by I. T. Lucas
Dark Haven Found
The Children Of The Gods Book 49
I. T. Lucas
Copyright © 2021 by I. T. Lucas
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
Dark Haven Found is a work of fiction!
Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any similarity to actual persons, organizations and/or events is purely coincidental.
Contents
1. Kian
2. Bowen
3. Anastasia
4. Syssi
5. Margaret
6. Kian
7. Eleanor
8. Bowen
9. Eleanor
10. Margaret
11. Arwel
12. Bowen
13. Eleanor
14. Lokan
15. Margaret
16. Leon
17. Anastasia
18. Leon
19. Anastasia
20. Arwel
21. Kian
22. Leon
23. Kian
24. Eleanor
25. Kian
26. Eleanor
27. Kian
28. Arwel
29. Syssi
30. Anastasia
31. Leon
32. Anastasia
33. Bowen
34. Leon
35. Anastasia
36. Leon
37. Richard
38. Kian
39. Leon
40. Richard
41. Anastasia
42. Kian
43. Margaret
44. Kian
45. Anastasia
46. Leon
47. Kian
48. Leon
49. Anastasia
50. Leon
51. Anastasia
52. Leon
53. Bowen
54. Margaret
55. Anastasia
56. Leon
57. Anastasia
58. Leon
59. Anastasia
60. Stella
61. Eleanor
62. Kian
63. Bowen
64. Stella
65. Kian
66. Margaret
67. Kian
68. Leon
69. Anastasia
70. Leon
71. Anastasia
72. Kian
The Children of the Gods Series
The Perfect Match Series
Also by I. T. Lucas
FOR EXCLUSIVE PEEKS
1
Kian
“Good morning, Edna.” Kian opened the door to his office. “You are early.”
She walked in and waited for him to close the door. “I was so surprised when you invited me to this emergency meeting that I couldn’t contain my curiosity. Lately my updates have come from my mate, who hears news about what’s going on from Kalugal.”
Her subtle criticism was justified.
Kian notoriously failed to seek the council’s advice or to update them about anything other than the most critical issues. But that was because he knew that the council members were in the loop anyway, and if they had any objections, they were free to walk into his office and voice them.
Bridget was in charge of the rescue operations, so they talked almost daily, and her mate, who was Kian’s right-hand man even though he wasn’t on the council, shared everything with her.
Since joining the clan, Turner had been privy to most of the clan’s strategic decisions, so much so that Kian was starting to realize that he’d become dependent on the guy. His mother would say that that was a good thing, but he wasn’t sure.
If Turner had agreed to hold an official position, it would be a different story. Kian could then delegate some of his responsibilities to him. But he was only an adviser, and he made himself available to the clan when it was convenient for him.
As the chief Guardian, Onegus was naturally in the loop, William was usually consulted regarding the technical aspects, and Amanda heard everything from Syssi. That left Edna, who was apparently getting her information from Rufsur, and Brandon, who wasn’t interested in anything outside of his field of expertise.
“That’s why I invited you today.” Kian walked over to the conference table and pulled out a chair for her. “But you are not here just as the council’s representative. I value your opinion, and what’s on the agenda for this Saturday morning has monumental implications for the clan.”
Smiling, Edna sat down. “I assume that you are referring to the illustrious cult leader, Emmett Haderech, who might be a different kind of immortal or just insane.”
Since Rufsur had moved in with her, the judge had been smiling more often, which was a welcome change.
“I see that you are well informed.” Kian pulled out a chair next to her.
“You should be aware that unless you explicitly ask Kalugal not to disclose the information you share with him, he tells Rufsur everything.”
Kian hadn’t considered that, but Edna’s comment made him realize the extent of Kalugal’s involvement in the clan’s affairs. His cousin didn’t hold any official title either, but Kian kept him informed nonetheless.
The problem was that it was one-sided.
Kalugal didn’t share anything about his business dealings with Kian.
Then again, the accord they’d signed indicated that they were to cooperate on security issues, and finding out that there was a whole different breed of immortals out there fell under that category.
Bridget and Turner arrived next followed by Peter and Eleanor, who were there to supply details and answer questions. Onegus and William came in a moment later, with Kalugal and Andrew arriving last.
When everyone was seated, Kian motioned for Shai to start the recording. “Most of you already know why I called this meeting. Emmett Haderech was apprehended yesterday and delivered to a cell in the keep.” Kian looked at the faces around the conference table, noting the nods of everyone other than Andrew, who apparently was the only one with no idea about what was going on.
