by I. T. Lucas
William waved a hand. “The problem is that you think everyone is dumber than you, and then you wonder why you don’t have friends.”
“I have friends.” Roni sent William an air kiss. “You are my friend.”
Yamanu lifted a hand to stop the bickering. “We are getting sidetracked.” He turned to Roni. “Do you still have those poems on your phone?”
“I never deleted them, so they should be there.” Roni swiveled his chair around and lifted the device off the table. “Yeah, I’ve got them. I’m sending them to you, William. Try not to blush when you read it.”
A second later, William’s phone pinged with an incoming text. As he opened the attachment, his brows dipped low. “Nope, not reading those.” He lifted his eyes to Yamanu. “How about I sing opera instead?”
“Can you sing?”
“Not well, but I can sing.” He started bellowing a song from The Phantom of the Opera.
Yamanu shook his head. “I’m sorry, William, but that will drive people away instead of drawing them closer. To test whether my shrouding still works, I need a crowd to assemble. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know whether they dispersed because they could no longer see or hear you or because they didn’t want to.”
William’s face fell. “Fine. I’ll search for something cleaner.”
“Not too clean or no one will come,” Roni said. “Do you think people would watch the news if it was all about nice things happening around the world? People love misery and conflict, as long as they can watch it from the safety of their couches, that is.”
Sadly, it was true.
William sighed. “I’ll find something to work with that doesn’t have the words fuck and bitch in every sentence.”
“Good luck with attracting a crowd.” Roni turned his chair around to face the screen.
“When do you want to do it?” William asked.
“Now. If you are not too busy.”
William gazed up at him with his smart eyes. “You are really worried about your powers, aren’t you?”
“Of course. Imagine waking up one day and realizing that you might be losing your knack for technology.”
“I would panic.” William pushed up from his chair. “Do you have everything ready?”
“I have a crate in my trunk for you to stand on, and I have a megaphone. Do we need anything else?”
“Yeah, I need to memorize some damn poems by the time we get there.”
“I don’t expect you to do that. You can just read them from your phone.”
“That’s not going to cut it. If you want a crowd to gather, some showmanship is required. But don’t worry, I have an excellent memory. It’s enough that I read a thing twice, and I can recite it word for word.”
“That’s a useful talent.”
“For a nerd like me, it certainly is.”
11
Mey
“Who is this little cutie?” Mey crouched next to the most adorable little girl.
“I’m Phoenix,” the toddler said. “Who are you?”
“I’m Mey. How old are you?”
The girl lifted two fingers. “I’m two.”
The mother smiled. “Almost. She is going to be two in two months but hearing her talk, you’d think she is twelve. I’m Nathalie.” She offered Mey her hand.
“I know. I met your mother in New York.” Mey shook her head. “I flipped when Yamanu told me that she was a grandmother. But even more impressive than that were her makeup skills. The way she transformed Alena’s face to make her look like Areana was awe-inspiring.”
Nathalie snorted. “That’s just one of her many talents. My mother used to be a DEA agent, and after taking a long break to raise me, she opened her own detective agency. Now she’s taken another break to be with Ethan.”
Mey couldn’t help the grin spreading over her face. “He is such a sweet baby. He let me hold him and kiss him, and he didn’t make a fuss about it. Usually, babies don’t like being passed around.”
“He’s used to that.” Nathalie sat down and lifted her daughter into her lap. “And so is Phoenix, but lately, she’s become more selective about who she allows to kiss her.” She planted a kiss on top of the child’s head. “But I’m the mommy, so I get dibs.”
“What’s dibs?” Phoenix asked.
“It means that I am first in line for your kisses.”
“Nah-ah, that’s Daddy.”
Nathalie rolled her eyes. “Girls and their daddies. It’s not fair.”
“Why?” Phoenix asked.
Nathalie ruffled her daughter’s dark hair. “Because I’m the one answering your why questions all day long, so I deserve kisses first.”
The child scrunched her nose. “You get my kisses all day long, Mommy. But when Daddy comes home, it’s his turn.”
Mey laughed. Phoenix was just precious. “What can I get you, ladies?”
“Did they put you to work already?” Nathalie lifted a brow. “You just got here.”
“It’s boring to sit around the house and wait for Yamanu to come back. I volunteered.”
“I want ice cream,” the girl said.
Nathalie hugged her closer. “They don’t have ice cream in the café, sweetie.” When Phoenix's face fell, she added. “We can get some at the supermarket later.”
The smile was back, accompanied by a happy clap. “Oh, goodie.”
As mother and daughter discussed flavors, Mey wondered whether the child was an immortal already. Yamanu had said that girls turned at a much younger age than the boys and that it was enough for them to be around the goddess to do so.
No venom required.
“I guess you don’t worry about her getting stomach aches or things like that.”
“No, I still worry,” Nathalie said. “But I believe in moderation. Even if Phoenix weren’t so special, I would have allowed her ice cream and sweets. Just not too much or too often.”
