Chapter 16 Tony
TONY
"You're not wearing that."
Tony looked down at his button-up shirt and slacks. "What's wrong with it?"
Shira crossed her arms and leaned against the bedroom doorframe. "You're going to get bitten by an immortal, not attend a job interview. You need to wear loose clothing. Something you can move in."
"I want to look presentable, and I'm not planning on moving around much. Isn't the whole point to just let Yamanu do his thing?"
He was supposed to make a few threatening moves to spur Yamanu's aggressive response, but Tony sincerely doubted that anything he could do would seem threatening to the Guardian.
Maybe he should use some of the creative cussing he'd learned from his Italian grandmother?
Did Yamanu even speak Italian?
Immortals were supposed to be good with languages, so maybe he did, but it would be too embarrassing to use them anyway. His grandmother had been very inventive with her cussing. He should write a book of her 'poetry' and include an English translation. It would become an instant bestseller.
"Even if you don't do anything, you'll sweat just from the anxiety. Sweats and a t-shirt are what everyone wears to these ceremonies."
"Fine." He retreated to the closet and changed into a pair of gray sweatpants and a t-shirt.
"Happy?" he asked.
"Ecstatic." Shira's voice softened. "How are you feeling?"
"Terrified." The word came out before he could stop it. "I mean, I'm fine. Nervous. A little nervous."
"Terrified is allowed." She sat on the edge of the bed. "This is a big deal. There is no shame in admitting that you are nervous."
"It's only a big deal if it works." He sat beside her. "If I'm not actually a Dormant, then it's a lot of pomp and ceremony for nothing."
"You're a Dormant," she said, with conviction that was touching but unfounded. "Everything points to it."
"Circumstantial hints at best. So, I found myself gravitating toward another Dormant, and then I was kidnapped to an island of immortals. Could have happened to anyone."
She snorted. "Right. Anyone. Come on, Tony. I know you don't believe that. Do you think Yamanu would volunteer to induce you if he didn't believe you could transition?"
"Yamanu would agree to induce a golden retriever if it wagged its tail convincingly enough. He's just a super nice guy."
Shira laughed, and the sound unknotted something in his chest. "That's probably true. He's a sweetheart."
Yamanu being his inducer was the one thing about tonight that Tony felt good about. Everything else created a knot of anxiety in his chest that made it hard to breathe.
"Do you have any pot?"
Her eyebrows shot up. "What?"
"Marijuana. Cannabis. The devil's lettuce. I could use something to take the edge off."
"I don't smoke. And you shouldn't do anything to dull your senses or weaken yourself in any way. You need to be in top physical form for this to succeed. If you are compromised in any way, it's not going to work."
Tony scrubbed a hand over his face. "I just need something to help me calm down." He put a hand over his chest. "I feel like I'm about to have a stroke."
Her eyes widened in alarm. "Really? I should call Julian."
He moved his hand to her knee. "No, not really. I'm exaggerating for dramatic effect."
Shira let out a breath. "You scared me. Don't do that to me."
Did she really care about him that much?
It was hard to tell. Their relationship was still in the get-to-know-each-other stage, and there hadn't been any declarations of love or even exclusivity between them.
He was still officially living with Kaia and William, even though he was spending most of his nights at Shira's place and had moved half his wardrobe to her closet.
"Have you tried meditation?" she asked.
Tony snorted. "Meditation is sitting still and pretending your thoughts don't exist. My thoughts are very difficult to banish, and they're all screaming at me right now."
"Then maybe—"
The doorbell interrupted her, and Tony's stomach dropped. "They're here."
"Breathe." Shira squeezed his arm. "I'll get the door."
She disappeared down the hallway, and Tony heard the voices of his escorts.
It was nice of Kaia and William to offer to do this for him, and he appreciated it, but it only made him feel like he was a prisoner being led to his execution rather than a man about to receive a gift most humans would kill for.
He stood, wiped his palms on his sweatpants, and walked out to meet them.
Kaia's face lit up when she saw him. "There he is. The man of the hour."
"More like the chew toy of the hour, about to get bitten by the big bad Guardian."
Kaia slapped his arm playfully. "Don't say that. It's offensive to Yamanu, who is doing you a favor."
"Okay, so not a chew toy. A guinea pig about to waste the time of a beloved head Guardian."
"Don't be dramatic." William clapped him on the shoulder. "Yamanu is not going to waste his time. This is going to work, and you are going to transition."
"You don't know that."
"I have excellent instincts."
"You're an engineer. Your instincts involve inventing gadgets and interpreting code. You can't identify Dormants any better than Amanda or anyone else."
William sighed. "That's true only regarding Dormants, and that's because the Fates don't like anyone interfering with their plans.
They want to be the only ones who do the matchmaking.
But when it comes to my inventions, you'd be surprised how much of what I do is pure instinct.
It's like the Fates whisper the solutions to problems in my ear. "
"I wish I were a problem you needed to solve. Maybe you'd come up with a way to make me immortal."
As William and Kaia exchanged glances, Tony wondered what that was about. Were the two geniuses developing an immortality elixir?
"Stop it, Tony," Kaia said. "You're just hyping yourself up, and that's not good for you right now. Take a few breaths, relax, and think positively."
"Easy for you to say. You didn't have to fight an immortal male to transition. All you had to do was have sex with your boyfriend. That's easy."
"It's debatable which is easier." Kaia glared at him.
"You don't need an emotional bond with Yamanu for him to be able to induce your transition.
It's much easier for men. Not everyone is as lucky as I was.
