by I. T. Lucas
It was well worth it, though. Arwel had changed her perspective on sex forever. She’d enjoyed it before, but not like that. It was like comparing drinking tea to sipping on the best wine ever made. The first was pleasant. The second was habit-forming.
And that bite. Oh, God, that bite. That was seriously addictive, and she couldn’t wait to experience it again.
“I’ll get the clothes for you. I don’t want you parading down the corridor in my T-shirt and no underwear.”
“Fine with me. Choose something nice. I want to look decent for my meeting with Kian. Do you know what he wants to talk about?”
Arwel nodded and then shook his head. “I’m not sure, and I don’t want to speculate.”
It was probably about her friends. Kian seemed worried about the security risk they posed, and she couldn’t fault him for that. Not only did they all possess paranormal abilities, but they were also connected to a government agency that was aware of the existence of paranormal talents. That could pose a real threat to the clan.
Keeping their immortality secret was a matter of survival for Kian’s people.
“Can you also get my toothbrush while you get my clothes?”
He pretended to frown. “Are you moving in with me?”
“I’m not. My room is bigger, so you are moving in with me. But you don’t want me walking out of here with no underwear on, right?”
“Absolutely.” He got out of bed in one fluid motion. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
“Take your time.” She pulled the blanket up to her chin.
“Don’t fall asleep.”
“I’m not. I’m just closing my eyes for a moment.”
Arwel chuckled. “Right.”
Hearing the door open and then close, Jin turned on her side and tucked her hands under the pillow.
A forever mate. What a concept.
This was another thing she needed to talk with Mey about. Except, perhaps she should speak with Arwel instead and ask him to explain. Mey was still learning, and she didn’t know all the details.
Was there a manual the clan provided Dormants with?
If there wasn’t, someone should put one together. Perhaps she’d do it after she’d learned all that there was to know about it.
When the door opened again, she turned around and smiled at Arwel. “That was quick.”
“Not really.” He grimaced. “I barely managed to dodge Jacki. Prepare for an interrogation.”
Jin laughed. “I should prepare an official announcement.” She pretended to hold up a scroll. “Hear ye, hear ye! Last night Arwel and I had mind-blowing sex, and we are moving in together so we can have more.”
70
Kian
“I thought that we were going to your old office.” Anandur arched a brow as Kian pressed the button for the dungeon level.
“I’m following Syssi’s advice to have the talk in a more informal environment. We are meeting at Mey and Yamanu’s place.”
Syssi had brought up a valid point. Since Mey knew of his interest in Jin’s talent and what he needed her to do, she might have mentioned something to Jin already, and if she didn’t, she could help present the case to her sister.
“Good choice,” Brundar said. “Jin is not going to like it. You might need Mey to convince her.”
Whether Jin liked it or not, she was going to do it. He needed her help, and after he’d rescued her and her friends from the program, she owed him a favor. He would have done it regardless, but the bottom line was that he couldn’t infiltrate Kalugal’s lair in any other way.
The door to Mey and Yamanu’s apartment was open when they arrived, and Kian was glad to see that none of Jin’s friends were there.
“Good morning,” he said as he walked in.
“Good morning,” Jin smiled at him. “Would you guys like some coffee? We have a fresh pot.”
“Sure,” Anandur said. “Where are your friends?”
Yamanu got up and pulled three coffee mugs from the bar cabinet. “William brought over the video game that he developed to search for paranormal talents, and he is showing them how to play it.”
“Interesting.” Kian crossed his legs at the ankles. “He didn’t tell me that he was planning on doing that.”
“Really?” Yamanu handed him a full mug. “I thought that you’d sent him to keep them busy while you talked to Jin.”
“I didn’t think of that, but I’m glad of his initiative. Would you mind closing the door?”
He waited until the door clicked into place before turning to Jin. “Has Mey told you about Kalugal?”
“Who?”
“Apparently not.” Kian sighed. There was a lot of background to the story, but he didn’t want to waste too much time on it. “I’ll try to be brief. What I’m about to tell you is top-secret, so please don’t repeat it to anyone.”
Jin nodded. “Of course.”
“Kalugal is Lokan’s brother. They are both the sons of our arch-nemesis, Navuh. However, their mother is our Clan Mother’s sister, who we’ve just recently discovered is still alive and living in seclusion in Navuh’s harem.”
“Wait.” Jin lifted a hand. “Did you say harem?”
“Yes, but from what we’ve learned, Navuh keeps the harem just for appearances. Areana is his truelove mate, and he’s been devoted to her through all those years. But that’s a whole different story. Back to Kalugal. His mother told us that his abilities rival those of his father, who is believed to be the most powerful immortal ever born. Fearing that his father might regard him as a threat, Kalugal faked his own death during WW2 and escaped with a large number of immortal warriors. We think we’ve found him living in the Bay Area, but we don’t know what he is up to and if we should approach him or not. That’s what we need your help to find out.”
