not mind the lost opportunity if it means that Sari believes David is the one for her.”

  “She is not there yet, but she likes him a lot. She asked that you don’t gush all over him, though.”

  Annani huffed. “I do not gush. I either approve or disapprove.”

  44

  Eleanor

  William’s lab was also in the underground, and the walk from Onegus’s office over there was short, but it was long enough for Eleanor to have a minor panic attack.

  What if Greggory didn’t want to talk to her?

  They had spent the night of Jacki’s wedding together, and the sex had been phenomenal, but that didn’t mean that he wanted more than that.

  He’d said some sweet things to her, but men often did that to get a woman in bed and didn’t mean a word of it.

  They were liars, manipulators, one and all.

  Eleanor shook her head. Sometimes the nasty just took over her mind and made her hateful and resentful. Sometimes she managed to shake it off, and sometimes it lingered for a long time. Anything could trigger it, but mostly it was a reaction to stress or anxiety.

  Oh, how desperately she longed for the calm feeling she could achieve only on the slopes. The intense training regimen she’d imposed on herself was good for taking the edge off, but it was no substitute for skiing. If they ever let her out of the village, she was going to move someplace where the slopes were covered in snow year-round.

  Vivian kept pressuring her into going to see the clan’s shrink, but Eleanor didn’t want to take drugs to force artificial calmness upon herself, and talking to the woman wasn’t going to help either. On the contrary, it was only going to further agitate her.

  Skiing was a much better and healthier alternative.

  “Get ready for mayhem.” Kri opened the door to a big space that was teeming with people.

  “What’s going on in here?” Eleanor looked around.

  She’d expected a quiet lab with a large worktable and one or two computer guys working there. Instead, the place looked like a startup on steroids, with many worktables and people putting things together.

  “Don’t ask me. Ask William.” Kri headed to the back of the large hall, where the man in charge had a cramped and dusty office. The door was open, and they walked right in.

  “Hello.” William grinned happily at them. “Please, take a seat.” He hurried to remove piles of equipment from the two chairs in front of his desk. “Pardon the mess.” He wiped the dust off the seats with his hand.

  “Eleanor is asking what’s going on. I’m sure that you would love to explain.”

  “You know me well.” He pushed his glasses up his nose. “But first, here is your phone.” He handed Eleanor a box. “The instructions are inside, but if you need help with anything, you are more than welcome to come here and ask.”

  “Thank you.” She opened the box and pulled out a phone that looked exactly like Kri’s. The shape and size reminded her of an iPhone, and she hoped it was just as easy to use. “It’s so sleek. Do you make them here?”

  William nodded. “I use parts from several existing devices and some proprietary ones that were designed by us and are manufactured by trusted suppliers.” He waved a hand at the busy room outside the door. “But now that we have these amazing 3D printers, we can make them right here. Those babies revolutionized the way things are made, especially in small quantities, which is perfect for startups and testing new products. The timeline from design to test run is now days instead of months.”

  The guy’s excitement was contagious and enviable. If Eleanor could find something to be as passionate about as William was about technology, she would be a much happier person.

  “Tell Eleanor about the virtual machines,” Kri prompted. “That’s really revolutionary. When will you have some ready for us to use? I want to experience flying a fighter jet.”

  Were they talking about flight simulators? That wasn’t a new technology, but maybe they’d improved on it.

  Taking his glasses off, William grinned as he wiped them clean with his shirt. “I’ll put it on the list of virtual adventures. We have two machines ready for testing, but the way that list keeps growing, our programmers will never be able to keep up. Do you know how much work goes into creating the environments?”

  Kri waved a dismissive hand. “I don’t know much about programming, but mine should be easy. A cockpit, blue sky, some clouds, and you’ve got the environment done. And as to the experience itself, I’m sure you can copy it from flight simulators and just make a few adjustments.”

  “True.” He turned to Eleanor. “What about you? Is there a particular adventure you would like to experience?”

  “I’m an avid skier, but simulators don’t do the trick for me. I tried.”

  “Oh, but the virtual machines are nothing like the simulators you’ve tried.” He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “This is a totally immersive experience. Did you happen to see Total Recall?”

  Eleanor chuckled. “I’m old enough to have seen it when it just came out. It blew my mind.”

  Kri arched a brow. “You were ten years old. That was a very violent movie. Wasn’t it restricted?”

  “It was, but I convinced my parents to take my brother and me to see it. My brother closed his eyes for most of the movie.”

  She remembered making fun of Josh for that. What a sucky sister she’d been to him.

  “Well, our virtual machines are like that. You go in, and in a span of three hours, you can have weeks of adventures, and the best part is that you choose an avatar and forget who you are in real life.” He leaned forward and whispered as if he was telling her a big secret. “You can also share the experience with a person who is hooked up to a similar machine. The inventor's original intent for them was to enable people to share virtual sex.”

  Eleanor rolled her eyes. “Why am I not surprised. That’s where the money is.”

