32. Morelle

32

MORELLE

T he world had taken on a pleasantly fuzzy quality as Morelle followed Brandon into Annani's living room. Her limbs felt lighter than usual, and warm contentment had settled over her—aftereffects, she assumed, of the delicious drink called margarita that she'd shared with her new friends.

She would definitely need to ask Annani's Odus if they knew how to make it. The combination of tart and sweet, with that interesting salty rim, had been utterly fascinating. She'd never tasted anything like it before.

As Morelle settled onto the couch beside Brandon, she noticed that Jasmine seemed far less affected by the drinks despite having consumed just as many. Her brother's mate was radiating excitement that was somehow contagious even through Morelle's pleasant haze.

"I can't wait for you to meet these three fabulous gods." Jasmine settled onto a large armchair with Ell-rom. "They helped me find your pod. Without them, it wouldn't have been possible, even with my scrying stick." She chuckled. "Negal carried me on his back most of the way because I somehow managed to twist my ankle." She smiled at Ell-rom. "I was never the outdoor type."

Morelle frowned, old suspicions rising through the margarita-induced warmth. The head priestess's warnings about the duplicitous nature of gods echoed in her mind, but then these gods were mated to Margo, Frankie, and Gabi, so they couldn't be too bad. Maybe they were rebels like her father and his followers. "I'm missing parts of the story, and it just occurred to me that I don't know why these gods wanted to find the Kra-ell settlers."

Brandon's hand found hers, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on her palm. "Perhaps we should start at the beginning. Aru and his friends only arrived on Earth five years ago."

It suddenly occurred to her that Kian had said something about the gods arriving only recently from Anumati and reporting about the progress there, but later, she'd learned that there had been no contact with Anumati for thousands of years.

"How did they get here?" She turned to look at him. "You said that communication with Anumati was severed a long time ago."

"To most Anumatians, that was true." Annani turned to face her. "But the Eternal King secretly sent patrol ships to this sector from time to time, and small scouting teams were sent to check whether the missing settler ship arrived. Aru's team was the last one, and they found Kra-ell settlers, but only those who had already awakened from stasis on their own. They found us only after we freed those Kra-ell from Igor's oppression."

What Annani had just said made little sense to Morelle.

"Who is Igor?" she asked.

Ell-rom leaned forward. "Our mother wasn't the only one who smuggled people on the ship. The Eternal King smuggled Kra-ell assassins, who were supposed to kill our father and the other gods who supported him, but since the ship was lost in space, he kept sending scouts to find out whether it had arrived on Earth. Aru and his friends are the last such team, and they discovered that the ship had finally arrived, but it exploded. It managed to release all its life pods beforehand, but only a few of them opened, and not at the same time. Several groups of Kra-ell woke up from stasis and tried to make sense of what happened to them and survive. Igor was in one of those pods that opened, and he was one of those assassins. When he realized that Ahn and the gods were gone, he decided to become the king of the Kra-ell, and since he was a powerful compeller, he forced his pod mates to obey him, get rid of the males of the other pods, and take the females. His goal was to change the normal ratio of Kra-ell males to females and equalize it."

"That's absurd." Morelle waved a dismissive hand. "That's how nature made the Kra-ell. Was he a scientist? Did he know how to manipulate genes like the gods?"

"No," Brandon said. "He was just trying to reverse the natural order of the Kra-ell and subjugate the females to the males. He was a bad male who had no regard for honor or life."

The room seemed to tilt slightly, and Morelle wasn't sure if it was the margaritas or the horror of what she was hearing. "How did he find the others? How did he know when they awakened?"

"Trackers," Jasmine said. "All the settlers had trackers implanted in their bodies. They were only activated when they woke up from stasis."

"We don't have them," Ell-rom said quickly. "Mother made sure of that when she smuggled us onto the ship at the last moment. I assume that we took the place of two Kra-ell who were supposed to be there."

Brandon's arm tightened around her shoulders, drawing her closer, and she gladly leaned against his solid warmth.

Morelle took a deep breath, trying to organize her slightly scattered thoughts. The margaritas weren't helping her usual mental clarity. "So, Aru and his team were searching for the other pods, trying to find more survivors before the evil Igor could get to them?"

"Yes," Jasmine nodded. "They couldn't help the Kra-ell he subjugated because they were not allowed to interfere, but they kept searching for the others."

"How did the Kra-ell find the clan? Was it because of the gods?" She broke off as voices drifted in from the entryway, followed by the sound of footsteps.

"Speaking of Aru's team," Jasmine rose gracefully to her feet, "they're here."

As they entered, Morelle knew right away who was who by their mates.

Aru was with Gabi, Negal was with Margo, and Dagor was with Frankie. She heard their names mentioned countless times during the celebration of Jasmine's transition, but seeing them in person was a reminder of how perfect the gods were, even in comparison to the immortals.

"Princess Morelle." Gabi's mate approached her with a warm smile. "We've heard much about you from your brother."

The god's smile seemed genuine, his manner open and friendly, but years of conditioning had made her wary.

Morelle rose to her feet. "Thank you for helping find our pod and saving our lives."

"We couldn't have done it without Jasmine. If you want to thank anyone, you should thank her."

"I've already thanked her, but I wish to thank you and your teammates as well."

"You are welcome." Aru dipped his head.

Next, Negal and Dagor introduced themselves, and then it was time to adjourn to the dining room.

These gods seemed like good people and nothing like the duplicitous creatures the head priestess had claimed gods were.

As conversations flowed around her, Morelle tried to reconcile everything she was learning. The gods who had helped save them had been implanted with trackers themselves, and that was why they couldn't come live in the village until now. They had to find a way to transfer their trackers into humans who would take up the search for the pods in their stead. It was a lot to process, especially with her head still spinning from the drinks she had earlier.

She made a mental note to ask more about Igor when she was feeling clearer. Anyone who could control Kra-ell warriors through compulsion was a threat worth understanding, even if he was no longer a danger.

What had they done with him? Was he dead?

"I heard that you discovered your talent," Aru said, passing a dish of something that smelled wonderful. "A nullifier—that's quite rare."

Morelle accepted the dish, though her appetite was diminished. "So I've been told. Though I'm still learning how it works."