" She looked lovingly at William. "I found the love of my life before I knew I was a Dormant and that he could induce my transition.
I feel so sorry for Soraya and her sisters, who have to find someone to bond with before they can attempt it.
They are not young, and they have been through so much, and it's not easy for them to initiate or even be open to new relationships.
If they were men, they would already be post-transition because men don't need any emotional component.
Just the physical fight, the venom, and the body's response to both. "
"When put like that, it does sound easier for men," Tony admitted.
"Like everything else," Shira muttered. "Men usually get it easier, but not always. Girls born to the clan have it the easiest. Being around the Clan Mother is all we need to become immortal, as long as it's done when we are little. Adult female Dormants need to find a male to induce them."
"That makes no biological sense," Tony said. "How can being around the Clan Mother induce transition?" He looked at Kaia. "Do you believe that?"
Kaia shrugged. "I've given up trying to find logical explanations for everything I've experienced since joining this community. I've learned to accept that some things are just what they are."
"That's unsatisfying for a scientist."
"Extremely. But it's also kind of freeing." She pulled out her phone and looked at the time. "We should go. Are you ready?"
"No."
"Good answer. Let's go."
Tony didn't move. "There is still time."
Shira grabbed a light jacket. "It's time. You need to be there to greet your guests, not the other way around."
Tony chuckled. "What guests? I don't have friends here. Who's going to bother to show up for a midnight ceremony to watch a delusional human make a fool of himself?"
"You'd be surprised." Shira patted his arm.
"I doubt it."
The walk to the pavilion was quiet. The evening air carried a chill that Tony barely registered through the haze of anxiety clouding his senses. William and Kaia walked slightly ahead, their hands intertwined, and Tony tried not to feel envious of their easy intimacy.
Shira walked beside him, close enough that their shoulders occasionally brushed, but she didn't try to hold his hand, probably guessing correctly that it was clammy.
Thankfully, the sky was clear, and the moonlight was enough to see by, so he didn't need to hold her hand just to know where he was going.
They didn't encounter anyone on the way to the pavilion, which confirmed his suspicions that no one was coming to his ceremony. He'd told himself not to expect anything, but the disappointment still stung.
The pavilion was deserted as well, and as they took the elevator to the gym level, Tony told himself that it was still early and that people might still come.
Perhaps not many, but Tula would be there.
She'd promised. Tamira and Elias should be there as well, and perhaps the rest of the harem ladies.
When William pulled open the doors to the gym, Tony froze in the doorway, his brain struggling to process what his eyes were showing him.
There were people everywhere, sitting on folding chairs, standing in clusters, gathered around tall tables laden with food and drinks. The place was filled with sounds of music, laughter, and the overlapping hum of many conversations.
"Surprise." Shira's voice was warm with amusement.
Tula separated from the crowd, a big smile on her face as she walked up to him and wrapped him in a hug. "Good luck, Tony. I'll be rooting for you."
He hugged her back, allowing himself to absorb her familiar scent and let it ground him. "Did you do this?"
"No." She pulled back. "It was all Shira's doing."
Tamira and Elias were next, with Tamira hugging him and Elias offering a handshake and words of encouragement. The other ladies followed.
Naturally, Esag was there, but so were his roommates, Davuh and Roven. The entire lab team seemed to have come, people he'd assumed barely knew his name. Roni waved at him from one of the refreshment tables.
The room blurred, and Tony blinked hard, cursing his Latin genes that made him emotional.
"Are you crying?" William sounded worried.
"I'm not crying. There's something in my eye."
"Both eyes, apparently."
"Shut up. I'm Italian. We are not good at hiding our emotions."
As a ripple went through the crowd, Tony turned to see Yamanu striding through the gym doors. The head Guardian was received like a beloved prince, which was infuriatingly enviable.
Tony would love to get a welcome like that one day.
Yamanu's eyes zeroed in on his across the room, and his face split into a brilliant smile. He crossed the distance between them in long strides and pulled Tony into a bear hug that lifted him off the ground.
"Little brother." Yamanu's voice rumbled against Tony's chest. "Tonight, we become family."
"I certainly hope so, but I'm afraid that's not guaranteed." Damn his Italian genetics and the tears prickling his eyes. "The evidence for me being a Dormant is purely circumstantial."
Yamanu set him down but kept his hands on Tony's shoulders. "I have a good feeling about you."
"At the moment, I'm not a great fan of feelings. I prefer cold data."
"Feelings are better than data," Yamanu said, with conviction that didn't brook disagreement. "Data can be manipulated. Feelings don't lie."
Tony had a lot to say about that, but he chose to keep his mouth shut.
"For what it's worth," Kaia said, "I have a good feeling too. And I'm a scientist, so my feelings are basically just really fast subconscious calculations."
"That's not how it works," Tony murmured.
"It's how my feelings work."
As the music stopped and the chatter in the room died down, Tony's pulse spiked, and he turned toward the entrance.
Kian and Syssi walked in, which signaled that the ceremony was about to start. Kian's expression was appropriately somber, but Syssi offered Tony an encouraging smile.
Tony's gut twisted. This was real. This was happening. In a few minutes, Yamanu would sink his fangs into his neck, pumping venom into his bloodstream, and Tony's body would either respond by rewriting its genetic code or it would not and would leave him exactly as he was.
Human.
The fear wasn't of pain. He knew Yamanu would go easy on him, and the bite itself was not supposed to be a big deal.
The fear was of failure, of being just human without that special genetic material that could mean his immortality.