by I. T. Lucas
“Why did you keep it a secret from me and even ask my friends to do the same? And why didn’t they tell me that I can turn immortal before you asked them to hide it?” She shook her head. “When they took the other trainees and me, they pretended to be an organization of paranormally talented people, and I believed them because it made sense. And then when you told me the truth about Arwel, I thought that they kept it a secret from me because they didn’t want to risk exposure, which also made sense. But I should have realized that they had a good reason for going after Jin, and also for agreeing to take me and the other two. If what you are telling me is true, then everyone in the government’s paranormal talents program could be a dormant carrier.”
Talk about the puzzle pieces falling into place and forming a complete picture.
“It’s complicated, especially because you are immune to mind manipulation and can’t be made to forget what you’ve learned. Not every human with paranormal talent is a Dormant, and those who fail to transition have their memories scrubbed. But even those who transition can betray the existence of immortals. That’s why the clan doesn’t tell the potential Dormants anything until they bond with a clan member, or in human terms fall in love with one. The love bond guarantees the Dormants' loyalty, and when they transition, they become part of the clan. Since by then they are fully devoted to their mates, the former Dormants keep their immortality and the clan’s existence secret.”
“What happens to those who don’t transition?”
“As I said, their memories of encountering immortals are erased.”
“What about the immortals they bonded with? Aren’t they devastated when they need to make their partners forget them?”
“I don’t think it's happened yet. Kian believes that the Fates are responsible for putting Dormants and their fated mates in each other’s paths.”
That sounded like something a fortuneteller would say, and not the formidable leader of the clan. Kian didn’t strike her as someone who believed in superstition. All that talk about fate was ridiculous, and Jacki wondered if it was part of the story that they told potential Dormants and whether the reason for it was sinister.
“Was I the only one kept in the dark, or are my other two friends just as clueless?”
“Kian didn’t share that information with me. But unless they fell in love with a clan member, they weren’t told.”
The gears in Jacki’s head had been slow to process the new information, but she was starting to get the big picture. Her potential dormancy was the big secret that Kalugal had said he couldn’t reveal until he had her love and loyalty.
Except, she hadn’t told him that she loved him yet, and she was glad that she hadn’t.
“Are you telling me about it now because of our impending marriage?” She snorted. “Now I know why you were willing to donate insane amounts of money to Kian’s charity just so I’d stay with you. Dormants are rare, and you didn’t want to let go of the one you had in your hand.”
It wasn’t about her being smart, or pretty, or even good company. It was all about her genes.
The realization and the disappointment that followed dripped acid down her veins. It was corrosive, destructive, and painful.
Kalugal nodded. “I’m not doing a very good job of explaining.” Clearly frustrated, he raked his fingers through his hair, reminding her of Kian.
As the saying went, blood was thicker than water, and even though the cousins had just met, they shared the same nervous tic.
Letting out a breath, Jacki forced herself to calm down and let Kalugal explain. “How about you start from the beginning?”
He smiled. “Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
As Kalugal took several sips from the coffee, Jacki waited patiently, suspecting that he needed a couple of moments to collect his thoughts.
He put the cup down and leaned toward her, looking straight into her eyes. “I liked you from the first moment that I saw you without the drab disguise. In fact, I felt something even before that, but because it didn’t make sense, I tried to explain it away. The first time I met you was outside the cigar lounge, and you were wearing that ugly disguise. Nevertheless, I thought that I must have met you before and that’s why I was feeling that strange affinity toward you. Then when you attacked Rufsur and me, I thought that what I felt was admiration for your guts and for your loyalty to Arwel, who I assumed was your boyfriend. And that was way before I knew that you were a possible Dormant, and before I found out how beautiful you really were.”
Kalugal looked so sincere that Jacki couldn’t help but soften up. The truth was that when she had first seen his picture, she’d felt that same elusive something that he was trying to explain. And she had done the same thing he had, trying to explain it away as a reaction to a hot guy.
Could it be that they were really fated for each other?
“When did you find out that I was a potential Dormant?”
“When Jin was delirious and asked whether she was transitioning, I started to suspect that she was a Dormant and later compelled her to tell me the truth. When she did, I suspected that you were one too and compelled the doctor to confirm it. Naturally, my interest in you intensified, but it was there all along.”
“Because I could turn immortal?”
He nodded. “You need to understand. Neither my men nor I have hoped to ever find life-long partners. We didn’t know of any immortal females that didn’t belong to the clan, and we didn’t know that Dormants could be found among the human population. The Dormants on my father’s island are the descendants of other Dormants that he had from the very beginning.”
“Why are they still dormant? Can some people get activated and some not?”
Kalugal shook his head. “My father doesn’t allow the females to get activated because as humans they can produce many more babies. Once a Dormant turns immortal, her fertility rate drops to almost nothing. It’s nature doing its best to keep our numbers in check. Otherwise, immortals would have overrun the planet by now.”
