Chapter 23 Edgar #2
He winced. "Sometimes thralling and sometimes shrouding. Immortals can manipulate human minds. Now that you are transitioning, it won't work on you anymore. Most immortals can't thrall other immortals."
She frowned. "What is a thrall? Is it like what vampires do in vampire movies?"
"Something like that."
Suddenly, she deflated. "I don't feel good. I really can't handle this while I'm feeling like a wreck."
"I'm sorry, Angel. Do you want me to get you more water?"
"Yes, please."
He was used to Angelica's sudden mood changes and knew how to navigate them. Her temper flared hot, but she never stayed angry for long. She was too loving for that. She was his prickly pear. Soft and sweet on the inside and prickly on the outside.
He handed her the refilled paper cup with the same bendy straw.
She took a few small sips. "Have you always been an immortal, or were you transitioned by someone else?"
"That's a very good question. Carriers of the godly genes are born human unless one of their parents is a god.
Those born to female immortals, or female dormant carriers of the genes, can be induced and turn immortal.
Those of us who are born in a community of immortals go through an induction ceremony at the age of thirteen.
The males, anyway. Females transition earlier. "
"How old are you?"
"Older than I look."
"How old, Edgar?"
"I'm fifty-three years old. That's very young for an immortal."
She pressed both hands to her temples. "You told me you were twenty-eight!"
"I look twenty-eight, so that's what I tell people."
"Oh my God." Angelica's eyes were filling with tears now. "We've been together for four months, Edgar! And you've been lying to me this whole time?"
The accusation hurt, but it was justified. "There are rules about revealing our existence to humans. I couldn't tell you the truth before."
"Bullshit!" She grabbed her pillow and threw it at him. Edgar caught it easily. "You kept this huge, massive secret from me! You let me fall in love with you while lying about who and what you are!"
"I didn't lie about my feelings. Those were always real."
"How am I supposed to believe anything you say? What else have you lied about? Are you really a pilot? Is your name really Edgar?"
He stifled the urge to roll his eyes. "Did you forget that Frankie introduced us? Would she lie about who I was?"
"Well, she did, didn't she?"
"About the immortality, because she couldn't tell you! Everything else was true. My job, my name, all of it."
"That's not exactly a small detail, Edgar! That's like saying 'oh, by the way, I'm secretly a serial killer, but everything else about me is totally honest!'"
"It's nothing like that. I'm not a criminal."
"You've been manipulating me this whole time. And thralling me. Making me see things, or rather not see things, messing with my mind. What the hell, Edgar? How am I supposed to ever trust you again?"
Edgar's stomach sank. He'd hoped she would react to the whole thing better.
"It was only to hide my fangs and make you forget that I'd bitten you."
"Get out." Her voice was deadly quiet now, which was somehow worse than the shouting.
"Angel—"
"Get. Out." She pointed a shaking finger at the door. "I can't even look at you right now. You are a monster! You've bitten me and made me forget it."
"But I didn't make you forget the awesome orgasms my venom induced. You certainly liked those."
"Get out!" she shrieked. "Now!"
The door burst open with enough force to make it bang against the wall, and Frankie rushed in with Dagor right behind her.
Julian must have contacted Frankie to let her know that her cousin was awake, and she must have dropped everything to get to the clinic this fast.
"Angelica!" Frankie hurried to the bedside. "Oh, thank God you're awake. We got here as fast as we could. How are you feeling? Are you—"
Angelica punched her in the arm. Hard.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"That's for keeping secrets, you lying bitch!" Angelica was crying and laughing at the same time now, that volatile combination of emotions Edgar was well familiar with. "You turned immortal and you didn't tell me?"
Frankie rubbed her arm, looking guilty. "I wanted to. God, I wanted to tell you so badly. But there are rules against that."
"Everyone keeps talking about rules! Screw the rules!" Angelica's attention shifted to Dagor, and her anger seemed to momentarily falter. "And you. I've always thought that you were too pretty to be real. That's because you're immortal too, right?"
Dagor cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable under her intense scrutiny. "Actually, I'm a god."
Angelica blinked, then laughed, a slightly hysterical sound. "Right. Of course you are. Why not? Edgar's got fangs, Frankie's immortal, and you're a god. This is the weirdest fever dream I've ever had."
"He's not joking," Edgar said. "Dagor really is a god."
"Okay, Mr. God." Angelica was wiping tears from her face. "Let me guess. You throw lightning bolts and seduce mortals in the form of a swan?"
"I'm not that kind of a god." He turned to Edgar. "What did you tell her so far?"
"Angelica knows that immortals are the children of gods with humans and that gods are really aliens and not deities."
"I know no such thing!"
Edgar turned to Angelica. "I just explained it."
"And you expect me to understand all of that jumbled mess?"
Frankie took her hand. "It's a lot to take in at once.
Dagor comes from somewhere else in the universe, and his people are the gods who created humans and many other humanoid species all over the galaxy.
Turns out we are not alone in the universe, but we are the forbidden planet, and others are not allowed to visit us or communicate with us. "
Angelica rubbed her temples. "So how did your boyfriend get here?"
"That's a long story," Frankie said. "What we need to focus on right now is you and your transition. I'm so glad that it's finally happening for you." She cast an accusing look at Edgar. "It's about time."
"So, Dagor is an alien." Angelica looked at Edgar. "Is that true?"
He nodded. "But because the gods created humans, we are compatible."
"The gods are expert geneticists," Dagor said.
"They created modern humans by manipulating the DNA of the proto-humans already on Earth.
Later, when they saw that humans were smarter than they initially intended them to be, attractive and compatible, the gods took humans as partners even though it was forbidden to do so with created species. "
"So, the gods just showed up and started having sex with cavemen?" Angelica's tone was incredulous.
