by I. T. Lucas
Kian nodded. “Annani didn’t object. She is curious about your men.” He smiled coldly. “Turner and Bridget are going to be at the luncheon as well.”
It was a warning for him and his men to be on their best behavior or else.
Kalugal stifled a chuckle. “Naturally.”
“I’m so excited.” Jacki put a hand over her chest. “What should I wear?”
35
Vlad
Vlad peeked through the slats of the motorhome’s window shade and watched Wendy throw knives at the target. For some reason, Bowen and Leon had dragged it closer to the cabin, and he wondered whether they had done it to torment him.
Maybe they were trying to tempt him to join them by flaunting how much fun they were having without him?
Wendy was getting better. Before, her throw had been so weak that she often hadn’t reached the target at all, but now she was actually hitting the outer rings. At least most of the time. Some throws still landed in the dirt.
Good for her.
While he was miserable, Wendy seemed to be having a blast.
She’d been training with the guys all day yesterday and this morning, shooting arrows or throwing knives, goofing around and laughing at their stupid jokes as if she hadn’t a care in the world.
Maybe she’d been right, and one of the Guardians was better for her. She no longer looked as withdrawn or worried as she used to, and he couldn’t even take credit for it because she’d been like that even when they’d still been together. It was Bowen or Leon’s doing, or maybe even Richard’s.
Vlad was so sick of being holed up in the damn motorhome, of being alone, of sneaking into the house in the middle of the night to load up on supplies, and mostly of missing Wendy.
He missed talking to her, smelling her, touching her. Just breathing the same air she did.
And that was only after a day and a half of his self-imposed exile. If he’d had any doubts about Wendy being the one for him, the last thirty-five hours and twenty-seven minutes had obliterated them.
He needed to man up and tell her that he loved her and was sure that she was the one for him, even if she didn’t feel the same for him.
The in-between state of not knowing where he stood with her was the definition of misery. He couldn’t go on like that. They needed to talk.
Before he had a chance to chicken out, Vlad pushed the motorhome door open and jumped down without bothering with the stairs.
Four heads turned around, but only three pairs of eyes looked at him. Wendy immediately turned back and threw another knife at the target, missing it completely.
“Damn.” She marched to where the knife had landed and picked it up.
At least he’d distracted her. She’d been scoring decent hits before he’d made his appearance.
“Good morning,” Bowen said. “Care to join us?”
Vlad shook his head and walked up to Wendy. “We need to talk.”
She shrugged. “I have nothing to say to you.”
“Would you at least hear me out?”
She looked up at him. “Do you have anything new to say? Or is it more of the same?”
“Come for a walk with me and find out.”
Wendy glanced at Bowen.
The Guardian nodded. “Go. Talk it out and don’t come back without a reconciliation.”
That was a relief. Bowen was behaving like a friend, and not like someone who was interested in Wendy. In fact, his attitude toward her was kind of fatherly.
“Fine.” She handed Leon the knife. “I’d better not have it with me. I might do something that I’d regret later.”
For a while they walked in silence, the space between them big enough to fit a semitrailer.
Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Vlad glanced at Wendy from under his long bangs. “I missed you.”
She shrugged.
“You don’t understand. I missed you so much that it hurt to breathe.”
She stopped walking and turned to him. “I can feel your pain. But what does it mean?”
“That I can’t live without you. You are the one for me, Wendy. I think I knew it all along but was scared to admit it, mainly to myself.”
“Because I hurt you?”
He nodded. “In the beginning, that was the reason. But then Kian and the Guardians kept telling me how important it was to be certain that you are the one, and I freaked out. I’ve never been in love before, and I didn’t know if my love for you was more or less than the love humans feel for each other. I couldn’t afford to be mistaken about it. Too much is at stake.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “And now?”
“Now I’m certain that you are the one. Being without you has been agonizing.” He smiled. “I watched you having fun with the guys, and I wanted to be there with you so badly. But I figured you needed time to decide too.” He lowered his eyes. “Perhaps you like Bowen or Leon better.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Wendy huffed out a breath. “They might look young, but on the inside they are old. They treat me like a kid.” She tilted her head. “But there are plenty more immortals where you come from, right? Maybe I can find someone else who will be absolutely sure that I am the one?”
“I’m sure.”
“Oh, yeah? Just because you missed me?”
“No.” He pushed his bangs back. “I asked Jackson how he knew that Tessa was the one. He said that he just did, but then he had plenty of partners before, so he knew that what he felt for Tessa was different. Except, then he said something else that convinced me.”
“What was it?”
“He said that once an immortal finds a truelove mate, he or she is no longer attracted to anyone else. And since immortals have a very active libido, that’s a very indicative sign.”
Wendy snorted and waved a hand around. “Do you see any other girls here? I’m the only one. Who else can you feel attracted to?”
