Dark Dream’s Unraveling

by I. T. Lucas

  Dalhu rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “That’s a lot of questions, and the truth is that what I know is no more than speculation. It’s not like we got lined up for compulsion before leaving the island. I didn’t even know I was under one until over time it started to fade, and I realized that I could think more clearly.”

  The rage had subsided too. But that might have had nothing to do with the compulsion. He’d had a lot of baggage stored deep inside him, and it had simmered and festered for centuries. If not for Amanda and his love for her, that rage might have still ruled his life.

  Kian waved a dismissive hand. “I told Turner that. Just tell us what you can. Figuring out Lokan’s powers is most important to us. The more information you can provide, the more clues we will have to piece together and maybe get a better understanding as to who is doing what and how.”

  Dalhu nodded. “Two of Navuh’s sons are rumored to have compulsion powers. One is Lokan, and I know for a fact that he is the one who’s compelling the human pilots to never reveal the island’s location. In his case, there is little or no doubt that he can do that. I don’t think he can compel immortals because he is not in charge of debriefing the units going out. Although things could’ve changed since I left.”

  “Who is the other son?”

  “Kolhud. But the thing is that he wasn’t there to brief my team either. I never interacted with him. We got briefed by Hocken, who as far as I know has no special powers.”

  “Interesting.” Turner rubbed his chin. “Are you sure you’ve been compelled at all?”

  “I’m sure. The more time I was away from the island, the saner I got. It felt like a fog was lifting from my brain.” He shook his head. “Not a fog, since fog is benign. It was more like a suffocating haze.”

  Kian and Turner exchanged glances. Did they doubt him? Were they thinking that he wasn’t right in the head?

  Pinning Dalhu with his pale blue eyes, Turner leaned closer. “What you’ve felt could have been psychosomatic. You weren’t happy in the Brotherhood, and you were conflicted about what you were doing.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  He hadn’t been. Back then he hadn’t cared one way or another. Not about the Brotherhood, and not about the clan, and certainly not about the humans.

  He’d been filled with hate and loathing for everything and everyone.

  Amanda had changed that. His love for her burned away all the sludge that had taken residence in his soul, or at least most of it. Her people had become his people, and that was why he cared. It was as simple as that.

  “What about the others?” Kian asked. “Were you the only one under compulsion, or was the rest of your unit as well? It seems like a waste of resources to compel each soldier before sending him on a mission. If it were me, I would’ve bothered only with the commanders and left it up to them to control their men.”

  Dalhu shrugged. “Doomers never stay away from the island for more than a couple of months. Even those who are stationed abroad have to come back once a month and give a report in person. Two at the most. They usually stay for a few days and attend Navuh’s propaganda sermons. And then there are the five daily mandatory adulations to reinforce the soldiers’ devotion. Navuh personally leads the evening one. He is a very powerful demagogue.”

  Turner rubbed his chin again. “Maybe he is more than that. What if he is capable of mass compulsion? That would explain his tight hold on his people, and why there has been no rebellion against him yet. In fact, he must be controlling the sons too, since they are the most likely usurpers.”

  Kian shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense. Navuh is vain. Why would he hide having such power and pretend that one of his sons has it instead?”

  “Actually, it makes perfect sense,” Dalhu said. “Compulsion is like thralling. A cheat. A hack. An ability that is inherited. What would gain Navuh more respect? This, or a belief that his success is the result of his charisma and unparalleled leadership skills?”

  Kian still didn’t look convinced. “So let me get this straight. What you and Turner are saying is that through his propaganda sermons, Navuh compels his entire force to believe in his lies and stay loyal to him and the cause, and then reinforces it every evening through the mandatory devotions?”

  Turner nodded. “We are speculating here. But it is the only logical conclusion I can make. If Dalhu and his team didn’t get briefed by either of the two sons suspected of having the ability, then who could’ve put the compulsion on Dalhu? On the other hand, they all attended the sermons and the devotions on a regular basis. If Navuh’s compulsion works the way we think, then there is no need to do anything special before sending the soldiers on a mission.”

