Lottery King 8, page 3
I knew it was an important annual meeting of the Eternal Realm’s government. The way Poppy and Helena had described it made it sound a lot like a huge parliamentary meeting or the way the US congress convened in one place to discuss important topics.
My job was to keep things in order, settle any disputes between regions when all other negotiation attempts had come to an impasse, and bring up any new plans, treaties, or projects that weren’t solely my discretion to make decisions on.
I sighed and pushed away my thoughts about the summit for now. I was as prepared as I could be for the huge world meeting, and all I wanted right now was to spend some time with my two gorgeous fiancées, who were still in Russia with me.
Gemma and Nyxx had remained close by my side for security purposes and to simply keep me company while I was far away from home. This was the longest I’d been away from any of my women so far, and I would have been painfully lonely without my shadow nymph and mermaid lovers by my sides.
I hadn’t even expected them to stay, and then all six of my ladies came to me the night before Ivis and Dinah were set to go home. It had felt like an intervention as they all sat me down and explained the way it was going to go.
I’d had to smother my laughter under a solemn mask as I waited for them to finish. Poppy especially had spoken like she expected me to argue about the way they’d agreed to handle the situation, and when she finally let me speak, I’d laughed out loud.
Of course I was thrilled to have Nyxx and Gemma remain at my side, and not just because I was so madly in love with all of them. I definitely felt safer with my two warrior women so close at hand, and I had a feeling that was part of why they’d all agreed on Gemma and Nyxx being the ones to stay.
I opened the door and found both of my sexy soldier women lounging around our sitting room in their pajamas. I chuckled to myself at the completely opposing image they presented in comparison to the totally lethal fighters I knew them to be.
“Hey,” Gemma greeted me with a loving smile. “How was the interrogation?”
“Potentially productive,” I sighed and gave them the SparkNotes version. “So hopefully we’ll know soon if Render is in Chile– alive, dead, or whatever.”
“It’s at least somewhere to start,” Nyxx pointed out.
“That’s right,” Gemma agreed. “Every trail has to start somewhere.”
“It’s interesting that the taser is what got Sai to crack finally.” Nyxx pulled her long dark hair over her pale shoulder and started to braid it.
“I wondered if it had something to do with his magical abilities?” I shrugged.
“Hmm.” Nyxx nodded.
“From what I understand,” Gemma said thoughtfully. “Magical dampeners prevent a person from using their magic, but it doesn’t dampen the magic itself.”
“That’s what I thought, too,” I said. “Like it dampens the connection a person has to them.”
“Then his power could still be triggered by an outside force?” Nyxx asked.
“That’s my theory,” I said, and I could see the next thought in Nyxx’s sapphire eyes. “I already gave orders to prevent an accidental explosion should the team need to resort to the taser again.”
“Good.” Nyxx smiled.
I filled them in on the other details of my conversation with Rune while we waited for our dinner service. I hadn’t realized how late in the day it had gotten while I was locked away with Rune in the office, but now that I was starting to relax into my evening, my stomach started to ache with hunger.
A knock on the door alerted us to our food, and Gemma jumped up before I could move. She smirked at my wry grin and hurried to answer the door. A minute later, we sat down together and dove into our hearty and hot meal of beef stew, roasted potatoes, and steamed asparagus.
The food here had been filling and nutritious, but it had also been fairly repetitive across the weeks. I had to admit, I was longing for the variety my gnome chef, Gerald, provided for me at home.
“I’m so ready to go home,” I sighed.
“Me, too.” Gemma smirked. “My new home that is.”
“Oh, my god,” I laughed. “You haven’t even spent a night at the Orlando mansion yet!”
“I haven’t!” Gemma grinned with humor. “We’ve been away this whole time, but I’m really looking forward to seeing my new home finally.”
I chuckled and shook my head. It was going to be surreal to have all six of my ladies home in the mansion in Orlando with me finally. I’d dreamed about Gemma joining us for so long, and now we were almost there.
But my blissful moment was suddenly brought to a strange halt.
Out of nowhere, the emptiness in my mind that used to be filled by Vallia’s presence seemed to grow heavy like a hole in a rowboat, and I felt weighed down by it.
“What are you thinking?” Nyxx asked as she gave me a curious look.
I sighed and tried to figure out the best way to organize all my thoughts about the mysterious blonde woman. There were so many questions.
“We haven’t found anything new about Vallia,” I said finally.
“I know we haven’t had the resources to look into her past very much,” Gemma said. “Are we still at that point?”
“We’re just now able to shift some resources and staff to that task,” I said. “I’m going to have a team go directly to Ireland to see what they can turn up.”
Vallia’s gentle Irish accent was possibly the only solid clue we had to go on. Well, that and the intense strength of her power. Not that either had given us much information so far, but now we could spare the manpower to actually dive into the task.
“Maybe the team will find something in Ireland,” Nyxx said. “An old local story or something tiny buried in the back of some dusty old library.”
“Maybe,” I chuckled. “At this point, she’s been cleared of being any kind of threat.”
“Good.” Gemma nodded. “She’s been nothing but cooperative and helpful.”
