Page 50 of Dark Destiny: The Fates' Bargain

She needed to see him.

"Mama!" Tomek's voice carried from the living room. "Someone is knocking on the door! Should I open it?"

She hadn't even heard the knock.

"I will do that," she called back.

When she opened it, Bowen filled the doorway, and beside him stood a slim woman with warm brown eyes, brown hair, and a soft smile that looked a little shy, as if she wasn't sure of her welcome.

"Sullha, this is Margaret. My mate. She's eager to meet both of you after all I have told her about you and Tomek."

"Please, come in." Sullha stepped back. "You are the first official guests in my new home." She shook her head. "I still can't believe that this is mine."

"I know the feeling," Margaret said, offering her hand. "How did you learn to speak English so well?"

"The older boys in the breeders' enclosure were taught foreign languages to prepare them for their service in the Brotherhood, and the girls were allowed to join if they wanted to. I sat in on quite a few classes, and I learned the rest from books."

"It's admirable."

Tomek came skidding around the corner from his bedroom so fast his socks nearly betrayed him on the polished floor.

"Bowen!" He stopped right in front of the Guardian, then noticed Margaret. "Who are you?"

"This is Margaret," Sullha told him in the island tongue. "Bowen's mate."

"Oh." Tomek studied her for exactly two seconds before reaching a verdict. "Do you want to see my toys?" he asked, ignoring the fact that the woman obviously didn't understand a word he was saying. "I have a whole box of cars. They are so shiny."

"Margaret doesn't speak our language, sweetheart."

"Toys don't need words." Tomek shrugged, took Margaret's hand, and tugged her along.

Sullha translated and added an apology.

Margaret laughed. "He's right. Toys don't need words."

She let Tomek tow her toward his bedroom, with him chattering about what he was about to show her, and her nodding along as though she understood every word.

"Margaret never learned the old tongue," Bowen said, watching them go. "She is new to our community. She was human up until not too long ago when we met."

Sullha tilted her head. "What do you mean? What is she now?"

He frowned. "Immortal. She was a dormant carrier of the godly genes, just like you, and she transitioned into immortality."

Sullha forgot how to breathe. "How is that possible? Women cannot transition."

Bowen's expression shifted from confusion to a dawning understanding that carried an edge of dismay.

"Nobody's explained this to you?" he asked.

"Explained what?"

"The truth about dormant godly genes and transitioning into immortality."

"We were told that only males can become immortal. The boys were taken at thirteen because that was when they were ready to be induced. Girls can't be induced. They can only pass on the godly genes to their children. Their task is to bear boys for the army and girls for the breeding program. That's how it has always been. That is how it is."

"Fates." Bowen dragged a hand down his face. "I assumed someone had walked you all through all of this by now."

"There was no time. We only arrived yesterday. We were settling in and resting, learning to use the appliances in our home and the phones." She heard her own voice going faint and forced herself to steady it. "What is it that we need to know? The thing that we were supposed to be walked through, whatever that means."