Page 28 of Dark Destiny: The Fates' Bargain

"That's right." Turner gestured at the food. "Eat. You've had a long flight, and I imagine what you were served on board left a lot to be desired."

"It was adequate," Yaaf said.

He wondered if he should introduce the other members of the collective, but they decided that it was probably not necessary.The Guardians hadn't even tried to hide that they had been taking photos of them. Turner probably had a file ready for each of them.

Yaaf pulled out a stool at the island, and the others did the same. Turner and the two Guardians joined them, probably as a gesture of friendship and not because they were hungry.

Breaking bread together symbolized goodwill.

"We were hoping to meet Kian," Yaaf said. "But we realize that the chests are more important than us, and as the head of the clan, he needs to be there when they arrive."

They still didn't know who the immortals in those chests were. They were important to the clan. That was all they knew for sure.

"Kian is not the head of the clan," Turner said. "Annani is. The Clan Mother. Kian is her regent here in America. There are other regents in other places."

"The famous Annani, or infamous if the Brotherhood's propaganda is to be believed." Yaaf refilled his glass with water. "We would love to meet her, but we know that we will not be allowed. Kian doesn't trust us yet."

"Can you blame him?" Turner asked. "You are unlike any other immortal or even god. You can compel using a thrall instead of sound waves. We have no defense against you, and despite the help you have provided, we don't know enough about you to trust you with what is most important to us."

"What about you?" Number One asked for the collective. "And Theo and Jay? And what about all the other Guardians and Kra-ell we interacted with? What have they reported about us?"

Turner lifted his hands in the air. "Only good things, but we can't afford to lower our defenses. You are too powerful. Kian asked me to welcome you because I'm immune to both compulsion and thralling. We thought that sending someone who can't be influenced by you made sense, on both sides."

Yaaf turned to look at the two Guardians. "Are you immune as well?"

"No," Jay said. "We don't know anything of importance either, so getting a peek at our minds will get you nothing interesting."

So that was what the clan feared. They thought the Eight could be an infiltrating force disguised as freedom seekers and rescuers. They thought that Dave might be a spy, collecting information about the clan's vulnerabilities.

It was offensive, but it made sense from the clan's perspective.

"We wouldn't do that," Number One said. "But you have no way of knowing that, and our word is not enough."

Turner nodded. "I'm glad you understand."

"Where are the scientists?" Yaaf asked, because that was the most pressing issue at the moment. Winning the clan's trust would have to wait for later. "They should have been right behind us."

"They arrived a few minutes ago. Robbie and Callan took them to a different section of the keep to get settled."

"We need the drugs." Yaaf set his fork down with a clunk that hadn't been intentional. His hands were unstable, and he could no longer hide the tremors. The other seven were in similar distress. "Petrov and Dimitri need to start working on them immediately."

"They will," Turner said. "Once everyone's had a chance to settle in. You have all been through a lot, and none of you have had the chance to get proper rest. The humans are exhausted."

"We are out of time." Yaaf hated to admit how desperately they needed the next dose, but they had no choice. "This is not a matter of comfort. Dimitri is immortal now, so he does not need rest the way Petrov does. He can begin work right away."

Something shifted behind Turner's eyes, a calculation, and Yaaf understood that this detail hadn't been on whatever briefing he'd received because none of the Guardians had realized that Dimitri had transitioned.

"Immortal," Turner repeated. "How did that happen?"

"A long story, and he can tell you all about it after he prepares our next dose."

Turner studied Yaaf for a moment and then nodded. "I'll get word to Dimitri that he needs to hurry. But whether he's ready to go to work immediately is his call to make."

"He will make it for us. He knows what happens when we don't get our regular injections. We will help him set up his lab." Yaaf looked around the kitchen. "We could do that here. There is plenty of room."

Turner followed his gaze. "I hadn't considered the kitchen. I had an old classroom in mind, but you might be right that this will serve Volkov and Petrov better until we build them a proper lab."

That was the first piece of good news the collective had heard today.