by I. T. Lucas
He helped her into the bathroom, and after she was done with her morning routine, he carried her back and put her on the bed. “I’ll get your clothes.”
He brought her a pair of comfy leggings, a T-shirt and a sweatshirt, and then helped her get dressed.
“Maybe we should use the golf cart?” Ella suggested.
“Don’t be silly.” He swung her into his arms. “I love carrying you.”
With a contented sigh, Ella wound her arms around his neck and rested her cheek against his chest. He was so strong, so solid, and he made her feel safe.
In the clinic, they were met by Bridget.
“How are you feeling?” The doctor motioned for Julian to follow her into one of the patient rooms.
“Dizzy and excited,” Ella said.
Bridget smiled. “Let’s check your vitals.”
After that was done, Bridget noted the results on her tablet. “Except for the dizziness, your symptoms are very mild. Perhaps I should run a pregnancy test just to rule that out.”
Ella’s tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth that had suddenly gotten drier than the sandbox in the playground. “I can’t be pregnant.”
“Are you on the pill?”
Ella shook her head.
“Are you late?”
“No. I should be getting my period in a day or two.”
“That might be another reason. Did you ever experience symptoms like this before the start of your period?”
“Not the dizziness. Sometimes I get sick around that time of the month, and I always have some cramps, but nothing a couple of Motrin’s can’t take care of.”
“Pregnancy is not likely, but I would be remiss not to rule it out first. I’ll get the kit.”
As Bridget left, Ella let out a sigh. “I hope I’m not pregnant.” Seeing the hurt look in Julian’s eyes, she reached for his hand. “It’s not that I don’t want children with you, but I want to transition first.”
“Of course.” He took her hand and clasped it gently. “I want you to transition first too.”
So that was what the look was about. Julian was worried, and frankly she was anxious as well.
“I’m glad your mom is here to take care of me. I like Merlin, but I feel more comfortable with a woman doctor. When is he coming back?”
“Ten days or so. The fertility convention ends this Friday, but since he is already in Europe, Merlin decided to take the opportunity to visit friends and family.”
Ella closed her eyes and smiled. “By then I hope to be on the other side of the transition.”
“You will be.” He sat on the hospital bed next to her. “You are young and healthy and everything is going to be all right.”
“Roni was my age when he transitioned, but Sylvia told me that it wasn’t easy for him. Several immortals bit him, but it didn’t work until Kian did it.”
“The guy was young, but not healthy. He suffered from pneumonia, lost a lot of weight that he couldn’t afford to lose, and then it took him many weeks to recuperate.”
Her eyes popped wide open. “I hope I don’t have anything serious that will prevent my transition.”
“You don’t have pneumonia.”
“Are you sure?”
He put his ear on her chest and listened. “I’m sure.”
“You’re just taking advantage of the situation to put your cheek on my boobies.” She stroked his soft hair.
Chuckling, Julian kissed her nipple through the hospital johnny.
“Stop it.” She pulled on his hair. “Your mom might walk in on us.”
“I’ll hear her.” Ignoring the hair pulling, he reached over and kissed her other nipple.
“You are incorrigible.”
He lifted his head and grinned. “And you are adorable.”
36
Magnus
Whenever Vivian got that faraway look in her eyes, Magnus knew that she was communicating with Ella. So, when she gasped and her hand flew to her chest, he knew something was up.
He waited as patiently as he could until she was done and her eyes refocused on him. “What happened? Is Ella all right?”
“She is in the clinic.” Vivian pushed to her feet and motioned for him to follow. “This morning she woke up with a fever, and when she tried to stand up she got dizzy and collapsed, but Julian caught her before she hit the floor.” Vivian hurried into the closet and pulled out a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. “He carried her to the clinic, and Bridget hooked her up to the monitors.” She glanced at him. “You should get dressed. We are going.”
He nodded and grabbed a pair of slacks off the hanger. “I need to wake Parker up and tell him to take Scarlet out.” He shrugged his house robe off and pulled on his pants.
Vivian waved a dismissive hand. “Just let her out in the back yard. It will take him forever to drag himself out of bed, and by the time he does she is going to pee on the carpet.”
He chuckled. “As usual, you are right.”
Magnus finished getting dressed, pushed his feet into a pair of loafers, and went to the living room to let the dog out. “Sorry, girl, but we have an emergency, and I can’t take you out.”
As if understanding what he was telling her, Scarlet lifted a pair of worried eyes to him.
“It’s going to be okay.” He slid the patio doors open. “Ella is a healthy young woman and she is going to be fine.” He wasn’t sure whether he was reassuring Scarlet or himself.
Next, he opened Parker’s door and poked his head inside. “Parker, buddy, you need to wake up. Ella is in the clinic and your mother and I are going there. Scarlet is in the backyard and you need to let her in once she is done.”
For a long moment, it seemed like Parker hadn’t heard him, but just as Magnus was about to walk in and shake him awake, the kid sat bolt upright in bed. “What happened to Ella? Is she transitioning? I thought I was dreaming, but then I smelled your cologne, and I never dream about smells.”
