by I. T. Lucas
Calvin had promised to release her after her memories were taken care of by the drugs, and whatever she’d learned would be forgotten the same way it had happened the other time they had used those drugs on her.
Provided they would let her go after all.
Despite Calvin’s reassurances, she wasn’t at all certain of it.
When a knock sounded at the door, Eleanor opened her eyes and waited for it to open. The knocks were meant to give her a heads-up that someone was coming in, not to ask her permission to enter.
Except, the last person she’d expected to see was Greggory. Her suitcase had been delivered hours ago, and not by him, so she figured that he was too chicken to see her.
“Hi, Gina.” He walked in and closed the door behind him. “You are probably wondering what I’m doing here.” When she didn’t answer, he continued. “I came to apologize.”
“What for? Falling into my trap? And you must know by now that my name is not Gina. It’s Marisol.” She’d been going by that name for so long that it had become hers.
He looked at the chair. “May I sit down?”
“Suit yourself. It’s your house.”
He pulled out the chair, brought it over next to her bed, and sat down. “Are they treating you okay?”
“Other than torturing me with boredom and planning to drug me, yeah, they’re treating me well. Did your boss get everything out of my safe deposit box?”
“Yes. He and Rufsur are going over the contents, and once they are done, they will bring you the stuff that they don’t need.”
“I hope that includes my money and my documents.”
“It does.”
“Good. So what did you want to apologize to me for?”
He rubbed his chin with his fingers. “If I weren’t such a damn moron, I would have never given you my phone number or hooked up with you, and then you wouldn’t be in this mess.”
The guy was unbelievable. She’d come to spy on his group, and he was apologizing for getting her in trouble?
“The fault is mine, Greggory. Is that even your real name?”
He nodded. “It’s not the name I was given at birth, but it’s the name I’ve been using for years.”
“What was the name you were given as a baby?”
He looked away. “Grem, which sounds too much like grim. That’s why I don’t like it.”
“What does it mean?”
He shrugged. “Probably nothing, which was why my mother made it up. I was nothing to her, and she didn’t want me.”
“Why?”
“My conception wasn’t consensual.”
Poor guy. He had been blamed for something that he hadn’t been responsible for. It was stupid and unfair.
Eleanor could understand the mother who hadn’t wanted any reminders of the terrible crime that had been perpetrated against her, but instead of keeping Greggory, she should have given him up as an infant to a family that would have cherished and raised him as their own. So many people wanted to adopt a newborn, and he would have had no shortage of takers.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“I know.” He lifted his eyes to her. “Let’s talk about something else.”
“Gladly. So, are you really a werewolf? And if you are, will I turn into one because you bit me?”
That got him to smile. “You are not going to turn into a werewolf.”
“Calvin said that if I did, I would be lucky.”
“He was joking.”
“So you are not a werewolf?”
“I don’t turn into a hairy animal, but I do have fangs and venom glands. It’s a genetic mutation.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing. And what about the euphoria and the blackout?”
“Did you ever hear about a toad named Bufo Alvarius?”
“No.”
“Its venom glands secrete an extremely potent natural psychedelic. People who use it recreationally report feeling at one with the universe, seeing bright colors, moving environments, and a sense of euphoria. That’s what my venom does.”
“Are there any side effects or long-term consequences?”
“Most women black out for several hours, but they wake up refreshed, happy, and report a general feeling of well-being.”
That was exactly how she’d felt upon waking up, but then discovering that she’d been taken prisoner had ruined the experience for her.
“That doesn’t sound too bad.” She chuckled. “You could even call it therapeutic. But how do you get away with it? Don’t most of your partners remember getting bitten? And how come there is no trace of it left?”
“That’s why I use a blindfold. When they wake up from their trip, most think that it was part of the hallucination. The rapid healing is one of the venom’s properties.”
“What about the blacking out? How do you explain that away?”
He smirked. “Fabulous, earth-shattering orgasms.”
Eleanor rolled her eyes. “It was good, but not that good. Seriously, what do you tell them?”
“The sex usually comes after several drinks, and the women either think that they were drunk or that I slipped them something. But since it feels so good, they don’t complain.”
“Fascinating. Pharmaceutical companies would love to get their hands on you and analyze your venom. You really shouldn’t tell people about that.”
He shrugged. “I told you because you are not going to remember it.”
“Right.” She’d forgotten about that part.
Learning about something so extraordinary and then having the memory erased was just a damn shame.
“Are there others like you?”
He nodded.
Suddenly, a light bulb went on in her head. “They experimented on your mother, didn’t they? They spliced her DNA with that toad and then put the embryo back inside her.”
Greggory laughed. “You’ve been watching too many sci-fi movies.”
Yeah, he was probably right. If he were the product of an experiment, he would have never been allowed to leave the lab.
Maybe he escaped?
In either case, she was sure that Greggory could fetch a much bigger prize than all the paranormally talented people in the house put together. Their abilities couldn’t be extracted and duplicated in a lab.
