by I. T. Lucas
“I understand her perfectly. Kids need a stable environment. Can’t you find a substitute for Magnus?”
“I can. But he’s been heading the operation in the Bay Area and doing a great job. Once the summit is over, I’ll replace him.”
Syssi cast him a sidelong glance. “You need to start packing. Or do you want me to do that for you?”
“I can pack my stuff.” Except, as he walked into the closet, his phone rang. “On second thought…”
She chuckled. “I’ll do it. Answer the call.”
“Thanks.”
Checking the caller ID, he was surprised to see it was Jin. She and Arwel were heading to the cabin to join Wendy and Richard. Was there a last-minute change of plans?
“Hello, Jin. How is the motor home?”
“Huge. Thank you so much for approving the purchase.”
“You’re welcome. I’m sure we will put it to good use.”
“What about Bowen and Leon? Did they get a motor home?”
“They plan on taking turns on the couch.”
“That’s not good. We need that couch for watching movies or snuggling in front of the fire. This was supposed to be a romantic getaway.”
“If that doesn’t work out, we will find a solution. Is that what you were calling about?”
“No. I need to ask you for a favor.”
“What is it?”
“When I spoke to Wendy, I told her that the program wasn’t the only safe place for her and that our organization can provide her with a real safe haven. But she has severe trust issues, and she wants to get it in writing. I know that if she transitions, she will be taken care of, but I wanted to ask what can be done for her if she doesn’t. Will the clan take care of her?”
“I can find her a job. With her empathic ability, she could be a customer service manager in one of our hotels, after she gets some training, of course. But I’m not going to pay her a quarter of a million a year for that.”
“I know, and I told her that she can’t expect to be paid as well as she’d been in the program, but she won’t be exploited either. Can you put the job offer in writing for her?”
“A piece of paper is meaningless.”
“I know. But maybe it will help alleviate some of her anxiety.”
“I’ll have Shai send you an email detailing the help she might expect from us.”
“That would be awesome. Thank you.”
“Anything else?”
A moment of silence passed before Jin responded. “No, that’s it for now. Good luck with the summit.”
“Any last minute pointers on Kalugal?”
“I’ve already told you my impression of him, but I didn’t spend long enough with Kalugal to be sure about anything. He seems like a reasonable guy. He’s charming, very sharp, and a major snob. He was nice to me, and he took good care of me even though he had no reason to. I was the enemy.”
“He was afraid that I’d blame him if anything happened to you.”
“That’s what he said, but he seemed genuinely concerned. Kalugal is not a bad guy, or at least I don’t think he is. But I might be totally wrong about him.”
18
Kalugal
“You don’t seem to be worried.” Phinas zipped his coat up as Welgost pulled up to the valet station in front of the hotel.
Per the agreement with Kian, they weren’t carrying hot weapons, but Phinas, Ruvon, and Welgost had plenty of cold ones hidden inside their jackets and other places on their bodies.
Kalugal had none.
His weapon was his mind, and compared to that, all those crude instruments were useless.
“Kian is afraid of me, but he doesn’t wish me harm. As far as I’m concerned, you can leave your arsenals in the car. No one will attack us.”
Phinas shrugged. “Perhaps you are right. But our job is to protect you, and we don’t have your special talent.”
Kalugal nodded. “Noted. But if you are searched, and your weapons are taken away, don’t worry too much about it.”
Not wanting to attract attention, Kalugal had chosen one of his less flashy cars for the short trip to the hotel.
The Range Rover was red, so not entirely inconspicuous, but it wasn’t as bad as the Lamborghini or one of his other beauties. It was also roomier and more appropriate for four passengers.
As the valet opened his door, Kalugal had a twenty-dollar bill ready for him. “Keep it safe, will you?” If it were one of his fancier cars, he would have given the guy a hundred to make sure that he kept an eye on it at all times.
“Of course, sir.” The guy took the twenty with a gloved hand.
Looking at the classy hotel, Kalugal approved of Kian’s choice. It was very considerate of his cousin to select a location that was close to his house. Leaving Jacki behind had been surprisingly difficult, and he already couldn’t wait for the day to be over so he could go home to her.
Given the importance of the summit, the sentiment was quite ridiculous. He was about to see Lokan after more than seventy years, and he was going to meet Kian for the first time. The three of them were about to put their heads together and come up with a plan for shutting down the paranormal talents department.
And if things went well, they would come out of the summit with a draft agreement for future cooperation.
Following the instructions he’d been given, Kalugal exited the elevator on the third floor and headed down the corridor to conference room number five.
He stopped in front of the double doors and took a deep breath. Behind him, he could feel his three guards tense, but Kalugal wasn’t going to let the aggression wafting from them affect him.
Still shrouded in one of his disguises, he planted a smile on his face, relaxed his shoulders, and pushed the door open.
Lokan, who wasn’t affected by his shroud, was the first one to get up.
Spotting Kian among the seven other men was easy. If anyone deserved the title demigod, it was him. Kalugal could see no familial resemblance, though, and that was somewhat disappointing. But then their mothers were only half-sisters and didn’t look alike.