“I have an imagination, you know. I’m a graphic artist, and I’m very visual. Jackson suggested that I try to imagine myself with an actress that I find attractive. So I thought of Katniss from The Hunger Games, but instead of Jennifer Lawrence, it was you in my bed, lying next to a bow.”
“In the nude?”
“Very much so.” He felt his ears getting hot.
She laughed. “That’s funny.” Then the mirth left her face, and she shook her head. “But it doesn’t prove a thing. Maybe you should go to a club and check whether anyone catches your attention. That theory of yours needs to be put to the test.”
“I don’t need to. I know what I feel, and you are the one and only for me.”
36
Wendy
Wendy utilized all of her feelers, the normal and the paranormal, but unless Vlad was lying to himself, he believed that she was the one for him.
He lowered his eyes again. “But I’m not sure that you feel the same for me, and for this to work, it has to be mutual.”
Her heart sank. “So you still have doubts.”
“It’s just that you seemed happy without me. You didn’t seem to miss me at all.”
She smiled sheepishly. “I was doing that on purpose. I wanted you to suffer.”
“You are mean.”
She slapped his arm. “You hurt me. I gave you my heart, and what’s more, I trusted you. You know how hard it was for me to overcome my fears and open up to you. And then you started saying that you weren’t sure and all that crap, and you got me so damn mad.” She wiped at the tears that started rolling down her cheeks.
“I’m sorry.” He pulled her into his arms. “I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and since I’m immortal, that’s a really long time.”
She looked up at him. “What if you can’t turn me? I mean, what if I don’t have the immortal genes?”
“That’s a risk we will both have to take. I just need to warn you. The transition isn’t easy, and although we haven’t lost a Dormant yet, there were several close calls.”
�
�What do you mean?”
“Syssi almost didn’t make it, and Bridget’s mate was in a coma for two weeks. You are young and healthy, so the risks are small, but you need to be aware of it before you agree to go for it.”
Wendy smiled. “I think immortality is worth taking a risk. What if I’m not a Dormant? Will it kill me?”
“If you don’t have the genes, nothing will happen. It’s only risky for transitioning Dormants. The process is difficult.”
“Does it hurt?”
“For females, just a little. From what I hear, the main symptoms are fever and muscle pains, but it’s much more difficult for guys. We grow venom glands and fangs, and that takes time and really hurts. Females have it relatively easy.”
She frowned. “Wait a minute. You sound like you’re talking from experience.”
“I am. We are all born human. Boys get activated when they reach puberty.”
“What about the girls?”
“They spend time with the goddess when they are little, and they turn immortal just from being around her.”
“That seems unfair. Why not do the same with the boys?”
“It just doesn’t work that way.”
Vlad hooked a finger under her chin and dipped his head to kiss her lips. “Are we okay again?”
She nodded. “If you’re asking if I still love you, I never stopped. I was just angry.”
A bright smile curling his lips, Vlad picked her up, carried her to a boulder, and sat down with her in his arms. “Then we need to seal the deal with a proper kiss.”
“What deal are we talking about?”
“By giving me permission to induce your transition, you are pledging yourself to me forever and ever.”
“What about you?”
“Same thing. By agreeing to induce your transition, I’m pledging myself to you forever and ever.”
Wendy sighed. “Provided that I have what it takes. How soon will we know? Does it take one bite? Two? More than that?”
She’d seen Vlad’s fangs, and they were damn scary. He’d said that the venom brought unimaginable pleasure, but the freaking biting came first.
Vlad’s eyes blazed with inner light. “If you transition, you are signing up for a lifetime of biting.”
She grimaced. “Don’t remind me. That’s the biggest drawback of your deal.”
“That’s actually the best part of it. A lifetime of biting means a hell of a lot of mind-blowing orgasms.”
“It might all be propaganda. I’ll believe it when I experience it.”
He smiled. “We will get to experience it together for the first time. Which reminds me, are you on any kind of birth control? The chances of me getting you pregnant are almost nonexistent, but it can happen.”
Wendy didn’t even want to think about having kids. She’d barely gotten over her fear of having a relationship with a guy. It would take a very long time, if ever, until she’d feel ready to become a mother. With her shitty parenting genes, she shouldn’t chance it.
“I got a contraceptive shot in the program. We all did. But given that the director wanted us to make babies, it was probably bogus.”
Vlad closed his eyes and sighed. “Then we will have to wait for Bridget to give you a real one, or to prescribe you pills.”
“Fine with me.”
“It will take a few days until they start working. We will have to wait.”
“So we‘ll wait.” She smirked. “We haven’t really done anything yet. We should start with the basics first, don’t you think?”
Vlad reddened, and his fangs grew even longer than they’d been a few moments ago. “I would love to take it slow, but we don’t have time. Kian gave us only two weeks.”
Wendy frowned. “What happens after that?”
“Two weeks of memories is still safe to thrall away. More than that is dangerous. If you don’t transition within that time, your memories will have to be erased.” He swallowed. “And in our case, the clock started ticking the moment I told you about immortals.”