  “That’s true, but that wasn’t the only motive for the invention. The man who came up with the idea wanted to help a friend of his who’d become paralyzed. The machines would have allowed him to live a full life with his wife. But to get investors, the founders of the company needed to show that it would be profitable. It took them many years to develop and nearly bankrupted them. If not for Kian and Syssi stepping in with more investment money, they would have folded.”

  Eleanor narrowed her eyes at William. “Does the clan own the company now? Or did you steal the technology from them?”

  “Of course not. The founders were struggling, financially and technologically. Kian and Syssi invested heavily in the firm, and I helped debug their program. Aside from profit sharing, we are also allowed to build the machines for our own use. We are not allowed to sell them, though, and we are not going to do that. We honor our agreements.”

  She let out a breath. “I’m sorry for jumping down your throat. My default is to always suspect wrongdoing. When are you going to start testing?”

  “We are ready. I just need to find volunteers.”

  Eleanor lifted her hand. “Count me in.”

  “Me too,” Kri said. “I’m willing to go on a shared ski adventure with Eleanor. That should be fun.”

  Excitement bubbling in her chest, Eleanor leaned forward. “Is it going to feel real like in Total Recall? Am I really going to feel like I’m on the slopes, skiing?”

  He nodded. “Unfortunately, I don’t have a ski program ready yet. But I can call the Perfect Match Virtual Studios and ask if they have one.” He pushed his glasses up his nose again. “The only problem with that is that all of their adventures are sex-oriented.”

  Kri lifted
her hands in the air. “I’m not willing to go that far for a friend. I’m happily mated to a male.”

  When the three of them were done laughing, Eleanor wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “I like you, Kri, but not that much. I would love to try it out with Greggory, though.” She turned to William. “Can you hook him up remotely? Or does he need to be here?”

  “The machines are staying in the village, and there is no way to hook up to them remotely. It will have to wait for when Kalugal and his people move here, which is going to happen pretty soon.”

  “You will have a long line of customers.” Kri pushed to her feet. “Maybe you should charge for the privilege.”

  “I don’t own the machines. They belong to the clan.”

  Kri put a hand on William’s shoulder. “I was just joking. Thanks for the phone and for the talk.”

  “You are most welcome.” He rose to his feet as well. “Let me escort you out.”

  As they made their way through the large communal room, Eleanor realized that she hadn’t felt that good in years, and it wasn’t only about her superb physical state.

  For the first time in her life, she had a best friend.

  Eleanor had never gotten along with other women, and she had been suspicious of men, which was why she’d been so alone. But she and Kri were a lot alike. They both had a sarcastic sense of humor, were athletic, competitive, and ruthless.

  The difference was that Kri was loyal to the bone, while Eleanor was not. But perhaps in time, that could change.

  45

  David

  As David walked into the castle’s entry hall, he didn’t feel right joining the welcoming party.

  Not only was he a mere humble human, but he was also not part of the royal family. He hoped to be, but even though being Sari’s mate was a lofty and desirable position, assuming it after only one day with her was premature and presumptuous.

  “I assume that you know everyone,” Sari said.

  He leaned to whisper in her ear. “I don’t remember the names of Kian’s bodyguards and their wives. Perhaps I was told, and then Kalugal thralled my memories away?”

  “That’s possible. Let me introduce you to everyone again.”

  Once that was done, and David had committed all the names to memory, he looked around for a spot to stand. “Where do you want me?”

  Sari looked unsure.

  “Over here.” Anandur motioned for David to join him and Callie. “The children and their mates go first, and then Kalugal and Jacki. Annani will most likely acknowledge the rest of us only with a smile or a friendly nod.”

  “You make her sound like a snob,” Wonder said. “She happens to be my best friend.”

  “Okay, so you might get a hug as well. Annani never hugs me.”

  “That’s because you are so tall.”

  “What about Brundar?”

  Wonder rolled her eyes. “She knows that he doesn’t like to be touched. Right, Brundar?”

  The blond bodyguard shrugged, and his mate answered for him. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t want Annani hugging me. She’s awesome, but she scares me.”

  Jacki nodded in agreement. “Me too. I’d rather bow in respect than shake her hand.”

  Evidently, the Clan Mother wasn’t the soft-hearted loving matriarch Sari had told him about. As much as she’d tried to convince him that the goddess was friendly and considered herself a mother first, that exchange and the tension emanating from everyone around him told a different story.

  What did she look like?

  Was she a tall brunette like Amanda? Flamboyant and extroverted? Or was she an auburn-haired beauty like Sari? Reserved and elegant? Or maybe she looked more like her son? Tall and impressive but grumpy and intimidating.

  Could she be even more beautiful than her children? Was it even possible?

  Did she appear as young as them? Or had she aged a little during her thousands of years on the planet?

  As David mentally flipped through the different images of Annani he’d constructed in his imagination, the castle’s double doors swung open.

