by I. T. Lucas
Kian cast her a reprimanding glare. “You shouldn’t have done it. Not for so long. I understand we are talking months, right?”
Sylvia nodded without looking Kian in the eyes.
“We face several challenges here. Completely wiping Sylvia from your memory is impossible. I can give it a shot and erase just the part about her being immortal, but I doubt it would work on you. Your brain is too powerful. Which brings me to the next complication. I would hate to damage it even slightly. It’s like ruining a one of a kind work of art. Unforgivable.”
“Thank you. I appreciate the compliment. But that leaves only one option, and that’s of me staying on. I’m fine with that. I was a prisoner where I was before, so that’s not a big change. Hopefully, I’ll be treated better here. It was so fucking lonely there. I’m not going to miss that.”
Sylvia gasped in horror, but Kian grinned.
“I think you’re going to miss those days when you realize what a bunch of fucking busybodies your new friends are. Privacy? Forget about it. Keeping secrets? Only if you don’t tell a soul.”
Roni felt a heavy weight lift off his chest, and it had nothing to do with the pneumonia. “Does it mean I can stay?”
Kian shook his head, scaring the crap out of Roni, but then he nodded. “There is a precedent. Andrew was allowed in because of Syssi, his sister and my wife. Syssi transitioned, so we knew Andrew was a Dormant as well, but he was older, and there was a fear he wouldn’t make it. It all ended well, and he transitioned, but the point of the story is that we welcomed him regardless. You don’t have a blood relative who we know has transitioned, but you have Sylvia. Not as strong of a case as Andrew’s, but I can work with that.”
Roni slumped in his chair. “Thank God.”
Kian lifted a finger. “But, I have to take precautions to ensure the safety of my people. You will be fitted with an unremovable cuff that will track your location at all times and sound the alarm if you try to leave.”
Unable to stop himself, Roni snorted. “With all due respect, Kian, do you think I can’t disarm a thing like that?”
Kian’s smile was part conceited, part evil. “You might be smart, even brilliant, but our William is just as smart and has the advantage of advanced technology you’ve never even heard about. Try to mess with that cuff, and it will explode, taking your arm with it.”
Roni gulped and instinctively cradled his forearm.
His expression menacing, Kian leaned toward him. “Just think about it, Roni. How are you going to do all that hacking of yours with only one hand?”
CHAPTER 38: JACKSON
A box of pastries under his arm, Jackson walked into the keep’s café and scanned the small crowd. It was late morning, after the breakfast rush was over and before the lunch one began, and yet four out of the café’s twelve tables were occupied, most by more than one immortal.
Mid-morning coffee break for those working in the keep.
He put the box down on one of the barstools. “Hi, Carol, how are things going?”
She shrugged. “Business as usual. What about you?”
“Same, though not for long. Everything is going to change after the move to the new place.”
She nodded. “I’m still stuck with running the café unless someone volunteers to take it off my hands. I don’t think Nathalie is ever coming back. Not until little Phoenix is old enough to go to preschool.” Carol shook her head. “The little darling will have a long commute. I don’t know how far it is to the nearest school, but my guess is about an hour’s drive. The place is so isolated that it will make socializing with people outside the clan difficult.”
“Do you prefer it here?”
“No. I prefer my own little home which I’m renting out.”
So did Jackson’s mother. As a therapist, she worked mostly with humans and shared a clinic with several other therapists in an office building that wasn’t anywhere near the keep but was ten minutes’ drive from their home.
Her home, he corrected himself.
Jackson no longer lived there, and he had no intention of going back. The next place he was moving into was the house he and Tessa were going to share in the village. Which would make his commute a nightmare too.
“I’ve been thinking. What if I take over the new café?”
Carol’s eyes widened. “What about Nathalie’s old café? I hear it’s doing very well.”
“It is. But I’m thinking about the commute too. Besides, Vlad and Gordon are starting college. Vlad is staying in town so he can work part-time, but Gordon is going out of state.”
“You can hire humans.”
Jackson swiped his long bangs back. “I will, if I have to. But what do you think about my idea?”
Carol tilted her head, taking a few moments to think. “If Nathalie doesn’t mind about the other place, then I’m all for it. I can work part-time too, help you out until you get settled.” She sighed. “I would love to reclaim my old life and chill a little. I miss the clubs and the partying and inviting friends over for dinner.”
Fates, he knew the feeling. Ever since he’d taken over the café and then started dating Tessa, everything else had become less of a priority, which meant nonexistent. When was the last time he’d chilled with his friends? Except for performing and practicing their music?
With the guys leaving for college, even that would be over.
It hit him then that he and Tessa were like an old married couple. Tessa didn’t know any better, she’d missed the entire high school experience and started working for Eva at sixteen or seventeen, but he did. They should get together with other couples. Go out dancing or something. For Tessa’s sake more than his.
There was a whole chunk of life she’d missed out on, and it was up to him to help make up for that.
Jackson opened the large box and pulled out a smaller one. “Here are your pastries.” He closed the bigger box and tucked it under his arm. “I’m going to restock the vending machine.”
