43. Rob

43

ROB

R ob woke up with a wet washcloth draped over his forehead and Margo's face hovering a few inches above his.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Am I? I don't know. Is there a glowing god sitting across from me on the armchair?"

If that had been a dream, it was the most lucid one he had ever experienced.

"I'm still here," Toven said.

"Damn." Rob groaned. "I hoped it was a nightmare."

"Why a nightmare?" Margo frowned at him. "You were just told that you can become immortal, and you call it a nightmare? What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? Are you kidding? There is a glowing man sitting across from me, claiming to be a god."

"Would alien be a less frightening word for you?" Toven asked.

Rob removed the washcloth and pushed up on the big couch pillow Margo had tucked behind him. "Is that what you are? An alien?"

Toven shrugged. "My ancestors came from elsewhere in the universe, and they created humans, so in a way, humans are, at least in part, aliens as well."

He went on to explain the origins of humanity and how a group of beings from another world created humans through genetic manipulation. These gods possessed extraordinary abilities, including immortality, rapid healing, and the power to control human minds.

"Over time," Toven continued, "the gods took human lovers, resulting in a new breed who retained some of the gifts of their godly progenitors, with the most important one being immortality. You, your sister, and Mia are the descendants of those immortals, carrying the genetic legacy of the gods."

"How do you know that?" Rob dropped his feet to the floor and sat up. "I mean, how do you know which humans carry godly genes and which ones do not? According to your story, every human should have at least traces of those genes. Our race was created in your image." Just not as perfect.

"The process was different because the goals were not the same. Only the descendants of actual unions carry the godly genes and not all of them. They are transferred through the mothers, which means that Margo's children will have them, but yours will not. You will have to find an immortal mate for your children to be immortal."

Margo leaned over and patted Rob's knee. "That's the main reason I wanted to tell you about it right away. There are many immortal hotties waiting to snatch up a male, Dormant or immortal."

That didn't make any sense to him, not that any of it did, but he had to admit that there was something to the story that rang true. "Why are they waiting? Is there a shortage of men among the immortals?"

Mia cleared her throat. "There is a shortage of males and females who are not related to each other. Almost all of the immortals in our community are the descendants of one goddess, and according to their rules, they are forbidden to each other. If they were the descendants of the same male god, there wouldn't have been any prohibition." She looked at her fiancé. "Toven did not know that any of the gods other than him had survived, and he roamed the Earth for thousands of years on his own, thinking that he was all alone."

Holy shit. Thousands of years?

Was he that old?

"What happened to the other gods?" Rob asked. "Are they all gone?"

"I'm here, and the Mother of the Clan is here as well, but now is not the time to go over what happened and why. It's a long and sad story," Toven said. "It will take a long time even to give you a summary, and you will have many questions, which will take even longer. Right now, though, I'm sure that the most pressing question you want an answer to is how you are going to turn immortal."

Rob was intensely curious and wanted to hear the rest of the story, but if Toven thought that he should hear that part first, he wasn't going to argue with the guy, especially since he didn't know what powers he had. What if that damn glow was radioactive?

Mia and Margo had supposedly turned immortal, so they were in no danger from it, but it could be deadly to humans.

"Can you turn off your skin?" Rob waved a hand at Toven's exposed arms. "Is it even safe to be around you?"

Toven laughed. "It's safe, but if it bothers you, I will turn it off." The glow disappeared.

"Thank you."

He was trapped in The Twilight Zone .

"You are welcome." Toven grinned, revealing what looked suspiciously like fangs.

Rob was positive that the god's canines weren't that long before. "Are those…?"

Toven nodded. "Yes. Those are fangs. All male gods and immortals have fangs that elongate on demand, and we also have venom glands. Female goddesses and female immortals have small fangs that do not elongate, and they do not have venom either. The venom is what activates the dormant godly genes."

Things were just getting weirder and weirder, and Rob wondered whether there was something in the water his sister had given him or the whiskey, but since that was unlikely, his next hypothesis was that he was suffering a mental meltdown because of the traumatic breakup with Lynda.