by I. T. Lucas
Anandur lifted his chin. “I’ve grown an inch. What’s the next one?”
“You’re polite, and you don’t use crass language, at least not in front of me. I appreciate that too.”
“Well, that’s part of the first one. I watch my language in front of the ladies.”
She cast him a sidelong glance from under her thick eyelashes. “So you’re different around other guys? Do you cuss a lot when hanging out with the other Guardians?”
“Not really. I can throw the f-bomb here and there or call someone a SOB, but not often. After working with Kian for so long cussing lost its appeal to me. We have very different temperaments. I’m a chill kind of guy while he is a stress ball waiting to explode. I suppose the frequent cussing is his way of releasing some of that pressure.”
Wonder stopped. “Are you serious? Kian? He looks so regal and so refined. I would’ve never guessed it about him.”
Regal and refined my ass.
Next thing she would start gushing about how handsome he was. No female was immune to Kian’s godly good looks, and his crappy attitude probably made him even more desirable.
For reasons Anandur couldn’t understand, women liked bad boys. Should he prod for more?
It was a masochistic move, but again Anandur couldn’t help himself. “He is handsome, isn’t he?”
“Gorgeous.”
Figured that she would think that.
Wonder waved a hand. “He is almost too pretty, for a guy that is. I like more rugged types.” She glanced at him and then blushed profusely.
“Do you think I’m rugged?”
She shrugged.
Sweet. “So I’m a gentleman who doesn't cuss and who is ruggedly handsome. What else?”
“You’re funny.”
“And? That’s it?”
“What else is there?”
“Oh, there is much more.”
As they reached Wonder’s place, she took the bundle from him and put it on one of the steps. “No one is going to take it, right?”
“It’s safe here.”
“I know. It’s a great feeling. I have not felt safe since I woke up from my coma.”
At her admission, a wave of intense protectiveness swept through Anandur. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he brought her closer to him. “I promised to keep you safe, lass, and I always keep my promises.”
“That’s because you’re a gentleman.”
As Wonder sighed and leaned into him, resting her head on his bicep, he was ready to forget all about her being too young and kiss her senseless. It was the exact opposite of what her gesture of trust should’ve evoked.
He was a despicable old lecher.
“What’s behind the fence?” she asked, saving them both at the last moment.
“The second phase. Originally, the village was supposed to house only the local clan, but then we got this big operation in motion, and many of the retired Guardians agreed to leave Scotland and come here to help us carry it out. We needed to supply housing for them. But it’s much larger than that. Since we already have the crews here, Kian decided to provide for future expansion and enlarged the scope of work way beyond what was originally planned.”
“Why? Does he expect more of the Scottish clan members to come live here?”
“It’s not likely that many will. Maybe some. Sometimes he just gets carried away. Though this is a really bad time for it. The mission we’ve undertaken is leaching a lot of resources, and money is tight. This is not the right time for grandiose plans.”
“Can you tell me about the mission, or is it a secret?”
It wasn’t a secret, but it wasn’t a pleasant topic for conversation either.
Except, strolling down the pathways with Wonder leaning against him felt so good that Anandur didn’t want it to end. Telling her about the mission would be the perfect excuse to keep on walking.
Hell, he could go on and on about the Chinese crews and their strange prejudices, then continue to tell her about all the special features that had been incorporated into the village, like the water filtration system and the trash incinerators. He had enough material to talk for hours.
“It all started with a luxury yacht and one rotten immortal who was making money on the side by luring young women and then selling them on the sex slave market…”
33
Kian
“Good morning everyone,” Kian opened the senior Guardians meeting. “We have disturbing news from San Francisco.”
Anandur and Brundar, who’d also gotten the text from the chief, nodded. The other Guardians looked at him with worry on their faces. Turner, whom Kian had been inviting to all the senior Guardian meetings lately, showed no expression at all.
“No one of ours was taken,” Kian qualified.
There was a collective sigh of relief.
“The news is about what the Doomers are up to. Apparently, they’ve ventured into drug dealing.”
“They’ve always dealt in drugs,” Yamanu said.
“True, but they used gangs for the distribution. It seems they decided to use warriors instead and took over the entire chain.”
“More money for them,” Arwel said.
“Right. In a way, it’s a good sign.”
Bhathian frowned. “How so?”
“It means that they are looking for ways to bring in more money, which in turn means that they are losing backers, or maybe just a single big one. If that is the case, lack of cash to run their organization is not their only problem. With no wars to instigate and fight, their army sits idle, and they have to find something for them to do.”
“Like selling drugs,” Bhathian said.
“Exactly. That in itself is worrisome, but what bothers me more is that they are using humans to manufacture and package the drugs. Onegus reports that they have a warehouse full of zombie-like humans who appear to have been thralled so many times that their brains are barely functional.”
Anandur leaned back in his chair and grinned. “It was a good thing that Grud escaped. He led us right to their SF center of operation. I wonder how many more there are.”
