Page 12 of Dark Rebel's Reckoning

7

KYRA

Kyra's face flamed, heat rushing from her cheeks to the tips of her ears because of what Fenella had just accused Max of, but then the heat was replaced by ice when she realized that the only one who could have induced her transition was the monster who called himself a doctor.

Refusing to go there, she focused on Max instead.

He'd tried to reason with Fenella, but she was hurling one insult after the other at him, and now he looked as if he wanted to sink through the floor.

Jasmine lifted a hand. "Max might have been your inducer, but you can't know that for sure. Were you with anyone else during that time? After he left maybe? That pub you worked at was frequented by immortals from the Scottish arm of the clan. There could have been someone else."

Fenella's hands trembled over the edge of her blanket. She seemed on the verge of tears or fury. "After Max left, I was with a couple of other guys. How do I know if they were immortal?"

"I can check," Max said. "Ask around. After all, there aren't many of us in the clan, and hopefully, those who shared your bed would remember you."

She shook her head. "Don't. This is embarrassing enough as it is."

He shrugged. "As you wish. I'm sure Din will be happy to hear you are an immortal now. He was in love with you back then. Maybe the two of you can rekindle your love."

"I didn't love him. I barely knew him."

"Then perhaps you should give him another chance," Max suggested.

Kyra tried to follow the conversation and understand the past that Max and Fenella shared. It seemed Max didn't have any feelings for Fenella, not now and not back when they were lovers. But there was another man named Din who'd loved her, but she hadn't returned his feelings.

Kyra hoped Fenella would find love with that other guy, and she was also delighted that Max was not in love with the woman and never had been. Then another tidbit of information registered. Max had mentioned a clan and so had Jasmine before him.

She exhaled shakily. "What do you mean by a clan?"

"Oh, yes." Jasmine pushed a strand of her long hair behind her ear. "I didn't continue the story of the gods and what happened to them. You must be wondering about that."

Among the other revelations, Kyra had forgotten that, but Jasmine was right. If the gods were real, where were they?

"What happened to the gods?" Fenella asked, looking relieved to change the subject of who had been her inducer.

"As with any group of people, there were internal politics that I won't go into, but suffice to say that one god attacked the others with a type of weapon that was only available to the gods and that could kill them." She let out a breath. "I forgot to mention that gods and immortals are difficult to kill but it's possible. Anyway, he managed to kill most of them, and only a few escaped. One of them was a young goddess. Believing she was the only survivor, she set out to continue the gods' work. She took on human lovers and had several children with them. Her daughters continued her efforts, and one of them was very fruitful for an immortal. Her descendants and their descendants and so on form the clan. A community of immortals."

"Who activated the goddess's children?" Fenella asked.

"They were born immortal," Jasmine said. "The children who are born to a goddess or a god with a human partner are born immortal. It's only the second generation that needs activation."

"I see." Fenella pulled the blanket up to her chin. "I guess it will take time to sort this out. It's a bit confusing."

"It is." Jasmine smiled. "It took me a while to sort it out as well."

Just then a very tall and thin male passed by them on the way to the galley, and Fenella's eyes followed him with curiosity. "Is he also an immortal?"

A rueful half-smile tugged at Jasmine's lips. "He's a hybrid Kra-ell, half human and half another kind of alien from the same planet as the gods. How and why they got to Earth is an entire story of its own, and I don't want to overload you." She glancedat her mate. "Ell-rom is half Kra-ell and half god, and that's another story I will also save for later."

"I assume they are friends with the clan," Kyra said.

"They're our allies and helped us free you from the Doomers, our enemies."

"Is that also a story for another time?" Fenella asked, her tone laced with sarcasm.

"No. That part is relevant to you, so I'll give you the gist of it. The god who attacked the other gods perished with them, but his immortal son continued his hateful legacy, which was, and remains, the exact opposite of what the other gods wanted to do. They wanted humans to evolve and their society to reach enlightenment, while the clan's enemies want to keep humanity ignorant, savage, and divided. That ancient secret war has been raging since the dawn of human civilization and is still going on. The so-called doctor who was in charge of your torment was one from the group that seeks the clan's demise. We call them Doomers, which is the English acronym of what they call themselves. The Devout Order of Mortdh Brotherhood."

Kyra could see Max seething from the corner of her eye, and it warmed something in her chest to see him raging over the wrongs that had been done to her and the other females.

---