by I. T. Lucas
“How about Edna giving Dalhu the probe? Like she did with me, see what’s deep in his soul?” Syssi offered.
“And I can provide my humble services as a lie detector.”
This was the second time Andrew had mentioned this. Was he a truth seeker? Dalhu had heard that one of Navuh’s sons had the gift, but he thought it was just another piece of propaganda. Evidently, not this time.
“Please, Kian, just think about it. I’ll be as much a prisoner in here as Dalhu. I’ll have to get someone to open the door for me every time I want in or out.”
“You’ll survive. You should be grateful you’re getting to stay at all.”
“I know, and I am. But please, could you at least give it some thought? This is just a temporary solution, we can’t stay here forever—you must realize that.”
It broke Dalhu’s heart to hear Amanda pleading, even though it was proving to be a better strategy when dealing with Kian than her previous attacks. The guy was guarded and hard to read, but Dalhu caught a slight whiff of guilt coming off him.
Maybe it was about time that he said something too. “What can I do to prove my loyalty? I’ll do anything. Just tell me and I’ll do it.”
“Finish those goddamned profiles instead of wasting all your time on that”—he pointed to the walls—”and we’ll pick it up from there.”
“Consider it done.”
CHAPTER 38: SEBASTIAN
Sebastian woke up a couple of minutes before his alarm went off—concerned about his little waitress. She was sleeping a heavily thralled slumber in the basement room he had locked her in last night, and he needed to go check on her. If he didn’t wake her, she would keep on sleeping and might get dehydrated.
He needed to feed her too.
Last night, she’d attacked the nachos and calamari like she hadn’t seen food in a week. Though why would she go hungry when working in a pastry shop was beyond him. Hadn’t that lovely boss of hers realized that Tiffany wasn’t eating enough? Had the girl been too embarrassed to ask for a pastry or a sandwich?
Ironic, that a sadist like him had noticed and cared about a girl going hungry while the righteous American citizen had turned a blind eye to what had been glaringly obvious and could’ve been easily fixed.
Sebastian chuckled. Yeah, he was such a benevolent soul. He would beat her mercilessly but make sure she was fed.
Well, not Tiffany necessarily, she wasn’t his type, but some other hypothetical hungry girl. He’d give Tiffany to his men. But first, some elaborate thralling and major beautifying was in order. The guys would not appreciate a reluctant girl—except for the few who enjoyed rape—and none would be thrilled about a mousy thing like her.
First, he’d thrall her to believe that she’d been doing this for a while and was very happy with her job. Good pay or something to that effect. Then, when she was agreeable and cooperative, he would take her to a beauty salon and buy her some clothes. Come to think of it, she’d need makeup and hairbrushes and a lot of other things big and small.
Maybe his next victim should be a beautician; it would be great to have one in-house.
He was so smart. Two birds with one stone. He’d take Tiffany to a hair salon and come out with another girl for his basement.
Today and tomorrow, more men were scheduled to arrive, and he needed to fill those underground rooms as soon as possible. Regrettably, the online thing was not going to work. He’d gotten plenty of fish on his digital hook, but for some reason they were either successful career women or college students and none had fit the profile of a destitute, lonely girl. He would have to do it the old-fashioned way—one at a time.
The good news was that it was more fun; the bad news was that it was more time consuming.
Hopefully, he would stumble upon one or two he could keep for himself. Better make it three, or even four. If he wanted to keep his stock healthy and enthusiastic, he needed to limit the wear and tear. Thralling and venom were great, but he knew from experience that they only went so far. Human females were too fragile, and eventually, not even the healing properties of venom could counteract the damage of repeated injuries.
A human girl could handle no more than two of his men in a twenty-four-hour period, and him no more than once a week, two at the most, and only if she was very resilient.
As he waited for the coffee to brew in the small kitchenette he had installed in his suite, Sebastian’s thoughts wandered to the attorney. Now, that was a human he would’ve loved to have for himself. She was special, despite being neither young nor particularly attractive. But what she lacked in looks she made up in wit and stamina.
He wanted to play with her again.
Having her for himself was out of the question, but from time to time he could still schedule club assignations with her.
In between, he would have to settle for the peasants.
CHAPTER 39: KIAN
Kian’s day had started shitty and had gone downhill from there.
First, the lovely message about Amanda, then, the blow up with Syssi, and lastly, his mother’s intervention that forced his hand into allowing Amanda to shack up with the Doomer.
But wait, the day wasn’t over yet. So it might not end at that.
Kian raked his fingers through his hair. He should go home and apologize to Syssi, but Bhathian and Onegus were keeping him in his office with reports he couldn’t care less about.
“You should come to one of the self-defense classes,” Onegus added at the end of his report. They were now running four of them a week, and soon they would need to double up because more and more people were joining every day.
All of a sudden everybody wanted to be a fucking warrior.
“I will, at some point, but don’t expect it until after the wedding.”
“Why? It’s not as if the ladies need or want your help.”
“I’m not sure about it. Syssi is going crazy, Amanda is no help at all because she is busy playing house with the Doomer, and we all know that my mother’s idea of helping is giving advice and ordering everybody around.”