Except, she wasn’t going to remember him, or his venom, and the thought made her sad for reasons that had nothing to do with monetary gain.
She liked Greggory, and even if she remembered him, she wouldn’t sell him to get locked up and experimented on for the rest of his life. There was a limit to what she was capable of, which was admittedly high, but not that high.
For some reason, recruiting talents for the government program, or even getting some for the Chinese didn’t seem as bad. Their talents were valuable, and they had to be treated well to use them in the service of their employers. In Greggory’s case, his voluntary cooperation wasn’t needed, and they could just milk him like a caged snake, or worse, cut him up and remove his glands.
Eleanor shuddered at the thought.
“Are you creeped out by me now?” he asked.
She lifted her head. “Not at all. Shocked, intrigued…” She smiled at him. “Do you bite only during sex? Or can you do that whenever you want?”
“Sex triggers the production of the venom, and the need to bite becomes as strong as the need to ejaculate. I can stop if I need to, but it’s not pleasant.”
“I bet.” She looked at the camera mounted across from her bed. “Will you get in trouble for having sex with me again?”
A big grin spread over his handsome face. “I won’t.”
She slung her legs over the side of the bed, got up, and offered him her hand. “Let’s go to the bathroom. There are no cameras in there.”
27
Rufsur
“I’m not looking forward to this.” Julian followed Rufsur.
“Visiting the bunker?“ Rufsur punched in the code for the tunnel access. “Or s
eeing Eleanor again?”
“Why would I dread the bunker?” Julian waited until Rufsur closed the door behind them.
“Some people are claustrophobic, and the thought of being underground bothers them.”
The doctor shook his head. “I haven’t met an immortal yet who had that problem. By the way, does Eleanor know where she is being held?”
“She assumes that she’s in a basement, and we don’t correct her misconception. The less she knows, the better. And in the same vein, she knows Kalugal as Calvin. He introduced himself as the owner’s assistant.”
“Remind me of the owner’s name?”
"Kajeck Zolotovsky.”
“That’s a mouthful. What about the bite? How was that explained?”
Rufsur chuckled. “Kalugal sold her a story about paranormals with physical mutations. He told her that Greggory was a werewolf.”
“And she bought it? The woman is evil but not stupid.”
“She’s not evil either. At least I don’t think she is. Greggory told her that he’s not a werewolf and that his fangs and venom are the results of a genetic mutation. She immediately speculated that the government experimented on him or his mother.”
“That fits her way of thinking.” Julian switched his satchel over to his other shoulder. “Are the drugs here already?”
“Not yet. One of my men is collecting them from the drop-off place in San Francisco. He should be back here in less than an hour.”
When Rufsur stopped in front of a closed door, Julian took in a deep breath. “You know that she’s Ella’s aunt, right?”
“Kian told us.”
“Does she know that Ella, Vivian, and Parker are alive?”
“No, Kian asked us not to tell her.”
“Good. In case she shakes off the drugs, I don’t want her to remember them. The woman would sell her own family to the Russian mobster for profit.”
They really didn’t like her, and Rufsur was starting to think that Greggory had been boob blinded. Either that or the guy felt an affinity toward her because she was indeed a Dormant.
If she was, it could be worthwhile investing some effort in rehabilitating her. She wasn’t too old to change, and Rufsur believed in second chances.
After all, that was what Kalugal had given all of the men he’d taken with him when he’d run. He’d given them an opportunity to make a life for themselves without Navuh’s brainwashing dogma coloring their thinking.
The difference was that Eleanor hadn’t been brainwashed.
Or maybe she had?
He was willing to bet that no one had thought of that. Compulsion wasn’t the only way to control people.
Rufsur knocked on the door and then paused with his hand on the handle. “You are a nice guy, Julian, and I feel awkward telling you this, but give her the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps there is some good in her and she just needs help rediscovering it. If Dalhu could change his ways, I don’t see why Eleanor can’t. He had done much worse things than she has.” Smiling, Rufsur played his trump card. “To regard her differently just because she is a woman would be discriminatory, don’t you think?”
For a long moment, Julian gaped at him, but then he closed his mouth and nodded. “You are right. The things she did were bad, but we judge her more harshly because she is a woman. We expect females to hold themselves to higher moral standards.”
“And usually they do.” Rufsur pressed on the handle and opened the door. “Good afternoon, Eleanor. I brought you a visitor.”
She looked at Julian and frowned. “Do I know you?”
“We’ve met before. I know who you are.” Julian’s nostrils flared.
Rufsur smelled the sex too, but he had known about Greggory’s visit. The guys in the monitoring room informed him that the two had gone into the bathroom and emerged a whole hour later. Hopefully, Greggory used a damn condom this time.
“Are you here to give me the drugs?”
As the wave of sadness that Eleanor emitted crashed over Rufsur, he had to fight the impulse to put his hand on his chest. For some reason, she really didn’t want to forget, and he wondered whether it was because of Greggory or the foiling of her malevolent plans.