She remembered that he’d said something about all the children born on the island needing activation to turn immortal. No wonder that he’d refused to get into it. Keeping the females from transitioning so they could be used for breeding was atrocious.
“Your father is a truly evil man. I mean immortal.”
“I can’t argue with that.” He looked at her sadly. “Are you still sure you want to marry the son of an evil dictator and the grandson of a mass murderer?”
“What about your mother?”
“She is an angel.”
“Then I’ll put my faith in you taking after her and not your father and grandfather.”
33
Kalugal
Kalugal felt like dancing a victory dance.
Jacki wasn’t mad at him, and she hadn’t called off the wedding, but he wasn’t in the clear yet.
Should he go down on one knee now? Or should he first explain how the induction worked?
He gripped the box but then put it back. “Is there anything else you want me to explain before I go down on one knee? I want you to enter this marriage with clear knowledge of what you are getting into. I don’t want any false assumptions to ruin things for us down the line.”
Jacki smiled and reached for his hand. “You have no idea how much what you’ve just said means to me.” She gave it a squeeze. “To me, it indicates that you are serious about it.”
“Of course, I am.”
She nodded. “When you said that you were keeping secrets from me because you needed to secure my love and loyalty first, was that about the possibility of me being a Dormant?”
“I wanted to be sure that you chose me because of me and not because I can give you immortality.”
Jacki frowned. “What do you mean? You’ve just told me that Kian’s people are finding Dormants and activating their genes. I don’t need you specifically to activate me, do I?”
So that was why Jacki wasn’t mad. She didn’t know
what was involved and his part in her activation. If she were a male, Jacki would have been right. Any immortal could have done that.
“Remember what I said about the Dormants needing to bond with an immortal before they were told about the possibility of gaining immortality?”
“What about it?”
Kalugal rubbed his jaw. “A female Dormant can only be activated by the immortal who has chosen her as his mate.”
“Is it tradition or a necessity?”
“Neither.” He sighed. “This requires the birds and the bees talk.”
Jacki blushed. “I might be inexperienced, but I’m not ignorant.”
“I’m sure you know all about human sexuality, but immortals are a little different.”
Leaning back in the chair, Jacki crossed her arms over her chest. “Then let’s do it. Give me the birds and the bees talk immortal style.”
“You already know that immortal males have fangs and venom and that they bite during sex. You also know that the venom is a euphoric and an aphrodisiac. What you don’t know is that the venom also induces transformation in a Dormant. For male Dormants, it’s enough to fight an immortal male until he gets aggressive enough to produce venom and bite them. For female Dormants, the venom bite needs to happen together with sexual intercourse. That’s why I decided to tell you about it even though you haven’t professed your love for me yet. Our wedding night may induce your transformation.”
Jacki’s eyes widened. “On the first try?”
He smiled. “I don’t think it will happen that quickly, but it is possible.” He leaned forward. “The transformation is potentially dangerous, especially for older Dormants, but since you are young and healthy, you shouldn’t worry too much about it.”
“I didn’t say yes, yet.”
“Of course.” He leaned back and lifted his coffee cup. “It’s entirely up to you, but I don’t see why you would turn down a chance at immortality.”
“What happens if I don’t transition?”
“We will keep trying until you do. It’s like getting pregnant. The fun part comes before.”
“Can you get me pregnant if I’m not a carrier of immortal genes? Are immortals and humans even genetically compatible?”
“We are definitely compatible, but the chances of me getting you pregnant are very low, whether you are a Dormant or a human. Immortal males are also much less fertile than humans. Which is fortunate since we can’t produce immortal or Dormant offspring. The godly gene passes through the mother, not the father.”
Frowning, Jacki reached for her coffee cup and took a sip. “Let’s see if I understand it correctly. You can’t have immortal children unless you marry an immortal female, or a Dormant who successfully transitions?”
“Dormant females don’t need to transition to produce Dormant children, and they don’t need an immortal male for that either. If they did, my father’s breeding program wouldn’t have worked.”
“Got it. So, a female Dormant will always have Dormant children, and then her daughters will, and so on.”
“Right.”
“But Dormant and immortal males can only do that with a Dormant or immortal female.”
“Correct.”
“Now I understand why you were willing to fork out twenty-five thousand dollars per day to keep me.” Jacki put her coffee cup down and pinned him with a hard stare. “It wasn’t because of my phenomenal personality, or my clever insights about humanity, or even my looks. My real value to you is my potential as a broodmare for immortal children.”
That was precisely the response that Kalugal had feared.
“Naturally, I want to have children at some point, but if that was my prime objective, I would not have offered to induce you. After your transition, your fertility rate will drop to such an extent that children will become a wistful dream. Hundreds or even thousands of years may pass before we are blessed with a child. Do you really think I would want to spend all that time with a woman that is not absolutely perfect for me?”