“You want me to tether him?”
Kian nodded. “We can find out when he visits a certain café or restaurant in the area, and all you will need to do is bump into him and then report to us what he is doing.”
“Is he dangerous?”
“We don’t know. From the information we have on him, he seems to be focused on making money. Which in his case is easy, since he is not bound by the same moral rules we uphold. With easily obtained insider information, he could have made a fortune on Wall Street.”
“Do you know for a fact that he did?”
“We believe so.”
“What are his powers?”
“He can thrall and compel immortals as easily as we can thrall and compel humans.”
“Oh, wow. I thought that immortals were immune to those mind tricks.”
“The Clan Mother can thrall other immortals if she so wishes because she is a goddess and a very powerful one, but immortals usually can’t do that to each other. The only exceptions we know of are Navuh and Kalugal.”
“Is that why Edna had me try it on her? To make sure that my talent worked on other immortals?”
He nodded. “If it worked on Edna, who is powerful, we can safely assume that it would work on any immortal, including Kalugal.”
71
Jin
Jin cast a sidelong glance at Mey.
Her sister didn’t seem surprised by Kian’s request, which meant that she’d known it was coming.
The traitor.
She should have said something.
Not that Jin could say no. Not after what the clan had done for her and her friends. But at least she would have had time to mentally prepare. They were going to have a talk later on, and she would give Mey a piece of her mind.
And Arwel.
He had obviously known about the spying gig as well. Was that why he had seduced her? Had all the talk about forever mates been a bunch of baloney? A scheme to make her cooperate?
Both felt like betrayals. But if her sister and her lover had worked in sync to trap her into doing this, Jin was never going to forgive either of them.
Nevertheless, she had no choice but to agree.
&nbs
p; “I’ll do it, of course. I owe that to you. But is that going to be my job in the clan? Am I going to become the clan’s in-house spy?”
That wasn’t the kind of life she wanted for herself.
“I will never force you into doing work that you detest. But in this one instance, I have no choice. No one else but you can get inside information about Kalugal and what he’s up to. Naturally, if you decide to make a career out of it, I would be very happy to offer you a Guardian position after your transition. As Arwel and Yamanu can attest, we pay our Guardians very well, and they are held in very high regard.”
“Are Guardians soldiers?”
“They are a cross between warriors and police officers. Right now, most of the work they do is focused on rescue missions. The clan dedicates a lot of our resources to saving girls and boys from traffickers and then rehabilitating them so they can have a chance at a normal life.”
That was so incredibly admirable that suddenly all of Jin's prior misgivings felt childish and petty. She felt honored to be part of such an organization.
“God, you are putting me in such a difficult position. I want to help as much as I can with that, but I also have other dreams and aspirations. I studied business because Mey and I wanted to one day open a business of our own. But compared to what you are doing, that seems like such a frivolous thing. Who cares about fashion for tall women when lives are at stake?”
Leaning forward, Kian took her hand. “You do, and so does Mey. One does not exclude the other. You can have your business, and on the rare occasions that we need your special talent or Mey’s, we will ask for your help. Does that sound doable to you?”
“Definitely. And anyway, the business idea is something for the future. We don’t have the money to start it yet.”
Kian grinned. “As a business major, I’m sure you can put together a detailed business plan and a profit forecast, right?”
“Of course.”
“Then make one and present it to me. If you can convince me that investing in your fashion line is going to turn a profit for me, I’ll invest the clan money in your business. After all, that’s my special talent. I know which businesses are going to succeed.”
Jin’s heart skipped a beat and then started racing. She glanced at Mey, who was grinning as happily as Jin felt. Their dream might come true sooner than they ever thought possible.
“You’ve got yourself a deal.” She squeezed Kian’s hand. “My talent is at your disposal whenever you need it and for whatever reason, and so is Mey’s.” She glanced at her sister. “Right, Mey?”
“Definitely.”
He smiled. “It’s good that you phrased it like that. I also need you to tether your friends and let them know that you did it.”
That hadn’t been part of the deal, but she’d painted herself into a corner by promising Kian the use of her talent whenever and for whatever.
“Why?”
“It’s for their own benefit. I can’t shake the feeling that one of them might be a Trojan horse. If they know that you have access to them twenty-four-seven, they won't dare betray us even if they previously planned on doing so. It would give me peace of mind, and if they prove to be Dormants, it would mean faster integration into the clan for them.”
She nodded. “I really don’t like this, but I understand the logic. They are going to hate me for doing that.”
“Can you think of a better way to ensure the clan’s safety?”
She shook her head. “Unfortunately, I can’t. But I’ll think about it. Perhaps I’ll come up with a better solution. How soon do you want me to do that?”
“I would like you to tether your friends by tomorrow morning. As for Kalugal, it can wait until you feel rested enough to embark on a new adventure.”
