by I. T. Lucas
Yamanu put a hand on her back and gave her a small nudge while bowing. “Good evening, Clan Mother. Thank you for inviting us.”
Mey followed his example, bowing instead of bending her leg in the tight skirt. “I’m honored by your invitation, Clan Mother.”
Rehearsing these words countless times had paid off. Otherwise, Mey doubted anything would have come out of her mouth.
The goddess smiled, revealing a pair of tiny, barely-there fangs. More like pointy canines. “Welcome to the clan, Mey. I am overjoyed for you and Yamanu.”
Annani’s intentions were good, but Mey hadn’t transitioned yet, and it was too early for her words of welcome.
Stifling a grimace, Mey dipped her head. “Thank you.”
The goddess rose to her feet and clapped her delicate, glowing hands. “To the table, everyone. You can all exchange greetings over appetizers.”
Amanda rolled her eyes but did as her mother commanded, while Syssi gave Mey a small wave and headed to the dining table as well.
Dalhu and Kian nodded their hellos and followed the ladies.
Annani might be diminutive in size, but she filled the house with the power of her presence and her commanding personality.
“Sit right here next to me.” The goddess pointed to a chair to her right.
Mey swallowed and glanced at Yamanu for help.
Except, he didn’t dare to disobey either. Pulling out the chair for her, he waved his hand. “My lady?”
“Thank you.” She smoothed her skirt before sitting down.
This was going to be a long night.
Once the Odus were done pouring drinks for everyone, Kian proposed a toast.
“To Mey and Yamanu.”
Everyone clinked glasses.
“I hear that you are a model,” Annani said.
Mey nodded.
“My Alena is modeling for the first time in her life, and I wonder what it is like. Do you enjoy your chosen profession?”
As Mey answered to the best of her ability, she tried not to stammer or trip over the words, praying that Annani would be satisfied with that and wouldn’t ask about her time in the military.
Lying to the goddess seemed like a very bad idea, but if Annani asked, Mey would have no choice. Or she could just admit that she wasn’t allowed to talk about it and hope that Annani would respect that.
“When is Alena coming back?” Amanda diverted the conversation to another topic.
Had she sensed Mey’s discomfort and decided to rescue her?
In either case, Mey was grateful that the goddess’s focus had shifted away from her.
“Saturday,” Kian said. “She is wrapping up her last shoot on Friday.”
Annani sighed. “I miss her company.” She looked at her children and sighed again. “And I am going to miss all of you once I leave. I wish we were not scattered around the world like we are, but it is necessary for our safety. Everyone living in one location would have made us too easy to destroy.”
Mey shivered. She often had the same thought about Israel. On the one hand, it would have been great for all the Jewish people to come back to their homeland. But on the other hand, having everyone in one tiny geographical location would have made it too tempting of a target for the haters and the bigots.
Racism, antisemitism, and all the other isms had never died. In fact, all were on the rise again, proving that humanity hadn’t progressed as much as people liked to believe it had. It was still far from enlightened, and the voices of hate were getting not only stronger but also smarter. They were cloaking their bigotry quite ingeniously in excuses that should have been transparent to anyone who cared to dig a little deeper.
Except, it seemed that too many people were happy to jump on the hate wagon, and the ‘us versus them’ chimp mentality still ruled even those who lacked nothing. The educated, and those thinking of themselves as enlightened.
“When are you leaving?” Kian asked Annani.
“As soon as Alena is ready to go. We have been away from the sanctuary for too long.” She looked at Yamanu and then shifted her gaze to Mey. “If you hurry, I can perform a mating ceremony before leaving. I do not know when I will be back again.”
Just like Yamanu, it seemed that the goddess was taking Mey’s transition for granted.
Yamanu took Mey’s hand and squeezed reassuringly. “Thank you for your kind offer, Clan Mother, but Mey needs to find her sister first. She wants Jin and their parents to attend the wedding, and that will take time to arrange.”
It was a clever way to avoid mentioning that her transition had to happen before all of that.
“I understand. When you are ready, let me know. I might come back sooner rather than later.” She cast a glance at Kian. “But first I need to pay Sari a visit. I do not want her to feel neglected.” She smiled at Mey. “Even grown children can feel jealousy when they suspect their mother of favoring some over the others.”
Syssi chuckled. “I think mine will suffer from too much of it. I love children, and I’m probably going to be one of those overprotective moms that hover over their kids.”
“How many children do you plan on having?” Mey asked.
“As many as the Fates will bless me with.”
Kian cleared his throat. “With the help of Merlin’s potion, it’s not entirely up to the Fates.”
“True,” Syssi agreed. “I want to have at least three. So, after this precious one is born, I will start on the potion again. After that, I might leave it up to the Fates.”
“Smart decision.” Annani patted her arm. “Although, in my opinion, the Fates had a hand in this too, guiding Merlin toward discovering the right combination of ingredients to put in it.” She waved her hands in a circle. “It is all part of their grand plan.”
6
Yamanu
As Syssi and Mey continued their conversation about children, Kian pushed away from the table.
“I’m going outside to smoke. Anyone care to join me?”
