by I. T. Lucas
"Anandur is privy to all my business dealings. I vouch for his discretion."
A slight grimace was the first emotion Turner had ever displayed in front of Kian. The guy shifted in his chair. "The matter I wish to discuss with you has nothing to do with business. It's private." He pinned Kian with his hard grey eyes. "All I'm asking for is a few minutes of your time. Do you really need a bodyguard in here? I pose no threat to you. You're faster and stronger than me, and I'm unarmed. Your guy is welcome to search me."
"That won't be necessary." Kian glanced at Anandur, who was shaking his head.
To send him away was a breach of protocol, but Turner was right that Anandur’s presence was unnecessary. "Fifteen minutes," he said.
The guy inclined his head. "More than I need."
Anandur pushed away from the corner of the desk he'd been leaning against. "I'll be outside the door."
Turner cleared his throat. "I know how good your hearing is, and I really need this to be private."
Kian was impatient to hear what the guy had to say. "Very well." He looked up at Anandur. "Would you mind getting us coffee? There is a Starbucks in the next building over."
Anandur waved his hands in the air. "I'm getting demoted from a bodyguard to a delivery boy. Why would I mind?" He walked out the door without looking back.
"I guess that's the trouble with employing family," Turner said.
"Tell me about it. But there are advantages too."
"I bet. They are very loyal to you."
"That they are."
"It speaks volumes about the kind of leader you are. They respect you."
Kian smiled. "Okay, now that you've stroked my ego, you can tell me what you need from me."
Turner shrugged. "Regardless, it's the truth."
"What do you want, Turner?"
The guy took a deep breath, then looked Kian straight in the eyes. "I have cancer."
Kian was taken aback. Turner looked as healthy as a horse and was in great shape. "I'm sorry to hear that, but I don't see how I can help you. If we had the cure for cancer, we would've shared the knowledge with humanity."
"I'm not asking you for a cure. I'm asking you to do for me what you did for Andrew."
That was unexpected. As far as Kian was aware, Turner had been told only what was necessary for him to help them. "What do you know about that?"
"I know he was human and now he is not. He gained about two inches in height, and his scars are gone."
"Do you know how it was done?"
"No. But it's not important. If you did it for Spivak, you could do it for me."
"Andrew already carried our genes. All we had to do was to activate them."
"I might have them too."
"Dormant carriers of immortal genes are extremely rare. What makes you think you're one of them?"
His jaw hardening, Turner narrowed his eyes. "Let's cut the crap, shall we? I'm not the best in my field for nothing. Andrew's sister works in a lab with a professor who researches paranormal abilities, and who happens to look a lot like you. A sister, I assume?"
Kian's blood turned cold. If Turner could follow the breadcrumbs to Amanda, then others could too. "Did you have Andrew followed?"
"Naturally. And you too." He waved his hand at the office they were using for their meetings. "We can drop the charade. I know exactly where you live and work. From now on, we can meet over there."
"Fuck. I should've known you'd do that."
"Yes, you should've. But don't worry, your secrets are safe with me."
"What about your people? I assume you didn't do the following yourself."
"No, I didn't. But I don't share with my people the reasons for sending them on assignments. They have no idea why I need the information they collect, and no one person gathers all of the pieces. I'm the only one who puts the puzzle together."
Fuck. Turner had discovered a major flaw in their defenses. The breach had to be addressed as soon as possible.
How much did he know already?
"And what did you learn from putting those puzzle pieces together?"
"Dr. Amanda Dokani is testing people for paranormal abilities, which both Andrew and Syssi have. Andrew has his lie-detector skills, and his sister has visions of the future. I've known this for years because Andrew didn't keep it a secret. You are obviously interested in finding people with paranormal abilities. My guess is that you believe they are good candidates for what you did with Andrew, and I assume with his sister as well."
This was bad. This human, who had no personal alliance with them, knew too much. He was too smart and too cautious to be affected by a memory-suppressing thrall, and he was too valuable to get rid of.
In short, Turner was in a position to blackmail them. He'd maneuvered things so that Kian would not be able to refuse his request.
"Even if we assume that you are a dormant carrier of our immortal genes, which is highly unlikely, you are way past the safe age to attempt transition. Andrew almost died during his, and he is several years younger than you. The older the person, the harder the transition. In addition, you're sick, which in our very limited experience prevents the body from going into transition. If you're not a Dormant, the process will probably not harm you, but if you are, you are most likely going to die from it. Instead of sacrificing the years you still have for an impossible dream, my advice is to get treatment and try to enjoy your life."
Turner shook his head. "I’ve made up my mind. I'd rather end this quickly than drag it out. I don't want to live in the Grim Reaper's shadow. I'm willing to take the chance. All I'm asking is for you to give it to me."
Fuck. Kian couldn't turn the guy away, but he didn't want to sign Turner's death warrant either. There was a lot of good Turner could still do for them. It would be a shame to lose a valuable asset like that.
