by I. T. Lucas
Damn, his life sucked.
No, he should never think like that.
The Fates had been extremely kind to him, presenting him with a mate so amazing that he couldn’t have dreamt her up. Not even if he attempted to envision his perfect one and only could he have come up with someone like Mey. He hadn’t known such perfection existed.
Things would turn out okay.
He had to believe in that.
As Mey put the plate in the microwave oven, he pulled out the vial together with a beer bottle, emptied the vial down his throat, and popped the beer’s cap. By the time Mey turned around, he had stashed the empty container in his pocket and lifted the beer to his mouth.
“How did the scoping go?” Mey leaned against the counter and crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you expect any trouble?”
“The conditions are far from perfect, but it’s doable.” Seeing the worried look on her face, he wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t worry. We have the element of surprise on our side, and the Doomers are no challenge for us, not when they don’t outnumber us a hundred to one. Besides, I’m not going to be part of the attack force. My job is the easiest of all.” He smiled tightly.
The truth was that he would have gladly traded places with any of the Guardians. Fighting was easy, and the only sacrifice it required was hard training, which he did anyway.
Mey’s shoulders relaxed. “That’s good to know. But now that I have friends whose mates are Guardians, I worry for them too.”
As the microwave beeped, she pushed away from the counter. “Where do you want to eat?”
The bedroom. Although he would settle for the kitchen counter.
Instead, he pointed to the dining room.
“It’ll be more comfortable over there.”
She looked at his beer. “Is that any good?”
“It’s very strong. Do you want to taste it?”
“Yeah, I do. I see you chugging those, and I look at the label and wonder what a beer called Snake Venom tastes like.” She put the plate on the table and reached for his bottle.
Just seeing her put her mouth where his had been a moment ago sent an erotic pulse down to his groin, bypassing the potion as if it were not there.
Except, he knew it was. His movements slowed just a fraction, as did his thought process. It seemed that the only thing the potion was good for was putting him to sleep.
Grimacing, Mey handed him the bottle back. “I don’t know how you can drink this. It’s worse than whiskey.”
He pretended shock, putting his hand over his chest. “Blasphemy. You’ve just insulted my two favorite drinks.”
“I’m sorry.” She smiled. “Now tell me what the doctor said. But maybe you should eat first.”
He forked one of the stuffed grape leaves. “These are supposed to be eaten cold. It’s the Mediterranean version of sushi.”
Mey shrugged. “I like them warm.”
She was playing along, letting him stall, but he couldn’t postpone telling her about his consultation with Merlin for much longer.
As he finished chewing, Yamanu wiped his mouth with a napkin and took another swig from the beer.
“Merlin doesn’t think that milking venom from an immortal male is going to work, or that any of them would agree to do that. He pointed out that the only possible candidates are the mated guys, and that they would need to get their mates involved. For the venom to work, it has to be produced by arousal, and to get aroused, they need their mates.”
“What about the other kind? I’m willing to be the test bunny for that. Getting aggressive shouldn’t be a problem, and if you don’t think you can bite me, you can let the doctor milk your fangs, and he can inject me with your venom. Who knows? Maybe that would be enough, and there would be no need for the second part?”
As crazy as the suggestion was, it wasn’t entirely illogical. Perhaps he should ask Merlin what he thought about it.
“It’s a long shot, but I’ll ask the doctor what he thinks. Most likely, though, it won't work. He suggests that I take a break from my vow until you transition, and while we are at it, freeze semen for when we want kids.”
Mey snatched a stuffed grape leaf from his plate and popped it in her mouth. Chewing furiously, she tapped her foot on the floor.
When she was done, she leveled her gaze at him. “I hate to be the one to bring it up. But how long do you think you can keep going like that? I know that you are an invincible immortal, but if the potion can suppress your sex drive, it can affect other things as well. My mother used to be a nurse, and she told me that every medication that helps with one thing has the potential to damage ten others. And even if side effects aren’t a problem, the fact that it’s getting less and less effective is.”
She wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t know. “Is there a point you are trying to make?”
A tear slid from the corner of Mey’s eye. “Temporarily breaking your vow to induce me is not the solution. You’ll have to choose between breaking it for good or giving me up.”
27
Lokan
“It was a pleasure talking to you, my son. I wish we had more time.”
Lokan still felt strange whenever Areana called him her son. She was a stranger to him, and getting to know her in ten-minute increments wasn’t working that well. He still didn’t know whether he could talk about his father with her, or about his plans for the island, or ask her advice on dealing with his split loyalties.
His bond with Carol meant that he was now part of two worlds. The clan at large hadn’t accepted him with open arms, but his aunt had. If it were up to Annani, he would have been invited to live in their village.
Not that he wanted to. Carol would have been happy, but he would have been forced to sever his ties to the island, and that wasn’t on the table.
“I wish so too. I hope that one day I will get to see you and embrace you, feel what it is like to have a mother.”
