by I. T. Lucas
“Keep switching cars and drivers, but that requires many more Guardians. We will have to reschedule rescue missions, and I know that you don’t want to do that either.”
No, he didn’t. Every day that passed meant more suffering for the victims, but as Turner had pointed out, the clan could not save all of those who needed saving.
“You are right about that, and I hate postponing even one rescue, but I have a strong gut feeling that the team I’ve sent after Kalugal is not big enough. It’s good for what Jin needs to do, but not if things go wrong.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “And we know that nothing ever works as planned.”
Onegus nodded. “We don’t even know how many men Kalugal has with him. But if we wait patiently, we can get a good estimate. A week of watching that gate will give us that.”
“A week is a long time to wait.”
Onegus arched a brow. “What’s the hurry?”
“Jin has to wait to transition until after this is done. Naturally, she and Arwel are impatient to start.”
“Yeah, I can see how that could be a problem. Still, Arwel is a Guardian, so he will understand the importance of good intel. And from what I’ve heard, Jin is a sensible woman, so she’s not going to protest too much either.”
“Possibly. But I don’t want to wait.”
“Aha.” Onegus smirked. “So you are the impatient one, not them.”
“Nothing new there. Besides, as you pointed out, we need the men to get back to rescuing people. Why waste a week?”
Sighing, Onegus accepted defeat. “How many do you want to send, and where are you going to put them up? Sleeping bags on the living room floor?”
“They’ve lived through worse. But no. I don’t want them coming and going from the rented house. Ideally, they would sit in their cars and wait for the team to give them a signal to follow. The problem is that fucking fancy neighborhood. No one parks on the streets, so it’s not like they can wait a couple of streets over and then pull behind the car they are following. That could work once. After that they will get noticed.”
“During the day, it shouldn’t be a problem. But at night they would have to stay in the house and leave from there. Its front faces another street, so it’s not like Kalugal and his men would notice the gate closing and opening.” Onegus rubbed his jaw. “We will have to rent high-end cars for them. The more expensive, the less suspicious they will look.”
“True. In that city, only the help drives Hondas and Toyotas. But if we put them in the house, we can’t send more than four additional Guardians, and I have a feeling that it’s not going to be enough.”
Onegus arched a brow. “Did you catch the paranoia bug from Turner? Even four additional Guardians is overkill.”
“I have a gut feeling, and at my age, I know better than to doubt it. If I could, I would have liked to have a force of at least twenty-five men there.”
“Definitely paranoia.” Onegus leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ll tell you what we can do. Since it’s Friday, and we have no rescues scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, I can send several later today and a larger group tomorrow and have them return Monday evening. That way, we will lose only one working day.”
“Do it. Put them up in a nice hotel and rent them some fancy cars. If I’m just being paranoid and nothing happens, they’ll get to enjoy a long weekend off. But I’ll feel better knowing that we have enough men on standby if needed.”
Onegus smirked. “They can take turns in the house, which will make the guys super eager to go. They all want a shot at the new Dormant.”
“Possible Dormant. We won’t know for sure until Jacki attempts transition.”
28
Jin
Jin had expected to get some smirking looks at breakfast, but everyone was pretending as if they had heard nothing last night.
The house they were staying in was super fancy, and she was sure it had great insulation, but it had been built with human hearing in mind, not immortal. Those sleeping in the adjoining bedrooms for sure had heard the sounds of lovemaking she and Arwel had made, but they were acting maturely about it.
Besides, the three single Guardians were busy trying to charm Jacki out of her pants, and William was looking at her with longing in his eyes while letting the three hungry bears do the hovering.
Magnus and Vivian probably had been busy last night as well, so they’d made noises of their own.
“Would you like fresh coffee?” Arwel got up. “I’m going to brew some more.”
“Sure.” She handed him her mug. “I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
That got a smile out of Vivian. She leaned closer to Jin and whispered in her ear, “There is nothing as magnificent as new love’s bloom.”
Grinning happily, Magnus took his wife’s hand. “There is. The maturing of that love is just as wonderful if not better. When the craziness is over, you can really learn to appreciate your mate.”
Jin cast him a polite smile.
She and Arwel were great together, but it wasn’t frantic like the other couples were describing. Perhaps the difference was the freaking condoms’ fault, and as long as they had to use them, the bond couldn’t form.
Or at least that was the explanation she had arrived at.
Arwel wasn’t saying anything, but she knew he was bothered by it as well.
“We should get ready,” Jacki said. “We need to practice putting the makeup and disguises on.”
Jin waved a hand. “It’s still morning. It will be hours before Kalugal goes somewhere that I can get to him.”
“Maybe. But when he does, we will need to move out right away. There will be no time to get into the disguises.”
“You are right.” Jin sighed. “Can I at least have my second cup of coffee? I need the energy boost to put all that gunk on.”
“Eva said that we don’t need much. The wigs, the glasses, and the baggy clothes should do it. Add a little foundation in the wrong color, and we are done.”
“Yay, us.” Jin waved a pretend flag. “I’ve never thought I would choose clothes and put on makeup to make myself look worse, not better.”