Except, Turner was most likely not a Dormant, which meant that they could go through the motions of inducing his transition and nothing would happen. Who knew? Maybe the injection of venom would help with the cancer? They'd never tried it before.
"I'll tell you what I'm willing to do for you. I'll arrange a visit with our in-house doctor. She will evaluate your general health and determine your chances of successfully completing a transition. We will abide by her decision."
Turner narrowed his eyes. "The doctor is working for you, and she will do whatever you tell her."
A snort escaped Kian's throat. "You obviously don't know Bridget. But even if she were inclined to listen to me, she outranks me in everything that has to do with medicine."
The guy didn't look convinced. "But you outrank her in everything that has to do with security. In every organization, safety concerns trump everything else."
Kian spread his arms. "You already know everything that has to do with our safety. If I wanted you dead, I would tell the doctor to approve your request. Your death would solve the security breach you represent, and your blood would not even be on my hands because you asked for it."
That seemed to appease Turner. "Where and when?"
"I'll let you know."
Turner pushed to his feet and offered Kian his hand. "Thank you. You're not going to regret it."
Kian shook what he was offered. "If you die, I certainly will. We need you."
Chapter 4: Bridget
Bridget was about to call it a day when her phone rang with Kian's ringtone.
"Hey, Kian. What's up?"
"Can you stop by my office on your way out? There is something I need to discuss with you."
"I'll lock up the clinic and come over in a few minutes."
"No new patients?"
"Thank the merciful Fates. There was too much excitement down here lately. I want some quiet time in my lab doing research."
"I'll see you in a few." Kian hung up.
Bridget smiled as she took off her doctor's coat and hung it on a peg. Like her, the guy was not much for small talk, which made their infrequent interactions short and to the point. Whate
ver Kian needed to talk to her about wouldn't take long. Which was good since it was late, and she had plans for tonight. Not that her plans couldn't wait. The girls could go ahead, and she could join them in the club later.
After all, Kian rarely invited her into his office to discuss anything, and whenever he did, it was important. Bridget was much more interested in what he had to say, than in another depressing night at a club.
She was so tired of the endless revolving door of human lovers.
Bridget wasn't a romantic, and she wasn't waiting for her one truelove mate, but she would have liked a steady companion. To witness one Dormant after another transition was exciting and uplifting, they brought her and the entire clan hope. But as she watched the joy on their immortal mates' faces, Bridget couldn't help the pang of envy. She wanted that too.
For a little while, she'd hoped Andrew would fill that need, but regrettably, the glue that binds people together had been absent from their short fling.
He had fallen for Nathalie even before ending things with her.
It had stung, even though Bridget had found an interesting guy at the same time, but hers had turned out to be yet another disappointment, while Nathalie had turned out be Andrew's truelove mate.
As she strode down the corridor toward Kian's office, Bridget reminded herself that it was wrong to begrudge Andrew and the others their happiness. After all, she should count herself lucky. She was blessed with a wonderful son to love, which was more than many of her clan members had, especially the males, who without an immortal partner had no way of producing immortal children.
Pushing the door to Kian's office open, she walked in and took a seat across from him at his desk. "I think this is the first time ever that you’ve invited me to this office for a talk."
Kian frowned. "I remember you sitting here many times."
"I initiated several meetings to talk to you about my research and the equipment I needed. The other times were in my capacity as a council member, together with the other council members."
He tapped his fingers on the desk. "I guess there was nothing
I needed to discuss with you before, but now there is."
"I'm all ears."
"Do you know who Turner is?"
"Of course. Andrew's boss from his days in Special Ops. He is the guy who helped us find where the Doomers were holding Carol."
"Right. Since then we’ve worked together on several projects. Turner is the best at what he does. He also knows who and what we are."
Bridget raised both brows. The one law no clan member dared to break was keeping their existence secret from humans. "Why?"
"He needed to know what he was dealing with when he helped us with the Doomers. I knew that the man was too smart, cautious, and suspicious for a thrall to work on, so the only other option was to eliminate him. Naturally, I couldn't do it after the invaluable service he had provided us with. Besides, keeping secrets is what he does. His professional reputation depends on that. On top of that, I wanted to have him available in case I needed more of what he could do, which I did on more than one occasion."
Bridget couldn't fault Kian's logic, but lately they had all been too lax about secrecy, and it was making her uncomfortable.
"You're the regent. I have to trust that you know what you're doing."
"Half of the time I'm not sure." Kian smiled sheepishly. "But don't tell anyone."
"Unless you screw up royally, I won't."
"Did I ever?"
"Not that I'm aware of." Kian was the right person for the job—smart, dedicated, decisive, and fair.
"Good. Back to Turner. I had him do some investigative work for me about human trafficking. In part, because we know the Doomers are buying girls, and in part because of Eva's interest in the subject and what she'd shared with me. I met with him yesterday, and what he reported was much worse than I thought."
"It's horrific. I read an article about it." It had been a difficult piece that had haunted her for weeks. The level of cruelty some humans were willing to inflict on others, children in particular, was incomprehensible to her.
