Page 78 of Dark Island: Rescue

"I'm not afraid of your mother. Besides, she has my phone number and doesn't hesitate to call me whenever she needs help moving something heavy in the store. I'm sure she will call to yell at me."

Arezoo chuckled. "You can mute the phone, but you can't mute her in person."

"You are wise, my Arezoo. But I will not abandon you to face the dragon on your own." He took her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. "We fight together."

"She'll think that I'm pregnant."

Ruvon swallowed. "On second thought, I'm going to stay away until you tell me it's safe."

26

LOKAN

Once again, the group of paranormals made their way to the gym, this time with Onegus leading the procession.

"Do we need to repeat the ceremony?" Carol asked.

Onegus shook his head. "I stand as witness to what was already done. Spencer was presented to the Fates. Now we simply offer another path to the same destination."

He turned to Spencer and smiled reassuringly. "I offer my venom freely, with no obligation beyond what was already sworn. You don't have to be my friend if you don't want to. Do you accept?"

Spencer looked taken aback. "Aren't you supposed to become my mentor? My guide into the world of immortals?"

Onegus rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. "Yes, I am. But I don't want you to feel obligated."

"What if I want to be?"

"Then I will welcome your friendship." Onegus clapped the guy on his back. "Let's do this."

What followed was very different from the careful sparring matches that had taken place on this mat before. When they entered the ring, Onegus didn't circle or give instructions. He simply said, "Defend yourself," and lunged.

Spencer, to his credit, tried to block, but he was no match for Onegus. They went down hard, with Spencer hitting the mat face down and Onegus on top of him with his fangs already extended.

Spencer gasped as Onegus bit him, his body going rigid, then limp.

"Efficiently done," Carol commented dryly.

Onegus couldn't respond since his fangs were still embedded in Spencer's neck, and he was probably counting the seconds to make sure that he gave the guy enough but not too much.

Almost a minute passed before the chief retracted his fangs and licked the puncture wounds closed.

"No point in prolonging it." Onegus rose smoothly to his feet. "The anticipation is worse than the bite itself."

Jeremy and Dylan carried the unconscious Spencer to the clinic, which was unnecessary, but Lokan didn't object. Once the guy woke up from the venom stupor, he could go to sleep in his own bed. The transition wasn't going to happen tonight. Best-case scenario, it would start tomorrow, but chances were it wasn't going to happen at all.

Onegus collected his jacket from where he'd draped it over one of the treadmills and followed the processionout of the gym, but stopped next to Lokan. "Let me know if Dylan wants me to induce him. I can be here tomorrow night at the same time as today."

Lokan nodded. "He'll probably want to wait and see if Spencer is transitioning. But I'll let you know."

They parted at the elevators, with Onegus taking one to the parking level and Lokan and Carol taking the other to the clinic.

When they got there, Spencer was already awake as Lokan had predicted, his girlfriend Sofia sitting next to him and holding his hand.

"How are you feeling?" Lokan asked as he walked up to the bed.

"Loopy. Julian said that I can go as soon as I'm steady on my legs, but I'm not there yet."

"Take your time. It's not like your apartment is far away from here and you need to take a taxi to get there."