Eleanor snorted. “Emmett told me that he was raised to respect women, but apparently that was a gross understatement. He was raised to be their sex slave.”
“I’m still stuck on the blood-sucking,” Andrew said. “Is it a sexual thing? Or a nutritional need?”
“He’s definitely a carnivore.” Peter leaned back in his chair and folded his arms over his chest. “When we stopped at a fast-food place, he ordered four naked medium-rare burgers and ate only the meat. He said that was the only thing he could consume without getting an upset stomach.”
“He said that my blood was potent,” Eleanor added. “It was like an energy drink for him, and he also said that I smelled delicious. I think it’s both sexual and nutritional.” She shrugged. “Or he’s nuts, and the blood-sucking is a fetish.”
“Any progress with Emmett’s laptop?” Kian asked William.
The guy had gotten it last night, but he doubted William had had enough time to hack it.
“It was easy to break into, but I need more time to try to decipher the language. It’s not my specialty. I’m also checking on the company that he sent the email to, but I sincerely doubt that it belongs to his people. Kumei is a multi-billion telecommunications company, and it has been in the news lately, so he might have picked up the name from the internet or from television and used it in his fantasy. I will be stunned if he gets a reply email from them.”
“I almost forgot.” Peter pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. “This might help.” He handed it to William. “Eleanor and I searched Emmett’s filing cabinet, and we noticed something that looked like a ranking system. Eleanor copied it.”
“Thanks.” William put it in his shirt pocket.
“You didn’t get to the punchline yet.” Kalugal smiled at Peter. “Their supposed Dormant situation.”
Peter nodded. “According to Emmett, they either can’t or don’t know how to activate their second generation, the children born to the half-breeds and their human partners. That’s what he needed me for. He planned to take me back to his people, so I could attempt to activate their Dormants. I was his ticket back into his leader’s good graces. The email he sent was to her, telling her about me.” He looked at Kian. “I understand that she hasn’t emailed him back yet.”
“She didn’t,” William said. “The only email he got was from his office manager in Safe Haven.”
“Did he say where his people supposedly came from?” Edna asked.
Peter shook his head. “Emmett either didn’t know or didn’t want to tell me. He said that the pure-bloods kept to themselves and treated their half-human children as second-class tribe members. They didn’t share information with them. That’s pretty much all that he told me.”
“We will find out more when we interrogate him.” Kian turned to William. “Now that you have another piece of information, I want you to give deciphering the email another go. I don’t mean that as in figuring out what it says, only whether it’s an actual language and not gibberish. Before we interrogate Emmett, it would be helpful to know if we are dealing with a different kind of immortal or a madman.”
“When are you going to see him?” William asked.
“I wanted to do it later today, but I would rather wait for you to give the language another go. I’ll do it tomorrow.” Kian turned to Andrew. “I want you there. I need to know when he’s lying.”
Andrew nodded. “Of course.”
“Do you need Peter and me to come?” Eleanor asked.
“Not tomorrow, but I might need you later.” He looked at Turner. “Anything that you want to add?”
“Did you check with Arwel on how his prisoner is doing?”
“Naturally, Emmett tried to use compulsion on him and the two other Guardians. He was very disappointed to discover that they knew how to defend themselves against it.”
2
Bowen
As the door to Margaret’s hospital room opened, Bowen turned to look at the nurse, ready to deflect another attempt to send him away.
She surprised him by handing him a cup of coffee. “I thought you needed this.”
“Thanks. You are an angel.” He removed the lid and took a sip. “And this is the nectar of heaven.”
The nurse smiled. “The doctor will be here shortly. Don’t tell her that we let you stay the night.”
“Mum’s the word.”
It hadn’t been their fault. Whenever they tried to persuade him to leave, telling him that Margaret was in good hands and that there was no reason for him to be there, he’d refused, using a barely-there thrall to convince them to let him stay.
His concern for her was illogical, Bowen was well aware of that, but he just couldn’t bring himself to leave her.
Margaret needed him.
Throughout the night, whenever she’d opened her eyes, they had immediately darted in his direction, and when she had reassured herself that he was still there, a soft smile had lifted her lips and she’d fallen asleep again.
It had been priceless.
According to the doctor, the surgery on Margaret’s knee had gone well, and she could go home today. Well, not to her home, but to the cabin.
Anastasia had put her foot down and forced the issue.
He was to bring Margaret to the cabin so she could take care of her.
That should have put his mind at ease.
Margaret wasn’t returning to Safe Haven, where he’d feared there would be no one to look after her. Anastasia and Leon would take good care of her, and he could drop her off at the cabin, leaving her there with a clear conscience.
There were several problems with that, though. The lovebirds were working on deepening their bond and on Anastasia’s transition, and the last thing they needed was to play nursemaid to Margaret.
What would they do once Anastasia started transitioning? Leaving Margaret alone in the cabin was a no-go. Someone would have to come to be with her or take her back to Safe Haven, which would result in precisely what Bowen wanted to avoid.
Margaret would be left to fend for herself.
The only solution he could think of was for him to join her in the cabin and take care of her, freeing Leon and Anastasia to work on their budding relationship.
He could just imagine the pushback and the crap he was going to get from his fellow Guardians for taking on another needy case. Last night, Elliot and Ritchie had already given him a taste of that when they had come to collect the ambulance, teasing him mercilessly about staying the night to watch over Margaret.
And what about Ronja?
She and Lisa needed him too.
Perhaps he could ask Peter to stop by their house every other day or so and spend time with Ronja? She was an outgoing woman, and she was making plenty of new friends in the village, but he still felt guilty about abandoning her to take on another damsel in distress.
Except, it wasn’t the same with Margaret.
There was something about her that called to him as a male, and not just as a friend and protector. She was so damn fragile, and he was irresistibly drawn to that.
When a knock sounded on the door and the doctor walked in, Margaret opened her eyes. “Is it morning?”