“I agree,” I said. “There’s never been any evidence that made me question her loyalties. Or at least to make me think she was dangerous to us.”
“What about the doctor?” Nyxx asked. “Hasn’t he been doing tests on her blood? Has that turned up anything?”
I sighed. “Apparently, Doctor Silas’ tests are still inconclusive…”
“When was the last time you met with him?” Gemma asked.
“Um…” I breathed as I tried to remember. “Maybe last week? It’s been at least five or six days.”
“That’s a long time,” Nyxx pointed out. “And Doctor Silas doesn’t seem the type of person to interrupt you with things he’s not sure would be important to the immediate issue.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. My brain felt so tired, it was hard to know exactly what she was saying.
“You should go speak with Doctor Silas directly,” Gemma explained.
Chapter 2
My mouth hung open for a second as the simplicity and accuracy of Gemma’s statement hit me like a slap to the face.
“Duh,” I chuckled at myself and shook my head. “That’s a good idea.”
“Are you okay, Michael?” Nyxx asked with concern in her sapphire eyes. “You’ve been sort of unfocused since yesterday.”
“I think my brain is just so worn out now that the lifeline tethers are all released,” I said.
“It sounds kind of like restraint collapse,” Gemma murmured.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“You had to keep shit together for so long,” Gemma explained. “Now that you’re done with that, your body and mind are fully relaxing to recover from the exertion. It’s like when a little kid holds it together all day at school, and then the second they come home, they fall apart because they can.”
“All your reserves are used up.” Nyxx nodded. “You need to rest and let yourself recover from the strain.”
“That makes sense,” I said. “And I do feel just completely drained. I can’t wait to get back home and have a really good night of sleep in my own bed.”
“Soon,” Gemma hummed. “But for now, why don’t you go see Doctor Silas and sate that curiosity a little bit?”
“Okay,” I said, and I gave each of my warrior women a kiss.
“Do you want us to wait up?” Nyxx asked.
“It’s up to you,” I said. “I probably won’t be long, though.”
I headed out of our private sitting room and started to make my way through the castle. Doctor Silas had been given a quiet area to conduct his work in the hopes that he would be able to aid the ancient witch, Sveta, in nursing Lorenzo and the other ancient teachers back to health. His curiosity about Vallia had been sparked quickly from just a passing comment about her abilities, and he’d requested time to examine her.
Being as curious as I was about her past, I of course allowed it so long as Vallia was willing to participate. The blonde woman had been eager to find any answers about her past as well, but so far they hadn’t found anything concrete at all.
I ran through a list of all the paranormals I knew of as I wove through the castle to the doctor’s rooms. Vampires, werewolves, fae, merfolk, dragon folk, witches, sone, Zawgyi, Kinarra, gnomes, cyclopes, nymphs of both shadow and sea variety, jinn, Vodyanoy, dryads, harpies, gorgons, elementals, haljita… None of them fit what we knew about Vallia.
Her ears were pointed like a high fae, but the type of power she had was unlike anything anyone had ever seen. Not to mention how incredibly strong it was.
I’d spoken with my dragon-man head of security and the ancient teacher, Sveta, on whether or not Vallia could be some unique blend of fae, witch, or something else. It was a sound enough theory, but that’s all it was.
Doctor Silas’ initial blood tests hadn’t been able to identify any key markers for any specific species.
Vallia was the very definition of an anomaly.
I sighed as I found myself at the doctor’s door, and I gave a curt knock.
“Come in!” Doctor Silas called through the door in his refined British accent.
I pushed open the solid wooden door and stepped into his first-floor office and examination room.
The space had a large and simple desk in the corner, two examination tables on the other side of the room, and several shelves of books, journals, notes, and medical tools and equipment.
Doctor Silas was a small and scholarly-looking man with gray hair, a walrus-style mustache that would have impressed Theodore Roosevelt himself, and wire-rimmed glasses. He had on his signature brown cardigan with the leather elbow patches this evening, and he sat behind his overcrowded desk.
Doctor Silas’ apprentice, Eric, straightened up his gangly frame as soon as he saw me. His long-fingered hands twisted together in front of him with the same level of nervous energy he always seemed to have in my presence. I’d learned from Sveta that the boy’s parents had been killed in an unfortunate accident when he was just fifteen. Doctor Silas had been a good friend of the family and had taken him in as both a parental figure and mentor.
I smiled politely at the nervous young man who looked like he was no older than eighteen even though I knew he was actually closer to my age.
Vallia was also in the room, and I was pleased to see how much her frame had started to fill out since I’d defeated Koschei. The first time I’d laid eyes on the beautiful woman, her shoulders looked sharp, and I could have counted every one of her ribs without trying. Now, her cheeks had developed a soft roundness on either side of her upturned nose, and her arms looked far less frail than just two weeks ago.
She offered me a friendly little smile as I closed the office door behind me.
“Good evening, y-your majesty,” Eric mumbled with a British accent, and he struggled to meet my eyes like he was just way too amazed to be in the presence of his king.
“Many apologies, your majesty,” Silas said with just a tiny bit more confidence than his apprentice. “Was there a task I was meant to do for you?”
