Page 6 of Dark Shaman: Eternal Hope (The Children Of The Gods #100)

KIAN

T he knock on Kian's office door came precisely at nine, which surprised him.

Shuttling between the keep in downtown Los Angeles and the village wasn't easy, especially during high traffic times, and it was the second time in a row that Carol had been on time.

Was it China's influence on her, or just the business environment she'd operated in while posing as a fashion entrepreneur?

"Come in," he called, setting aside the report on the power requirements for the new exoskeletons.

Carol walked in looking as fresh and energetic as always but then dropped into the chair across from his with a sigh.

"Long week?" he asked, pouring her a cup of coffee from the carafe Shai had brought earlier.

The coffeemaker that his assistant had gotten for him a few days ago had been moved to Shai's office, where it should have been placed from the start, and now he was showing up every couple of hours with a fresh carafe.

"You could say that." Carol accepted the cup gratefully. "Between the paranormals and the recruiting for the new female spy corps, I've been putting more miles on my car than a traveling salesman."

"Let's start with the spy program." Kian leaned back in his chair. "Who are your final candidates?"

Carol's expression brightened. "That's actually pretty good news.

Five agreed to begin training. Marlene, Teresa, and Grace are enthusiastic about the opportunity.

Regina is nervous but committed, and Greta is reluctant because of what's involved, but she's patriotic and wants to contribute.

I think that her experience from World War II will be invaluable, even if she'd rather leave that part of her past buried. "

"Did you bring me a list of what you need?"

Carol was a force of nature, but she wasn't the best at keeping things organized, and Kian had been reminding her that he needed an itemized list of things and not generalizations.

She pulled out her tablet. "I didn't forward it to you before because new items keep popping up. Can we agree that the list is fluid?"

"That's fine. You can update it every few days."

She clicked on her tablet, and a moment later, his phone pinged with an incoming email.

"The fake identities will cost a bundle," Carol said.

"William promised to provide us with all the miniature spyware, so I don't know if I should include it in my budget or let him include it in his.

" She pouted, looking like a little girl and not the centuries-old immortal she was.

"See how difficult it is? What do I put down for makeup and wigs when Eva is the one providing those?

I asked how much those would be, but she refused to tell me.

Claimed she was contributing them to the effort.

So, what do I need to put down? Wigs for zero dollars? "

Kian smiled. "You asked and answered. List all the items you are receiving for free so you and I know that those are taken care of, and if anything changes and you have to order them elsewhere, just change the cost from zero to what you need to pay for them."

"Wow." She looked at him with rounded eyes as if he had just revealed the secrets of the universe. "That sounds so simple when you say it."

"It is simple. Have you thought about taking a course in management? It could help you with stuff like that. Now that you are heading two projects, you need to get better organized."

She laughed. "Now I don't have time for that."

"True. So, when do you start the training?"

"Monday. I've invited the candidates to the penthouse. With only five, I can do most of my training there. At least until we are done with the paranormal project."

"What's the status with that?"

He hadn't heard of any transitioning paranormals, and if they hadn't after over two weeks, it wasn't going to happen.

"That's less encouraging." Carol set down her coffee cup with a soft clink and met his eyes directly, the way she always did when delivering news, whether disappointing or encouraging.

"None of the males Lokan induced have transitioned.

It's been over two weeks, and Jeremy, Spencer, and Dylan are still disappointingly human.

" She sighed. "Lokan is taking it hard. He thinks that there is something wrong with his venom, but that's ridiculous.

As a three-quarter god, his venom should be among the most potent.

Only Toven could deliver anything better. "

Kian frowned. "It can't be about the venom quality. Perhaps he's not injecting enough of it. It's a delicate balance between injecting too little or too much. But the more likely possibility is that these males simply aren't Dormants."

Carol nodded, looking relieved that he'd said it first. "That's what I've been thinking. We've always known this was a long shot. Just because someone has paranormal abilities doesn't mean they carry the Dormant gene."

"How are the men handling the situation?"

"They're frustrated," Carol admitted. "They're obviously comfortable at the keep, but they have nothing to do.

Jeremy keeps asking if we can try again.

Naomi is growing increasingly anxious and is trying to convince him to give up, get thralled to forget the entire thing, and start their normal life. "

"We can't keep them in limbo indefinitely," Kian said. "It's not fair to them."

"I agree." Carol tucked a curl behind her ear. "Lokan says we need to try again."

