Page 37 of Dark Shaman: Love Found (The Children Of The Gods #99)

LOKAN

T he memory of last night's induction played through Lokan's mind as he stood at the wall of glass in Amanda's penthouse, admiring the city view. The hardest part of the fight had been the stress of providing enough venom to induce the transition, but not enough to kill Jeremy.

The guy had put up a decent fight, but he was no match for an immortal, especially not one who was three-quarters god. Lokan had been careful not to hurt the young man, but Jeremy hadn't been happy about that.

"You're holding back," the guy had gasped, circling warily after Lokan had tapped him lightly on the ribs, a blow that could have shattered bones if he'd used even a fraction of his strength.

"Would you prefer I didn't?" Lokan had asked.

Jeremy's response had been another rush, this time attempting some takedown he'd probably seen in an MMA fight on television.

Lokan had stepped aside, caught Jeremy's arm, and used his own momentum to guide him to the mat—face down, arm twisted behind his back—not enough to injure, just enough to immobilize.

"I yield," Jeremy had said immediately, smart enough to know when he was outmatched, but it had been unnecessary.

Lokan would have bitten him regardless of his declaration.

When his fangs had pierced the skin at the junction of neck and shoulder, Jeremy had gone rigid for a moment, then limp, and then unconscious.

Thankfully, he'd come to less than an hour later, and his girlfriend helped him back to their apartment.

Now, eighteen hours later, they were all waiting to see if it had worked.

When the front door opened and Carol entered, Lokan was pulled from his thoughts and turned to her, spreading his arms in invitation.

"Any change?" she asked, walking into his outstretched arms.

He kissed the top of her head. "Naomi says that he's loopy and just wants to watch television. No fever yet."

Fever was usually the first sign that the transition was starting, and Naomi was checking it every five minutes.

"It might not happen at all." Carol leaned her forehead against his chest. "We shouldn't wait for Jeremy to start transitioning. It could happen in a day or two or not at all, and meanwhile, we are wasting time. We should induce the next one."

Lokan dipped his head to look at her. "You want me to induce another guy tonight?"

"Why not? You barely broke a sweat with Jeremy, and Spencer is even smaller. You could induce him with one hand tied behind your back and hopping on one foot."

"That seems unnecessarily performative."

She laughed. "But entertaining. So, what do you say? Are you going to induce Spencer tonight?"

He shrugged. "The faster I do it, the faster we can be done with this little project."

"Speaking of projects, I ran into Kalugal this morning, and I invited him and Jacki for dinner this evening. I told him we would order from the Golden Dragon. He said he would ask Jacki and let me know."

"That's great. But what does it have to do with our project?"

"Nothing. He mentioned a project of his own. Did you know that he was buying an island?"

Lokan shook his head. "First I'm hearing of it. Though with Kalugal, it could be anything from a tax shelter to a super-villain lair."

"Probably both." Carol pulled away to take out her phone. "I should order the food now if we want it delivered by seven. Do you know what they like? "

"Perhaps we should wait until Kalugal gets back to you. What if they decide not to come?"

"Then we will eat everything ourselves." She brought up the menu and handed him the phone. "Here. Fill the cart with what you think they like."

Lokan didn't know what his brother's culinary preferences were. They had gotten closer since Lokan had made the final move to sever contact with their father, but they were still getting to know each other.

He probably ordered too much food, but more was always better than less, and when he handed Carol the phone back to finalize the order, she grinned.

"They're throwing in extra fortune cookies because we are such good customers. They recognize the address from all the previous deliveries."

The text from Kalugal arrived mere minutes after they had placed the order, saying that he and Jacki were on their way and should be there in an hour or less.

"Awesome," Carol said. "I have just enough time to shower and change. Want to join me?"

"I can never refuse an offer like that."

Of course, the two of them together in the shower turned into more than just soaping and rinsing, and when they were done, they barely had enough time to throw some clothes on before the doorbell announced the arrival of either his brother and sister-in-law or the food delivery .

When Lokan opened the door, he found Kalugal and Jacki standing in the vestibule, Kalugal carrying a bottle of wine, and Jacki holding a container and looking amused.

"We're a little early," Jacki said apologetically. "The roads were much less congested than we expected. Is there some major sports game going on that I'm not aware of?"

"I wouldn't know." Lokan bent to kiss her cheek. "You look as lovely as ever, sister of mine."

It still tickled him to say that, and she didn't mind it.

Kalugal, on the other hand, didn't like it one bit. "Are you going to let us in? Or are we going to stand out here until the food arrives?"

Jacki rolled her eyes. "Ignore him. He's been bouncing off the walls all day." She handed Carol the container. "I brought dessert. Homemade baklava, compliments of Atzil."

"It smells amazing," Carol said, peeking inside. "And they look amazing too."

"Atzil is on a mission to perfect the recipe," Kalugal said. "We have enough pastries at home to feed an army, but since we are in fact feeding an army, that's perfect."

They settled around the enormous coffee table, which often doubled as a dinner table.

"Carol mentioned that you're buying an island," Lokan said.

Kalugal's face lit up. "I am, and it's not just any island. It's the perfect one. Wait until you hear this. But first, let's pour this wine. "

Carol brought the glasses, and Kalugal uncorked and poured the wine.

"It's in the Indian Ocean, a little over three hundred miles from Father's," he said, handing Lokan a glass. "It's a former mining operation, so it has all the infrastructure, including a thirty-five-hundred-foot airstrip."

