by I. T. Lucas
William talked fast, but Roni didn’t mind. Everything the guy had told him was fascinating. “That’s because they are a bunch of morons who don’t understand half of what you’re talking about, and even if they do, they can’t follow because you talk so fast. You’re too smart for them, man.”
William cracked a smile. “Thank you. Let’s see how you’re going to talk after working with me for a couple of weeks. Kian told me to make room for you in my lab.”
That was the best news Roni had had in a while. “Are we going to work together?”
“Yep. Side by side.” William collected the tools he’d brought with him to cuff Roni and put them back in a blue fabric pouch.
“Can I come see the place?”
“Do you feel well enough?”
“I’m much better, thank you for asking.” For some reason, Roni felt like being polite to the guy and curbing the snarky attitude he treated almost everyone else with. Not because William was a good guy, and not because he was inviting Roni to share his kingdom, but because he sensed vulnerability in him.
Most of the time Roni was too self-absorbed to notice other people’s emotional states, but William’s eyes had a haunted look to them that bothered Roni. He had a feeling it was something that happened recently because everyone who mentioned William had commented what a cheerful and friendly guy he was. The dude was friendly for sure, but he was far from cheerful.
“Then let’s go. Now that you have the cuff, I can have your thumbprint programmed into the scanners.”
“Right, I was wondering when I’d be allowed out of this apartment.” Not that he was going anywhere.
Roni’s computer equipment was right there, and Sylvia made sure he had food in the fridge. Other than work and necessities, the only reason to leave would be to go visit someone, but he knew only a few people. Andrew, who still kept his distance, Kian, who Roni wasn’t going to visit unless his life depended on it, and Jackson and Tessa who didn’t live at the keep. And William, of course.
Sylvia had told him about the gym and the movie theater, but he was still too weak for exercising, and watching a movie all by himself in an empty theater was as appealing as telling jokes to himself in the mirror. Some things had to be done in company. Even a loner like him knew that.
The first thing that struck Roni as odd was that the door to William’s lab was unlocked. Apparently, the guy trusted his fellow clan members not to sabotage his work.
“You should lock the door when you leave the room,” he said as he followed the guy inside.
“It’s safe down here.”
“Yeah, until it’s not.” Roni took a look around, underwhelmed by what he saw. It was a disorganized mess of epic proportions. How the hell did the guy work in a dump like that?
William frowned. “What do you mean? Only family is allowed in here.”
“And you trust every one of them implicitly? There are bad apples in every family. Imagine if someone holds a grudge for something and decides to retaliate by sabotaging the keep’s brain, which I assume is all in here.”
“It is.” William pushed his glasses up his nose. “I never considered the possibility, but you’re right, it’s not like it couldn’t happen.”
“Exactly. Put in a retina scanner. Those are impossible to trick. Better than thumb scanners.”
William’s lips lifted in a crooked smirk. “I can do better than that. I can use my facial recognition program to grant entry only to those who need to be here, and I’ll have a record of everyone entering the lab.”
“Perfect.”
William walked over to his messy station. “So, what do you think? Nice set up, right?”
Roni liked the guy, but it didn’t mean he was going to lie about something as important as his future working environment to spare his feelings.
“It’s a dump. Your equipment is good, but I don’t know how you can work here. First of all, all those cables lying around on the floor are a safety hazard. This super expensive equipment is piled up like it’s a junkyard. Then there is your desk and your chair. No considerations at all to ergonomics. I know that you’re an immortal and that you heal fast, but sitting in that crappy chair all day must do a number on your back. I’m sure it hurts.”
William glanced around his domain, once, then again, as if he was trying to see it through Roni’s eyes.
“There are no pictures on the walls, either,” he added to Roni’s list of things that needed improvement.
Roni nodded. “The walls could use a fresh coat of paint before you hang pictures on them. Look at the smoke stains over there. Did something catch fire?”
William rubbed his neck. “Yeah, I had a small accident a couple of years ago.”
“Wow. Your maintenance crew sucks, man. You should hire a new one.”
“We have no maintenance crew. We have my ramped up Roomba, but because of the wires I can’t let it loose in here.”
“You don’t hire maintenance people because of the secrecy?”
“Naturally.”
“How about your own people?”
“No one wants to do a job like that. We each clean and perform upkeep on our own work spaces. Except for Kian, that is. He has a butler that does it for him. But then Kian is the hardest working person in the keep.”
Roni glanced around. “I’m sure not everyone does a good job of keeping things clean.”
William cast him a sheepish glance. “Any ideas on how to improve things? From what Andrew tells me, you worked in the heart of hearts of the government’s computer network.”
“I did. Anything I wanted I put in a request for, and it was delivered or done. I called it my throne room and treated it as such.”
“I like it. A throne room. In here, if the procurement requires serious funds it goes through Kian. I’m authorized to spend up to twenty thousand a month at my own discretion. Usually, it’s enough.”
It was Roni’s turn to look uncomfortable. “I can make a list of what we need to transform this place, but I have no clue how much it’s going to cost. I worked for the government. Our department had unlimited budget.”
