21. Jasmine

Half an hour later, when Jasmine and Edgar walked into the other penthouse, holding hands and with the map of Tibet tucked under Edgar"s arm, the afterglow of their lovemaking was still thrumming through her veins. Still, she did her best to erase the stupid smile from her face and assume an impassive expression.

From her experience, people took those who talked calmly and rationally more seriously. Given that she was about to provide them with information that would determine where they were going, and that said information was based on an unproven method that they all questioned, she needed to appear level-headed.

The rest of the team had already gathered, sprawled on the plush couches and armchairs.

Aru looked up from the tablet he"d been studying, his brow furrowed in concentration. "Ah, there you are," he said, setting the device aside. "We were just going over some of the logistics for the trip. Did you have any luck with the scrying?"

Releasing Edgar"s hand, Jasmine pulled the rolled-up map from under his arm. "I did. I was able to locate a general area where I believe the escape pod might be located, but when I tried to zero in and pinpoint the location, I was unsuccessful." She spread the map on the coffee table, smoothing the creases with her fingertips.

The others leaned forward, their eyes scanning the terrain.

Jasmine tapped a finger on the area she"d marked. "It"s somewhere near Mount Kailash. I couldn"t get a more precise location, but I"m hoping that once we"re there, I"ll be able to sense it more clearly."

Dagor frowned, studying the map intently. "Mount Kailash is a pretty remote area even by Tibetan standards. It"s not going to be an easy trek."

"No, it won"t," Aru agreed. "We will need to upgrade the specs of our equipment."

Margo leaned back in her seat, her arms crossed over her chest. "What kind of conditions are we talking about, exactly? I mean, I know Tibet is located at a high altitude and all that, but what else should we expect?"

Negal glanced over at her, his lips twitching in a half-smile. "Cold, for one thing. Even in the summer, temperatures can drop below freezing at night. And the air will be thin, which can make physical exertion challenging." He shifted his eyes to Jasmine. "For a human. The rest of us will be fine."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I know. But what can I do? We can"t wait for me to transition." She sat down on the couch next to Margo. "Although, given how quickly the two of you transitioned, I might have been able to do that during the week we are supposed to wait for Kian and Toven to finalize the arrangements."

Margo let out a breath and smiled apologetically. "Edgar is not a god, which means that his venom is not as potent as a god"s, so it might have taken you much longer than us to transition, and maybe not as smoothly."

Edgar had explained to her some of the differences between gods and immortals, and the distinctions didn"t seem very meaningful to her. He"d also told her that some immortals were more powerful than gods. The three gods present couldn"t compel like Kevin, an immortal, and Yamanu, who was also just an immortal, could make realistic illusions convincing thousands. The gods couldn"t do that either.

But those were the outliers.

Edgar didn"t belong to that exclusive group.

Frankie bit her lip, looking worried. "Is it going to be dangerous? I mean, I"m immortal and can heal fast, but if we are buried under an avalanche, what will happen to us?"

Dagor shook his head. "If that happens, which is unlikely, we will enter stasis and get revived once the rescue teams dig us out. But then we will have to thrall all their memories of finding us in that state."

"It"s going to be fine," Negal said. "As long as we"re careful and take the proper precautions. We"ll have the right gear and acclimatize gradually to the altitude so none of us gets lightheaded when we are up there." He glanced at Aru. "Like what happened to you."

"What happened?" Gabi asked.

Aru waved a dismissive hand. "I learned the hard way that taking things slow and careful is better. In the end, it"s a faster route."

"So, how do we get to Mount Kailash?" Jasmine asked, looking around at the others. "And what do we do once we"re there?"

Negal leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. "We"ll fly into Lhasa first, as planned. That"s the capital of Tibet. From there, we"ll need to arrange transportation to get as close to the mountain as possible. Probably a combination of jeeps and hiking, depending on the terrain."

Aru nodded. "We"ll need to be careful not to draw too much attention to ourselves. Tibet is a politically sensitive area, and we don"t want to raise any red flags with the authorities. A good cover is essential, and research sounds good. Perhaps we should read about geology a little. We should be able to sound professional when asked questions."

Jasmine felt a flicker of apprehension in her gut. "Make me the researcher"s girlfriend who doesn"t know anything. I"m not good with learning things fast."

Edgar cast her a smile. "Most people will assume that everything we say about the subject we are supposed to be experts on is fact, and they won"t challenge us. People are quick to surrender their common sense and critical thinking when presented information by a source they have reason to consider authoritative. In other words, we should be able to BS through any interaction as long as our credentials are solid."

Jasmine didn"t know how to do that, but she could pretend to be mute and let Edgar do the talking.

Negal tapped his chin. "Once we get to the area, we"ll have to rely on a combination of Jasmine"s scrying abilities and our equipment. If the pod is giving off any kind of energy signature, we should be able to pick it up on our scanner."

Margo sighed, running a hand through her hair. "It"s like looking for a needle in a haystack. A really, really big haystack. It looks small on the map, but that"s probably a big area." She looked at Jasmine. "I hope that you will be able to better pinpoint the location."

"I hope so, too." Jasmine sighed. "I"m just not sure that we will find them alive." She rubbed a hand over her belly. "I have a bad feeling about that."

Everyone around the table went quiet suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Edgar asked. "And when did you start having this bad feeling?"

They were all taking her so seriously that it was unnerving. "It"s nothing." She smiled. "I"m probably more nervous now that I"m starting to realize how difficult this will be. It"s not like the tarot told me that something bad will happen." She squinted. "Actually, I should do a reading." She looked at the faces of her teammates. "For all of you."

Dagor lifted his hands. "I"ll pass."

"Why?" Frankie asked. "Don"t you want to know your future?"

"No, not particularly. I prefer to be surprised. It makes life more interesting."