“I’ll summarize for Andrew’s sake. Until yesterday, Emmett Haderech was the leader of Safe Haven, a cult-like organization. When Turner was hired to retrieve a young woman from the cult, he requested my help. Onegus and I chose Leon, Peter, and Eleanor for the task. Kri was supposed to join them, but it didn’t work out. When Eleanor voiced her suspicion that cult leaders might be using compulsion to secure their followers, I decided to use the opportunity and have the team investigate her hypothesis. Eleanor and Peter ended up discovering something more troubling than that. Safe Haven’s leader, Emmett Haderech, turned out to be not only a powerful compeller, but also an immortal, who claims to have a different ancestry than ours.”
Andrew cocked a brow. “Ours, as in Annani’s clan? Or ours, as all known immortals?”
“I’ll let Peter explain.” Kian turned to the Guardian. “That will bring everyone up to speed.”
Peter rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Maybe Eleanor should start, and I’ll take it from there.”
“Very well.” Kian motioned for her to begin.
“I suspected Emmett of being an immortal probably since day one. The clues were all there, but since he didn’t trigger Peter or Leon’s immortal m
ale alert, I shelved that suspicion.”
“What made you suspect him?” Andrew asked.
“He had a reputation for bedding several women a night, and given that he was supposed to be in his fifties, that was odd. Then when we tried to get one of the women to talk about her experience with him, she couldn’t remember any of the details. And the last clue was the state in which the women left his place. They were so exhausted that they needed a day off to recuperate.”
Andrew frowned. “That shouldn’t have happened following a venom bite. If they were bitten by him, they should have been perfectly fine the next day. I would have suspected Viagra or some other drugs.”
“That was precisely what threw us off. We suspected drugs as well.” Eleanor shifted in her chair. “I wanted to find out whether he used compulsion or drugs or both on the women, so I asked for an audience with him, which was basically like asking for a hookup. I got invited. He was careful, testing me to make sure that I was susceptible to compulsion. I did a good job of faking it, and once he was sure that I could be compelled, he gave me a glass of spiked wine. I pretended to be high, and he took me down to his basement. Naturally, I intended to stop him before things got heavy, but I didn’t expect him to be so strong and to go straight for my neck. He was more interested in snacking on my blood than having sex with me.”
Andrew’s eyes grew wide. “What the hell? Is he a vampire?”
“He thinks that he is a different kind of immortal,” Peter said. “His story was very convincing, but some of the things he said didn’t add up, which is why I suspect that he might be insane, and that he'd made it all up.”
“What did he tell you?” Andrew asked.
“He said that his people were relative newcomers to Earth, which was the best indication that he was making it up. According to him, the original settlers are called pure-bloods, and they are long-lived but not immortal. Emmett is supposedly a first-generation born to a human mother and a pure-blooded father. They have fangs and venom, and he implied that their females have them too. They are a matriarchal society because of gender disparity. For every four males, only one female is born. They operate as a tribe and don’t have family units. The females choose who they want to breed with, and it sounded like they own the males in their communal harem.”
“Did he actually say that?” Onegus asked.
Peter nodded. “In so many words. When I told him that Eleanor had a mate and that Greggory came from a different group of immortals, Emmett asked whether he belonged to her or to his former mistress.”
Eleanor snorted. “Emmett told me that he was raised to respect women, but apparently that was a gross understatement. He was raised to be their sex slave.”
“I’m still stuck on the blood-sucking,” Andrew said. “Is it a sexual thing? Or a nutritional need?”
“He’s definitely a carnivore.” Peter leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. “When we stopped at a fast-food place, he ordered four naked medium-rare burgers and ate only the meat. He said that was the only thing he could consume without getting an upset stomach.”
“He said that my blood was potent,” Eleanor added. “It was like an energy drink for him, and he also said that I smelled delicious. I think it’s both sexual and nutritional.” She shrugged. “Or he’s nuts, and the blood-sucking is a fetish.”
“Any progress with Emmett’s laptop?” Kian asked William.
The guy had gotten it last night, but he doubted William had had enough time to hack it.