The next one Kalugal spotted was Wonder’s redheaded mate, who he remembered from their chance encounter in Egypt. The third one was very obviously the immune, a blond guy with penetrating blue eyes who zeroed in on Kalugal as soon as he and his men had entered, which meant that he was not affected by the shroud any more than Lokan was.
“Kalugal.” Lokan walked up to him and offered his hand. “We meet again.”
“Indeed.” He shook his brother’s hand. “Do you even remember me?”
“I have to admit that I didn’t pay much attention to you back on the island, but I recognize you from your portrait. Kian sent me a photo.”
“I remember you,” Kalugal said. “You haven’t changed much.”
Lokan smiled. “The gift of immortality.”
“Drop the shroud, Kalugal.” Kian got up and walked over. “There is no need for it here.”
“Right.” Kalugal let go of Lokan’s hand, released the shroud, and turned to Kian. “We meet at last, cousin.”
They appraised each other like a couple of bucks. Kian was an inch or two taller than him, his hair was a few shades lighter, and he was paler. Kian’s father must have been a big northerner.
“How are the earpieces working?” Kalugal asked.
Kian’s shoulder-length hair covered his ears, but Kalugal was sure he was wearing them. Lokan wasn’t, and Kalugal wondered whether it was because his brother trusted him, didn’t fear him, or was immune to compulsion because he was a compeller himself.
Kalugal suspected that it was the third option.
“Better than expected,” Kian said. “Let’s get the introductions out of the way first.” He turned to the blond guy. “This is Turner, my strategic advisor.”
“A pleasure to meet you.” Kalugal offered his hand. “We should make time for a game of chess. It’s a rare treat for me to meet a worthy opponent.”
“And this is Anandur.”
The big redhead grinned as he got up. “Finally, we meet.”
Kalugal shook his offered hand. “My pleasure.”
They’d met before, but Anandur hadn’t seen him. Kalugal was surprised that Kian hadn’t told the guy about that, or about the figurine that looked like his mate and had triggered Jacki’s vision.
“And this is Brundar,” Kian introduced his other guard.
The man dipped his head but didn’t offer his hand.
Kalugal had a feeling that despite his angelic beauty, the guy was the deadliest of the bunch and the one he needed to be wary of.
When Kian introduced Lokan’s supposed men, it was quite obvious that the three were clansmen and not members of the Brotherhood, which made perfect sense.
His brother wouldn’t have been stupid enough to bring Brothers to the summit. Members of the Brotherhood were loyal to Navuh first and to their direct commanders second, and Lokan couldn’t risk exposing his involvement with the clan.
It was an underhanded trick on Kian’s part to bring six of his to only three of Kalugal’s, but it didn’t really matter.
Kalugal didn’t expect any trouble from his cousin.
19
Kian
As Kalugal and his men entered the hotel’s conference room, Kian gave his cousin a quick appraisal. In person, he seemed much less intimidating than Kian had imagined, but he was well aware that the impression was most likely misleading.
Kalugal was a little shorter and slimmer than him, and his expression was far from harsh. He seemed mellow, friendly, and generally good-natured. But even though his eyes were smiling, and the corners of his lips were quick to lift as well, he exuded inner power.
It wasn’t as palpable as Annani’s, so the source wasn’t his godly heritage. Kalugal simply thought himself superior in every way, and maybe he was.
Engaging with him face to face should be interesting, and Kian wondered how his cousin compared to Turner. Hopefully, he wasn’t as sharp and as unemotional because that would make him even more dangerous than Kian had estimated.
Once all the introductions were done, Kalugal pulled out a chair and sat down. “Let’s first toast this historic meeting.” He reached for one of the bottles of whiskey Kian had ordered and poured himself a shot. “I get to sit at the table with my brother, who I haven’t seen for over seventy years.” Kalugal put his hand on Lokan’s shoulder. “And my cousin, who I’m meeting for the first time. Hopefully, this will signal a new era of cooperation between us.”
Kalugal waited until everyone else’s glasses were full.
“To new horizons.” He lifted his drink.
“To family.” Kian lifted his.
Kalugal nodded and emptied the shot down his throat. “It’s a waste to drink good whiskey like that, but the occasion demands it.” Pouring himself another shot, he assumed one of his charming smiles. “I’m going to savor this one.”
“I’m glad you approve of my choice of whiskey for this meeting.” Kian poured himself another shot as well.
Kalugal reached for the bottle and read the label. “I’m sure you didn’t get it from the hotel bar. Even an upscale place like this wouldn’t carry more than one or two bottles of Macallan 25.”
“I had a case delivered.”
Kalugal dipped his head. “You have my thanks. It’s one of my favorites.”
Clearing his throat, Turner tapped his pen on his yellow pad. “I prepared a list of items for us to discuss. Shall we begin?”
Kalugal lifted his hand. “If you don’t mind, I would like to start with the threat the government’s new paranormal talents division poses to us, and by us, I mean all immortals.”