“It must be new,” Arwel said. “The Doomers we interrogated didn’t say anything about it.”
Anandur waved a dismissive hand. “They might be under compulsion not to talk.”
Kian didn’t think so. “If they were under compulsion, they would not have talked at all. The other Doomers we’ve caught in the past couldn’t tell us anything other than their names. It seems like they’re loosening their security. Which makes sense. They can’t have more than one immortal with the ability to affect other immortals’ brains. They need to preserve his energy for when it counts.”
In the past, very few Doomers had been sent on missions that put them at risk of capture by the clan. Compelling only a few individuals hadn’t been a problem. But now that the Brotherhood was sending scores of warriors into clan areas, they had to be more discriminating about who to compel and to what extent.
The thing was that the majority of Doomers were so ignorant, even about the Brotherhood they were part of, that they had nothing of importance to tell.
“So what’s the plan?” Brundar asked. “When are we raiding that warehouse?”
Kian smiled. “Patience, Brundar. This is just as much a hostage situation as the one at the monastery. To ensure minimum collateral damage, we need a good plan. Onegus is organizing the reconnaissance.”
“Tell him to stay put,” Turner said. “This is a job for humans. One sniff of an immortal male and you lose the element of surprise.”
Fuck, he should’ve thought of that. Even after working with Turner for months, Kian’s first instinct was to rely on his own people unless he was forced to outsource. He should start thinking of Turner’s human subcontractors as part of his network and utilize them in cases where their humanity was advantageous.
“How soon can you have your people there?”
“Let me make a few phone calls. I can probably
have a team meet up with Onegus later today.”
“Do it.”
“Budget?”
Kian waved a hand. “Whatever you think is reasonable for two or three days of reconnaissance. I want to know how many Doomers are working in that warehouse and how many humans they are holding there.”
“Naturally. You also need to know where these Doomers are residing and who is their commander.”
“The dogs were a brilliant idea,” Anandur said. “Without them, Magnus could have never found Grud and followed his trail. We should consider getting us some.”
Sounded good in theory, but it was a subject Kian knew nothing about. “It’s not enough to get dogs. You need someone to train them.”
Anandur leaned his elbows on the conference table. “I can ask around. Maybe one of the old Guardians did that at some point.”
Doubtful. Immortals didn’t keep pets for the same reason they didn’t have relationships with humans. Getting attached emotionally to those whose lifespan was a blink of an eye compared to theirs was a prescription for misery. The scientist who’d altered the gods’ genes hadn’t thought to do the same for pets.
Maybe there had been none where the gods had come from.
Bhathian shook his head. “I don’t think we have anyone like that. But how hard could it be to learn to train the animals? We can have someone apprentice with a human expert.”
“True. Do you have anyone in mind?”
For some reason, all eyes turned to Arwel.
The Guardian looked from one smirking face to the next. “Why is everyone looking at me? I’m not the dog whisperer.”
“Do you like dogs?” Kian asked.
“Sure, but I don’t want to run a kennel.”
It was a pity. As an empath, Arwel could’ve done wonders with dogs. Except, having talent wasn’t going to cut it if there was no desire.
Kian pointed at the Guardian. “I’m putting you in charge of finding someone who’d be interested in learning all about it and then implementing a program.”
“I can do that. How large of a program are we talking about?”
“We will start small. Two or three dogs.”
“Magnus is a good candidate,” Anandur offered.
“Maybe, but I’m not sure I want to lose a Guardian for that. I prefer a civilian, just not someone who will run away at the first sign of danger. We need a person who can keep a cool head during confrontations.”
Rapping his fingers on the conference table, Anandur looked at Kian. “I hope you’re not thinking of letting the newbies raid the warehouse with only Onegus in charge. We all need to be there.”
He’d never planned differently, but Anandur had earned himself some needling. “I think the decision should be left up to Onegus. He is the chief.”
Anandur pulled out his phone. “I’m going to text Onegus. I want in, and I’m sure Brundar wants in too, right?” He glanced at his brother.
Brundar’s smile was chilling. “Naturally.”
Kian put a hand on Anandur’s arm. “I was just messing with you. Of course all of you guys are going. I wouldn’t dream of sending the newbies in by themselves.”
34
Syssi
“Do you have a moment?’ Syssi poked her head into Bridget’s office.
“For you, always. Come in.”
“How are you holding up with Julian gone?”
Bridget sighed. “I wake up every morning and pray no one goes into transition, and that there will be no altercation with Doomers that I need to patch people up after. Heading the rescue project and working in the clinic is too much.”
“When is he coming back?”
“Monday, thank the merciful Fates.”
The week-long psychic convention Julian had gone to was a long shot, but it wasn’t as if they had any better options for finding new ways to identify Dormants. Every avenue that might give them a clue was worth investigating.
“Did he find anything interesting?”