“It was easy to break into, but I need more time to try to decipher the language. It’s not my specialty. I’m also checking on the company that he sent the email to, but I sincerely doubt that it belongs to his people. Kumei is a multi-billion telecommunications company, and it has been in the news lately, so he might have picked up the name from the internet or from television and used it in his fantasy. I will be stunned if he gets a reply email from them.”
“I almost forgot.” Peter pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. “This might help.” He handed it to William. “Eleanor and I searched Emmett’s filing cabinet, and we noticed something that looked like a ranking system. Eleanor copied it.”
“Thanks.” William put it in his shirt pocket.
“You didn’t get to the punchline yet.” Kalugal smiled at Peter. “Their supposed Dormant situation.”
Peter nodded. “According to Emmett, they either can’t or don’t know how to activate their second generation, the children born to the half-breeds and their human partners. That’s what he needed me for. He planned to take me back to his people, so I could attempt to activate their Dormants. I was his ticket back into his leader’s good graces. The email he sent was to her, telling her about me.” He looked at Kian. “I understand that she hasn’t emailed him back yet.”
“She didn’t,” William said. “The only email he got was from his office manager in Safe Haven.”
“Did he say where his people supposedly came from?” Edna asked.
Peter shook his head. “Emmett either didn’t know or didn’t want to tell me. He said that the pure-bloods kept to themselves and treated their half-human children as second-class tribe members. They didn’t share information with them. That’s pretty much all that he told me.”
“We will find out more when we interrogate him.” Kian turned to William. “Now that you have another piece of information, I want you to give deciphering the email another go. I don’t mean that as in figuring out what it says, only whether it’s an actual language and not gibberish. Before we interrogate Emmett, it would be helpful to know if we are dealing with a different kind of immortal or a madman.”
“When are you going to see him?” William asked.
“I wanted to do it later today, but I would rather wait for you to give the language another go. I’ll do it tomorrow.” Kian turned to Andrew. “I want you there. I need to know when he’s lying.”
Andrew nodded. “Of course.”
“Do you need Peter and me to come?” Eleanor asked.
“Not tomorrow, but I might need you later.” He looked at Turner. “Anything that you want to add?”
“Did you check with Arwel on how his prisoner is doing?”
“Naturally, Emmett tried to use compulsion on him and the two other Guardians. He was very disappointed to discover that they knew how to defend themselves against it.”
2
Bowen
As the door to Margaret’s hospital room opened, Bowen turned to look at the nurse, ready to deflect another attempt to send him away.
She surprised him by handing him a cup of coffee. “I thought you needed this.”
“Thanks. You are an angel.” He removed the lid and took a sip. “And this is the nectar of heaven.”
The nurse smiled. “The doctor will be here shortly. Don’t tell her that we let you stay the night.”
“Mum’s the word.”
It hadn’t been their fault. Whenever they tried to persuade him to leave, telling him that Margaret was in good hands and that there was no reason for him to be there, he’d refused, using a barely-there thrall to convince them to let him stay.
His concern for her was illogical, Bowen was well aware of that, but he just couldn’t bring himself to leave her.
Margaret needed him.
Throughout the night, whenever she’d opened her eyes, they had immediately darted in his direction, and when she had reassured herself that he was still there, a soft smile had lifted her lips and she’d fallen asleep again.
It had been priceless.
According to the doctor, the surgery on Margaret’s knee had gone well, and she could go home today. Well, not to her home, but to the cabin.
Anastasia had put her foot down and forced the issue.
He was to bring Margaret to the cabin so she could take care of her.
That should have put his mind at ease.
Margaret wasn’t returning to Safe Haven, where he’d feared there
would be no one to look after her. Anastasia and Leon would take good care of her, and he could drop her off at the cabin, leaving her there with a clear conscience.
There were several problems with that, though. The lovebirds were working on deepening their bond and on Anastasia’s transition, and the last thing they needed was to play nursemaid to Margaret.
What would they do once Anastasia started transitioning? Leaving Margaret alone in the cabin was a no-go. Someone would have to come to be with her or take her back to Safe Haven, which would result in precisely what Bowen wanted to avoid.
Margaret would be left to fend for herself.
The only solution he could think of was for him to join her in the cabin and take care of her, freeing Leon and Anastasia to work on their budding relationship.
He could just imagine the pushback and the crap he was going to get from his fellow Guardians for taking on another needy case. Last night, Elliot and Ritchie had already given him a taste of that when they had come to collect the ambulance, teasing him mercilessly about staying the night to watch over Margaret.