34
Jacki
It was hard to stay mad at Kalugal when he said things like that. Jacki was skeptical by nature, especially when it came to things that guys said while trying to seduce her, but what Kalugal had said made a lot of sense.
If producing a child would really take as long as he claimed, he would be an idiot to settle for a woman only because she could one day, maybe, give him one.
And Kalugal was no idiot.
He wasn’t impulsive either. He must have given this a lot of thought and decided that she was the one for him.
How would he know, though?
Maybe one of the clan’s immortal females would be better for him?
The fact that Kalugal had committed to her before checking out his options spoke volumes.
He really thought that she was perfect for him.
Well, no one was perfect.
Except for Kalugal, but he was a demigod.
But wait, he wasn’t perfect either. His fertility rate was low.
That was an unexpected letdown, but maybe there were treatments for that. Jacki really wanted children, and she didn’t want to wait thousands of years to have them.
Maybe she should say no?
And what then? Walk away from the best thing that had ever happened to her?
No way.
Kian’s wife was pregnant, and they hadn’t been together for thousands of years. Perhaps they had gotten lucky, or perhaps the clan had fertility treatments that Kalugal wasn’t aware of.
They would find a solution.
“Okay,” Jacki murmured.
“Okay what?”
“I accept your explanation.” She inhaled a long breath and smiled. “Can I see the ring now?”
He reached for the box but then paused again. “You didn’t ask me one important question.”
Searching her head, Jacki realized that he was right. She’d asked, but he’d given her an evasive answer, and then their conversation had gone in another direction.
Her stomach squeezing tightly with apprehension, she repeated her question. “What will happen if I don’t transition? I mean if we try for a long time and it doesn’t happen?”
Leaning toward her, he took both of her hands in his. “I want to be perfectly frank with you. At first, I thought that if it didn’t work out and you didn’t transition, we would get a divorce, but I’ve been fooling myself. I’ve only known you for a week, and already I can’t fathom life without you.” He chuckled. “And we didn’t even have sex yet. Imagine that.”
It hurt that he’d thought to get rid of her if she didn’t transition, but she could understand it. After all, Kalugal’s low fertility rate had caused her a few moments of hesitation as well.
Potentially giving up on having children, or waiting eons to have them, had been difficult, and if she could go back to the human world, the decision would have been even harder. But since she would never have access to human males again, and all immortals had the same problem as Kalugal, choosing him was a no brainer.
Still, she couldn’t just gloss over it. “Only yesterday you were thinking about marrying me and then divorcing me if I didn’t transition. What has changed today?” She glanced at the little black box. “Let me guess. You bought a really expensive ring, and you don’t want me to walk away with it, so you’re going to keep me.”
She was only half-joking.
Picking up on her humor, Kalugal smirked. “The ring has nothing to do with it. I bought it because it matches your bracelet.”
Jacki lifted her hand and looked at the gleaming silver-toned cuff on her wrist. “Am I stuck with this for the rest of my life? Because if I become an immortal, that would be a very long time.”
Kalugal’s expression turned serious. “Once you transition, your body will most likely expel the trackers, but I’m going to solve that problem for you before that. Kian and I discussed the program today, and we came up with a framework for a plan to extract the remaining tra
inees and shut it down. In fact, he suggested that I bring you along tomorrow so we can pick your brain about the director and the other players. And after that, we can go to visit Wonder and Syssi and your other friends.”
Her heart did a happy flip. “That’s wonderful.” She leaned back in her chair and put a hand over her heart. “I thought that I would never get to see them again.”
“Why would you think that?”
She shrugged. “It was a silly gut feeling. I was scared to be left alone with you, and my mind went in all kinds of crazy directions.”
Kalugal looked offended as if she’d just insulted him and also his mother. “I didn’t sense fear from you. Before Jin left, you were teasing me mercilessly about my very subtle flirting attempts.”
She leaned toward him and took his hand. “It was just a moment of panic because I was suddenly alone. Deep down I knew that you were not going to hurt me. But I also knew that I was never going back to my old life. Not that it had been so great, but I was free. It wasn’t easy to make the mental adjustment that living among immortals was my new reality.” She sighed. “I always imagined marrying a decent guy and having a bunch of kids. Now I need to mentally adjust to having none for a very long time, if ever.”
“I’m sorry.” He lifted her hand and kissed it. “I wish I could give you everything your heart desires, but I can promise you that other than having a bunch of kids one after the other you will lack for nothing. I’m going to do my very best to make you happy.”
That was the most anyone could promise, and Kalugal sounded sincere.
She squeezed his hand and then covered it with her other one. “No one is perfect, Kalugal, not even a demigod.” She smiled. “But I’ll marry you anyway.”
35
Kalugal
Kalugal grinned. “Wait, I haven’t proposed to you properly yet.”
“Okay, I take it back. Ask me to marry you.”
It was show time.