Silas shuffled through the mess of papers on his desk, and in the process of trying to figure out what he’d forgotten, he knocked a small cup of pens and pencils onto the stone floor.
“Damn,” Silas muttered under his breath.
Eric ducked down immediately and picked up every last writing implement from the floor.
“No, Doctor,” I insisted in a light tone. “You haven’t forgotten anything. Don’t worry, that’s not why I’m here.”
“Oh…” Silas breathed in relief, and then his brown eyes went wide with confusion. “Then, I’m sorry, but why would you have traveled all the way into the depths of the castle to see me?”
Silas looked like there couldn’t possibly be a valid reason for me to come here if not to admonish him for forgetting something crucial. I took a few casual steps forward and offered him a relaxed smile in an attempt to get him to relax as well.
“I was just wondering if you’d found anything new about Vallia,” I said, and I gave the woman a smile.
“Ah, I see…” Silas nodded in understanding, and then he frowned. It looked like he wished he had something for me and was worried about disappointing me. “I’m sorry, I haven’t discovered anything conclusive, your majesty.”
Silas looked prepared for me to sentence him to some form of punishment for his lack of results. He was one of the most humble men I’d ever met, and it was part of what I liked about him. I did wish he was a bit more confident in his usefulness, though.
“I assure you, Doctor,” I said. “Your work is very important. You’ve aided Sveta in Lorenzo’s recovery, and I know you’ve been working closely in trying to analyze the extent of Ahanu’s situation.”
“I only wish I could provide us all with answers,” Silas said, and he gestured at both Vallia and me. “I know how disheartening it must be for you to have no answers.”
“I am rather used to it at this point,” Vallia said with a little shrug.
“I might remind you of the size of the mystery you’re up against here, Doctor,” I said with a wry half-smile. “The specifics of Vallia’s nature are a mystery to everyone we’ve asked.”
“That’s true,” Silas sighed, and the statement seemed to bring him some relief.
Doctor Silas was always most confident when he spoke directly about his work, and I decided it would be helpful to steer his thought process in that direction. Perhaps we could reach a revelation together.
“Would you please tell me more about what you have tried so far?” I asked.
“Uh, yes.” Silas shook his head with surprise at my request. “Certainly, your majesty.”
Silas gestured for me to have a seat on one of the chairs near his desk, and he walked over to a shelf filled with journals. After scanning one row for a few seconds, he pulled a journal off the shelf and opened it.
“So, in my first tests,” Silas began, and he adjusted his glasses, “I took several blood samples from Miss Vallia.”
Silas came over and sat down beside me to show me the pages of his journal. There were hand-written notes in a fine and elegant script. Everything appeared to be dated and even marked with the time of the journal entry. It was an impressive amount of notations and details.
“I tested her iron and hemoglobin levels,” Silas explained. “Her iron levels were within the normal range, which rules out any vampiric blood. Her hemoglobin levels were worryingly low, but they have since recovered.”
“That’s probably due to the more nutritious diet since my arrival, right?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s most likely the cause.” Silas nodded. “I also ran tests on her clotting factor levels, I found nothing greatly out of the ordinary there. They were higher than what you might expect in a werewolf, merfolk, or gnome, but I hadn’t expected Miss Vallia to turn out to be any of those species.”
“Makes sense.” I nodded. “What else did you test?”
“With Miss Vallia’s permission,” Silas said, and he gave the blonde woman a somber look, “I took a sample of her bone marrow…”
“That was awful,” Vallia said.
“Yes, it’s quite a painful test,” Silas agreed, and he sighed regretfully. “That was inconclusive as well. We did, however, discover her stem cells have a higher degree of tolerance for radiation.”
“Okay,” I said with interest. “What does that mean?”
“Unfortunately, not a lot,” Silas sighed. “Many species have such traits in their stem cells. Fae, werewolves, cyclopes, and dragon-folk all have higher resistance to radiation.”
“Like… nuclear radiation?” I asked with uncertainty.
“Well, perhaps,” Silas said after a thoughtful moment. “Mostly solar radiation. Ultraviolet rays and the like. There has never been a documented case of a fae, werewolf, or dragon-folk getting Melanoma, for example.”
“Huh,” I huffed with surprise. “That’s really interesting.”
“Paranormal biology is fascinating.” Silas grinned. “I also worked to test the limits of Miss Vallia’s power reserves.”
“To see how much power she has?” I asked.
“Precisely.” Silas nodded. “I’ve been working to develop a machine to test these levels for nearly fifty years. I thought I’d perfected it, but Miss Vallia broke the machine.”
I smirked in disbelief and looked at Vallia. The blond woman blushed profusely and lowered her eyes with embarrassment.
“No worries, dear,” Silas assured her. “It just means I have the opportunity to improve my machine now.”
“I’m still sorry about it, Doctor,” Vallia insisted.
Silas smiled ruefully and shook his head.
“What do you mean she broke it?” I asked. “Like… her power overloaded the sensors or whatever?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Silas said with excitement. “My machine worked in a unit of measurement that I’ve called ‘rays’ in honor of our goddess. The machine was able to measure up to one million rays, and Vallia’s power skyrocketed right past that level.”