  Staring at Turner, Kian rapped his fingers on his desk. “None of the Doomers we captured in the past talked. Most because they didn’t know anything, but some must have known something but were under compulsion not to talk. How was that command delivered?” He turned to Dalhu. “Does Navuh repeat a silencing order in each of his sermons?”

  Dalhu shook his head. “Not directly, but he repeated the word secret a lot. He would talk about our secret mission to one day rule the world, and that it would no longer be a secret once the clan was obliterated and all of humanity trembled before us. Or he would talk about the secret island paradise he’d created for the Brotherhood and how grateful we all needed to be to him for that. I’ve never thought much of it, regarding it as propaganda and self-aggrandizing, but maybe there was more to it.”

  22

  Julian

  His eyes getting blurry from all the reading he had done, Julian closed his laptop and glanced at Merlin. “Can you make love potions?”

  “Maybe.” Merlin arched one white eyebrow. “Why would a handsome guy like you require a love potion?”

  “Who said it was for me? You left a book about love potions in the bathroom, so I flipped through it.”

  It was a bunch of nonsense, but Julian was tired of the dense research material he’d been reading all day, and discussing love potions seemed like a topic that didn’t require a lot of brain bandwidth.

  Merlin swiveled his chair around, turning his back on the open monitor and the paper he’d been reading. “I can make it. But using it would be unethical. There is not much difference between this and compulsion.”

  Julian’s interest was piqued. “How so?”

  “Pheromones, my boy. Consumption of certain compounds can increase their production, and these can be found in nature as well as chemically produced. The thing is, when you emit an unnaturally high concentration of pheromones, the females around you can’t resist the spike in desire. So, in a way it’s the same as compulsion. Just instead of brain waves, you’d be using chemicals.”

  Julian pretended disappointment. “So, it’s not like you can give a girl a potion and make her fall in love with you. It’s like broadcasting to every female in the area.”

  “You got it. And it’s not about love. It’s about sex.”

  “Did you find the recipe for this in that old book?”

  “Not everything in these ancient scripts is a fable or a myth. In fact, a lot of it isn’t. These books are the result of centuries of experiments, of trial and error. When finally something worked, it was recorded in a book.”

  “Good to know. Next time I try to find a cure for cancer, I’ll consult your ancient books.”

  Merlin wagged a finger at him. “You can mock it all you want, but you’ll be ignoring a fount of information.”

  “Is that where the idea for the fertility potion came from?”

  “In part. Gertrude and I have been working on improving it and adapting it for immortals.” He turned back to the monitor.

  “I have another question.”

  “Yes?” Merlin looked at him over his shoulder.

  “Why do all your potions taste so horrible? It shouldn’t be too difficult to add strong syrup to sweeten them.”

  “I don’t want to. If the potion tastes bad,
there is less chance of overzealous patients overdosing on it.”

  There was some convoluted logic to that. But then the flip side was often the more problematic one. Making sure patients actually took the medicines prescribed to them was difficult enough when all they had to do was swallow pills.

  “I need coffee to go back to those research papers.” Julian pushed to his feet. “Do you want me to get you some?”

  “I’ll make it.” Merlin got up.

  Looking at the sink full of dishes, Julian doubted there was a clean cup left in Merlin’s house. “I was thinking of jogging to the café and bringing coffee from there. Maybe a couple of Danishes?”

  Merlin shuffled to the kitchen. “That would take too long. I can have coffee ready in five minutes.” He pointed at the sink. “And in the meantime, you can wash a couple of mugs.”

  With a sigh, Julian pushed his sleeves up and got to work on the pile of dishes. “You should have a housekeeper, Merlin.”