“That’s actually the first item on my list,” Turner said. “I gave your concerns some thought, and in the long run, you might be right. I don’t think the program poses an immediate threat to immortals everywhere. But if it grows and gains footing as a legitimate operation, as opposed to a fringe pilot program, it certainly could. Especially with further development of artificial intelligence.”
Kalugal looked pleased. “I’m glad that we see eye to eye. That program needs to get shut down as soon as possible, and the director and his cronies need to be discredited as frauds. It’s in our best interests for the world to go back to thinking that paranormal phenomena do not exist, and that whoever claims that it does is either a charlatan or mentally unstable.”
“How do you propose to do that?” Lokan asked.
“We need to dig up dirt on the director or plant it on him. Hopefully, that will result in the program’s closure. If not, we will have to take more extreme measures. First of all, the data the program collected on the trainees needs to be erased, which can be achieved with a sophisticated computer virus.” He cast Kian a smirking glance. “I know that the clan has access to advanced code that can do that.”
Kian frowned. “How do you know that? You said that you were never interested in us or what we do.”
Navuh had known about it because his allies had been affected by the virus that the clan helped create, but it wasn’t public knowledge.
“It wasn’t difficult to figure out. I’m no expert by any means, but I have acquaintances who are. When your virus was deployed, humans didn’t have anything even close to that level of sophistication.”
“Speaking of viruses,” Turner interjected. “Bridget says that it’s getting bad out there.”
Kian nodded. “Unfortunately, there isn’t much we can do to help.”
“Bridget discussed it with Julian. If it reaches the stage where there is a shortage of doctors and nurses, they, together with Gertrude and Hildegard, are planning to volunteer.”
“California is doing relatively okay,” Kian said. “But as much as it pains me, we have to cancel the rescue operations for now. We can’t bring new people to the sanctuary until this is over.”
No one argued against that, and for a long moment, somber silence stretched across the conference table.
Kalugal cleared his throat. “Can we get back to the computer virus?”
“It will need to be a very precisely targeted attack,” Turner said. “We don’t want to infect the government’s entire infrastructure. Roni will know more about it.”
“Your hacker,” Kalugal said. “Is he your best expert, or is it William?”
Apparently, Kalugal had been paying attention and collecting information.
“They are experts in different fields. Roni is a hacker, and William is a developer.” There was no harm in telling him that.
“That’s a good combination. Why don’t you present the problem to them and ask their expert advice?”
“I’ll do that.”
Kalugal rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Jacki told me that you found Jin by capturing the program’s recruiter and forcing information out of her. If necessary, could you do that again?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“She might have dirt on the director.”
Kian shook his head. “Since the incident, I’m sure that she is being watched closely, and they’ve probably implanted her with trackers as well. It would be much easier to plant dirt on the director than dig for it.”
“Roni can dig around,” Turner offered. “Perhaps he can find old female coworkers who we could thrall to accuse Simmons of sexual harassment. Except, the military is likely to cover it up.”
“We could leak it to the newspapers,” Kalugal suggested. “Make a big stink out of it.” Leaning back in his chair, he took another sip from his glass. “But perhaps with the use of my special talents, I can do better than that. If you capture Simmons and stash him somewhere, I could walk into that facility shrouding myself as him and walk out with the recruits.” He smirked. “More potential Dormants for us to share.”
Kian and Turner exchanged glances.
That sounded like a doable plan. They knew that none of the
other recruits were immune, so that only left the recruiter.
“We will have to capture the recruiter as well,” Kian said. “If she is there when you walk in, she will see through your shroud.”
“What about the tracker?” Lokan asked.
Kian waved a hand in dismissal. “We can take care of that with another cuff.”
“If she is an immune, how did you make her forget the abduction?” Kalugal asked.
“Drugs,” Turner said. “Those work on everyone.”
Kalugal arched a brow. “Could they work on Jacki?”
Kian wasn’t happy with where his cousin was going with that. “The drugs can affect short-term memory and muddle recent events. So, don’t think you can make Jacki forget what she knows by using them. By now, her memories are long-term. If you no longer want her to stay with you, I’ll take her off your hands.”
“It was just a hypothetical question. I have no intention of letting Jacki go. In fact, I would like to discuss with you my future plans for her, in private if you don’t mind.”
This should be interesting. “We can take a break and stretch our legs. How about a walk around the hotel’s grounds?”
“By all means.”
20
Kalugal
As Kian walked over to the conference room’s double doors, Kalugal cast a shroud over himself. “Would you like me to shroud you as well?”
“I don’t need it, and I rarely use it.” Kian glanced at his bodyguards, who had followed him to the door. “You two can come, but you need to turn the volume on your earpieces way down. Kalugal wishes to speak with me privately.”
The moment Kian allowed his guards to come along, Kalugal’s men rose to their feet as well.
Kalugal rolled his eyes. “Five men following behind us will look ridiculous and attract attention. I don’t need you to come with us.” He turned to Kian. “You don’t need your guards either. We are just going to stroll through the hotel’s grounds.”
“Anandur and Brundar know how to look inconspicuous.”