It made sense not to mention the word immortal in front of the girl. She was too young to understand the need for secrecy, and if Nathalie was taking her on supermarket excursions outside the village, she might say something incriminating.
“I wish I could go with you. I need groceries, but I can’t leave the village.”
“Why?” Phoenix asked.
Mey smiled. “I don’t have time to go.” She waved at the direction of the café’s serve-out counter. “I have work to do.”
“Oh. Mommy can get you gwoseris. Do you want ice cream?”
“That’s a great idea,” Nathalie said. “Make a list of what you need, and I’ll get it for you.”
“You’re shopping with a toddler. That’s hard enough without schlepping things for me as well.”
Nathalie waved dismissively. “Don’t be silly. Phoenix loves shopping, so that’s not a problem, and I give the boy who bags my groceries a couple of bucks to load everything into my car. When I get back to the village, there is never a shortage of helping hands to carry everything home.”
Mey still felt uncomfortable about Nathalie doing this for her, but if she wanted to make a nice dinner for Yamanu, it was her only option.
“I’ll take you up on your offer.” She pulled out her wallet and handed Nathalie a hundred-dollar bill. “But I owe you. Once Eva comes back, I’m inviting all of you to dinner.”
“That would be lovely.” Nathalie pushed the bill back at Mey. “I didn’t get you a welcoming present, so let me cover the groceries.”
“No way. If you don’t take the money, I’m not going to give you the list.” Mey pushed it back and crossed her arms over her chest.
Phoenix burrowed into her mother’s chest. “Why are you and Mey fighting, Mommy?”
“We’re not fighting, sweetie. We are having a discussion.”
“It sounds like a fight, and Mey made an angry face.”
Damn. Apparently, she still had a lot to learn about raising kids. Were girls particularly sensitive? Or were all young children so easily upset?
“I’m sorry,
Phoenix. I’m not angry, I was just pretending so your mommy will take my money.”
“Why?”
Mey stifled a groan. “Never mind. I was just being silly. Everything is okay.”
The girl smiled. “I like you. I want you and Mommy to be friends.”
“Me too, sweetheart.” She lifted her gaze to Nathalie. “The village and the people living in it are all incredible. Everyone is so nice and eager to help. I really want to become part of this community.”
Nathalie reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You already are.”
12
Yamanu
As Yamanu placed the crate on the lawn in front of the cafeteria, a few people cast him and William curious glances before entering the building.
“Are you ready?”
William nodded. “I found some good ones. But without practice, my delivery is not going to be spectacular.”
“It doesn’t need to be. All you need is to grab people’s attention for several minutes and then step down. A moment later, you are going to step up again, but I’m going to shroud you so it will look like you are still sitting on the lawn and resting. If they leave, we will know that the shroud worked. If they stay, it didn’t.”
William tugged on the bottom of his Hawaiian shirt. “They might leave because they are bored, or because they don’t want to look at a fat guy reciting poetry.”
William was nowhere near as heavy as he used to be, but he was still heavyset. Nevertheless, he was an immortal, with an immortal’s perfect skin and handsome face. Yamanu had caught several young ladies casting him covert glances.
He clapped the guy on the back. “You are much better-looking than you give yourself credit for. I’ve seen the glances you’ve gotten from girls.”
William snorted. “They were looking at you. No one noticed that I was even there.”
“Not true. I saw where their eyes went, and they were looking at you.”
With a shrug, William took the megaphone out of the duffle bag and stepped onto the crate. “Let me know when you want me to stop.”
“Go for it.” Yamanu gave him the thumbs up.
As William started reciting, Yamanu’s eyes widened in surprise. Not only had he memorized everything during the one-hour drive, but his delivery was also superb.
Soon, a small crowd was gathered around the crate, and people were smiling, nodding, and praising the performance.
When the crowd grew substantially, Yamanu decided to start with a thrall, planting in their heads that it was about to rain and making them see dark, heavy clouds heading in their direction.
Several people lifted their eyes to the sky, shook their heads, and stayed. Others did the same and then hurried away.
It seemed like his thrall had worked on some but not all, meaning that he could still blanket thrall, but he wasn’t as powerful as he used to be.
It wasn’t bad news. As long as he could still affect many people at once, he could work on adding juice to his thralling by abstaining for a couple of days, or meditating, or both.
He waited until William was done reciting his first poem before motioning for him to step down.
“How did it go?”
Yamanu tilted his head toward the depleted crowd. “You’ve seen it. My thrall worked on some but not others. It didn’t have enough power, but I can still do it.”
“I don’t know why you were worried that you couldn’t in the first place. What’s next?”
“Let’s wait until most of them start walking away, and then you go back up. If they return or even look over their shoulders, it means that my shroud failed. If they keep walking, it means that it worked.”
When people got tired of waiting and started leaving, Yamanu motioned for William to get up on his improvised podium. “Use the megaphone.” He handed it to him. “But wait for my signal. Don’t start until I activate the shroud.”
