4. Ell-rom

4

ELL-ROM

" Y ou should have seen the monasteries in Tibet," Margo said after Aru left to talk to Kian on the terrace. "The architecture was beautiful, but the sense of tranquility made the experience unique."

Ell-rom tried to recall details of the temple he and Morelle had lived in. He'd seen a few glimpses of it in his dreams, but he hadn't sensed tranquility. If anything, there had been a constant state of stress, of alert in the face of danger. But then those might have been the moments that had been etched onto his memory.

Perhaps the rest of the time, the temple had been peaceful.

Jasmine leaned forward to look at Margo. "It's funny how it feels like the trip was a lifetime ago. And the life I lived before going with freaking Alberto to Cabo seems like it belonged to someone else."

At the mention of the lowlife who had planned to harm Jasmine, Ell-rom's venom glands swelled, and his fangs started to elongate, which just served to irritate him.

These natural weapons he had been gifted with were useless because he couldn't stand the taste of blood, and the thought of biting anyone made him nauseous.

The depressing thought had his fangs receding and his glands deflating in no time, and he had a feeling that if he were erect, that would have deflated as well.

What kind of a male was he if he couldn't provide his mate with the pleasure of a venom bite or even use his Mother-given natural weapons to protect her?

Perhaps he should reconsider the priesthood. It seemed like he was much better suited for that than anything else.

Then another thought surfaced, more disturbing than the previous one. If he was indeed capable of killing with just a thought, it was possible that the unique ability had arisen in him to compensate for his inability to bite.

Whatever had made it manifest, though, he needed to control his emotions better or he might harm someone unintentionally.

"That's because a lot has happened during and after." Gabi patted Jasmine's shoulder. "You discovered immortals, learned that you might be one yourself, saved Ell-rom and his sister, and fell in love. No wonder you feel like years have passed. I felt the same way when I met Aru. Within days, the life I had lived before seemed like ancient history."

Margo snorted. "Same here, but for me, it was the trip to Tibet that made everything else seem like it was ages ago."

"It wasn't falling in love with me?" Negal sounded genuinely upset.

"Of course it was, my love." She leaned to kiss his cheek. "Our bond deepened during the trip."

He didn't look convinced. "We barely saw each other. I spent more time with Aru, Dagor, and Jasmine than I did with you."

"That's true." Jasmine cast Margo an apologetic look. "And on top of that, Negal was the one who carried me after I'd twisted my ankle."

A growl started low in Ell-rom's throat, but he forced it down, stopping it from leaving his mouth. He had no right to feel jealous, but he would have appreciated it if Jasmine had told him that Negal had carried her on his back.

She cast him a wondering look. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes. It's just that hearing about you getting injured upsets me." It wasn't a lie, but it was a very small portion of the truth.

"Oh, Ell-rom." She leaned over and kissed his cheek like Gabi had Aru's. "That's so sweet of you."

"My favorite story from the trip is the army base," Dagor said. "That poor soldier is probably in some mental health clinic now."

Aru chuckled. "I feel bad about it, but I just couldn't help myself."

Ell-rom waited for someone to elaborate on the story, but when everyone just nodded and chuckled or snorted, he turned to Jasmine. "Do you know what they are talking about?"

She nodded. "We had to pass through a military base on the way to the mountain where your pod was. The gods took turns shrouding us so we were invisible to the soldiers and could pass unnoticed, but then one of the soldiers bumped into Aru, so Aru pretended to be an angry spirit. He told the poor guy that it was forbidden to bring weapons to a holy site and that it was bad luck."

Ell-rom frowned. "How is that done? The shrouding, I mean?"

Negal set his mug down and leaned forward. "Shrouding is manipulating perceptions. We can create illusions, mask our presence, or make ourselves look like someone or something else."

"I figured as much, but how is it done, and can I do it?"

Negal started nodding when the patio sliding door opened, and Aru walked in. "What did I miss?"

"Ell-rom was asking about shrouding," Negal said. "What did Kian say about the trackers?"

Aru took his place next to Gabi and reached for the coffee carafe. "He said we shouldn't worry about it, and I agree. Ell-rom and Morelle were smuggled into the settlers' ship pretending to be Kra-ell. If they were implanted with trackers, it would have been the same ones as the Kra-ell's, and their bodies would have rejected them. What's more likely is that they arrived at the last moment and did not get trackers at all." He turned to Ell-rom. "Just to be safe, Bridget will put you through a scanner. It wasn't possible when you arrived because you were so frail that they were afraid to move you. You were scanned with a handheld device, but now that you are better, you can be scanned by the big machine."

That sounded ominous. "What does it entail?"

Jasmine squeezed his hand under the table. "Nothing dangerous or overly unpleasant. You lie on a narrow platform, close your eyes, and try not to move a muscle until the machine finishes scanning your body. It doesn't take long."

That was a relief, but then he remembered the other thing that had bothered him about Aru's explanation. "How did my sister and I pretend to be Kra-ell? We don't look like them."

"You must have shrouded yourselves to look like the Kra-ell."

"I don't know how to do that. Is that innate or something that can be learned and forgotten?"

"I'm not sure," Aru said. "Perhaps the technician in charge of your pod was cooperating with your mother and shrouding you both, but that's less likely. Although I still wonder how your mother pulled it off. She must have had more than one god helping her to smuggle you into the pod."

Regrettably, that knowledge had died with his mother, so it would remain a mystery.

"Can all gods shroud?" Jasmine asked.

Aru nodded. "Like any other talent, some are better at it than others, and from what I understand, the same is true for immortals." He looked at Ell-rom. "You were raised as a Kra-ell, and their abilities are a little different than ours and not as strong. I don't know how much you were taught."

"Can you teach me?" Ell-rom asked.

Aru rubbed a hand over his jaw. "Think of it as projecting your thoughts outward. You focus on the image or sensation you want others to perceive and then push it out. It's not just visual, though. Other senses can be affected as well, but it's not easy to maintain a shroud for long, especially when shrouding several senses. The immortals have a guy who is a master at this, and none of us come even close to his ability. Maybe he should be the one to instruct you."

It made no sense for a master to teach a novice.

Perhaps Aru was busy and did not want to teach him. The next time Ell-rom saw Annani, he could ask her about the gifted immortal, but he wouldn't even suggest wasting the immortal's time on teaching him to shroud.

Ell-rom smiled. "If I get very good at it, I might request a lesson or two with the master shrouder, but for now, some basic instruction will do. I understand if you have no time for me, though. Maybe Julian can show me while supervising my physical therapy."

"I have time," Aru said. "Not much, but I can teach you the basics, and then you can practice independently." The god seemed more resigned than enthusiastic about teaching him, but Ell-rom would take it.

"Thank you." Ell-rom dipped his head. "Does shrouding work on everyone? I mean, gods, immortals, Kra-ell, and humans?"

"It depends. Generally, gods can shroud themselves from immortals and humans, but immortals can only shroud themselves from humans. Within those parameters, there are varying degrees of ability. Also, some individuals are more susceptible than others. Those with strong mental abilities can often see through or resist a shroud. The Kra-ell are nearly impossible to thrall and are not susceptible to shrouding. Some humans are immune as well."

Jasmine wasn't one of those immunes; that was clear from what she had told him about her miraculous healing and her suspicion that one of the gods had thralled her and then bitten her to speed up her recovery.

Ell-rom was still angry with them for doing this without her consent, but it had been done to save her pain and discomfort, so he was willing to forgive them, but only this one time.

If any of them dared to deceive her in the future, for whatever reason, they would have to deal with him.