“We are all out of muffins.”
He patted the box. “I have plenty of them here.”
The vending machine needed to smarten up and send messages when it was running low on something. The technology was available. He should check it out. Someone must’ve thought of that and already built smart vending machines.
Perhaps he should suggest it to Kian. Unless they were available for lease, Jackson couldn’t afford to buy even one. But the good thing about Kian was that he was generous with money if he deemed the expense justified. Given that automation was the only alternative to employing humans, which Kian was refusing to consider, Jackson had a feeling the boss would be all for getting the new and improved vending machines.
Not that he could blame the guy. Jackson didn’t like working with humans either. It was a constant strain to watch himself and not let on that he could hear conversations from across the room, or lift things that took the strength of two human males.
Opening the machine, he started filling up the slots with wrapped pastries, when a pair of legs stopped next to him.
“Is it going to take long?”
Jackson lifted his eyes. “Sylvia? What are you doing here?”
“Same as everyone else. I want to grab something to eat.”
“I meant in the keep.”
“I came to be with Roni.”
“Who?” He didn’t know any Roni.
“Didn’t you hear about him?” Sylvia rolled her eyes. “Where have you been, on the moon? I thought everyone knew.”
Jackson went back to filling the machine. “Apparently not everyone.”
“I thought you were tight with Andrew. Roni is, or rather was, a hacker for the government who worked with Andrew. He found Eva’s trail. That’s how Bhathian knew to look for her in Brazil.”
“Now I know who you’re talking about.”
“Long story short, Roni’s maternal grandmother, who had supposedly drowned when Roni’s mom was a young girl, applied for a driver’s license not
once but twice since, looking the same way she did at twenty-something. So naturally, we assumed she was an immortal and that Roni was a Dormant, right?”
“Right.” Jackson closed the vending machine.
“So we staged this elaborate setup, a dojo where he was supposed to train, and Anandur pretended to be the instructor. He got bitten several times, and after the last time, he developed a fever and we thought he was transitioning, but it turned out to be pneumonia. So now he is here, and Kian agreed for him to stay even though he is a human.”
Jackson rubbed his jaw. “I’m obviously missing some important parts of the story. Why the elaborate setup? And since when are you working for Kian?”
For some reason his questions caused Sylvia to blush. “I don’t work at the keep. I’m Roni’s girlfriend. And the reason we needed the dojo excuse was that Roni wasn’t free to go as he pleased. When he was a kid, he hacked into some classified information, got caught, and instead of going to prison, or a juvenile correction facility, he was offered a job. He couldn’t go anywhere without his handler. Andrew convinced the bosses that Roni needed physical activity to keep his mind sharp, which was obviously important to them as he was their top hacker, so they agreed, and we staged the dojo.”
That was one hell of a story, and there was probably much more to it. But Jackson couldn’t spend all day chatting with Sylvia. The guys needed him back at the café. Still, there was one quick question that could satisfy his curiosity for now.
“How old is your Roni?”
“About your age.”
“You don’t say.” Jackson smiled, an idea forming in his head. “And he now lives here in the keep?”
“Yes.”
“Did you move in with him?”
“Not yet. But I’m here a lot.”
“How about we all get together? My girlfriend and me, you and Roni.”
“Roni is not allowed to leave the keep.”
“We can hang out at his place. Who is he rooming with?”
“For now, no one. And that’s a wonderful idea. Roni could use some friends his age. He spent the last few years surrounded by agents who were way older than him.”
This was just perfect. Both Roni and Tessa had missed a big chunk of normal growing up. They should get along splendidly.
Jackson pulled out his phone. “Let’s exchange numbers. Check with Roni when is a good time and let me know. We’ll come over, and I’ll bring the pastries.”
Sylvia frowned. “Who’s your girlfriend? I’m not aware of any girl who has recently transitioned.”
“She didn’t. Tessa is a Dormant just like your Roni, and Kian gave me permission to tell her who we are.”
Sylvia put her hands on her hips. “How come your girlfriend knows about us and is free to come and go, while my boyfriend is a prisoner?”
Damn. Telling her about Tessa’s special situation was the last thing he wanted to do. Having a good time with people their age didn’t involve sharing her horrific past with them.
“How about we talk about it when we get together? I have to go back to work.”
“Fine.” She pointed a finger at him. “But you owe me an explanation.”
Not really, but he didn’t want to argue the point with her. Until the four of them got together, he would think of a good excuse that didn’t involve revealing Tessa’s past.
CHAPTER 39: TESSA
“How do I look?” Tessa asked.
“Amazing.” Jackson grabbed her by her waist and lifted her up for a kiss.
Usually, she loved when he did that, but they were right outside Eva’s house. “Stop it. Put me down.”
“No one is looking. And if they are, they are jealous.” Instead of letting go of her, Jackson carried her to the other side of his car, letting her slide to the ground only because he needed his hand to open the passenger door for her.
“Your car always smells of pastries.” Tessa buckled up and turned her head to glance at the back seat. A big pink box was the source of the smell.
“I told Sylvia I’d bring some.” Jackson turned the ignition on and eased into the street.
