2. Kian
Kian left Margo”s cabin and headed toward the elevators, intending to finally have a long overdue chat with Jasmine.
When she”d been brought to the ship, he hadn”t paid her much attention because he hadn”t deemed it necessary. After all, the woman had just been someone whom Margo had befriended, a magnet for trouble who had gotten Margo entangled with the cartel. But since day one, people around him had been talking about Jasmine as if she was someone special, and that included Syssi and Amanda, whose opinions he valued.
According to his wife and sister, Jasmine had an uncanny ability to read the most minute changes in expression and body language, which allowed her to excel at poker. She”d won against Amanda, who was an excellent player herself. That and her likability led them to believe that Jasmine might be a Dormant.
Given the way the Fates worked, Kian had no problem believing that she had found her way to the ship with their guidance, but the skeptic in him was still very much to the fore, and before he accepted the supernatural explanation, he needed to make sure that Margo”s befriending Jasmine in Cabo had indeed been a coincidence, and that the woman wasn”t a plant.
Stopping by the elevator, he considered for a moment calling Anandur and Brundar to accompany him. Protocol demanded that they be with him in all meetings outside the village, but since the ship was under his control, it was like an extension of the village, and therefore he didn”t need bodyguards to be with him when he visited the woman.
Not that he would have needed protection from the human under any circumstances, but he had vowed to follow his mother”s rule in that regard, and even though he used every available loophole to avoid dragging the brothers everywhere with him, he never disregarded it completely unless he had no choice.
Besides, the two were enjoying themselves at Onegus”s bachelor party, and Anandur was most likely drunk by now. Not that it would make the Guardian any less effective. Anandur was lethal even when inebriated, but Kian was loath to pull either of the brothers away from the festivities.
As he pressed the button to summon the elevator, it occurred to him that he didn”t know where to look for her. He knew where the clinic was located, but other than that, he wasn”t familiar with the crew quarters, which was where she was staying.
Kian could call the security office to ask, but it was a little embarrassing to admit that he didn”t know his way around his own ship. Syssi would know where Jasmine could be found, but she was in the pool with Allegra and he didn”t want to disturb her, which left Amanda.
His sister was at Cassandra”s bachelorette party, but that shouldn”t prevent her from answering him unless the party was so loud and boisterous that she didn”t notice it.
His phone rang a moment after he”d sent her the text.
”Why do you want to know where to find Jasmine?” Amanda asked without much preamble.
”I”m intrigued. Isn”t that reason enough?”
She chuckled. ”It is. I”ll come with you.”
Kian frowned, glancing at his watch once more. ”Are you sure? I don”t want to pull you away from Cassandra”s celebration. It would be rude for you to leave in the middle of the party.”
Amanda laughed, the sound light and breezy. ”Don”t worry about that. Cassandra is indulging in a bubble bath, and her mother and sister have everything under control. Geraldine and Darlene are getting ready to attack Cassandra”s hair, and Eva has her bag of tricks with her, although I doubt Cassandra will let her touch her face. The female is gorgeous, and she knows how to use makeup to her advantage. She doesn”t need Eva”s help.”
Kian stifled the urge to roll his eyes. ”I”ll take your word for it.”
Amanda laughed again. ”Too much information?”
”You could say so. Makeup is not my field of expertise.”
”I get it. Where are you now?”
”Outside the elevators on Margo and Frankie”s deck.”
”What are you doing there?”
He”d just finished updating Margo about the successful evacuation of her parents and her brother and his fiancée from their homes, but Amanda wasn”t aware of the latest crisis, and he didn”t want to tell her about it while waiting for the elevator.
”I”ll tell you on the way to the crew quarters. Meet me next to the staircase on the promenade deck.”
”See you in a few,” Amanda said before ending the call.
As Kian made his way to their designated meeting spot, his thoughts drifted back to Margo. He hoped that her transition symptoms were not a false alarm and that she was indeed turning immortal. He also hoped that no Doomers would show up at her parents” and brother”s houses so her family could return to their homes.
Right now, they were on their way to the clan”s mountain cabin with Turner”s team to keep watch over them.
Kian didn”t like that the cabin”s location had to be compromised for Margo”s family and that there was no one there to thrall away the memory of where it was from all the humans involved, but he”d had to come up with a location on the spot, and the cabin was his go-to safe house.
Lost in his musings, Kian didn”t notice Amanda approaching him until he heard the clicking of her high heels on the marble floor. She looked fantastic in an elegant cocktail dress reminiscent of the fifties. If he wasn”t mistaken, Audrey Hepburn had worn something similar in one of her iconic films.
”You look distracted.” She leaned toward him and kissed his cheek. ”Everything okay?”
Kian started down the stairs, which were thankfully deserted. ”Margo may be transitioning, and we had a close call with her family.” He proceeded to tell Amanda about Carlos Modana showing up with two Doomers at his brother”s mansion and then the two talking about Margo. ”We got her family out and installed cameras to monitor both houses. I hope no one shows up so they can return home, and we don”t need to relocate them permanently.”
”What a mess.” Amanda sighed. ”It”s like the Fates are constantly throwing challenges at us. Couldn”t they have given us a break during this ten-day cruise?”
”My thoughts exactly, but then we have been gifted two new Dormants during this vacation, so perhaps it could be called a good trade. Maybe three if Jasmine proves to be one as well.”
”True.” Amanda slowed down her pace and stopped on the landing. ”But Frankie and Margo are mated to gods, and they are not part of our clan. I don”t see why we all had to suffer so the gods would get a boon.”
Kian turned to his sister. ”I don”t know, but I”m sure the Fates had a good reason.”
Amanda smiled. ”What a transformation you have gone through. My jaded, skeptical brother has faith now.”
”I do, and I don”t. It depends on my mood on any given day.” He continued down the stairs.
Amanda followed. ”And what is it today?”
”That still remains to be seen.”