Amanda got up. “I’ll come with you.”
He raised a brow. “You hate the smell.”
“I’ve gotten used to it.” She glanced at Dalhu. “Do you want to come?”
Yamanu had a feeling that the conversation was making Amanda uncomfortable.
“Sure. If it’s okay with the Clan Mother.” Dalhu looked at Annani.
The goddess smiled in approval. “Thank you for asking. I do not mind waiting for coffee and dessert. I am quite full.” She put a hand over her middle.
Dalhu dipped his head. “Thank you.”
When the three of them stepped out, Syssi leaned toward Mey and whispered, “Amanda doesn’t want children.”
Annani shook her head. “It is not that she does not want them, she is afraid of having a child and losing it. In her case, it is better to wait for the Fates to decide what is the right time. There is no rush.”
“Why is she afraid?” Mey asked.
It was a sad story that Yamanu wasn’t in the mood to hear retold.
He dipped his head. “If you’ll excuse me, Clan Mother, I would like to join Kian outside and try one of his cigarillos.” He glanced at Mey in case she wanted to escape as well.
She smiled. “Enjoy.”
Over her initial nervousness, Mey seemed comfortable sitting next to Annani and chatting with her and Syssi.
Outside, Dalhu and Amanda were sitting on the fountain wall and talking in hushed voices, while Kian stood with his back to the house and smoked his cigarillo.
“I wonder how those taste,” Yamanu said.
Kian turned around. “I didn’t know you smoked.”
“I don’t. I like a cigar once in a while when it’s a special occasion, like a bachelor party. Are those as good as the big ones?”
“Not as good, but good enough.” Kian pulled the box out of his pocket and handed it to Yamanu. “What I like about them is that they don’t take long to finish. Cigars are too time-consuming.”
“That’s the who
le point.” Yamanu pulled one out. “A cigar forces you to chill, and it’s twice as good with a glass of quality whiskey.” He shielded the flame from Kian’s lighter and lit the cigarillo.
“I don’t have time to chill.” Kian took a puff. “Did you have a chance to test your powers yet?”
Yamanu shook his head.
“You should do it as soon as possible. I need to know whether or not I can count on you for blanket shrouding and thralling.”
“I can’t do it while I’m inducing Mey. I will probably have to abstain for a couple of days before I attempt a mass shroud or thrall, but I don’t want to do so before Mey enters transition. We are in a time crunch, as you know.”
Kian took another puff. “Try it without abstaining. I’m curious to see whether it is required at all.”
That was actually not a bad idea, and it also removed some of the anxiety he felt about testing his powers. If they didn’t work without abstaining, he still had the option to try it again after holding off for a couple of days. And if they worked without that, even better.
“I was trying to come up with a way to conduct a test. Blanket thralling would be easy to stage. I can go to the beach and thrall everyone into building sandcastles. But shrouding is more complicated. I need something major to hide. Any ideas?”
Kian shook his head. “It needs to be something loud or smelly that would normally attract a lot of attention, like a fire or an explosion. But we can’t do either without major prep work. We would have to stage a movie set in the middle of a populated area, and that would take time to organize.”
“A movie set is a good idea, but you are right about the complexity. It needs to be something simpler to pull off. Maybe I’ll just get someone to sing in the middle of the mall with a loud megaphone.”
Kian chuckled. “That could work. Or you could have Roni recite his vile slam poetry. That would certainly attract a lot of attention.”
“I can work with that.” Yamanu tapped on the cigarillo and watched the ash fall and disperse. “I could give Roni a megaphone and put him in front of a college cafeteria during lunchtime.”
“I would like to see that.” Kian took another puff. “How is the cigarillo?”
“Not bad. Relaxing. And since we don’t have to worry about the side effects, it’s a good way to wind down.”
Kian nodded. “Not knowing whether you still have your powers must be stressful for you.”
“It is, but I’m also worried about Mey. I thought she would have entered transition by now.”
Kian cast him an incredulous look. “You just started inducing her on Friday. Did you expect it to happen after one time?”
Yamanu shrugged. “I’m an old immortal, and my blood is not as diluted as that of the younger guys.”
“Brundar is about your age, and Callie didn’t transition right away. He also didn’t manage to induce Roni. In the end, I had to do it.”
“Roni was sick. I don’t know what the deal with Callie was, but I’m sure there was something else. Maybe she was ill too.”
“As far as I know, she wasn’t. In any case, it’s too early to worry. I have the purest blood of all the clan males, and Syssi didn’t transition right away either.”
That was true.
Yamanu let out a breath. “We have only one week left.”
“It should suffice. If Mey doesn’t enter transition by next Sunday, she most likely isn’t a Dormant.”
7
Kian
“Stop beating yourself up.” Turner flipped the top of his thermos closed. “What’s done is done. You learn from your mistakes and move on.”
Kian pushed his hair back. “I wish you’d reconsider my offer and come on board full time. If you do, I will transfer control over all missions to you and dedicate my time to making more money for the clan. That’s what I’m best at.”
“I’m sorry, Kian, but I can’t do that.”