“How many people are going to be there?” She was mentally prepared to meet two new people. Not a big bunch of them.
“Just us, Sylvia and Roni.”
It would be fun to spend an evening with another couple. Especially since one was an immortal and the other still a human. The human boy was Jackson’s age, and the girl was a few years older than Tessa. The reverse age difference was another thing they had in common.
She wondered if Roni was as mature as Jackson. He had to be for a twenty-five-year-old woman to find him interesting. But then the guy was some kind of a genius hacker, so naturally he must be fascinating.
Except, Nick was a great hacker too, and he wasn’t mature at all. All he cared about was scoring with girls and watching sports or reality shows on TV. Tessa loved him like a brother, but that didn’t mean they had anything to talk about other than job-related stuff.
“I think you overdid it with the pastries. Unless that box is mostly empty.”
“It’s full. My motto is that it is always better to bring too much than too little. They can put some in the freezer for later.”
At the keep, the security guy waved them in with no questions asked. She could understand Jackson getting in without showing identification. After all, he or one of the other guys were delivering pastries to the café on a daily basis, but it was strange that they had let her through without asking to show her identification or frisking her for weapons or having her pass through a metal detector. The keep’s security was supposed to be top notch.
“How come no one asked me who I am? Did you call ahead of time?”
Jackson shook his head. “You were entered into the system the first time you came here, and apparently given a security clearance to come and go as you please. Kian must’ve been really impressed with you.”
Or had felt really sorry for her. Jackson claimed he’d never told Kian any details about her ordeal, but Kian seemed like a guy who didn’t shy away from the ugliness of this world. He must’ve known what her captivity had entailed.
When Jackson knocked on the door, the young woman who opened the door smiled wide and pulled Tessa into a hug. “You have no idea how happy I am to meet you, Tessa.”
“And what am I? Chopped liver?” Jackson squeezed by them with the big box. “You forget who is holding the pastries, woman.”
Sylvia let go of Tessa. “I happened to love chopped liver.” She sauntered over to Jackson and kissed his cheek.
A sick-looking guy waved at them from the couch. “Excuse me for not getting up. This fucking pneumonia is killing me.”
“Roni!” Sylvia gasped.
“What? If we are all supposed to get friendly, I’d rather be myself.”
Jackson walked over to Roni and offered his hand. “I have no problem with cussing, and neither does Tessa. She only looks fragile, but she can kick butt.”
It was Tessa’s turn to gasp. “Jackson!”
Jackson plopped on the couch next to Roni and wrapped his arm around the guy’s narrow shoulders. “Let’s make a deal. There will be no pretending to be anything other than who we really are. Deal?”
Tessa and Sylvia exchanged glances in female solidarity.
Sylvia shrugged. “You guys want an excuse to cuss, then be our guests. But Tessa and I are ladies.”
For a moment, Tessa was afraid Jackson would snort a yeah right. But apparently he was smarter than that and so was Roni. Both guys nodded in agreement.
“Who wants tea and who wants coffee?” Sylvia asked.
“Coffee,” Roni said.
“I’ll have whatever soft drink you have.” After a day at the café, the last thing Jackson wanted was another cup of coffee.
“I would love some tea. Do you have herbal?” Tessa followed Sylvia to the kitchen.
Sylvia pulled out a box from one of the cabinets. “I’m afraid we don’t have mu
ch. Roni moved in just a couple of days ago, and I’m still working on stocking this place with food.”
“How is he feeling? Jackson told me he has pneumonia.”
“He’s better, but as you can see, he is still sick.”
They walked back into the living room with Sylvia carrying two cups of coffee and Tessa her tea and a can of ginger ale for Jackson.
He took the can from her. “Ginger ale?”
“Roni gets nauseous. The ginger ale helps.”
Sylvia went back to the kitchen and came back with a plate loaded with pastries.
Jackson popped the lid and took a sip. “Not bad.”
There was an uncomfortable moment of silence, with each of them pretending to be busy with their beverages.
Tessa put her tea on the coffee table. “So I know that Roni is a hacker. What do you do, Sylvia?” Talking about work was always a safe subject. Even she knew that.
“I’m a student.”
Jackson lifted a brow. “In what field?”
Sylvia smirked. “Several. I figured there is no rush, so why not study whatever I’m interested in, like literature, psychology, criminology, philosophy, ancient languages, archeology, etc.”
Must be wonderful to have no financial worries and be an eternal student. Except, Jackson had told her that clan members didn’t start getting a share in clan profits until they were twenty-five.
“What did you do for money before you turned twenty-five?”
“I see Jackson told you about that silly rule. But there is a loophole. Those who finish a bachelor’s degree get their share when they graduate. Annani is big on education, and that’s her incentive for clan members to get it. I finished my first bachelor’s degree at twenty.”
“My woman is smart.” Roni patted the spot on his other side. “Come sit with your man.”
Tessa stifled a smile. Roni was so thin and young looking. Calling himself a man was a stretch.
But apparently to Sylvia, he was. She got up and went to sit with him, lifting her legs and tucking them under her as she snuggled up to him.