William nodded.
There weren’t many people left on the lawn, but the cafeteria doors were kept busy, with students going in and others leaving. If the shroud didn’t work, a new crowd would assemble in minutes.
Yamanu closed his eyes and concentrated on the familiar feeling of spreading his awareness like a cloud to blanket the area. Usually, it exploded out of him like a thunderstorm, but this time it felt more like a gentle breeze.
He nodded, motioning for William to begin.
Long moments passed before he dared to open his eyes and look around.
Only a small group remained on the lawn, but they weren’t paying attention to William. People exiting the cafeteria kept on going without sparing him a glance.
William stopped his recitation and stepped off the crate. “It worked.”
Yamanu let out a relieved breath. “It would seem so. But shrouding one person is easy. I need something bigger.”
“How about fireworks?” William suggested. “They make a lot of noise and cover a large area in the sky. Would that work?”
That was a great idea.
“Those would be perfect. Lots of noise and a light show in the sky would be a bitch to shroud. The question is how to do it safely. I don’t want to cause an accidental fire.”
William put the megaphone back inside the duffle bag. “We can do it from the mall’s parking lot. The one they use for Fourth of July celebrations.”
“Can you help me set it up?”
William’s eyes shone with boyish excitement. “It would be my pleasure.”
“Have you ever done that before?”
“No, but it shouldn’t be complicated if kids do it.” He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “I can really go wild with this. I just hope your shroud works. Otherwise, we will be running from the police.”
“Let’s hope that it does.” Yamanu looked around the lawn. “It seems that I’ve still got it. I just need to work on producing more juice to feed it.”
13
Mey
Mey took a step back and looked at the table she’d set up. It was nothing fancy, just a roast chicken with potatoes and a salad, but that was all she’d had time for.
Nathalie had dropped the groceries off hours ago, leaving them on her doorstep, but Mey had worked in the café until it closed, and that didn’t leave her enough time to prepare anything elaborate.
Not that she knew how to make any fancy dishes. Her mom cooked simply, and that was what Mey and Jin had learned to do while helping her in the kitchen.
If she’d had time, though, she could’ve searched for recipes on the internet.
Look at me. So domestic. She smiled.
Preparing dinner for the man she loved felt good, and if there were a couple of children running around, it would have been even better. It was certainly a change of pace from her hectic modeling life. She and her roommates hadn’t cooked, mostly eating out and occasionally ordering takeout.
Mey didn’t miss any of it. It hadn’t been real.
This was.
Phoenix was so adorable, but her never-ending why questions could try the patience of a saint. It hadn’t seemed to bother Nathalie, though. On the contrary, she had seemed proud that her child was so incredibly advanced at such a young age and had answered each question lovingly.
Mey wondered what kind of mother she was going to be.
Would she be as tolerant as Nathalie?
She certainly hoped so. Her own parents had provided a great example. Mey and Jin hadn’t gone through the rebellious phase that many teenagers tormented their parents with. It was probably because of the easy-going atmosphere at home, and the trust and respect with which they had been treated. There had been rules, but not too strict, and the consequences of breaking them had usually been long talks about what had prompted the undesirable behavior.
Like her mother’s gentle reproach for the scarcity of phone calls when Mey had talked to her last night. She’d claimed to be very busy with work and social obligations, which hadn’t been a straight out lie. Her mother had accepted it, telling her
not to work too hard.
As the front door opened, Mey turned around and looked at Yamanu’s handsome face. He was smiling, which meant either that he had good news or that he was happy to see her. Or maybe both.
“How was your day?” Mey asked as she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.
He put his hands on her hips and pulled her close against his body. “It was good, but coming home to you is the best part.” He bent and took her lips in a hungry kiss.
When his big hands cupped her bottom and squeezed, the heat from his kiss intensified, but she wanted to feed her man first and make love to him second.
Pushing on his chest, she leaned back. “The chicken is getting cold.”
“I don’t care.” He pulled her to him again.
“But I do. Let’s eat first. I want to hear all about your day.”
Reluctantly, he let go of her. “Bossy lady.”
She slapped his arm playfully. “Don’t complain. I know that you love it.”
A sly smile lifted one corner of his lips. “I do. You are so sexy when you get stubborn. But that only makes me want to throw you over my shoulder and carry you to bed.”
“Hold that thought for after dinner.” She took his hand and led him to the table. “Would you like a beer with your meal?”
“You are spoiling me.”
“It’s my pleasure.” And it was.
Mey remembered her father waiting for her mother with dinner on the table when she’d come back from her shift at the hospital. He didn’t know how to cook and usually just reheated what she’d made the day before, but it was the gesture that mattered.
It showed that he cared.
Mey pulled out a beer for Yamanu and a can of Diet Coke for herself.
“How was working at the café?” Yamanu asked when she returned.
“It was fun. I got to meet so many people, but the highlight was Nathalie and Phoenix. That girl is so adorable. And Nathalie is so nice. She bought groceries for us.”