by I. T. Lucas
“Say it again.”
He lifted a brow. “What? That people who love each other take care of each other?”
“Yes, that. You said love.”
“I know what I said.”
“That’s the first time you told me that you love me.”
Brundar frowned. “I might have not used that specific word, but I think it was pretty obvious.”
“Yes, but I still needed to hear it.”
He smiled. “I love you, Calypso.”
“And I love you, Brundar. Forever.”
He nodded. “Forever.”
Chapter 60: Brundar
By the time Brundar finished unloading his car, the elevator was full of grocery bags, clothes bags, and Chinese takeout. He’d emptied Calypso’s closet and brought everything that was there, which wasn’t much. It was time the girl started thinking about herself, and stuffed her closet full of clothes like any other female.
Perhaps he could ask Amanda to help Calypso out. Even better, he could give the princess his credit card and ask her to order things online. That way Calypso couldn’t argue or fuss over the prices.
He would get rid of the price tags before she saw them. Brundar wanted her to have the same kind of luxuries Amanda took for granted and take them for granted as well. He hadn’t liked the way she’d referred to the borrowed clothes as if they were things she could never have.
The thought of taking care of his mate filled Brundar with a profound sense of satisfaction. Living as long as he had and spending very little, he’d amassed a small fortune. He could spoil Calypso with fancy stuff until she forgot ever living without it. There was nothing he wouldn’t get for her.
He was Calypso’s mate, and therefore she could no longer refuse his support or his gifts.
Mate.
Fates, the word felt good on his lips. He had a mate. His true love match.
Brundar had never thought he would get that lucky. Even when Amanda had discovered Syssi, and the entire clan had been buzzing with hope, he’d never believed one would be found for him. And later, when it had become clear that Amanda had been overly optimistic and finding Syssi and Michael had been a lucky fluke, he hadn’t been disappointed because he’d never expected to have one.
Calypso was a gift.
Which reminded him that he still owed Annani a visit, and making the goddess wait was never a good strategy.
Both hands holding multiple bags, he kicked the door to his apartment. “Calypso, open up,” he said without raising his voice, hoping her hearing had improved with her transition.
It had. A moment later he heard her footsteps and then the door opened. “Need help?” she asked.
“I’ve got it.” As if he would let her lift anything.
He dropped everything on the floor and went back to bring the rest of the stuff from the elevator.
Calypso was already pulling things out from the bags. “Did you bring every last piece of clothing from the apartment?”
“Just about. There wasn’t much.”
“Yeah. And the new beautiful outfit I bought at the mall got ruined in the accident.” She looked sad.
He pulled her into his arms. “We will get you a new one. A lot of new ones. One ruined outfit is no reason for sorrow.”
She hugged him back, holding him tight to her. “I know. But it was a nice one. You would’ve liked it.”
He caressed her back, noting how thin she’d gotten in the span of one day. “I brought Chinese takeout. You need to eat.” He let go of her.
Her stomach rumbled in agreement. “It smells amazing. Let me set up the table.”
He caught her hand. “We can eat straight from the boxes. I have a meeting I have to get to. I don’t have time.”
For a change, Calypso didn’t argue. She was either too hungry or too tired to bother with plates.
Sitting at the counter, they demolished the six different dishes he’d brought, including all the rice and the fortune cookies.
“Look.” Calypso handed him the thin strip of paper with her fortune.
He read it out loud. “Out of misfortune, a blessing will arise.”
“Creepy,” she said.
“Very apt.” He put the piece of paper inside his pocket for safekeeping.
“What are you going to do with that?”
“I don’t know yet, but I want to keep it. Maybe frame it. Or perhaps put it inside one of those little decorative boxes.”
Calypso lifted a brow. “I didn’t peg you as sentimental.”
He leaned and kissed her lightly. “I didn’t either. But I find myself feeling and doing a lot of things I never did before.”
“Because of me?”
“Thanks to you.”
Chapter 61: Callie
Her belly full to bursting, Callie felt like taking a nap, but the bags on the floor bothered her. Until she put everything away and made sure the place was nice and tidy, she wouldn’t be able to sleep.
Besides, Brundar’s meeting was a perfect opportunity to clean up and organize without him fussing and demanding that she rest and not touch a thing.
Callie poured herself another cup of coffee and got to work.
After putting the groceries away, she took her things to Brundar’s closet, which had enough unused space to accommodate all of them with plenty of room to spare. The guy didn’t have much, but what he had was neatly organized. Obviously, he used some laundry service because everything was professionally pressed.
She picked up a sweater and brought it to her nose for a sniff. It had been laundered, but some of Brundar's unique scent remained. Closing her eyes, she buried her nose in it and breathed his scent in, a sense of calm suffusing her.
Was it part of the addiction he’d told her about? Or was it normal for a woman in love?
She was still sniffing and pondering that question when someone knocked on the door. Brundar would have just walked in, and Anandur was in Hawaii. So who could it be?
Maybe Amanda. Or Bridget.
It turned out to be Amanda and another woman Callie had never met before, who was holding an adorable baby girl.