Julian nodded. “I’m the doctor. But first, I’m going to take your vitals so I can calibrate the dose precisely.”
“When are you going to drug me?”
“In about an hour.”
28
Kalugal
As Rufsur entered Kalugal’s office with Julian, the worried expression on the doctor’s face raised Kalugal’s hackles.
“Good evening, Julian.” He pushed to his feet and offered the guy his hand. “Did Eleanor give you any trouble?”
“She didn’t, but there might be trouble nonetheless. I smelled sex in the room, and Rufsur told me that your man had intercourse with her twice.”
“I okayed it provided that he used a condom, and I’m sure that he followed my instructions.”
“Did he use a condom the first time he bit her as well?”
“Regrettably, he didn’t.” Kalugal walked over to the bar. “Can I offer you a drink?”
Julian shook his head. “No, thank you. I would appreciate some coffee, though.”
“Coming up.” Rufsur pulled out his phone. “How about something to eat?”
“That would be appreciated as well.”
Kalugal shook his head. “I suggest that we head upstairs and eat dinner at the dining table.” Kalugal put the bottle of whiskey back in the cabinet. “My guy is going to be here with the drugs in less than half an hour, but there is no rush.” He clapped Julian on the back. “I don’t want my guests to go hungry.”
What he really wanted was to get back to Jacki. Pulling out his phone, Kalugal texted her that they were heading upstairs and to meet them in the dining room.
As they made their way to the tunnel, Julian still looked worried.
“Would you like me to verify with Greggory that he was careful this time?”
“Yes, please. Two bites with unprotected sex could induce transition in a Dormant, and drugging Eleanor while she’s transitioning might be dangerous. And that’s on top of the transition itself being potentially deadly for a woman her age.”
“She seems very athletic.” Rufsur finished typing the text to Greggory and put his phone back in his pocket. “I read somewhere that humans who exercise vigorously can be biologically younger than their chronological age.”
“That is true, and all her vitals are excellent. Eleanor is an avid skier, who takes every opportunity to enjoy the slopes. The sport keeps her in top shape.”
“So there is no reason to worry, true?” Kalugal opened the door to the tunnel.
“There is. What are you going to do with her if she transitions? We can’t release her into the world. You will need to keep her locked up in here.”
Kalugal opened the door on the other side and started up the stairs. “Let’s not worry about it just yet. She probably won’t transition even if Greggory didn’t heed my warning the second time. I am three-quarters god, and it took me more than two times to induce Jacki’s transition.”
“Yeah, but did you forget about Eva? It took only once to induce her.” Julian waited for him to open the door at the top of the stairs. “It always amazes me that our fertility is practically nonexistent, and that it often takes centuries for our females to conceive, and yet we can induce transition in a Dormant in under two weeks. At least in most cases.”
As Rufsur’s phone buzzed in his pocket, he pulled it out and read the text. “Greggory says that he used protection this time.”
Julian let out a breath. “Thank the merciful Fates.”
As they made their way to the dining room, Kalugal felt the pressure on his chest ease.
It was just one more quirk of immortals’ physiology, or maybe their psychology, but whenever he was separated from Jacki for more than a couple of hours, he would start feeling the pressure on his chest building up, and then evapor
ate when he was reunited with her.
How could Rufsur stand being separated from Edna for so long?
Perhaps they hadn’t bonded yet, or even better, maybe they weren’t destined for each other. That would ease his conscience.
“I just thought of another possibility,” Julian said. “Maybe the drugs could halt Eleanor’s transition. In our experience, it cannot happen when the body is unhealthy. We can make her artificially sick with these drugs or others and stop her from transitioning. I would need to run it by my mother first, though. She has much more experience with Dormants than I do.”
“That sounds like a solid hypothesis.” Kalugal stopped in front of the library and opened the door. “You can talk with Bridget in here, and once you are done, join us in the dining room. Do you still remember the way?”
“Of course.” Julian walked into the room and put his satchel down next to one of the armchairs. “It’s strange to be here again. It feels like the last time I was in this library was ages ago, but only a couple of months have passed.”
29
Rufsur
Julian entered the dining room looking relieved. “Bridget says that we should drug Eleanor as soon as possible to get her to talk.” He pulled out a chair. “Hi, Jacki. Nice to see you again.”
Jacki smiled. “Same here. How is everyone in the village?”
“As usual. From what I hear, Amanda is busy with preparations for your wedding. She got Gerard to cater it.”
“Who is Gerard?” Rufsur asked.
“One of ours, who is a famous chef and regrettably refuses to live in the village. He runs a members-only restaurant that just the very rich can afford.”
Kalugal grinned. “Is that the famous By Invitation Only?”
“That’s the one.”
“I heard of it, and I was planning to check it out. Now I’m glad that I didn’t. You would have found out about me a long time ago.”