“That’s mission impossible.” Arwel put the fresh mug in front of her. “No matter what you put on, you will always be beautiful.”
“You wanna bet?”
Chuckling, he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “My girl is a gambling woman.”
“That’s right. Whoever loses does the lunch dishes.”
“Deal.”
Mug in hand, Jin pushed to her feet. “Let’s go, Jacki. We have a bet to win.”
“Your room or mine?”
“Yours.”
As Jacki started lifting dishes off the table, Duncan put a hand on her arm. “We will take care of it.”
As they climbed the stairs to the second floor, Jin leaned into Jacki’s ear. “I don’t think you will get to touch the dishes for the rest of this mission. The three burly bears want to pamper their Goldilocks.”
Scrunching her nose, Jacki looked over her shoulder down into the dining room. “I don’t want to offend any of them, but I wish they’d stop it.” She opened the door to her room. “I feel like a prize horse they all want to buy.”
Jin patted her arm. “I’ll get my stuff and be right back.”
There was something to that. Naturally, Jacki didn’t know what a rare find she was, and Jin couldn’t tell her. Maybe she should ask Arwel to talk to his fellow Guardians and ask them to tone it down. They were making Jacki uncomfortable.
Grabbing the duffle bag with her costume and makeup, she got back to Jacki’s room and closed the door behind her.
“What’s their deal anyway?” Jacki continued. “They are good-looking guys. Why are they acting so desperate?”
“You are gorgeous. The guys in the program were like that too.”
“They weren’t as persistent. Those three don’t get hints, and I really don’t want to be rude, especially since I depe
nd on them to keep me safe.”
Jin put the duffle on the dresser and sat next to Jacki on the bed. “Why don’t you pick one? If you do, the others will stop.”
“I don’t feel it for any of them.”
“What about William?”
Jacki shrugged. “He is nice and mellow, so I can be nicer to him without him interpreting it as an invitation.”
“Talk about picky. What are you waiting for, Prince Charming?”
“Maybe.”
For some time now, Jin had been suspecting that Jacki wasn’t into men, but she’d been too embarrassed to ask. But heck, they were not only friends, they were also going on a mission together. Perhaps it was time to put their cards on the table.
“Are you into girls? Because it’s fine if you are. I won’t be offended that you didn’t pay me any attention.” Jin affected a sniffle.
Jacki laughed. “I’m not into girls. But I’m not too hot for guys either.” She grimaced. “Growing up the way I did, and looking the way I do, I had to stave off unwanted advances left, right and center. It got to the point that I feel nauseated when a guy looks at me like I’m a piece of meat.”
Jin was taken aback. “The Guardians don’t look at you like that. Sure, they want you. But they are not leering.”
“Maybe not, but that’s what I’m used to.”
Jin arched a brow. “You don’t like sex?”
“I can do without. I decided a long time ago that I’m not going to do hookups. If a man wants me, he will have to make me fall in love with him first, and of course he will have to love me too. I don’t mind waiting for marriage.”
“Is it a religious thing?”
Jacki laughed. “No. But I often lie, using it as an excuse. Nothing gets rid of a guy faster than telling him I won’t have sex outside of marriage.”
As what Jacki was saying sank in, Jin’s eyes widened. “Are you a virgin?”
The outspoken, rough around the edges Jacki was a freaking virgin? It was inconceivable.
Jacki snorted. “Of course not. I’m just not hung up on sex. There is more to life than that.”
Was she telling the truth?
For some reason, Jin doubted it. Then again, it was hard to believe that Jacki had never been with a man. She could believe it about Wendy, but not Jacki.
29
Kalugal
“Which car do you want to take?” Rufsur asked.
“The Mercedes. I need to appear rich but not frivolous.” Kalugal closed his eyes and imagined the way he wanted the world to see him.
To get the features right, he usually planned ahead, going over magazines and picking several prominent figures. He created a montage by mashing their features together, and after studying the picture he’d created, he would practice the shroud on his men.
There were several advantages to the method he’d developed. First of all, the shroud looked realistic. Secondly, he could pull the montage from memory and reinforce the shroud when it wavered, which happened when he had to maintain it for a prolonged time. Thirdly, he seemed vaguely familiar to whoever he was meeting with, and because his montage was based on well-known businesspeople and politicians, his appearance usually also inspired respect.
“Hello, Mr. Wang Huateng,” Rufsur said.
Kalugal inclined his head. “Good morning to you, Rufsur.”
“Good accent.”
“Of course. I’m fluent in Mandarin.”
After English, that was the second most important language to learn, and even though it had been a pain in the rear to do so, Kalugal had made sure to master it, including reading and writing. He was also fluent in most Western languages, as well as Russian, Arabic, and Japanese.
His real passion, though, was the ancient languages: Sumerian, Egyptian, Mayan, Quechua, and several lesser known ones. There was a wealth of knowledge to explore, and doing it without relying on iffy translations was the only way to go.
Regrettably, his hobby wasn’t going to bring him closer to his goal of world domination.