“Callie, meet Nathalie and her daughter Phoenix. Nathalie, meet Callie.” Amanda made the introductions as the two women stepped in.
Nathalie offered her hand. “Hi. I’m a new immortal too. I thought you would like to talk with a kindred spirit.”
Callie shook what she was offered, but her eyes remained glued to Phoenix’s toothless smile. “She is adorable.”
Nathalie adjusted the baby to a more comfortable position. “Thank you.”
“Please come in and take a seat. Can I offer you a cup of coffee? I have some freshly brewed.”
“I’ll get it.” Amanda waved a hand. “You sit with Nathalie and have a chat.”
For some reason, Callie had a feeling that it would be just as pointless to argue with Amanda as it was with Brundar.
“There are cookies next to the coffeemaker.”
“I’ll get them.”
“How are you feeling?” Nathalie asked. “Amanda said you had no idea you were a Dormant and that the transition took you and Brundar by surprise.”
“It happened while I was driving. I’m lucky to be alive.”
“But the way,” Amanda said as she came in with three cups of coffee. “Bridget is on her way as well. I wish Syssi were here, then the welcoming party would have been complete. She is also an ex-human turned immortal. Our first one.” She handed Callie her coffee mug and put Nathalie’s on the coffee table.
“Brundar told me. We had a very long talk yesterday. Or rather he talked, and I listened.”
Amanda shook her head. “I wish I could’ve seen that. I don't think I ever heard Brundar string more than two words together.”
There was a knock on the door and Amanda, who was still standing, opened the way. “Bridget. You’re just in time for coffee.”
“I need one. With two Dormants transitioning at the same time, I’ve hardly had any
sleep.”
“How is Tessa doing?” Callie asked.
“She is still down in the clinic. Your transition went pretty smoothly, aside from the accident that is, but her body is going through more changes so it will take longer.”
“Why is that?”
“I have a theory. I think that during the transition the body reaches its full potential. Tessa should have been a bit taller, but growing up she didn’t get proper nutrition. She is compensating for it now.”
Callie frowned. “I looked myself over in the mirror, and I look exactly the same as I did before.”
“So do I,” Nathalie said. “My butt is still too big and my boobs too small. I guess I was destined to be disproportioned.”
Callie chuckled. “I have the opposite problem. My butt is too small, and my boobs are too big.”
Amanda looked at the two of them as if they were nuts. “You girls are being silly. You are each beautiful in your own way. The world would have been a boring place if we all looked the same.”
“Says the most gorgeous woman in the universe,” Nathalie mumbled.
“I am not. That title belongs to my mother.”
The goddess. Kian and Amanda’s mother. No wonder the brother and sister were so inhumanly beautiful.
“I have a question,” Callie said. “My father and stepmother just had a baby boy. Is he a Dormant like me?”
“Not likely,” Bridget said. “If you had the same mother than the answer would have been yes. The immortal genes come from the mother. Are your parents divorced?”
“No. My mother was killed in a car accident when I was a toddler.”
Nathalie patted her knee. “I’m so sorry.”
Callie shrugged. “I don’t even remember her. All I have are a few pictures and home movies. My dad never really got over her death, and it was very difficult for him to talk about her, so I don’t even know much about what kind of a person she was. She seemed nice in the home movies, and happy. My father did too.”
“That’s so sad,” Nathalie said.
“He is better now. Iris, his new wife, brought the smile back to his face, and now with the new baby, he sounds really happy. I can’t wait to see my baby brother.” She glanced at the little girl in Nathalie’s arms. “I absolutely adore babies.”
Bridget cleared her throat. “Did you think about what you are going to tell him?”
“I’m not going to tell him anything.” Callie snorted. “If I come up with a story like that, he will have me committed to a mental institution.”
“Eventually he will notice that you’re not aging,” Bridget said.
Right. But there was plenty of time to think about that. Callie was only twenty-one. Her father would not expect to see wrinkles on her face for many years to come.
Chapter 62: Brundar
“Good evening, Clan Mother.” Brundar bowed.
“Come sit with me.” She patted the spot next to her.
He did as she asked, but sat as far away from her as the couch allowed. It wasn’t that he feared her, but sitting so close to the goddess seemed disrespectful.
She smiled. “I heard the wonderful news. Congratulations.”
He bowed his head again. “Thank you, Clan Mother.”
“Please.” She waved a hand. “Call me Annani. We are not meeting in any official capacity. This is family business.”
“As you wish.” He would swallow his own tongue before using her given name.
“It is very fortunate that I happen to be here. If you so wish, I can perform a joining ceremony for you and your beloved.”
The goddess’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. There were two things that made the Clan Mother especially happy. One was babies, and the other was weddings. He would have to disappoint her.
“I thank you for your offer, but it’s too early for us to be talking about a wedding.” Hopefully, Anandur had kept his yap shut and hadn’t told Kian or Syssi about Brundar’s proposal.
The last thing he needed was to antagonize the goddess. If she’d heard from Kian or Syssi about his proposal, she would think he was lying to her on purpose.
