Dark Whispers From Beyond

Worry about Kaia, her family, and the future of the project had kept William awake throughout the night.

Kaia and her family were being forced to rush into life-altering decisions that might either kill its older members or grant them immortality. And if that wasn’t enough, Gilbert and Karen’s relationship could suffer irreparable damage.

Karen was running out of time, and even though it was easy to understand her preference to wait for Gilbert to transition first so he could induce her, she might not have the six months it would take for his fangs and venom glands to become fully functional. Karen needed to choose an immortal male to activate her dormant immortal genes, but even though her survival depended on it, she and Gilbert might not be able to get past that and continue as a loving couple.

The continuation of the project was less troublesome, but it had many moving parts, and assembling them into a workable solution had also kept William from getting any sleep.

They had only scratched the surface of Okidu’s journals, and there was still a lot to be deciphered before William could dismiss the rest of the team and continue just with Kaia. In fact, she would have to do the heavy lifting because he needed to go back to work on the other projects he’d put on hold.

Last night, after they’d made love and Kaia had sailed off on the wings of euphoria, William had called Marcel, and they’d discussed the progress that had been made so far and what Marcel would do with the team in William and Kaia’s absence.

The project would continue with them working remotely from the village and Marcel supervising the team of bioinformaticians, but before William introduced his replacement to the team, he needed to discuss with Marcel a few things about managing humans.

Marcel was a sharp guy, but his people skills were even worse than William’s, and the guy hadn’t dealt with humans since his days as a student at Caltech. That was why William was picking him and the pilot from the airport instead of just sending a driver for them. He and Marcel needed the time to go over the rules of conduct and what was okay to tell the team of humans and what was not.

It was time to leave, but that was easier said than done.

Standing at the foot of the bed, he gazed at the sleeping beauty sprawled over the covers, his eyes fixed on her gorgeous face and his feet refusing to move.

William would have liked to believe that Kaia’s blissed-out expression was his doing, and that she could sleep so peacefully despite yesterday’s shocking revelations because he was such an incredible lover, but he knew it was the venom’s lingering effect.

Would she be as relaxed when she woke up?

Probably not. As soon as memories of yesterday’s events rushed in, she would without a doubt be stressing over her impending transition and the decisions her family was facing.

With a sigh, William forced his eyes away from Kaia and walked toward the door.

“Where are you going?” she asked sleepily.

William turned around and smiled. “I’m going to pick up Marcel from the airport,” he reminded her.

Kaia spread her arms. “You can’t leave without giving me a kiss.”

He couldn’t refuse an invitation like that.

Walking back, he sat on the bed and leaned to lightly kiss her on the lips. “You don’t need to get up for another two hours. You should go back to sleep.”

She yawned. “I want to call my mother and hear her impressions of your village. Do you know if Marcel gave my family new clan phones? If he did, I need their numbers.”

“I’m sure he or someone else from the lab took care of that.” William cupped her warm cheek. “I’ll get the numbers and text them to you, but it’s five in the morning, so your mother is probably still asleep, and you should be as well.”

Kaia covered her mouth with her hand and yawned again. “No wonder I’m so sleepy. I hope that Cheryl can download Instatock on her new phone. If she can’t check her stats every five minutes, she’ll get panicky, and she’ll demand to leave right away.”

That was an unhealthy obsession, but if her mother didn’t object, it was none of his business.

“Cheryl can download any application she wants.”

“What about your security? All those apps follow people around and record everything they do on their devices.”

“Don’t worry about that.” He leaned and kissed her forehead. “I designed them in a way that makes it impossible for apps to track anything other than what’s necessary for their operation.”

Kaia grinned. “My genius boyfriend. But out of an abundance of caution, I suggest that you check this particular app.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “Instatock is only six or seven months old, and it’s sweeping an entire generation of teenagers without monetizing a thing. There are no advertisements, nothing to buy, and the application is free. I’m suspicious of its motives.”

As his chest swelled with love and pride, William grinned. Even when her body was still mostly asleep, Kaia’s mind was fully awake.

“I’ll check, but I doubt any application can break through my defenses.” He kissed her cheeks one at a time and then added one more to her forehead. “I need to go. Max is waiting for me on the bus.”

The Guardian had informed him yesterday that he would be tagging along on the trip to the airport to pick up Marcel and Morris. Unsurprisingly, Kian or Onegus had left instructions that William shouldn’t be allowed to leave the safe zone without a Guardian escort.

Kaia pulled the blanket up to her chin. “Text me when you get there.” She turned on her side and closed her eyes.

“I will.” He forced himself to get off the bed and walk out.

He found Max waiting for him outside his bungalow.

“Good morning.” He gave the Guardian a tight smile. “Were you afraid I’d give you the slip?”

Max shrugged. “I could have waited here or on the bus, but I knew the driver would already be there, and he would have expected me to chat with him. I don’t have the patience for idle chit-chat, and besides, I prefer not to spend too much time with humans if I don’t have to.”

William arched a brow. “You didn’t mind spending time with Darlene.”

The Guardian shrugged again, but William caught the wince he’d immediately replaced with an impassive expression. “She’s a confirmed Dormant and a god’s granddaughter. She was definitely worth my time.”

William wondered whether Darlene’s lineage had been Max’s main motivation to pursue her. If so, he was glad that nothing had come of it. Darlene deserved to be desired for who she was and not for who her grandfather was. But if Max’s feelings had run deeper, he felt for the guy.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out between the two of you.” William fell in step with Max. “I hoped that Darlene would dump Eric after the weekend and fall straight into your arms, but now it seems that he’s a Dormant as well, and they seem serious about each other.”

Max’s brows dipped so low that they formed a V. “Even if Eric transitions tomorrow, he can’t induce her for another six months. She shouldn’t wait so long.”

William put his hand on the Guardian’s shoulder. “She’s a big girl, and she makes her own choices. Being Toven’s granddaughter helps her chances, so she’s not overly concerned.”

“Still, it’s not wise for her to wait for Eric to transition.”

Detecting real concern in the guy’s voice, William was inclined to believe that Max cared about Darlene. “Eric might not transition at all, and then she’ll have no choice but to turn to you or another Guardian.”

A hopeful smile bloomed on Max’s face. “That would be unfortunate for Eric, but I can’t say that I would be sorry if he turns out to be just a human. I plan to stay very close to Darlene, so if she needs to choose someone else, I’ll be the obvious choice.”

“How are you planning to do that from here?”

“I’m not.” Max grinned conspiratorially. “I’m way ahead of you. I asked Onegus to reassign me to the village, and he approved my request. I’m coming back with you and Kaia.”