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

36. Rob

36

ROB

A fter filling his plate with an array of mouthwatering dishes, Rob returned to sit next to Lusha, who had already filled hers and was digging in.

"This is incredible," she said between mouthfuls. "I might start stealing things myself, so we can get invited to another interrogation here."

Marina chuckled. "Maybe a better plan is to convince some of our friends from Safe Haven to move over here so Callie can hire more people and open for lunch in addition to dinner."

Lusha waved a hand. "Callie already has two assistant cooks and three servers. She doesn't want to open for lunch, and this place is not big enough for more tables. Atzil, though, needs servers and a good bartender who can run the place during the week."

"What about Yuri? Can we interest him in moving over here?" Lusha asked. "He's an awesome bartender."

Marina chuckled. "Not a chance, but maybe William could make another Bob. The one on the ship was amazing." She launched into describing a robotic bartender who sounded like something from a science fiction movie. "I was told that he was a prototype, and since he was a success, why not build more, right?"

"Right," Lusha said. "I wasn't there, but Bob sounds fantastic."

Rob's curiosity was piqued. "Did William design Bob?" he asked Marina.

"His team did. You are a computer guy, right?"

He nodded. "I would love to visit William's lab. Any idea who I should talk to about that?"

Lusha shrugged. "You can probably just walk in there. It's on one of the levels of the underground structure." She looked over her shoulder at where Arwel was sitting with Brundar and Callie. "You can ask one of them." She turned back to him. "What did you and Arwel talk about? You sat with him longer than anyone else."

He didn't want to tell Lusha that Arwel felt his pain. "He asked how I liked the village, and I told him that I was looking for an inducer. He graciously volunteered, and I accepted."

"Oh, wow." Lusha leaned back. "That's a great honor to be induced by a Head Guardian. You'd better start training so you won't embarrass yourself." She grinned. "From what I've heard, a male Dormant needs to last at least a minute against his inducer. Otherwise, the immortal's aggression won't be triggered, and he won't produce any venom."

Rob felt the blood drain from his face. The last time he had done any sparring was in high school, and he wasn't good at it even then.

"Is a Head Guardian like a captain?" he asked.

"I guess so." Lusha glanced at Arwel again. "He can get you anywhere you want, so you can definitely ask him about visiting William's underground empire."

"I will. Thank you for the suggestion." Rob pushed to his feet. "I'm going for seconds."

He wasn't ready to ask Arwel for another favor so soon after the guy had volunteered to induce him. Perhaps Mia or Toven could arrange a meeting with William. He also needed to hit the gym as soon as possible. No wonder Mia had suggested it as a good place to meet people. It had been her way of gently nudging him to start exercising.

When he returned to the table, Marina and the other woman were gone, but Lusha was waiting for him.

"Am I keeping you from your boyfriend?" he asked.

The smile slid off her face. "Alfie is on a mission tonight. Besides, he is not exactly my boyfriend. It's not like we live together or spend every free moment with one another."

Was that a hint that she was available?

Rob arched a brow. "What is he then?"

"A friend with benefits. I like him a lot, but he is not serious about me. I think he's afraid to develop feelings for me." Her eyes turned sad. "It takes a special kind of immortal to commit to a human who might not live all that long." She sighed. "I'm taking part in a study that the clan doctor is conducting. She's testing Marina and me to see if frequent exposure to venom prolongs our lives. I'm quarter Kra-ell, so maybe there is hope for me. The Kra-ell are not immortals, but they are very long-lived. I would be happy to get half their life span."

"Which is what?"

"About a thousand years."

He frowned. "Mia told me that their ship was lost in space for seven thousand years. How did they survive it?"

"Stasis chambers," she said, as if it was self-explanatory. "Their ship exploded over Earth, but it managed to eject all the life pods with the stasis chambers inside. The pods landed in different places, and some opened right away while others opened several years later, and still others didn't open at all. Most are still missing, and their occupants are most likely dead. Only a small number of the settlers survived."

"That's sad." He put his fork down. "You said that they enslaved humans."

Lusha nodded. "Yeah, most of them did. The Kra-ell are a warrior race, and they are hunters. They have the ability to put animals and humans under a thrall. In the case of the animals, they thrall them, so they do not struggle when they drink their blood, and in the case of humans, they thrall them to do work for them and to breed with them. It's not a pretty story, but it's not horrific either. I got to attend a university and study law, and I wasn't the only one. Humans were paid small wages that they could spend however they wanted, and food and shelter were provided."

Rob was surprised that the clan welcomed such savages to live among them, but there was probably more to the story. "Why did some of the humans choose to live with their former masters then?"

She smiled. "Because they are no longer their masters, and some of the older ones couldn't imagine living independently. For better or for worse, it was a symbiotic relationship."

"What about you?" Rob asked. "Why did you choose to live here?"

"Originally, I chose Safe Haven. I only came here to defend several of the purebloods in a trial. I realized that I liked it better here because I really liked the immortals, so I decided to stay, at least for a while."

"Are there any immortals in Safe Haven?"

"A few," Lusha said. "It's like an outpost for them to use for various projects."

"I see."

She leaned closer. "The clan has been working to integrate the Kra-ell and teach them to see humans as equals, and the Kra-ell are making an effort, but old habits die hard."

"Obviously. That's why I find the humans' choice strange."

Lusha smiled. "Most of the humans in the compound were born there. They don't know anything else. Even if they could, they wouldn't want to live independently because they don't know how. The clan employs them, protects them, and gives them a very comfortable life." She waved a hand. "This place is incredible. Who wouldn't want to live here?"

"Those responsible for the thefts and sabotage?"

Lusha laughed. "Yeah, they might be the only people who are unhappy here, and they should get their heads examined."