He got a sympathetic look from Onegus. “So, go and help your girl instead of moping around.”
“I will, right after I’m done here, as soon as you guys are done with the rest of your reports.”
Bhathian rewarded him with a frown. “The sex-ed class went fine. From now on these boys are going to behave like perfect gentlemen.”
“You threatened them with the whip.”
“Naturally, after I explained everything that might be considered a sexual offense, of course, so there will be no misunderstandings.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“Good. What else?”
“That’s it.”
Thank the merciful fates.
Shai took a look at Kian’s face and expelled a defeated breath. “I know, take care of it or reschedule it. I already resort to pretending to be you when dealing with humans, but I can’t pull it off with our people. And anyway, I’m supposed to be your assistant, not your CEO. I don’t have the qualifications.”
“Bullshit and you know it. You’ve been working with me for the past fifty years and you have an eidetic memory. You can do my job no problem.”
“No, I can’t, and I don’t want to. Too much responsibility and too much stress.”
“You’re telling me…”
Yeah, Kian didn’t want the job either but was stuck with it. He got up and patted Shai’s bony shoulder. Unlike the muscular Guardians, Shai was lanky and his lifting routine was limited to hefty stacks of papers. “Did you join one of the self-defense classes?”
“No, you know I hate sweating.”
“You should. In fact, I insist.”
Shai grimaced as if Kian had ordered him to shovel manure. “With all the crap I have to do because you’re busy with other things, I don’t have the time or the energy.”
“Fine, but after things return to normal, you’re going.”
“As if that’s going to happen
anytime soon.”
CHAPTER 40: SYSSI
I hate it. I absolutely hate it.
Syssi looked at the sample centerpiece the florist had delivered, but she wasn’t addressing the flower arrangement. It was beautiful. After almost despairing of finding a flower shop that would take on the project, she was thrilled when this one called that they had a cancellation. She hadn’t even checked which one it was. As long as they delivered on time and the flowers were not completely wilted she was good.
She hated the tension between Kian and her.
It was killing her. She was of a mind to take a page from Amanda’s book and just throw it all to hell and go away somewhere.
Let Kian plan his precious wedding by himself.
After the meeting in the dungeon, he’d stormed out and disappeared into his office.
No I’m-sorry-I-was-rude, no please-forgive-me, nothing. And the worse part was that she was already making excuses for him in her head. He was under a lot of stress. Amanda was driving him crazy. He hated Doomers…yada, yada, yada.
But the truth was that there was no excuse for the way he’d talked to her. And the only reason he’d allowed himself to act this way was because he’d known that she was a pushover and wouldn’t retaliate.
God, was this whole wedding thing a mistake? If he were acting like a jerk now, when theoretically she could still walk away, what would he be like after they were married? She let the tears flow freely and even allowed herself a couple of sobs before wiping her face with a kitchen paper towel.
Oh, please, stop being so dramatic. Kian wasn’t a charmer before, he isn’t now, and he isn’t going to become one just because he loves me. But I know he loves me and that’s all that matters…
Still, for her own sense of worth, she had to make him pay for his behavior. Even if in the long run it achieved nothing—because come on, as if she had a chance in hell to change a guy that was nearly two thousand years old.
Question was, how?
Amanda would know the perfect payback.
I wonder if there really is a reception problem in the lower levels.
With William in charge, not likely, but on the other hand, she doubted that Kian and Amanda would have dared to ignore their mother’s calls. Well, one way to find out. She selected Amanda’s contact from the Favorites menu.
“I was just about to call you. Did you have one of your premonitions?” Amanda sounded like her old upbeat self again.
“In fact, I did, but not about you.”
“Do tell…”
“Come up here and I will. If you can bear to part with your guy for a little bit…”
Amanda chuckled. “I think I’ll manage. Dalhu is busy with the profiles he promised Kian, and I feel guilty for abandoning you when you needed me most. I’ll be there as soon as I get someone to open the door for me.”
“I’ll start the coffee.”
Having Amanda back was such tremendous relief, Syssi felt as if the boulder she had been carrying on her shoulders since the wedding plans had begun had lost at least half of its weight. Even her posture was markedly straighter and her step lighter as she headed toward the kitchen.
Amanda kept her promise to Kian and knocked on the door, except, she didn’t wait to be admitted. Still, progress was progress.
“I owe you a big hug,” she said, pulling Syssi into a bone-crushing embrace.
“It’s good I don’t break as easily now or you would have cracked some ribs.”
Amanda smiled as she drew out a stool and sat down, arranging her wrap dress so it didn’t part. “I know, I was careful with you before, but it’s no longer necessary.”
“I love your dress.”
“I’m glad you do. Anandur was giving me grief about it, he said it looked outdated.”
“What does he know?”
“Exactly.”
Syssi poured them both coffees. “I need you to use your devious mind for something.” She took out the cream from the fridge and put it on the counter next to the sugar bowl.
“Oh, yeah? I’m all ears.” Amanda perked up.