  “I know. And I had one in Scotland. But over there I lived among humans, and it wasn’t a problem to find domestic help.” He sighed. “I miss Maggie. She kept my house clean and cooked my meals, and sometimes she even stayed to eat dinner with me.” He chuckled. “Her husband got so jealous. I think she did it just to get a rise out of him.”

  “Was she pretty?”

  “Beautiful, for a sixty-four-year-old grandmother, that is. But you know how love is. Her husband saw her with the same eyes as when he’d fallen in love with her forty-some years earlier. To him, she was still a bonnie lass.”

  “How long did she work for you?

  “About five years. She lasted longer than most. Dealing with me and my mess isn’t easy.”

  “William should invent a housecleaning robot.”

  “I have the one for floors. But using it requires lifting stuff, so I don’t. But maybe now that we have a compeller in our midst, we can hire some human help out here.”

  The plate Julian had been washing slipped from his hands, but he caught it before it hit the sink.

  “What are you talking about?”

  Merlin shrugged. “Do you have two clean mugs over there?”

  “Here.” He put them next to the coffee maker. “Now explain what Parker has to do with bringing humans to the village.”

  “When the kid gets good, we can hire a cleaning crew and have him compel them not to reveal our location or even that they work here. We can have one of the Odus pick the crew up with the bus and bring them here, then at the end of the workday drive them back. And the same goes for all the other projects we need to be done here. Like gardening and remodeling.” He waved a hand around his messy kitchen. “Not everything can be solved with automation.”

  Well, that wasn’t exactly true, and the Odus were proof of that. The technology that had created them had been lost, but new advances in artificial intelligence were promising thinking machines in the not so distant future.

  23

  Ella

  “I love bedazzling.” Tessa tucked her new and improved wallet into her back pocket. “Thanks for inviting me, Vivian.”

  After the success of the day before, Ella had thought it would be a good idea for her future production assistant to mingle with the girls as well, and what better way to start than in her mother’s sewing class. Not that any sewing had been done.

  It really should be renamed the bedazzling workshop.

  “You’re welcome to join every class. It’s become so popular that Vanessa asked me to come every day this week.” Vivian closed the closet with her craft supplies.

  “I wish I could, but I also need to work sometimes.” Tessa followed them out into the corridor. “By the way, Eva sent me a message that she’s coming to visit during lunch today, and she’s bringing Ethan with her.”

  “Did she check with Vanessa if it’s okay? I’m sure it’s not a problem, but still.”

  “I assume she did.”

  As they headed toward the dining room, Ella told Tessa about organizing the little riot the day before. “You have no idea how good it felt to prove Vanessa wrong. I knew the girls weren’t going to be afraid of Anandur.”

  Tessa nodded. “He is such a nice guy. One look at him and anyone can see that.”

  “Not everyone,” Vivian said. “Magnus told me that Anandur and his brother are called the undefeated duo because they are so deadly together.”

  Tessa giggled and then lifted her hand to cover her mouth. “I’m sorry.”

  “What’s so funny?” Ella asked.

  “I’m not one to gossip, but this is a story everyone in the village knows, so it’s not fair to keep it from you. The undefeated duo got their asses handed to them by Wonder.”

  Ella’s eyes widened. “Get out of here. She is a big girl, and I can see her overpowering a guy, but two Guardians? And why?”

  Tessa leaned closer to whisper in her ear. “The why is a story for another time. But the how is easier to explain. Wonder’s special talent is physical strength. And she has killer fighting instincts too. Unfortunately for the rest of us, she doesn’t want to be a Guardian. Wonder likes being a girly girl.”

  “Good for her,” Vivian said. “The fact that she is capable of fighting doesn't mean that she is obligated to do it.”

  Ella wasn’t so sure. Weren’t people supposed to utilize their God-given gifts, or Fate-given as the immortals liked to say, for the greater good?

  At least Wonder had been given a choice, though. Ella hadn’t. No one believed she could be a badass, but she was going to prove them wrong. When they entered the dining hall, Eva was already surrounded by a bunch of girls fawning over Ethan and pleading with her to let them hold him.