He hadn’t meant to say the last sentence. It was no doubt painful for Areana to hear that, but the truth was that he resented her for buying into his father’s nonsense so readily. She had never been in danger from the other immortals. Her being a goddess and therefore superior to Navuh was the only reason he had kept her locked up. With his ability to compel immortals, he could have kept her and his sons safe.
It was all about control and power, and she was either overly naive or just too weak to stand up to Navuh.
Then again, Lokan couldn’t fault her for that. Navuh was so much more powerful than Areana, and she was well aware of that. Perhaps she was doing the best she could under the circumstances.
Would he have done differently in her place?
Could he have done more?
It was unfair to judge her before walking a mile in her shoes, so to speak.
“One day…” Areana’s voice wavered. “I will hold you in my arms again. But you have to promise me something.”
“What is it?”
“That you will not seek your father’s demise. That you will find a peaceful solution.”
Even though she’d been dead serious, he chuckled. “If you have any ideas on how to achieve that, please share them with me.”
“First, promise me.”
Glad that she couldn’t see him, Lokan rolled his eyes. “I only seek the demise of the current system. I don’t want to kill my own father. He might be an evil dictator, but other than denying me your love and care, he hasn’t wronged me.”
“That’s good enough. Thank you.”
“Until the next time, Mother.” He disconnected the call.
They’d run a minute over the ten allotted to them, but William had been gracious enough not to come on the line and remind them that time was up.
With a sigh, Lokan put the phone on the coffee table and leaned back. He’d gotten so used to conducting all of his phone conversations on the balcony that it had felt strange to do it from the hotel suite's couch.
Carol was still sleeping
, and he debated whether to crawl back in bed with her or order breakfast.
The other thing keeping him from going back to bed was that he still wasn’t sure whether he should call Kian and warn him about Losham’s increased security measures.
Perhaps he could talk Kian out of attacking Losham’s men?
That would be the best solution as far as Lokan’s guilt, but he knew Kian wouldn’t listen. Saving the women was very important to him for some reason.
Lokan felt bad for the victims, but they were just humans, and if he were in Kian’s position, he wouldn’t have risked his own men to save them. In the larger world of traffickers, the Brotherhood’s share was insignificant. But unlike the humans, Brothers were much more dangerous to Kian’s men. He should focus his efforts on the regular rescue mission he’d been running and leave Losham and his men alone.
Strategically, it made much more sense.
Except, he suspected that it was a matter of pride for Kian. He couldn’t tolerate the thought of Losham operating a trafficking ring right under his nose.
Snatching the clan-issue phone off the table, Lokan punched Kian’s contact. If Kian didn’t answer right away, he was going to disconnect.
No such luck.
“Lokan, what a surprise,” Kian said.
“I hope I didn’t wake you up.” He knew he hadn’t, but Lokan couldn’t miss the opportunity to needle his sanctimonious prick of a cousin.
“You didn’t. What’s going on?”
“I wanted to give you an update about my meeting with Losham.”
“Right. I forgot about that.”
Really? That was the whole reason behind Lokan’s visit to Los Angeles.
“Two things you should be aware of. One is that more men are arriving today or have already arrived last night. So, you should adjust your count. And the second is that Losham has implemented new security measures. He didn’t tell me what they were, and given your imminent plans, I didn’t want to ask. But just for your general information, there has been talk of implanting the Brothers with trackers that their bodies can’t reject. As far as I know, it hasn’t been done yet. It involves attaching the tracker to the spinal cord so it can’t be removed without causing major damage, and that’s a huge undertaking. Still, Losham’s men might have been part of a pilot program.”
“Thanks for the warning. Anything else?”
Regrettably, Kian hadn’t taken the bait and told him when the raid was going to happen. Not that he could’ve done anything about it, but knowing was better than not.
“I tried to convince Losham that finding volunteers who would enter the brothel for the money would be more cost-effective than the elaborate setup he has to maintain, but he said that the caliber of women they were looking for would not do so voluntarily.”
“Right.”
Lokan switched the phone to his other ear. “Is there any way I could persuade you to change your mind about the attack?”
“Why?”
Kian was the master of one-word sentences.
“Because your reason for doing it is motivated by pride and not logic. The Brotherhood plays a very small part in this global phenomenon, and even if you could eliminate that part entirely, it would only make a tiny dent in it. So why risk your men on a mission against a powerful opponent when you can achieve more, with less potential casualties, by focusing on the humans running similar operations?”
There was a long moment of silence, and then a sigh. “I wish I could tell you that you are wrong, but you are not. I can’t tolerate the thought of Doomers snatching girls right from under our noses.”
Encouraged by the admission, Lokan decided to press on. “There is another risk factor involved. If you eliminate Losham’s men, my father might react with pride rather than logic as well. Don’t forget that we have an excess of warriors now with nothing to keep them busy. That’s not healthy for an organization like the Brotherhood. With his pride injured, Navuh might decide to send a large force to Los Angeles and resume the hunt for your people with renewed fervor.”