“Kian and I had a fight this morning, and he was really rude and dismissive toward me. I want to make him pay. Nothing big, just so he knows I don’t forget and forgive that easily.”
Stirring in a teaspoon of sugar, Amanda shrugged. “Easy, just don’t have sex with him.”
“And what? Punish myself? I was hoping for something clever, something original.” Syssi made another trip to the fridge and pulled out a wedge of brie. “Cheese?”
“Sure. What have you been fighting about?”
It was a little awkward to admit that they had been fighting about her and Dalhu. But what the heck, there was no point trying to dance around it either.
“I tried to tell him to be reasonable and calm down, and he told me to mind my own business.” The small plate with cut pieces of cheese clunked on the counter as Syssi let go of it instead of putting it down gently.
“Ouch… I think he deserves to sleep in the doghouse. I can send Onidu to get one, something big like for a Labrador, and we’ll put it in your bedroom. After you have your way with him, just tell him to get in there.”
Syssi snorted. “Yeah, like he would do as I say. Come on, Amanda, think of something devious, something he’ll be forced to endure.”
Amanda’s eyes sparkled. “Oh, I have something. The word endure gave me a fabulous idea. Kian hates poetry, and he can’t stand rap music. Download a playlist of this young kid, George Watsky. I saw him once on Ellen. He is a slam poet that raps. Just blast his stuff nonstop. If Kian complains, tell him it relaxes you when you’re upset. That way he’ll know he’ll have to endure slam poetry every time he behaves like a jerk.”
Spoken like a true master.
Syssi bowed her head in mock reverence. Well, not mock, this was brilliant. “I’m humbled by your genius, Sensei.”
“I’m good, aren’t I?”
“The best. And I happen to like slam poetry.”
“Perfect, now that this is settled, tell me about your vision. I’m dying to find out who was it about.”
Syssi hesitated for a moment. Was it okay for her to share this with Amanda? Would Andrew mind? But now that she’d blurted it out, there was no way Amanda would let it go.
“It was about Andrew.”
“Go on…” Amanda waved her hand in a circular motion.
“I saw him playing with a little girl in a park, tossing her up and catching her, then kissing and hugging her to him before tossing her up again. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I was seeing him with his daughter.”
“Was the girl a redhead?”
“So, you know about him and Bridget?”
“Yeah, he was on his way to her place when I came back yesterday and he told me. So, was she?”
“No, she had dark brown hair, almost black. It was long and the strands curled at the bottom—very thick and lustrous for a small child. She was such a beautiful little girl, all giggles and smiling large eyes. They looked so happy together, I really hope this was a true vision.” She sighed.
“I wonder who the mother is, or will be. Do you have a clue?”
Syssi took a sip of her coffee and concentrated for a moment, hoping her precognition would fire a clue. But no. “No idea.”
“There is a pattern going on here. Everybody is hooking up. You with Kian, me with Dalhu, Kri with Michael, and now Andrew with some mystery woman that is probably not Bridget. By the way, what’s going on with Michael and Kri, any new developments I should be aware of?”
“Michael is training with the Guardians, but Kri is pressuring him to go back to school. Oh, and they moved in together.”
Amanda clapped her hands. “That’s wonderful!” She grabbed her purse and pulled out her phone. “I’m going to call Kri and tell her to hop over, if she isn’t busy with some Guardian business, that is.” Her finger hovered over the phone’s display. “How rude of me, I didn’t ask if it’s okay with
you.”
“Of course it is, anytime.”
Amanda finished her text and put her phone down on the counter. “I’m going back to work on Monday. I guess I shouldn’t expect you until after the wedding?”
“You guess right. And even after, I need to see what Kian wants to do. There was some talk about me helping him in the office. So we’ll see.”
Amanda scoffed. “Nonsense, he can get plenty of people with office skills to help him, but I have only one seer. You’re coming back to work with me.”
“Please, I don’t want to discuss it now, I have enough on my plate as it is. We’ll talk after the wedding. I still have to call my parents and need to preserve all of my cognitive power for the talk with my mother.” Syssi grimaced.
“I’m glad you decided to invite them.”
“Yeah, I don’t know what I’ve been thinking. Evidently, stress makes me stupid. Of course I have to invite them, they would’ve never forgiven me if I got married without them. Though I’m sure my mom will refuse to believe that I’m rushing to the altar for any reason other than pregnancy. I even dreamt that she dragged me straight from the wedding, in my big white dress, to see a gynecologist, and I’m sitting in the waiting room with everybody staring at me, ugh.” She shivered.
“That reminds me, Joanne said the dress designs are ready and we should hurry up and pick one. I was thinking, though, that we should order all of them and do a fitting to see which one looks best on you. There is only so much you can discern from a drawing.”
Nice try, Amanda.
“Forget it, I’m bringing my laptop and we are going to choose one.”
“Party pooper.”
CHAPTER 41: ANDREW
Andrew was the first to arrive at Barney’s, despite the fact that he and Tim had left the office at the same time. He secured a quiet table at the very back, under a good light fixture, so Tim would have enough illumination for his sketching.