“Let’s start with that list and go from there.”
Chapter 16: Anandur
Anandur wiped the drill shavings from the bathroom floor with a wet rag, then stood back to examine his work. If Kian ever kicked him out of the Guardian force, he could have a career as a handyman.
Installing the special handicapped rails and supports hadn’t been a complicated job. If he could do that with no training, after watching two YouTube vids, he could learn how to do other things just as quickly. It boiled down to having the right tools and figuring out how to use them.
As the idea took on a life of its own, Anandur grinned at his reflection in the vanity mirror. He could imagine himself with a tool belt, fixing things for lonely ladies in need of small home improvements and big orgasms.
He could be known as the fixer-upper gigolo. He’d charge for the improvements and throw in the orgasms for free.
“What are you smiling about?” Calypso asked, handing him a tall glass of lemonade.
“A job well done.” He moved back so she could inspect his work.
“Looks awesome. I’ll tell Brundar to come give it a try.”
Last night, his stubborn brother had made Anandur take him to Calypso’s even though her apartment wasn’t ready for him and his special needs. The guy had it bad, or good, depending on which end of the prism one chose to look through.
“You’ll have to clear the bathroom,” Brundar said from the entrance. “It’s not that I’m modest, but there isn’t enough room for you and me and my wheelchair.”
Anandur stepped out, and Calypso followed.
Brundar wheeled himself inside, maneuvered the chair next to the toilet, grabbed the bars and hoisted himself up. “Okay, going in. Now let’s see if it works the other way around.” He hoisted himself up again and sat back on the chair.
“Dude, you need to check if you
can take your pants down as well.”
Brundar ignored him and wheeled himself toward the shower, where Anandur had put in a sturdy chair designed especially for that purpose. With his brother’s upper body strength, it was really no challenge, but Anandur wondered how injured or paralyzed humans handled situations like that. They probably couldn’t do it all without assistance.
“Thank you,” Brundar said as he got himself back into the wheelchair. “I owe you.”
“No, you don't. I did it for me as much as for you. I want to get back to work knowing you can manage on your own.”
Brundar nodded. “Still, it’s appreciated.”
Calypso nudged Anandur’s arm. “I’m making lunch. Wash your hands and come join us.”
He would’ve loved to, but he’d already spent the entire morning on the installation and needed to get back to the keep before Kian decided to pay them another visit, finding no one home.
“I wish I could. But I have to get back to work.” And whatever torment Kian had planned for him.
“I’ll put the cutlet inside a sandwich so you can eat it in the car on the way.”
“Thank you. That would be great.”
Anandur was falling a little in love with his brother’s woman. Not romantically, but as someone he was happy to know. Calypso was awesome. Pretty, funny, feisty, and a goddess in the kitchen. But most importantly, she made Brundar smile.
After collecting his new tools and washing his hands, Anandur walked out the door with a kiss on his cheek and a sandwich packed in a paper bag.
He could get used to that. Would his brother mind if he moved in with him and Calypso?
Yeah, he would.
Bummer.
Even though Brundar’s knees were busted and he was in a wheelchair, the guy looked happy for the first time since he was a little kid. Anandur was adamant about keeping it that way. If need be, he would slay dragons and fight Kian, or the other way around, to guard Brundar’s little slice of happiness.
His brother deserved it.
Back in the keep, Anandur headed straight for Kian’s office to report for duty. As far as he knew, Kian had no outside meetings scheduled for today, but things often changed.
He knocked on the door and walked in. “I’m back and reporting for duty.”
Kian lifted his head and cast him a hard look. “Who is taking care of your brother?”
“He is doing fine by himself. A few grab bars solved the bathroom problem.” He wasn’t lying, he just wasn’t being specific. Kian didn’t need to know that the grab bars were not in Anandur and Brundar’s apartment.
“What about the girl?”
“She is back at her place.” Again, not a lie.
Kian shook his head. “What are you not telling me, Anandur? I can smell your guilt.”
Damn. He’d forgotten about Kian’s super-nose. His sense of smell was superior. Perhaps because he was as close genetically to the gods as it got, or maybe it was his special talent, but the guy could differentiate between the slightest nuances.
“Brundar has feelings for the girl. You know him, you know how closed off he was, pushing everyone away, including me. He was living on autopilot, like a zombie. I’m sure you realize what a breakthrough this is for him.”
“I do. But it changes nothing. Even if he decided to run off with her, what would happen in a few years when she ages, and he doesn't? He would have to leave her, and it’d destroy him. I’ve been in that movie. The pain I carried with me for years was much worse than if I had given the girl up right at the beginning.”
“I like Calypso.”
“I’m sure you do, but it has nothing to do with anything.”
“But it does. Amanda has a new theory about immortals and Dormants feeling affinity toward each other. Maybe Calypso is a Dormant?”
“If she were, she would’ve transitioned already. I’m sure Brundar hasn’t kept their relationship platonic. He is behaving like a mated male.”
Yeah, there was that. Anandur suspected Brundar had been involved with Calypso for a long while. All that secrecy, all those days and nights he would disappear from sight, not telling anyone where he was going.