  “Okay, girls. One at a time. Ethan is a friendly baby, but you need to give him some space. Back off, you all.” Eva pointed to one of the girls. “What’s your name?”

  “Sarah.”

  “Did you ever hold a baby before?”

  “Yes, I did, ma'am.”

  “Sit down next to me.”

  “Yes, ma'am.”

  “Here.” Eva handed her the baby. “You can hold him for five minutes.”

  Ella stifled a chuckle. Eva sounded like a drill sergeant, and the girls were responding to her commanding attitude with the right mixture of respect and fear.

  “Thank you!” Sarah cradled Ethan close to her chest. “Aren’t you a cutie?”

  Eva lifted her head and winked at the three of them. “Come and sit with me.” She waved them over, while at the same time shooing the girls sitting at her table away. “Make room. Everyone except for Sarah move to the next table.”

  No one argued.

  “I see that you are making friends.” Vanessa joined them at the table.

  Eva arched a brow. “Do you have a problem with how I go about it?”

  “I wouldn’t dare. What brings you here? You said that you wanted to check out the place, but knowing you, this visit wasn’t born of just curiosity. You’re too pragmatic for that.”

  “True. I want to help out.”

  Vanessa smiled. “That’s wonderful. We always need more help around here. Do you have something specific in mind?”

  “I can do makeovers. It’s a great way to boost a girl’s morale. It did wonders for Tessa, am I right?”

  Tessa nodded. “I felt like a different person. From a mouse who looked like a twelve-year-old, Eva turned me into a sophisticated, confident woman. At first, it was just skin deep, but some of it got internalized. Naturally, Jackson helped too, and so did the Krav Maga training.” She lifted her arm and flexed her muscle. “Strong and confident.”

  Stretching, Eva sighed. “I’m bored. And I need something to do besides being a full-time mom. Makeovers are fun, and they will generate positive energy rather than the negative one I deal with in my regular line of work.”

  “I bet.” Ella snorted.

  A kick under the table reminded her that what Eva had shared with her and Tessa was a secret between the three of them
.

  Except, killing scumbags hadn’t been all that Eva had been doing before taking a break to be a full-time mom, and Ella knew how to fix her slip up.

  “It must be difficult to spy on cheating spouses and not bring it home with you.” Ella sighed. “Witnessing it must leave a bad taste and make you doubt your own husband. I know it would have affected me.”

  Eva waved a dismissive hand. “I don’t doubt Bhathian. But you are right about the taste. And the same goes for the industrial espionage. Getting exposed to the rotten underside of things is contaminating, and I don’t want it anywhere near my baby. That’s why I stopped writing the book too. I got carried away and made it into a thriller, and the more I wrote, the darker it became. I had to stop.”

  “That’s a shame,” Vivian said. “It was very interesting.”

  “Maybe I’ll pick it up again when Ethan is older. For now, I’m only engaging in positive activities.” She glanced at Vanessa. “Like makeovers.”

  “I think it’s a wonderful idea,” Vivian said. “As one very smart woman once told me, some demons can be exorcized with a witchy ritual, while others can be exorcized with a box of hair-dye and makeup.”

  Ella pointed to her pink, spiky hair. “Exhibit two.”

  “How soon can you start?” Vanessa asked.

  “Today.” Eva bent down and lifted a case from the bottom compartment of Ethan’s stroller. “I brought my equipment. I can come twice a week and do two or three makeovers at a time.”

  “What about clothes?” Tessa asked. “Those are an important part of a makeover.”

  Vanessa chuckled. “If everyone was tall and skinny, we could’ve done it with Amanda’s discards alone. The woman doesn’t wear anything more than twice, and she buys new stuff all of the time.”

  That gave Ella an idea. “We can post a request for female clothing donations on our bulletin board.” She glanced at Sarah.

  The girl was listening intently but not taking part in the conversation.