A loud knock on the door was followed by it bursting open, but Kian wasn't startled or surprised since he knew who was coming and recognized Anandur's style of entry. The brothers were supposed to escort him to his meeting in town later.

"Carol! I didn't know you were here." Anandur grinned. "How have you been? Enjoying the penthouse life?"

"I am, but I don't have time to enjoy the good life. I've been running around between the keep and the village, trying to head two programs that are supposed to eventually merge into one."

"I've heard." Anandur pulled out a chair and sat down. "Anything I can do to help?"

Her eyes brightened. "In fact, there is." She shifted her gaze to Brundar, who remained standing by the door. "Would you like to join us? I might need your help as well."

Brundar didn't move. "We are supposed to escort Kian to a meeting in town."

"That's okay." Kian glanced at his watch. "We have time. Sit down, Brundar."

Carol waited until the Guardian relented and pulled out a chair on the other side of the conference table.

"Lokan failed to induce any of the three males he injected with his venom, and we want to give them another try before we give up.

The two of you could do the second round.

I doubt your venom will do any better than Lokan's, but it wouldn't hurt to try. "

Anandur chuckled. "Yeah, it would. Those poor men will hurt a lot, but hey, immortality is worth a little ouchie. Even if it's just a remote chance." He glanced at his brother, who gave one of his characteristic single nods, condensing an entire conversation into a single gesture.

"When do you want us to do it?" Anandur asked.

"We have a meeting in the city." Kian opened his daily planner. "But I don't have anything scheduled after that. We can stop by the keep, and each of you will induce a guy."

Carol shook her head. "They need to prepare mentally for another round. They've been through the process once already—the fighting, the biting, the waiting. I should talk to them first, make sure they're even willing to try again."

"Fine." Anandur shrugged. "Just tell us when and we will do our best to be available."

"Perfect." Carol gave him one of her charming smiles. "You two are the best."

"What about the others?" Anandur asked. "There are more paranormals in the group. Perhaps we should start with them."

"We have five men and four women," Carol confirmed.

"But we decided to induce the men first and see if they transition because all the ladies are in committed relationships with the men in the program.

If the men prove not to be Dormants, the women will have to decide if they are willing to have sex with immortal males to attempt transition. "

Anandur turned to Kian. "What will you do with them if they are not Dormants?"

"Send them home. They are under compulsion not to reveal us. Naturally, we will need to keep in touch with them and reinforce the compulsion from time to time."

"Naturally," Anandur repeated while rubbing the back of his neck. "Can they be useful to us in other ways?"

"Some of them might still work with us in other capacities," Carol said.

"Such as?" Anandur asked.

"Well, Jeremy's remote viewing could be invaluable for intelligence gathering.

James's telepathy is limited, so I'm not sure about him.

Abigail's energy healing works on humans, so she might be more useful out in the human world.

" She shifted her gaze to Kian. "Maybe you can incorporate all of them into Project Titan.

After all, you intend to hire human soldiers, and they will need medics and healers.

That way, they can continue to get paid and stay in a controlled environment where we can reinforce the compulsion when needed. It's a win-win for both sides."

On the face of things, Carol was right, and this was a great idea. But on the flip side, it meant moving the paranormals once again. They needed a permanent place that they could call home.

Kian rubbed his temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache. "Let's take this one step at a time. As soon as the men are ready, Anandur and Brundar will attempt to induce them again. If that fails, we'll have another discussion about offering them a place in Project Titan."

"Fair enough." Carol glanced at her watch. "I should head back."

"What about the Echelon program?" Anandur said. "Any new leads there?"

Kian had had high hopes for the government's massive spying program.

After all, it had helped identify the candidates for the paranormal program.

They were still receiving lists of names that the computer was flagging from billions of conversations it was listening to, but so far, it had proven to be a huge waste of resources because none of the people they had investigated had shown real promise.

The best had been the fortune teller and the gambler, who had initially looked promising, but upon further investigation they had been found to be fraudsters rather than genuine psychics.

Kian shook his head. "I'm pulling the plug on that. All the leads we followed turned out to be duds. It's a waste of time and resources."

Anandur nodded with a sage expression on his face. "It is up to the Fates who we find and when. We should stop searching for ways to identify Dormants."

"I don't agree." Kian pushed to his feet. "We need to keep trying new things. Eventually, something will work."