Dark Awakening: Echoes of Destiny (The Children Of The Gods #88)

32. Ell-rom

32

ELL-ROM

E ll-rom pushed his fork through the colorful array of vegetables on his plate, his appetite diminished despite the enticing aroma of the meal. The dining room of the penthouse, with its sleek modern furnishings and panoramic view of the city skyline, suddenly felt claustrophobic.

He appreciated Jasmine's efforts to distract him with light conversation about this and that, but his mind kept drifting back to the events in the alley.

Jasmine's terrified expression, the attacker's arm constricting her airflow, the badly shaking hand barely controlling a gun pressed to her temple, and finally, the attacker crumpling to the ground.

The horrific scene was playing in his mind in a loop.

Had he done the right thing?

Could he have done something different?

The soft chime of the doorbell pulled Ell-rom from his thoughts. Their roommates wouldn't have rung the bell, and he wasn't aware of any expected visitors.

Could it be Edgar?

The guy had a bad habit of showing up uninvited.

"Are we expecting anyone?" he asked Jasmine.

"Not that I know." She pushed to her feet and walked over to the door.

When she returned to the dining room a moment later, she was accompanied by Julian, and Ell-rom's gut clenched with worry.

The medic must have found something in the body that pointed an accusing finger at Ell-rom. Otherwise, what reason did he have to come up to the penthouse?

He and Ella no longer stayed in either of the top-floor apartments. Julian drove home every night, leaving Gertrude in charge of monitoring Morelle.

The medic's face was unreadable as he took a seat at the table.

"Can I offer you some food?" Jasmine asked. "We have several packaged meals, and the vegan dishes are very tasty."

"No, thank you." Julian smiled at her. "Ella won't forgive me if I don't eat with her at home." He waved his hand over the table. "Please, don't let me interrupt your meal."

Ell-rom set his fork down, unable to pretend any longer that he had any appetite. "What brings you here, Julian?"

The medic's gaze shifted between Ell-rom and Jasmine before he spoke. "I ran a full battery of tests on the body. There were no signs of a heart attack or stroke. No evidence of an aneurysm or any other natural cause of sudden death that I could detect. A CT scan revealed no cerebral hemorrhage, ischemic stroke, or structural cardiac issues. Also, the tests I ran indicated no signs of drug overdose or severe electrolyte imbalances that could have caused sudden death. He was malnourished, and there were traces of drugs in his system, but that couldn't explain his sudden collapse."

Ell-rom felt his chest tighten. He could sense Julian's suspicion and could almost see the wheels turning in the medic's mind as he pieced together the puzzle, and each negative result felt like another nail in the coffin of his secret.

"There was no trauma to the body," Julian continued. "No signs of poisoning or asphyxiation. It's as if his body simply stopped."

The words hung in the air, heavy with implication. Ell-rom could feel Julian's gaze on him, probing, questioning.

"What do you think could have caused it?" Jasmine asked. "Could he have been petrified like in the Harry Potter movies?"

Julian chuckled, the sound easing some of the pressure in Ell-rom's chest. "I've never heard of anyone turning to stone from fright." He turned to Ell-rom. "Did you notice any significant changes in the man's expression before he collapsed? Any signs of distress or pain? Jasmine said that your eyes were glowing, and your fangs were down. That could have terrified the dude."

Ell-rom's hands clenched into fists under the table. He knew what Julian was asking. This was it—the moment of truth.

He met Julian's eyes. "I..." he began.

"Ell-rom," Jasmine interjected, her tone warning. "You are still in a state of shock yourself."

She was trying to help, but he couldn't hold it in any longer. The weight of the secret and the guilt were just too much to bear.

"He was terrified, as he should have been. He knew I was about to kill him, just not the how of it." He pinned Julian with a hard look. "I killed him with a thought."

The silence that followed was deafening. Julian's eyes widened, while Jasmine looked disappointed and resigned.

"What do you mean, you killed him with a thought?" Julian asked, leaning forward. "Did you compel him to stop breathing? Or for his heart to stop beating? What exactly did you do?"

Ell-rom shook his head. "He was choking the life out of Jasmine, and he had a gun pressed to her head. I couldn't stop him physically without endangering her, and I don't know how to compel, so I projected my wish for him to die, and he obeyed."

Julian sat back. "I've never heard of such an ability. Are you sure that you didn't say anything out loud? You couldn't have killed him just by wishing it."

Ell-rom shook his head again. "I didn't say anything. I just thought it."

Jasmine reached across the table, taking Ell-rom's hand. "Are you absolutely certain, love? In stressful situations, people imagine all sorts of things and even believe in magical abilities, like wishing for something and making it happen. It all happened so fast. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe the stress of the situation caused his heart to give out naturally."

It was a nice try to save him, but Julian had already ruled that out.

"I think that's what killed him." Ell-rom chose the middle ground. "Of course, I can't be sure of that, but the timing and the intent make it difficult for me to rule out the possibility."

Julian rubbed his chin. "If what you're saying is true, it could change everything we know about psychic abilities. It must have been a thrall since those don't require sound waves and can be done with a thought, but this is the first time I've heard about a deadly thrall. Naturally, it's possible to thrall someone to jump off a bridge or drive a car into a wall, killing them that way, but to command their body to stop working is on a completely different level. I wonder what the distance limit is. Thralling usually needs to be done face to face. I wish we could test it."

"That's not possible," Jasmine said. "Also, if Ell-rom can indeed kill from a distance, that is dangerous knowledge. If the wrong kind of people discover it, they would want to use him. It wouldn't be too hard to find ways to coerce him to cooperate. If I'm threatened, or his sisters, nephew, or nieces, he would do whatever they command him to do. No one in the world would be safe."

Ell-rom hadn't even thought that far ahead, but apparently Jasmine had, and she was right.

Julian held up a hand. "Of course. First of all, we are not entirely sure that Ell-rom's thought killed the guy. This needs to be tested in a controlled setting. Nevertheless, Kian needs to know, and he will most likely tell Annani." Julian looked at Ell-rom. "He will not spread the news beyond that, trust me. His interest aligns with yours. He wouldn't want the information falling into the wrong hands either."

Ell-rom nodded. "I don't want to be a danger to anyone, and I don't want to be turned into a weapon."