Lokan was still stuck on the first piece of information Kalugal had provided. "You want to build something that close to Passion Island?"

"Isn't that perfect? I'm taking a page from the clan's book about hiding in plain sight. One private island among hundreds. Navuh will never notice."

"Or he'll notice immediately and have everyone there slaughtered."

"He's not going to find out who is on that island and why." Kalugal's excitement was infectious, but Lokan was trying not to get swept away in his brother's enthusiasm.

"What are you planning to do with that island, spy on him?"

"Better. We're building an army. Humans in exoskeletons that can match even enhanced immortals' strength.

We already have all the technology we need, and we can build a formidable army in months instead of the years it will take to create smart robots to fight for us.

" Kalugal tapped his temple. "The solution was right in front of us, but it took thinking outside the box to see it. "

"I thought the robots were thinking outside the box," Lokan murmured. "But you are right about this idea being much simpler to execute."

"The clan has exoskeletons on hand, but they were built to immortal specifications.

We need to build suits with similar capabilities but lighter and easier to maneuver so humans can use them.

That solves the problem of scarcity. We can have as many warriors as we can pay for, and with the exoskeletons, they can match Father's enhanced soldiers. "

"What about the thralling?" Lokan asked. "The immortals can easily thrall the humans to stand down."

The hesitation in his brother's eyes revealed that he hadn't thought of that.

"They won't know who's inside the suits. They would assume it's the clan and won't even attempt to thrall them."

Lokan shook his head. "That's not a strategy, Kalugal."

Kalugal's face fell. "You are right. The humans will need special training to resist thralling, or they will have to be drugged with something that will shield their minds." He shook his head. "I don't know how I didn't think of that. Kian didn't either. I had a feeling we were missing something."

"You can solve the problem quite easily," Carol said.

"How?" Kalugal looked at her with hope in his eyes.

"We know that Russians can resist thralling more than any other nationality, and I include Ukrainians in that. I know both would strangle me for saying that they are the same people, but they are. You can sift through them and find the ones who are the most resistant."

"Right now, there is a shortage of Russian and Ukrainian fighters," Jacki said.

"We don't need that many, and we can find enough prospects among Russian expats," Lokan said. "It's a great idea to recruit people who are naturally more resistant to thralling, and Turner can help with that."

Perhaps he was clutching at straws, but Lokan wasn't willing to give up on the sense of hope that Kalugal had brought about with his deceptively simple idea.

Kalugal rubbed the back of his head. "I was hoping to be ready in ninety days, but if we need to look for thrall-resistant fighters, it's going to take longer."

"Ninety days?" Carol snorted. "That's ambitious even for you."

"Every day we delay is another day Father strengthens his position," Kalugal said. "He's making more and more enhanced soldiers."

The elevator chimed again, this time with their delivery. The guard from downstairs handed Lokan the bags and left.

"We might have over-ordered," Carol admitted, surveying the spread.

"Not really." Kalugal started opening containers. "I have a voracious appetite when I get excited. "

Lokan caught Carol's eye and smirked. She winked back.

As they ate, Kalugal outlined more details of the plan. The engineering team he was assembling, the shell company structure that would hide their ownership, and the training protocols he had in mind.

"I want to help," Lokan said.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"I've dreamed of liberating that island for centuries," he continued. "Of freeing our people and ending Father's tyranny. If this plan has even a chance of succeeding, I want to be a part of it."

"It will succeed," Kalugal said with conviction in his voice. "Especially with your knowledge of the Brotherhood. I know Father has kept you out of the loop lately, but you still have a thousand years of watching him operate."

"I know that he keeps changing things around because he's paranoid. I didn't know about the enhanced soldiers even though he had been running the program for months."

"The underlying structure remains the same," Kalugal said. "And more importantly, you know how his mind works. How he responds to threats."

"Surprise is our best advantage." Lokan put his napkin over his plate. "He would never imagine us using humans."

"Exactly." Kalugal raised his glass. "To Project Titan."

"Project Titan?" Jacki asked .

"That's the name of the operation. We decided to call the island Safe Harbor."

They clinked glasses, and for a moment, Lokan allowed himself to imagine his father's compound falling, the people freed, the tyranny ended.

But as always, the real problem was the aftermath.

They needed a powerful compeller to take over from Navuh, or his warriors would turn on one another, and a bloody war for power would ensue.

Thousands would die, both humans and immortals.

The only one powerful enough to assume control was Toven, and Lokan doubted that the god would be willing to relocate to the island, not even to save a few thousand lives.

Carol checked her watch. "We should head down to the gym soon. Lokan is inducing another paranormal tonight."

"You're inducing another one?" Jacki asked. "I thought you were waiting to see if Jeremy transitions."

"Carol convinced me not to wait," Lokan said.

"Can we watch?" Kalugal asked.

"Sure, if Spencer doesn't mind an audience." Carol stood, beginning to clear containers. "He's pretty laid back. Probably won't care."

"What's his ability?" Lokan asked.

"Aura reading. He can see energy fields around people, read their emotional states, and their general health."

"Useful," Kalugal observed. "If he transitions. "

"He will," Lokan said with more confidence than he felt. "They all will."

"Optimism? From you?" Kalugal feigned shock. "What has Carol done to my cynical brother?"

"Reminded him that good things are possible," Carol said, wrapping her arm around Lokan's waist.