“We don’t know yet. She might have come down with a cold or the flu.”
“Can I come too?”
“Sure. But you need to get dressed and take care of Scarlet. You can come later. There is no reason to hurry. Those things take time.”
“Okay.” Parker rubbed his eyes. “Tell her that I’m on my way.”
“I will.”
As he walked back into the living room, Magnus was surprised that Vivian wasn’t waiting for him by the door. She’d seemed in such a rush to get to Ella that he doubted she’d stopped to apply makeup.
But who knew? Women were strange creatures.
Magnus headed back to the bedroom to check for her, but she wasn’t there. She wasn’t in the bathroom either. Could she be still fussing with clothes?
He found her in the closet, sprawled on the floor.
“Viv!” He rushed to her side and lifted her wrist to check for a pulse.
When he found it, Magnus released a relieved breath. Vivian wasn’t the fainting type, but the news must have been more of a shock to her than he’d realized.
He brushed a strand of hair away from her face. “Viv, sweetheart, can you hear me?” She might have hit her head and he’d read somewhere that it wasn’t advisable to move a human until the extent of her or his injuries was ascertained.
Her eyes fluttered open and she gasped. “Oh my God. What happened?” She tried to sit up.
“Don’t move. You might have hit your head.”
She reached with her hand to check. “I don’t think so. Did I faint?”
“It seems so. I found you on the floor.”
“Help me up?”
Supporting her back, he lifted her gently to a sitting position. “How are you feeling? Are you dizzy?”
“Yes, very.” Her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped in his hold.
This wasn't shock. Could it be that Vivian was transitioning as well?
Scooping her in his arms, Magnus ran out and sprinted all the way to the clinic.
“Incoming patient
!” he yelled as he entered.
Bridget rushed out of her office, or rather Merlin’s, but Merlin wasn't there and she was filling in for him.
“What’s wrong with Vivian?”
He was the wrong person to ask. “She fainted after talking with Ella. I woke her up, but when she tried to sit up, she blacked out again.”
“Let’s see what’s going on. Follow me.” She strode down the hallway and opened a door. “Put her on the bed.”
“Magnus?” Ella called from the adjacent patient room. “What’s going on?”
“Your mom fainted. Bridget is checking her vitals.”
“Oh my God! I’m coming.”
“Don’t!” Bridget commanded. “You have to wait for Julian to come back and unhook you from the monitors.”
On the gurney, Vivian groaned. “What’s happening to me?”
Bridget patted her arm. “You might be transitioning, my dear.”
37
Syssi
Syssi was heading out the door when her phone buzzed in her purse.
That was early for a call. She pulled it out and smiled as she saw Kian’s handsome face on the screen. “You didn’t forget to tell me that you loved me this morning.”
“Can’t I say it again?”
“Sure you can.”
“I love you, and I have exciting news. Ella and Vivian are in the clinic, and Bridget believes that they are transitioning.”
Syssi leaned against the doorjamb. “Both at the same time? What a wonderful coincidence.”
“Not really. Well, it is wonderful, but since they both started working on it at the same time, it makes sense for them to enter the transformation at the same time too.”
“Still, there is eighteen years of difference between them. Are they doing okay?”
“Ella has a slight fever and gets dizzy whenever she tries to get up, and Vivian blacked out twice, but she is awake now.”
“It’s so strange how each person reacts differently.”
“Indeed. Have a great day at work, and just so I’m sure I didn’t forget, I love you.”
She chuckled. “I love you too. Don’t work too hard.”
“I’ll try.”
Syssi knew he wouldn’t. Her man was a workaholic, or to put it in nicer terms, a leader fully dedicated to his people and the improvement of humanity at large. She just wished he could learn to delegate more and find capable help.
So far, his efforts on that front had been unsuccessful. She wasn’t sure, though, whether the people he’d hired were not up to the task, or maybe Kian didn’t know how to work with others. Probably a little of both.
Once Kian became a father, though, he would have to cut back. If he didn’t, she was going to bring the baby into his office and force him to spend time with his child.
First, though, she had to find out whether there was a child.
She’d planned on stopping by Bridget’s and collecting a pregnancy test, but the clinic was now buzzing with activity, and Syssi didn’t want anyone aside from Bridget to know that she was taking the test.
The best thing would be to buy a kit at the pharmacy, but since she was carpooling to and from work with Amanda, that was a problem. She could call an Uber at lunchtime, but that seemed silly. After all, she had a car, and she should take it out for a ride once in a while.
Pulling out her phone, she texted Amanda. I’m taking my own car today. I plan on doing some shopping after work.
A moment later her phone pinged with a return text. We can go shopping together. I can use a few new outfits.
Syssi rolled her eyes. She’d forgotten that shopping was a trigger word for Amanda. But she knew how to wiggle out of it.
Great. Macy’s is running a sale. We can stock up on cheap stuff. Smirking, she waited for the reply.
Ugh, I’m not setting a foot in that schmattes store. Have fun shopping alone.