“You raise valid points. I’ll give it some thought.”
Lokan let out a relieved breath. “I’m glad that you’re not as hot-headed as I thought you were.”
28
Kian
Kian ended the call with Lokan, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.
There had been truth to what the guy had said, but the question was what were his motives? Lokan’s loyalties, if he had any, were questionable. He might have wanted to protect his brother or even his own skin.
Lokan’s visit to Los Angeles coinciding with the raid on Losham’s men would cast a shadow of suspicion on him, which at the moment he couldn’t afford. After dropping off the radar for nearly a month, he was probably on his father’s watch list’s top three. If not first.
Perhaps the prudent thing to do would be to postpone the raid for a later date.
Or cancel it.
The thing with the trackers was worrisome, and he needed to consult with Bridget and William about the possibility of removing or disabling them if needed.
He also needed to talk to Turner. Lokan’s comment about Navuh’s response had touched a nerve.
Tonight’s raid could not be staged as a mass defection, the way it had been done in the previous one in the Bay Area. And they had already used the accidental explosion ruse in the monastery. Even if the Brotherhood’s leadership had bought that one, which he doubted, they were not going to buy another accident.
This time, the idea was to come in as a SWAT team and take everyone into custody on suspicion of terrorism. Or at least that was what the humans in the area would be led to believe and what they would report. It would be assumed that the captured Doomers were being held for interrogation in a secret facility.
Given their ability to thrall, it was a shaky explanation, but then trained officers detaining terror suspects would not be susceptible to thralling. Not during the arrest, anyway.
He and Onegus had come up with other tricks that Kian hadn’t mentioned to Lokan, but all of that was not going to solve the problem of hidden trackers.
He picked up his office phone and dialed William’s number first. “Can you come to my office?”
“When do you need me?”
“As soon as you can make it here.”
“I’m just finishing something, and then I’m on my way. Fifteen minutes tops.”
“No problem.”
The second call went to Bridget. “William is coming over in fifteen minutes, and I need you here as well. I have some new information I need to discuss with the two of you.”
“I’ll keep my door open. When I see William walking by, I’ll join him.”
“Good deal.”
William’s lab was in the underground complex, so it would take him several minutes to get to the office building. The question was whether it was enough time for a quick visit to the roof.
Shaking his head at his own weakness, Kian opened the drawer and grabbed the box of cigarillos.
Up on the roof, he lit up and called Turner.
“What’s up, Kian? Figured that you need me after all?”
Kian chuckled. He hadn’t taken into account that Turner might feel offended at not being included in the upcoming mission. “I always need that huge brain of yours, but I figured that you needed some time off to take care of your private clients.”
“That’s so kind of you. What changed your mind?”
“A call from Lokan. He said that I’m acting out of pride rather than reason, so I figured I’d ask the opinion of the most logical person I know.”
“I assume that he was referring to tonight’s raid.”
“He doesn’t know that it’s going down tonight, but yes. He said that the Brotherhood plays a very small part in the global problem of human trafficking, and that I’m risking the lives of my men by having them fight a strong opponent when I can achieve much more by directing their efforts toward stopping the
humans engaged in the trade.”
“Smart fellow.”
“So, you agree with him?”
“I do. But on the other hand, we can’t ignore the psychological effect of letting Doomers operate on our turf, and that goes for both sides. The Guardians will feel like shit for letting Doomers snatch girls right in their backyard, and the Doomers might get emboldened by our lack of action.”
Kian let out a relieved breath. Canceling the operation would have been bad for morale. But his relief was premature. He hadn’t told Turner the rest.
“He also said that Navuh might retaliate by sending a large force to Los Angeles. That would be like swatting a bee and having the entire hive descend on us.”
“Provided that he knows the clan is responsible for the attack. Bridget told me that you have a clever cover-up.”
“We do. The question is whether it would pass scrutiny.”
“Can I offer a suggestion? Or will I be overstepping my bounds by doing so?”
“Go ahead.”
“You are dealing with a large number of Doomers this time, correct?”
“A little more than in the Bay Area operation, but they are concentrated in one location.”
“Which is in the middle of Koreatown.”
“I see that you are well-informed.”
“I live with Bridget. Of course, I am. You need another ring of security around the outer perimeter in case some of the Doomers manage to get away. If even one makes it out, your cover story will be blown to pieces.”
“I don’t have enough people.”
“But I do. Or rather I can get them. I can have several units spread out throughout the area.”
“It’s a bit late for that. It’s happening tonight. Besides, humans stand no chance against Doomers unless they are willing to shoot first and ask questions later. We are talking about Koreatown, not a lawless territory in the middle of nowhere.”
“They can shoot the Doomers with elephant darts. But if you are not willing to postpone the raid, I can’t help you with that. I need more than several hours to organize this. What I can do, however, is send a small crew to investigate for you. Humans can get into the building under a number of pretenses.”