  The first to enter were two butlers who looked identical to Sari’s, reminding David that he’d forgotten to ask her why the guy looked older than other immortals.

  Except, when the goddess and her daughter entered next, all thoughts of strange butlers vanished. Reeling from shock, David swayed on his feet.

  There was no mistaking who was who. The daughter was tall, blonde, and had an amiable expression on her beautiful face.

  The goddess was an apparition.

  A powerful alien being.

  A nightmare made manifest.

  The tiny redheaded powerhouse had starred in his recurring juvenile dreams, or rather night terrors. In them, she hadn’t been a benevolent force for good. She’d been a temptress, a seductress, a terrifying femme fatale.

  “Welcome, Mother.” Sari walked into the goddess’s arms.

  Still shaken, David stepped aside and hid behind Anandur’s hulking form to regain his composure.

  He hadn’t dreamt about her in years, but he still remembered waking up from them painfully aroused, covered in sweat, and gasping for air. Had the dreams been prophetic? Or perhaps they had been past life memories? Had he met the goddess in another life?

  A life which she had ended?

  David had been a young teenager when the dreams had started, and he could trace their origins to a book he’d read. She by H. Rider Haggard had left a mighty impression on his young imagination, and if the temptress of his dreams had looked like the fictional character of the immortal sorceress Ayesha, that would have explained them. But in the book, Ayesha was a stunning tall woman with raven hair, not the tiny, blindingly beautiful redhead who’d played her role in his dreams.

  Even back then, he’d wondered why the sexy yet terrifying white queen looked so different in his dreams than her book description. There hadn’t been any pretty redheads in his school, and none of the movie stars of his childhood resembled his dream obsession either.

  Now he had his answer, and whether he had prophesied his encounter with the goddess or had met her in a previous life, she was proof that there was more to reality than could be seen, heard, touched, or smelled by the physical body.

  Extrasensory perception was real, and therefore so were paranormal phenomena.

  The realization brought about an elation that managed to overshadow the shock of seeing the object of his dreams manifest before his very eyes.

  His hope that Jonah and his father weren’t really gone, and that he might find a way to communicate with them, had just gotten renewed and reinforced.

  Death wasn’t the final door.

  Besides, watching the way she greeted her children, he had to admit that the goddess seemed to be nothing like the terrible seductress from his dreams. Her love for them was as palpable as her awesome power, and so was their love and admiration for her. The evil sorceress of his nightmares would not have been capable of so much motherly love and warmth.

  Letting out a stifled breath, David waited until she turned her eyes to him.

  46

  Sari

  When Annani and Alena were done greeting the family, Sari glanced over to where she’d last seen David. He was half-hidden by Anandur’s bulk, and she wondered whether he was actively hiding from Annani or was it accidental.

  He didn’t strike her as the easily intimidated type, and she’d told him enough about Annani that he shouldn’t be overly shocked at seeing her.

  Still, the goddess was a lot to take in, even for a confident man like David.

  The trouble was that with everyone’s emotions running high, Sari couldn’t isolate his and had to wait patiently until it was time to introduce him.

  “Wonder!” Annani beckoned her friend to approach her. “I am so glad you are here. I missed you terribly.”

  Sari waited as the two embraced and chatted for a minute, and then cleared her throat to get Annani’s attenti
on. “I want to introduce you to David, Mother.”

  “Of course.” Annani smiled. “Where is he?”

  David stepped out from behind Anandur and bowed. “Greetings, Clan Mother.”

  He seemed anxious, but that was understandable.

  What was unexpected, though, was the coldness in her mother’s eyes. “Welcome, David of the Levi tribe.” Annani didn’t approach David or offer him her hand either.

  The formal address was unusual for her mother, and so was the uncharacteristically aloof way in which she’d said it.

  What the hell had Kian told Annani?

  Sari had asked him to warn their mother not to gush all over David, but that was overdoing it in the other direction. What was going on?

  “Thank you, Clan Mother.” David dipped his head. “I’m honored to be here.”

  Annani forced a smile. “I am certain that the Fates guided Kalugal’s decision to bring you here, and I hope to welcome you as a member of my clan, following your successful transition that is.” Her tone was a little warmer this time, but it still wasn’t her usual cheerful one.

  David bowed again. “Thank you, Clan Mother.”

  Annani turned to Alena. “Shall we adjourn to our quarters? I would like to freshen up before dinner.” She glanced at Sari. “Are we staying in the same suite as before?”

  “Yes. I’ll escort you.”

  “Naturally.” Annani threaded her arm through Sari’s. “On the way, you can tell me about all that is new and exciting in your castle.”

  As they headed out, Sari glanced at David over her shoulder and cast him a reassuring smile. He looked perturbed, and she regretted that they had decided he would go back to his room following the reception and they would next meet at dinner.

  Perhaps she should text Kalugal and ask him to pay David a visit. He looked like he needed someone to talk to.

  When they were out of his hearing range, Sari pulled her arm out of Annani’s. “So, what do you think of David?”