Some of it had no doubt to do with the club he’d acquired, but not all. Kian was right. Brundar and Calypso acted like a mated couple.
And yet, Jackson and Tessa were another couple in a similar situation, and Kian was allowing them to be together. Not only that, he let Tessa live away from the keep, free as a bird while privy to all their secrets and its location.
It wasn’t right, and Anandur was going to confront Kian about it even if it got him in deeper shit than he already was. “How come you went out on a limb for Tessa and Jackson, a teenage boy and a human girl with no Dormant indicators, but you’re refusing to do the same for Brundar? A man who has served you faithfully for centuries?”
Kian’s eyes started glowing dangerously. “I have my reasons, and I don’t need to share them with you.”
Anandur should have known to back off, but he was too riled to back down. “You’re playing favorites, Kian, and not for the right people. I don’t care what your reasons are. If anyone deserves happiness, it is my brother.”
“Get out,” Kian hissed from between tight lips, his fangs getting so long they were protruding below his upper lip. “You chose a bad day to question my leadership and show disrespect for my authority.”
As if there were ever a good day for that.
Anandur rose to his feet. “I’ll be in the gym if you need me.” He still had a duty to perform, even if his boss was a monumental jerk with a God complex.
Well, he happened to be an actual demigod, but that was beside the point.
It took all of Anandur’s self-restraint to walk out of Kian’s office without throwing a punch into one of the walls and not slam the door behind him.
Imagining the punching bag in the gym helped.
Alone in the elevator, Anandur let out the growl he’d been holding. It shook the small cabin. A disembodied voice came through the loudspeakers. “Is there a problem?”
The shaking must’ve alerted security.
“No problem. I was just releasing some steam.”
The voice chuckled. “Is the elevator still in one piece?”
“Yeah, no worries.”
“I’ll take your word for it, Anandur.”
Damn it. Everyone working in security knew him, but Anandur hadn’t expected his voice to be so easily recognizable.
As the elevator came to a stop at the gym level, Anandur stepped out and walked straight into Amanda. He caught her shoulders, steadying her.
“Sorry, princess. Are you okay?”
“It’s my fault. I was checking messages on my phone and not paying attention. What’s going on? You look flustered.”
“Do I?” Anandur touched his hand to his cheek. It was warm. One of the many disadvantages of being a redhead was that cursed fair skin that became ruddy with every heightened emotion and after a couple of drinks.
“You do. Is it about Brundar? I heard what happened to him. In fact, I came home for lunch with the intent of paying him a visit.”
Anandur closed his eyes. The plot was thickening. Pretty soon every goddamned clan member would want to come visit poor injured Brundar, only to discover that he wasn’t there.
“Brundar doesn’t want to see anyone. You know how proud he is. Getting bested by a human is not something he wants to talk about. He wants to forget it ever happened.”
Amanda put her hand on her hip. “That’s the thing. No one knows what happened. Or how. I want details, Anandur.”
“I’m sure you do.”
Chapter 17: Amanda
“I’m going to talk to Kian,” Amanda said after Anandur filled her in on what was going on. She’d practically muscled him into one of the empty classrooms and forced the story out of him.
It was so much bigger than Brundar getting shot. The ice prince was in love. Not that Anandur had mentioned the word
love, but the words fate and mate and affinity had been thrown into the mix of his otherwise matter-of-fact account.
“Don’t. And please, for the love of everything that’s dear to you, don’t spread the story. Especially since it is not my story to tell. You trusted me with yours way back then, and I’m trusting you with this.”
“You’re not the only one who needs to fight for Brundar. I’m going to fight for him too.”
“I appreciate the sentiment, I really do. But your brother is in one of his shite moods today. He told me to get out when I dared mention Tessa and Jackson and the leeway he is allowing them. He will just blow up at you.”
“Tessa and Jackson have nothing to do with Brundar and his girl. Each story is different. It was a strategic mistake on your part to bring them up.”
“In hindsight, yes. But I don’t understand why.”
Amanda re-crossed her legs in an attempt to get comfortable on the desk she was sitting on. “Tessa is like Eva’s daughter. She would never do anything to betray the woman who saved her life and raised her as her own.”
Anandur tilted his head. “That’s a story I would like to hear.”
“I bet. But it’s not my story to tell.”
“I told you Brundar’s.”
“Nice try. It’s not the same. I barely know Tessa, while Brundar is your brother and you’re trying to build a team to fight for him.”
“I am?”
“Sure you are. That’s why you told me his story. You want my help.”
“Honestly, I wasn’t thinking in that direction at all. I just needed someone to hear me out, and as I said before, I trust you.”
“And I owe you. Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you did for me when I was fighting for my right to be with Dalhu.”
Anandur let out a sigh. “Why is your brother such an ass?”
“He is not an ass. He is stressed out and overworked, and he needs to take time off. I think he is nearing a breaking point. He snaps at everyone, except Syssi, that is. She is the only one who can calm him down.”
“In that case, we need her on our team.”