“I don’t think so. He would’ve called me. But the convention isn’t over yet. He might still stumble upon something.”
“I’m crossing my fingers.” Syssi lifted her hands, both with crossed fingers.
“Yeah, me too. So, what brings you here, Syssi?”
“You know how I’ve been obsessing about having a child lately, right?”
Bridget’s gaze softened, and she reached for Syssi’s hand. “Yes, and I still think you’re being silly. You’re so young. There is plenty of time for that.”
Syssi sighed. That was what everyone was telling her, including her husband and her mother and her brother. Except, it did nothing to lessen the yearning.
“I know that it’s irrational, but I can’t do what all the other immortal females are doing and just wait for it to happen. It’s not like I can expect it in a year or two. Centuries might pass, or even millennia. I’ll go insane waiting.”
Bridget leaned back. “What do you have in mind?”
“Fertility treatment. It helps human females conceive, so why not us? From what I understand, we are built basically the same way. The main differences are our fast regeneration ability and mind control. Although I still haven’t mastered the second one. I guess you need to start as a child to get the hang of it.”
“I’m not very good at it either, even though I started young.” Bridget smirked. “Unlike us, the guys have a powerful motivation to learn how to do it. That might be what makes all the difference.”
Syssi nodded. ”Give a person a strong enough motivation and he or she can move mountains.” She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at Bridget. “Just so you know, I’m extremely motivated to get pregnant. I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
The doctor sighed. “I understand. But the truth is that I’ve never researched immortal females’ fertility. All I have is human data. A human female is born with all her eggs, between half a million and two million of them, but she starts losing them as soon as she is born and until she reaches puberty at a rate of about eleven thousand a month. Then the rate slows down to about a thousand a month.”
“It sounds like such a waste.”
Bridget shrugged. “It’s the survival of the fittest—in this case of the healthiest eggs. Bottom line, from the onset of puberty and until menopause only three to five hundred eggs will reach maturity. Those are the only ones that can be fertilized, and it’s not many.”
Syssi rubbed her brows. “Then it must be different for immortal females. Otherwise, we would’ve run out of eggs at the same age human females do. I thought we remained fertile longer because we don’t menstruate, but you say that eggs are lost regardless.”
“In human females, yes. No one’s researched it for immortals.”
“Could you?”
“I can look into it. Are you willing to become my test subject?”
Syssi chuckled. “It seems to be my fate. I was Amanda’s test bunny in the neuroscience lab, and now I’m going to be yours. But it’s all good since it’s for a good cause. Is it going to be invasive, though? I don’t mind discomfort, I just don’t want to risk damaging anything.”
“I’ll start with taking an ultrasound of your ovaries and some blood samples. Nothing too bad.”
“Okay, when do we start?”
Bridget lifted a brow. “Do I look like someone that has time for research? Unless you want Julian to do it, it will have to wait until I have more time.”
That sounded like never. But Julian was too young and inexperienced. If Syssi were to be a test bunny, it had to be with someone she felt comfortable with.
“After Julian comes back?” she asked hopefully.
“I wish, but no. This is not something I can do in my spare time. What’s the rush, though? A moment ago we were talking about a centuries-long wait. Now it’s only a few months to a couple of years. I hope that in time I’ll manage to streamline the operation enough so I can go back to research, at least part-time. I miss it.”
>
“I still haven’t adjusted to the immortal perception of time. I think in human terms.”
Bridget chuckled. “I blame Phoenix. That baby has given you a taste of sweet and you can’t wait to have some for yourself.”
“True. She is so adorable. When I’m with her I’m smiling nonstop. She just makes me happy.”
Bridget cocked a brow. “Also when she screams her head off? Or when she fills her diaper with toxic waste?”
“Even then. Besides, she never screams when she’s with me because I spoil her rotten and give her whatever she wants. That’s the beauty of being an aunt. Still, as much as I enjoy her, I want a child that will be Kian’s and mine.”
“Speaking of Kian, did you discuss it with him?”
“Not yet. I wanted to have your opinion first.”
“Right now all I can tell you is that fertility treatments are not easy and they might not work on our bodies. And even if they do, you might be sacrificing your future ability to conceive by taking out your viable eggs ahead of time. And if the hormonal treatments don’t do the trick and we need to do in vitro then there is the problem of too many fertilized eggs.”
“I read that you can freeze embryos. That could be so cool. Whenever Kian and I want another child, we just unfreeze one. It sounds freaky, but think of the possibilities. If it works for me, it will work for the other females. We could have a village full of children. Wouldn't that be awesome?”
35
Wonder
“Hi, girls.” Holding a rectangular cardboard box, Amanda sauntered into the café. “I just came from the office building. There are packages waiting for you in the lobby.” She looked expectantly at Wonder. “What did you get?”
“Shoes, and flip-flops, and a couple of bras.”
Amanda lifted a brow. “I thought you didn’t wear them.”