"They weren't cavemen by then. But yes, basically." Dagor shrugged. "That's how the first immortals came to be. The children of gods and humans."
Edgar took over the explanation, giving it another try and hoping that Angelica would absorb more now that she had mellowed out a little.
"The first generation of immortals inherited the godly genes, but when they had children with humans, those offspring were born mortal.
It was later discovered that the children born to female immortals carried a dormant version of the gene.
" Edgar moved closer to the bed, careful not to get within striking range.
"The immortality gene is matrilineal—it passes through the female line.
Males don't carry it forward. If a female immortal has a daughter, that daughter will be human but with dormant immortal genes.
Those genes can be activated with venom. "
"All male gods and male immortals have fangs and venom," Frankie added.
Angelica frowned. "Now I get why Edgar said that I was a sure thing because you transitioned. I'm the daughter of your mother's sister. We have the same dormant genes."
"Exactly." Edgar felt a flicker of hope. At least she was listening now instead of throwing things.
Angelica's eyes narrowed. "Wait. You said it's the venom that activates these genes."
"In adult females, it's venom and unprotected sex at the same time."
"You didn't want me to transition. That's why you insisted on condoms," Angelica said. "Even when I told you I was on the pill. Now I get it."
Edgar ducked behind Dagor to avoid the next projectile Angelica was sure to chuck at him.
"I'm sorry, but I wasn't ready to tell you yet. I wanted to be sure—" Edgar didn't get to finish his sentence.
The water cup flew past his head, close enough that he felt the breeze of its passage. It splattered against the wall behind him.
"You lying son of a bitch!" Angelica found her second wind. "You've been lying to me the whole time we were together! Manipulating my mind, hiding what you are, keeping me in the dark—" She grabbed a plastic tray from the bedside table and hurled it at him as well.
Edgar dodged easily, his immortal reflexes making the movements look effortless.
The tissue box came next, followed by the TV remote. Each projectile was thrown with impressive force for someone who had just woken up and was in the midst of a transition.
"Stand still so I can hit you!" Angelica demanded, reaching for Frankie's purse.
"Stop it!" Frankie yelled at her cousin. "Just calm down and listen to reason. Dagor didn't tell me who he was right away either, and I didn't make such a big deal out of it."
"Dagor is your problem," Angelica hissed. "Edgar is mine."
"Angel, please." Edgar held up his hands. "I know you're angry. You have every right to be mad. But can we talk about this like two rational adults?"
"Why should I talk to you? Why should I believe anything you say?"
"Because I love you." The words came out raw, honest. "And because this is all good. You are going to be young and beautiful forever, and I won't need to lie to you anymore."
Angelica's lower lip trembled. "But you lied."
"Yes. And I'm sorry. If I could have told you sooner, I would have.
But I can't change that now. All I can do is promise that I'm not hiding any more secrets, and that from now on you'll get only the truth from me.
" He smiled. "Even if I have to tell you that the pink dress you bought last week is not doing you any favors. "
She was quiet for a long moment. Then her gaze fixed on him with laser focus, and Edgar saw the moment when the practical side of her brain kicked in—the part that made her such a good businesswoman.
"So let me get this straight." Her voice had shifted from fury to calculation. "You're telling me I'm going to be young and beautiful forever?"
"Yes. Once the transition completes, you'll stop aging, never get sick, and if you get injured for whatever reason, your body will heal much faster than it could if you were still human."
"I'll be stronger and faster," she murmured.
"Significantly."
Angelica was silent, her wheels clearly turning. "So, what's the downside?"
Edgar and Frankie exchanged glances.
"There is none," Edgar said. "Unless you consider living forever a downside. Well, that and hiding who you are. Humans can't know about us, and that includes your very large and loving family, which is a problem."
Frankie cleared her throat. "You need to tell her about the bond."
Edgar shot her a look that promised retribution later, but there was no avoiding it now.
"What bond?" Angelica demanded.
"Some immortals are blessed with an unbreakable bond," Edgar said, trying to make it sound casual and failing miserably. "A truelove mate bond. When it forms, the two people are bound together for life. They can't stray, can't fall out of love, can't really function well without each other."
"And?"
Edgar gave her what he hoped was a charming smile but suspected it came across as sheepish. "You and I might be such mates. There's a chance you're stuck with me forever."
Angelica stared at him. Then she started laughing—not the hysterical laugh from before, but genuine amusement.
"Let me see if I have this right. You lied to me for four months about being immortal, you messed with my mind, you kept Frankie's secret, you made me transition without my consent—"
"Technically, it was because of a faulty condom. That wasn't planned—"
"Shut up, I'm not done." She pointed a finger at him. "You did all of that, and now you're telling me I might be magically bound to you forever and can't even leave you if I want to?"
"When you put it that way, it sounds bad."
"It is bad!" But she was still laughing. "This is the most insane, ridiculous, messed-up thing I've ever heard."
"Does this mean you forgive me?" Edgar asked hopefully.
"Hell no. You're sleeping on the couch for at least a month." Angelica fell back against the pillows, suddenly looking exhausted. "After you provide me with those amazing orgasms. I'm not giving up on those. But after that, you go back to the couch."
Edgar walked over to the bedside and took her hand. This time, she didn't pull away.
"I am sorry," he said. "Please forgive me."
"I will, but not right away."
"Fair enough." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Get some rest. The transition will continue for many months, but the worst of it is almost over."
"I have so many questions." Her eyes were already starting to close. "So many questions. Starting with whether I can thrall people to get insider trading information."
"Absolutely not."
"I thought so." She yawned. "Edgar?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you too. Even though you're an immortal lying liar who lies."
"I'll take it."