72
Arwel
“Jin needs at least a week to rest and get acclimated,” Arwel said. “This is all new to her, and she still has a lot to learn about the clan. To face an immortal like Kalugal, she needs to be in peak condition.”
It was all true, but he had a selfish reason for wanting to postpone her mission. They needed time to nurture their nascent relationship, and he wanted their bond to be firmly in place before she faced the charismatic and charming Kalugal. The guy had seduced the young Eva, and she was the toughest lady Arwel knew. As assertive and as confident as Jin was, she would be putty in the hands of someone like that. He could seduce her even without thralling or compelling her, which he could do as well.
After all, Kalugal was an ex-Doomer, and those guys had no qualms about taking a woman against her will, if not by physical force, then by thralling her.
It was still rape.
Hopefully Kalugal was a decent guy, but they couldn’t count on it. Jin would have to go in with a strong Guardian backup, and Arwel was going to make sure to be as close as possible to her without alerting the guy.
“I second that opinion,” Mey said. “We have a lot of catching up to do, and a week of nothing but recreational activities would be good for Jin.”
Jin lifted her hand. “I appreciate everyone’s concern for my well-being, but you are all forgetting one important detail. I am a wanted woman, and I’m supposed to be in hiding. Isn’t it dangerous for me to be seen in public?”
“You can wear a disguise,” Kian suggested. “There are special glasses that can fool facial recognition cameras, and you can put on a lot of makeup and a wig.”
“I am not easy to disguise. There is no way to hide my height or my Asian features. Both are going to give me away.”
“Not necessarily,” Mey said. “Wait until you see what Eva can do. She can make you look like an old lady or even a man. It’s not like you need to flirt with Kalugal, you only need to bump into him and touch him.”
“That could work. Disguised as an old woman, I can ask him to help me to my table, or trip next to him and let him catch me, or something like that.”
Kian shook his head. “That won’t work with Kalugal. You forgot about immortals’ sense of smell. An old lady or a man smell differently than a young woman. Kalugal would know right away that something was wrong. Not only that, the latex that the prosthetics are made from has a distinctive smell as well. You will have to work with more mundane methods like makeup, contact lenses, hair color, and the like. Changing your age or your gender is not a viable option.”
Frowning, Jin crossed her arms over her chest. “I think that this job requires more than one person. Jacki should come with me. First of all, she is an immune, so he can’t thrall her like he can do to me. And secondly, she has chutzpah in spades.”
“How are we going to explain it to her?” Mey asked. “She is not supposed to know about immortals.”
“There is no need to tell Jacki that Kalugal is an immortal,” Jin said. “We can tell her that he is just a guy with impressive paranormal abilities who is suspected of doing all kinds of illegal stuff. Your organization wants to know what exactly he is doing because you want to recruit him, but not if he is a criminal.”
“I’ll give it some thought,” Kian said. “But before we involve Jacki in our plans, I want you to tether her. I need to make sure that she is not going to betray us.”
“Yes, sir.” Jin saluted.
Kian put the mug on the coffee table and rose to his feet. “I’m glad that we’ve reached an understanding.” He offered Jin his hand. “Thank you for agreeing to help.”
She shook it. “It’s the least I can do after all that you and the clan have done for my sister and me.”
He nodded. “Nevertheless, I know that this is not something you enjoy doing. I appreciate the sacrifice.”
Once Kian and the brothers had left, and Yamanu closed the door behind them, Jin turned around and pinned Arwel with a hard stare. “You should have told me about Kian’s plans.” She looked at her sister next. “And you knew about it too and didn’t say a word. I’m mad at both of you.”
“I didn’t know he would do it so soon,” Mey said. “We’ve ba
rely had time to talk about anything. There are so many things I still need to tell you.”
Jin’s expression softened. “Okay, you are forgiven.” She turned and pointed a finger at Arwel. “But you are not.”
He cringed. “Can I make it up to you?”
“How?”
“Just name it, and I’ll do it.”
A wicked smile lifting her lips, Jin walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I can think of a thing or two. But let’s start with the proclamation. Except, you are going to recite it, not me.”
He shook his head. “Please, not that. Can you think of something less embarrassing?”
“Na ah.”
“I forgot how it went.”
“Nice try. Hear ye, hear ye!” She waved her hand in a circular motion. “Go on, you can do it. Man up.”
“Hear ye, hear ye!” Arwel rolled his eyes. “Last night, Jin and I made mind-blowing love, and we are moving in together so we can have more.”
As Mey burst out laughing, Yamanu joined her, clapping his hands on his thighs.
“Close enough.” Jin smiled. “Now, that wasn’t so hard, right?” She kissed him, ignoring her sister and Yamanu, who were still clapping and laughing.
Soaking up the waves of joy coming at him from everyone in the room, Arwel no longer minded the embarrassment in the slightest.
It had been well worth it, and given a chance, he would gladly do it again.
COMING UP NEXT
The Children of the Gods Book 36
Dark Spy’s Mission
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