Technology would.
As the car lift settled on the ground level, Rufsur opened the gate and drove out. “Who am I supposed to be?”
On rare occasions, Kalugal shrouded his men as well, but today it wasn’t required.
“My secretary and translator. From time to time, I’ll ask you something in Chinese, and you will lean toward me, pretending to whisper the translation in my ear.”
“Can’t I just come as your bodyguard?”
“Mr. Wang Huateng is not the caliber of businessman who travels with bodyguards.”
Rufsur stopped at a traffic light. “I wish I understood why you are doing things this way. You are just buying startups. Many investors are doing that. Why the elaborate charades?”
“When the time comes, and I put all of these technologies together, it will take everyone by surprise. I don’t want Jeff, Larry, and Sergei to know that their empires are at risk. Let them bask in their glass towers and think that they are invincible.”
“What about Mark?”
“Facebook is already on its way out. My vision of a social network is one that will emerge from my commerce and internet conglomerates. You know what I have in mind.”
“Yes, I do.” Rufsur shook his head. “You, my friend, are the most dangerous man in the world, and no one realizes it.”
“Which is exactly how I want it. They won’t know it even when I control each and every individual on this planet.”
That was an exaggeration, but only a slight one.
He was going to control all the humans. The immortals, he was going to leave alone, mainly because they were irrelevant. Except for one. When he was in power, Kalugal was going to get his mother to visit him. Regrettably, Areana loved Navuh, and she had made Kalugal swear never to go after his father, not even when he grew up and became more powerful than Navuh.
He’d only been a little boy when he’d given her his word, but he had no intention of breaking it.
“So, what’s the point? Aren’t you after the glory?”
“No. That’s not my motivation. I don’t seek fame. I just want the control.” Kalugal smiled. “I’ll be a god. Invisible, indescribable, and yet feared and revered.”
Rufsur laughed. “No one can accuse you of aiming low. But for now, you can be a god only over half the world’s population. China is a whole separate market to conquer. Perhaps you should have started there.”
“I have time, and I like it here. After I establish my power base in the West, I’ll go after the rest of the world.”
His second-in-command didn’t say a thing, but Kalugal knew what his friend was thinking.
Rufsur was doubting his sanity, and from his perspective, he wasn’t entirely wrong. For a guy of average intelligence, it was difficult to see ten thousand moves ahead and understand how the pieces of the puzzle aligned to form the tapestry of the future.
And that was good.
Only a handful of people around the world could do that, but since there were so many variables, none of them could imagine what Kalugal was planning.
His only real concern was the advancement in artificial intelligence.
At some point, a computer could spit out a picture of the future that Kalugal saw in his imagination.
But even if that happened, no one was going to take it seriously or take steps to prevent it.
30
Arwel
“The chief is sending more Guardians.” Magnus walked into the office, which aside from serving as William’s lab had become their command center as well.
Arwel looked up. “What for?”
Hopefully, it wasn’t because he wanted more Guardians to meet Jacki. The girl already had more admirers than she could handle. If additional suitors arrived, she might decide to run away, and Arwel wouldn’t blame her.
“Kian wants us to follow every car that leaves Kalugal’s place,” William said. “He told me that when I called him this morning.”
; That was a one-eighty deviation from the original plan. Not only that, why was the chief calling Magnus and not him? Arwel was a head Guardian. Magnus was not. He was on his way, but the chief hadn’t made an official announcement yet.
Besides, Arwel was under the impression that he was heading this operation. It was his mate’s safety on the line, and he wasn’t about to let anyone else call the shots.
He glared at Magnus. “Turner advised against it, and I agreed with him. Kalugal and his men are too alert and careful not to notice a tail. The whole idea was to keep him unaware that his location was compromised.”
Pulling out a chair, Magnus parked it and crossed his legs. “Kian is the boss. I’m only the messenger. Most of the guys are going to stay in a hotel, and only three or four at a time will come over here. In case something goes wrong, Kian wants to have a sizable force on standby.”
That sounded better. It was still overkill, but where Jin was concerned, Arwel welcomed any and all safety measures.
“How many are coming?”
“Twenty-five.”
Arwel whistled. “That’s a lot.”
“Onegus said that they were fighting over who gets to come. Kian approved a five-star hotel for their accommodations, as well as fancy car rentals, so they would blend in in this neighborhood.”
Arwel had a feeling that the hotel and cars had nothing to do with the guys' enthusiasm.
“Someone is leaving the gate,” William said.
Whenever the guys upstairs had something to report, they shot a text message to William. Arwel had suggested mounting one of their phones on a stand and leaving the camera recording function on, but William had shot it down.
Eyes on the gate was the only method that was a hundred percent safe and guaranteed not to get noticed, especially since the men were sitting behind a closed balcony door.
The glass had a reflective coating on it. During the day, it was impossible to see anything inside, even for immortals, and during the night, they kept the lights off. Except, the only information readily accessible was the license plate numbers. It was hard to see who was leaving Kalugal’s mansion without either following the car to its destination or checking where it was parked by locating its license plate number.