Annani frowned, and his gut twisted in a knot. Did she know?
“Why is that? Are you not sure that she is the one and only for you?”
He shook his head. “It’s not that. I know Calypso is my true love match. But we haven’t been together long. I need her to get to know me better first.”
“I see.” The spark in the goddess’s eyes dimmed a little. “You are not sure of her love for you.”
“It’s not that either. I know Calypso loves me.”
Frustrated, the goddess lifted both hands in the air. “So what is the problem, young man?”
He wasn’t going to tell Annani his deepest secret, but maybe he could ask her advice. “Do you believe that mates need to know everything about each other?
A naughty smile brought back the sparkle in her eyes. “Well, not everything. Some mystery makes the relationship more interesting.”
It was obvious that she was not talking about his type of secret. “What about traumatic events that happened a long time ago? Things that might affect the way she sees me?”
Annani’s expression turned somber. “You are a warrior, Brundar. Whatever you have done in the line of duty is nothing to feel ashamed of. Your beloved should know who you are, including your past deeds, and accept you, warts and all. If she does not, then she is not worthy of you.”
Again, Annani had mistaken his question to mean something else. Brundar was not ashamed of his past deeds as a soldier. He hadn’t told Calypso any details, but she knew he had killed in defense of his clan and had no problem with that.
Still, the goddess had it right. If he never told Calypso about what had happened to him, he would always wonder if it might change the way she saw him. It was better to get it over with, and not let it fester indefinitely.
“Thank you for the advice, Clan Mother. I will tell Calypso everything there is to know about me. But I need to find the right time to do it.”
The goddess put her tiny hand on his thigh. “Do not delay. The more you think about it, the harder it will become. Things of this nature always seem worse than they actually are.”
“Words of wisdom.”
She smiled. “I have not always been so wise. It comes with age. Talk with your Calypso. If you change your mind about the wedding, do so soon. I am leaving the day after Kian and Syssi are back.”
“I will. Thank you.” He pushed to his feet.
“I want to meet your mate when she feels better. Perhaps tomorrow?”
That was unexpected. He hadn’t told Calypso about Annani staying at the keep because it was supposed to be classified information. “I’m under orders to keep your presence here a secret. Only the Guardians, the council members, and Phoenix’s parents are allowed to know.”
Annani waved a dismissive hand. “I am amending your orders to include Calypso in that shortlist. As long as I am here, I want to meet the new additions to my clan. I already met Tessa, and now I want to meet Calypso.”
He bowed again. “Of course, Clan Mother.”
She sighed. “I see that it is no use with you. Hopefully, your mate will soften you some. You are too rigid.”
“Yes, Clan Mother.”
Chapter 63: Callie
“I’m scared,” Callie said.
Her, plain Callie Meyers, meeting a real freaking goddess face to face?
Someone please wake me from this insane dream. What was she saying? No, please don’t. If this is a dream I never want to wake up.
“Don’t be. Annani is powerful, but she is kind. She just wants to get to know you.”
“What if she doesn’t like me?”
“Why wouldn't she? You’re smart and kind and brave and beautiful. What else is there?”
“I’m a waitress, for God’s sake.” She chuckled. “I guess I need to change that to a for Goddess’s sake.”
“So what? What’s wr
ong with being a waitress?”
She shrugged. “A lot of people look down on waitressing because it doesn’t require education.”
“Not Annani. She is smarter than that.”
Callie nodded. “I guess I have no choice either way. It’s not like I can refuse a summons from a goddess.”
“No, you can’t. Can I knock on the door now?”
“Yeah.” She sucked in a deep breath and forced her hands to stop fidgeting with the bottom of her shirt.
Crap, if only she had something nicer to wear. But the strapless black dress was not appropriate for a formal meeting, and everything else she had was limited to jeans, leggings and T-shirts. The outfit she’d bought before the accident would have been perfect, but unfortunately, it hadn’t made it.
A short, kind of square-looking man wearing a suit opened the door and bowed. “Greetings, master and mistress. Please enter, the Clan Mother is awaiting you.”
A strange little man, but then everything in Callie’s new reality was.
Brundar’s hand on the small of her back propelled her forward as her eyes darted around for her first glimpse of the goddess.
She found her sitting on the couch. A small woman with a massive head of hair, soft red curls cascading down her back and front and pooling around her. Callie had never seen hair like that.
But then the woman turned toward them, and Callie’s knees buckled. She barely stifled the “Oh, my God,” she felt compelled to exclaim.
Amanda had been right. As stunning as the daughter was, her mother, who at first glance looked much younger than her daughter, was incomparable. It was hard to put her finger on what exactly made the goddess so inhumanly beautiful. Callie had a feeling that a mere picture could have never translated all this otherworldly creature was. Her beauty emanated from the inside, striking Callie like a force field.
An immense power was contained in that small package.
“Calypso, come sit with me.” She patted the couch next to her.
Callie glanced at Brundar.
He encouraged her with a nod, and when she didn’t move, led her to the couch. She lowered herself down to sit on the very edge, looking down at her feet instead of facing the nuclear power plant sitting next to her.