Syssi felt a pang of guilt but quickly got over it. Not everything she wore had to come from high-end boutiques. And she really needed some comfortable everyday things. She hadn’t planned on doing it today, but now she had no choice because Amanda was going to ask her what she’d bought.
38
Carol
Carol was on her way to visit Ella and Vivian in the clinic, when her feet decided on a detour and led her to Kian’s office.
She knocked on the door, and a moment later heard the gruff response.
“Come in.”
Opening the way, she leaned in. “Do you have a couple of minutes?”
He grimaced. “Is it about going to the island?”
“Yes, but without Lokan. I have an interesting new idea.”
“For that, I’ll make time.” He pushed his yellow pad aside.
Carol hadn’t discussed the timing with Lokan, but her feet had followed her gut, and her gut said that it was time to tell Kian.
Pulling out a chair, she sat down and wondered where to start. She hadn’t rehearsed the delivery of her plan, which was an amateurish move, but it was too late for that.
“Lokan has dirt on Gorchenco, and we can use that to make him get me onto the island.”
“How?”
“He is a mobster and a returning client, so he won’t get the careful scrutiny other visitors to the island get. He can bring me along as his plaything. The same excuse Lokan would have used. Then we pretend to have a fight, and he leaves me there.”
Kian shook his head. “They’ll put you to work in the brothel, which was your original idea, but that one is obsolete at this point, and there is no way for you to get from the brothel into the harem.”
“They won’t put me in the brothel if I have a medical condition that makes me undesirable. Lokan says that they have doctors who check the newcomers, but I’m sure Bridget can help me come up with a convincing disability.”
Leaning back in his chair, Kian crossed his arms over his chest. “Let’s assume that it works and that you are sent to housekeeping instead. How are you going to get into the harem?”
She shrugged. “I’ll find a way to get assigned there. Or, if you allow Lokan to make some phone calls, supervised of course, he can pull strings from here and get me in.”
That seemed to pique Kian’s interest. “That’s a possibility I didn't think of. And I assume that you can dream-share with him regardless of the location?”
“That’s correct. He will have to switch to sleeping during the day, though. I doubt I would be allowed daytime naps, and there is a twelve-hour time difference to account for.”
“How are we going to get you out?”
“I will fake my death. I hope Bridget can help me with that as well. When they take me out in a casket, Gorchenco will come back for me, claiming to have changed his mind. When they tell him that I’m dead, he will demand to take my body for burial back home. I don’t see why they would refuse him. He is not only a good client but also their main arms supplier. They want to keep him happy.”
Kian nodded. “I’m impressed. This could actually work, provided that Bridget can come up with a way for you to have a convincing disability and fake your own death. Naturally, the timing of your supposed death and Gorchenco’s return to the island will have to be coordinated ahead of time.”
Staring at Kian, Carol could hardly believe that he was considering her plan, especially since she’d come up with half of it on the spot. Having Gorchenco coming back for her and collecting her body was a spur of the moment idea.
“For it to work, we need to act fast. Lokan is due for his mandatory in-person reporting in twenty days. When he fails to show up and doesn’t answer his phone, Navuh is going to assume that he either defected or is dead. In either case, he won’t be able to make the necessary phone calls to his people.”
Kian didn’t look happy. “I don’t like doing things under pressure. This is a complicated mission, and I don’t want to rush into it without careful planning.”
“It is what it is. The way I see it, we have ten days at most
to get me to the island. For it to be believable, Gorchenco and I will have to spend a few days together, acting out the sugar daddy and young gold-digger charade. Then I need time to get into the harem, find out who Navuh is hiding there, befriend her so she opens up to me, and transmit the information via dream-sharing with Lokan. The more time I have, the better. If anything goes wrong, Lokan’s ability to make phone calls and pull some strings might prove invaluable.”
She didn’t add that if the shit hit the fan, Lokan could come to get her. If and when that happened, Kian would realize it himself.
Kian nodded. “I’ll run it by Turner and see what he thinks. The key is Gorchenco and whether the dirt Lokan has on him will be enough to convince him to cooperate with us to such an extent.”
Carol smirked. “I think he will be willing to do almost anything.”
“Oh, yeah? Do you know what Lokan has on him?”
“I don’t have all the details. You should get the information from him directly.”
He arched a brow, but thankfully didn’t press her to reveal more. She’d promised Lokan not to tell Kian so he could use it to get something in exchange.
“I’m going to do it later today, and I’ll bring Andrew along. I don’t trust anything that comes out of Lokan’s mouth unless I can verify it.”
The insult to her mate hurt, even though Kian’s opinion of Lokan was not entirely wrong.
“He didn’t lie to you yet. Am I right? The island was where he told you it was.”
“I’m still not sure about that. All I have is a satellite photo showing several thatched roofs. Turner is having someone verify it on the ground, or rather ocean.”
“When will you have proof?”
“In a day or two.”
Carol groaned. “Time is running out.”
39
Lokan
When Kian entered Lokan’s cell with his bodyguards and Andrew, Lokan knew he was in for another interrogation.