Kian nodded. "Aptly, Turner called it a worldwide plague. He came up with an idea of what we can do about it. I want to run it by you. It's a crazy plan, and I need a logical person's perspective on it. This is too big and too emotionally laden for me to make a rational decision. I'm afraid my heart would do the thinking for me."
Bridget was flattered. Out of everyone Kian could've talked with, he'd chosen her. "That should be interesting."
When Kian was done talking, Bridget regretted not taking notes. Turner's plan was extremely involved and costly with a large number of variables, each of which could render it undoable.
"I can't give you an answer, Kian. I need time to think about it, and we need more people to do the thinking with us. A team. We need Eva because she has experience in the field. We need Vanessa to evaluate the psychological aspects of dealing with traumatized girls, and we also need the council members. Each of them has expertise that can contribute to the discussion."
A pained expression on his face, Kian raked his fingers through his hair. "I don't have time to run our business and take this on as well. I wish I could, but I'm already stretched to the point of becoming ineffective."
"You need someone else to head this project."
"Like who?"
Bridget didn't hesitate for a moment. "Like me."
"This is a full-time job. Who will manage the clinic while you are doing this?"
"I can have Julian take over for me."
"Didn't he just start his residency?"
"He is about done with the first year and has two more to go. But Julian doesn't intend to work with humans. His end goal is to come back home and practice either here or in Scotland. He doesn't need to complete his residency for that."
"That's a big decision for you and for him."
"It is. As I said, I need more time to think about it. Did Turner leave you any materials I can go over?"
"No. He only had a preliminary report and wanted to check with me before putting more work into it."
"Then I'll wait with my decision until he is done."
Kian raked his fingers through his hair again, a sure sign that he was uncomfortable about something. "You can ask him in person when I send him to you for an evaluation. He wants to attempt transition."
"Is he a Dormant?"
"No, but for some reason, Turner thinks he might be. The man has cancer, and instead of going for conventional treatment, he decided he wants to become immortal like Andrew. I told him it's your call."
Coward.
"Thanks a lot." Bridget crossed her arms over her chest. "You kicked the can down the road."
"I know, but I couldn't say a flat out no. He knows too much about us, and as I've mentioned before, he is too valuable to get rid of."
"How old is he?"
"Older than Andrew by several years. I guess he is forty-six or seven."
"Great. I have to tell him no."
"Not necessarily. If he is not a Dormant, the induction will not harm him."
"That's true."
"And there is no reason to believe he is a Dormant other than him wanting to be."
"True again. So what do you want me to do with him?"
"I don't really know. It's up to you. In any case, you need to talk to him about his plan. If you decide that we should go for it and that you still want to head the project, you will be working with Turner. You might as well get to know him now."
Nevertheless, she was still stuck with being the bad guy who would have to tell Turner yes or no. "Where do you want me to meet him?"
Kian grimaced. "He knows about the keep, not because anyone told him, but because he had Andrew and me followed. He also deduced what Andrew went through on his own. The guy is extremely good at what he does and too smart for his own good. Tell me when it's convenient for you and I'll let him know. He can come down to your clinic."
; "Tomorrow at six. I want to examine him after hours."
"Good thinking. The fewer people he meets, the better."
Chapter 5: Robert
"Did you ever play poker before, Robert?" Amanda asked as she clicked the locks on the SUV she'd borrowed from Kian and engaged the alarm.
Smart move. Eva's neighborhood looked affluent, but that didn't mean an unsavory element couldn't drift through it, especially since one of Eva's neighbors must have been having a party. There was no available parking for several blocks.
Robert fell into step with her. "I did. But I'm not very good at it."
Once again, Amanda wanted him to check out a potential Dormant. Robert had no idea why. For some reason, out of all the immortal males of her clan who were all yearning for a mate, she had decided to give him priority.
Must have been pity.
The keep's population was divided into two camps. One camp was comprised of those who still regarded him with suspicion, and who were not about to trust an ex-Doomer now or ever. The other camp was comprised of those who pitied him—the poor guy who had sacrificed everything to save Carol from nightmarish captivity, only to be rewarded with her kicking him out.
He was still getting those damn pitying looks.
Anandur slapped his back. "Don't worry, none of those suckers is."
Amanda lifted a brow. "What makes you think so?"
"Because I played with Bhathian before and he sucks. Eva, I don't know about, but the other two are human. They can't hide their emotions from us even if they have the best poker face on the planet."
Amanda patted Anandur's arm. "Sorry to disappoint you, darling, but we have a way to even the playing field."
"Oh, yeah?"
"Incense."
"The stinky stuff they burn in those New Age stores?"
"Yep. But there is nothing new about it. Immortals have been using it to hide emotions from each other since antiquity."
"A useful trick," Anandur agreed. "How come no one told me about it?"
Amanda rolled her eyes. "As if you have any use for it. You wear your emotions on your sleeve."