“I know that you can’t bear the thought of being someone’s subordinate, but I promise that you will have complete autonomy. I will defer to you in all things military.”
Turner shook his head. “It’s not about my need for independence. There is that too, but I might have accepted your offer if this was the only obstacle.”
“So what is it? Money? How much are you making in your business, if I may ask? I’m willing to match it and even top it.”
“That’s very generous of you. But I doubt you can afford me.” Turner smiled. “It’s not about the money either, although the money is good. It’s about helping people who have no one else to turn to. I’m their last resort. Kidnappings for ransom don’t make the news unless the family is famous, but a lot of it is going on. I’m usually the only one who can get their loved ones out.”
Talk about a checkmate.
But perhaps there was one more move Kian could make before conceding defeat. “Can’t you train an assistant? If you have someone capable in your office handling most of the stuff, you can head both the clan’s missions and your own.”
“Look who’s talking.” Turner snorted. “I could give you the same advice.”
“I tried. I’m either a lousy teacher, or none of those that I hired were up to the task.”
“Some things you cannot teach. Did you consider that running the clan’s business empire is your special talent?” Turner lifted one blond brow. “You have a natural knack for it, and not all of it is about what you know and how much experience you have. A lot of it has to do with gut feelings and knowing which business is worth investing in and which is not, regardless of how they look on paper.”
It hadn’t occurred to him before, but Turner might be right about that.
Kian’s decisions were seldom based on dry numbers. He often relied on intangible things, like believing a particular technology would succeed while others might fail or seeing the potential for real estate developments where others had seen none.
And the same was true for the improvements and tweaks that he routinely suggested to management whenever he visited a location. He just knew how things should be done. It often baffled him that what was perfectly clear to him was not to others.
No wonder he couldn’t teach it to anyone.
“So, you are saying that no one can replace you because rescue missions are your special talent?”
Turner nodded. “I don’t know if it’s planning missions in general or just rescues, but I have what appears to be a supernatural knack for that. I see all the possibilities for fuckups in my head as if they had already happened and I’m watching a replay.”
Taking a deep breath, Kian leaned back in his chair. “I guess we are both stuck then. We need to keep going and do as much as we can because we are irreplaceable.”
Turner clasped his thermos in both hands. “I don’t know about irreplaceable. I would rather say difficult to replace.” He smiled. “I’m trying to keep my vanity in check. Bridget keeps telling me that I appear stuck up to people and that I need to work on my humility. Or at least fake it.”
Turner didn’t appear stuck up, he actually was, but he had a good reason to feel superior. Nevertheless, it certainly didn’t make him likable or approachable. People didn’t like know-it-alls any more than they liked martyrs. Yamanu had been smart to keep his sacrifice secret. If he hadn’t, he would have been much less popular and well-liked.
“I need to pick your brain in regard to finding Kalugal and Jin.”
Turner arched a brow. “I thought you already found the guy.”
“I might have found him, but I don’t have proof or a way to get it. If the compound is guarded by immortals, we can’t get in and check what he is up to. I’m not going to initiate contact until I know who I’m dealing with.”
“I like that you are approaching this with caution. You could send people to the area to watch the mansion from afar. When one of his men leaves, they can follow him to wherever he is going and verify whether he is an immortal or not. Proximity should be enough to determine that.”<
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“If one of ours feels one of Kalugal’s, the reverse is also true.”
“But ours will be there to find that out, while Kalugal’s men will not be expecting to encounter other immortals. If our guy gets out fast enough, Kalugal’s guy will dismiss the warning prickling.”
“Let’s say that it works, and we have proof that immortals live in the mansion. What then?”
“Then you will need Jin. Provided her talent works on immortals, that is.” Turner shook his head. “It’s a creepy one. Someone will have to volunteer for her to test it, and then she will have access to that person forever.”
Kian chuckled. “For you, it would be the worst nightmare.”
“Not the worst, but definitely among the top three.”
“What if we can’t find Jin, or if her talent doesn’t work on immortals? We need plan B.”
“Lokan. You will have to send him to talk with his brother and find out what he is up to.”
“I don’t trust Lokan. Not yet.”
“That’s why he is plan B and not plan A.”
“Anything else?”
Turner shrugged. “You don’t want to attack the place. You just want to snoop around. If both plans A and B fail, I’ll think of something else.”
“Fair enough. Let’s get back to plan A then. How do we find Jin?”
“Eleanor is a good start. Before anything more elaborate is planned, I think finding her first and checking what she knows is your best option. You will need a strong thraller, though. The woman has been hiding for a while, and she is probably highly suspicious. Those types are not easy to thrall. Who is your best, Yamanu?”
“Yamanu is good for mass thralls. Arwel is better for individual ones. And if thralling doesn’t work, he can employ his empathy. We also have Andrew to tell lies from truths, but I don’t like the idea of taking him away from his family.”
“Or you can use a truth serum, but then you will need a doctor with you, and they are not as effective as Andrew. On second thought, you don’t need to wait for Arwel to come back from New York either. Any Guardian with good thralling skills would do.”