Wendy gasped. “That was almost a week ago. How long does it usually take to induce a Dormant?”
“A week or two.”
That was really bad.
“What if you erase my memories now? You can tell me everything again and restart the clock.”
“That’s actually not a bad idea. But I need to ask Kian first.”
“Then do it.” She waved a hand. “Call him right now.”
“Are you sure?”
Was he kidding her? Her chance of immortality might be lost because Vlad couldn’t make up his damn mind?
“Yes, I’m sure. Stop futzing around, Vlad. Your indecisiveness has already cost us precious time.”
37
Kian
As Kian’s phone buzzed with an incoming message, he groaned.
It seemed like he wasn’t going to get any work done today. He’d just returned from talking to Kalugal, had to leave soon for the luncheon at his house, and the damn phone kept either buzzing or ringing.
Perhaps he should just turn it off. If anyone needed him urgently, they knew where to find him.
The message was from Bhathian, and it was short and to the point. Vlad needs to talk to you. He’s ready to induce Wendy.
Kian had been expecting that, but after his last talk with Vlad, he’d thought the kid would contact him directly. Evidently, Vlad was still intimidated by him.
Nevertheless, this was a phone call that Kian was glad to make, even though in his opinion Wendy wasn’t a perfect candidate for his clan. But as Dalhu had proven, redemption was possible, and love had the power to change people for the better.
His call was answered right away.
“Hi, Kian. Thank you for calling me back so quickly.”
“No problem. But for future reference, you can call me directly or send me a text. You don’t need to use Bhathian as an intermediary.”
Vlad swallowed audibly. “Thank you. I will. So, do I have permission to induce Wendy?”
“Is she the one?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
Kian smiled and leaned back in his chair. “Did you tell her?”
“I did. I hope that’s okay. It’s just that I didn’t want to bother you for nothing in case she refused. But she is very enthusiastic and wants to start as soon as possible.” Vlad swallowed again. “I was wondering if I can bring her to the village. The cabin is kind of crowded, and we don’t have much privacy. Besides, we can’t stay here forever, and Wendy has nowhere else to go.”
Kian swiveled his chair to look out the window of his office and leaned back again. “I don’t mind you bringing Wendy into the village, but you have only two weeks starting from last Thursday. That doesn’t leave you much time.”
“I know, and Wendy is stressing over it as well. She suggested that I wipe her memories to restart the clock and then tell her everything again. Do you think it’s a good idea?”
Kian considered it for about two seconds. If Vlad was an experienced male, then his conviction that Wendy was the one and only for him would have carried more weight. But he was young and in love, and he might be mistaken, which made Wendy’s case weaker than that of other Dormants.
Paranormal abilities were a good indicator, but the special affinity between an immortal and a potential Dormant was even better, and Vlad’s couldn’t be trusted.
Then again, Kian was starting to get a feel for the way the Fates worked, and this particular pairing followed a familiar pattern.
Come to think of it, Richard and Ingrid’s short-lived relationship had lacked that pattern, and he should have realized that they weren’t meant for each other.
On the other hand, Robert and Carol’s story had fit the pattern perfectly, and yet, they hadn’t been meant for each other.
Bottom line, guesswork was a waste of time.
Kian swiveled his chair back to face the desk. “It doesn’t make sense to wip
e five days’ worth of memories and then tell Wendy everything again. If she doesn’t transition by the following Thursday, I’ll give her an extension.”
“What if she doesn’t transition even after that?”
“Then you’ll have to wipe her memories or have someone else do it. I’ll arrange a job for her in our hotel in Hawaii, which includes lodging, so she will have a place to stay.”
“Can I go with her? I can pretend to be human and just be her boyfriend.”
“Did you forget about your fangs? It can’t work with a human, Vlad. Believe me, I tried, and the consequence was the worst heartache of my life. I was a little younger than you are now when I fell in love with a human girl. I even defied Annani and went ahead and married her. I won’t bore you with the details but suffice to say that nothing good came out of it.”
There was a long moment of silence, then a sigh. “Can we come to the village today?”
“I need to figure out what to do about Richard. I’ll talk to Bowen, and then let you know. Is he around?”
“I’m in the motorhome, but I can go back inside and give him the phone.”
“There is no need. I’ll call him.”
“Thank you.”
After disconnecting, Kian called the Guardian.
“Hello, Kian. Are you calling about Vlad and Wendy?”
“Actually, I’m calling about Richard. I gave Vlad permission to bring Wendy to the village, but we need to find a solution for Richard. You could take him back to the keep, but he’ll be miserable alone.”
“I think we should take him to the village as well. Just tell him the truth, induce him, and then parade him in front of the single ladies. He’s a decent-looking guy, and with some coaching, he might catch someone’s attention.”
“Coaching? In what area?”
“He needs to learn a little finesse.”
“I see.” Kian chuckled. “Are you offering to be the coach?”
“I’m not the best guy for the job, but I can try.”