Immortals in The Everything – Look Inside

The Turned Gods – Book 2

It had been over a year since Grace had seen this place. The last time she had was vague as the morning after a dream. The sun wasn’t up yet as she strolled over the newly paved path. She relished the walk down to the retention pond beyond the vineyard’s west field. Vivienne had built a grand event hall there replacing the tiny tasting shack. She hadn’t seen it yet, but that wasn’t the purpose of her visit at this early hour. This was likely the last time she would see the sunrise from here. Thermos and blanket in hand, she set off, determined to enjoy some alone time. She veered off the paved portion of the path where it would turn left toward the new facility. Taking an old familiar trail cutting through a small grove of trees, she moved along, winding down to the small beach built around the water.

The grass was moist with dew but not too slippery to walk down the slope. This side of the beach was dark, but she could still see everything, including her favorite bench. It faced directly across the water toward the mountains in the west and was more of a stone chaise than a typical bench. The surface was wide and smooth, formed of gray concrete that curved with high back rests on the short sides to lounge against. She could see signs of early snow high in the peaks. Although it was late summer, you couldn’t tell by the brisk air gently blowing at this early hour.

She stretched out on the bench, pulling the soft, thick blanket across her legs. Steam rose, carrying the thick, decadent scent of strong-brewed coffee, as she took the lid off the thermos to pour the hot liquid into the cup-style lid. Sipping slowly, she closed her eyes and listened to insects and frogs waking up before dawn. She remembered loving this place. Her memories were indistinct and vivid at the same time. More like watching a movie than a genuine memory. What she clearly recalled was feeling at peace on this bench. A peace that would be in short supply for the next two days. It was a happy time as well as a hectic one, and she wanted to take advantage of the silence while she could. The sky in front of her was melting from black into a deep royal blue, while overhead seeped into azure.

The direction she was facing, sunrise would be behind her. She sometimes wondered why so few people took the opportunity to watch the sun rising from behind them. Regular sunrises were beautiful, but the other side was interesting. The way the tops of the mountains took on a deep orange hue, melting pink, then slowly turning bright gold before landing on their own unique blend of daylight colors. The valley was still dark. Intricate patterns of shadow crept down the sides of the mountain, behind trees and through crevasses, while the sky above lightened to morning blue. The night dwellers turned in while other creatures became active when the sun slid across the valley floor toward her. Deep-green summer grass glistened with dew, sparkling like a carpet of emeralds. The beach shimmered like diamonds. The water, sapphires. Finally, she could feel the warmth of the sun on her back.

Ivan had asked her if leaving was the right thing to do. She wondered herself sometimes if she could have done anything more for humans. They had already been given so much at the beginning. They had all the tools to become an egalitarian society, but they never arrived at that goal; not as a whole planet, anyway. Their strong division led her to doubt their ability to ever evolve. Maybe as her light spread throughout the planet, they would be able to see how much they needed to come together for their own survival. She couldn’t worry about that anymore. She had to focus on the Rasan people now. They were the key to providing balance in this universe so that every species had an opportunity to survive.

She wanted to sit a little longer before heading up to the venue to see what tasks Vivienne needed help with. Vivienne was so different now. Without memories of her friendship with Grace, she had become stuffy and formal. It was upsetting for Grace to see her this way. The one thing that hadn’t changed at all was her need to be in control.

Grace could already hear some of the setup crew making their way up the narrow road to the event hall. She also caught a very familiar scent approaching.

“What are you doing down here watching the wrong way?” Violet teased.

Viewing the sunrise backward had always been their thing. The only problem was, Violet didn’t remember. Even as a little girl, Grace would take her down to special places wherever they lived, holding her in her lap to watch the world wake up. That was a lifetime ago for Grace. In a timeline Violet didn’t have.

In the new present, Grace had still been her blood nurse. She was still her godmother, and she was still close to both of the girls. She wasn’t as close with Vivienne and had to remind herself constantly not to call her Viv. Grace wasn’t a member of the family anymore, at least not in the way she had been. She wasn’t Aunt Grace, and she had never lived with them. Violet and Grace worked together on community projects and incorporating clean blood, or CB, into their wines. Mostly, she only came to the vineyard when she was working with Lukkas on a contract or to move investments.

“I love watching the sunrise. I thought I had told you that,” Violet said, sitting at the other end of the bench, pulling half of Grace’s blanket across her lap. “There’s just something so comforting about it.”

“I thought you’d be overwhelmed with everything going on today. Figured I’d let you sleep in. Besides, I thought you were coming back to turn over the Napa office after the ceremonies.” Grace offered her the cup, which Violet took.

“Uncle Luke is going to do the turnover. He agreed to stay another year or so, tying everything up. No reason for me to stay.” She handed the cup back after drinking half the liquid.

“Jack will be happy about you staying on Rasa. He doesn’t enjoy using the port to come back here. Now I am sorry I didn’t wake you,” Grace smiled. “At least we’ll be up for the sunrise on Rasa tomorrow. Well, you will anyway. I may still be locked in.” Grace was glad to be getting settled in her role on their new planet. There was still a lot of construction going on, but it was all coming together very nicely.

“I’ll be happy, too. I can’t wait to see our quarters. Jack says they’re very well appointed.” Violet preferred clean lines and monochromatic color schemes in a living environment. The real personal touches were in the art—accessories and a few well-placed decorative furniture pieces—anyway. Grace’s design style was much the same.

“They are, you’ll like them. Very sleek, but comfortable at the same time. Not sure your mother is going to be a fan. She’ll probably bring stockpiles of old junk to fill her quarters. Although surprisingly, your wedding ceremony has an air of simple sophistication. The theme must have been your decision, then?”

“You’re kidding, right? Mother has had every detail of this planned well before I was born. I didn’t get to make a single decision for either ceremony. The wedding is for Jack’s family and the mating is for my mother, since she never got to have one of her own. If it were up to me, we wouldn’t be doing any of this in public.”

“Well, you got one decision. You got to pick your dress for the first ceremony.”

“True, but only because you convinced Mother that an all-white wedding with the bride in scarlet and black was something Jack’s family would flip out over. I’m the only one not in white today.”

Grace smirked at her. “Well, should you be? I mean … really?” Grace taunted.

“Probably not.” They both laughed. “I do love the dress I ended up with. And we’re saving the scarlet one for the mating ritual, so it’s not going to waste.” Violet shrugged.

“I hope no one gets the ceremonies confused. An all-white wedding and an all-black mating. I’m sure Vivienne has a contingency plan for any mix-ups, though.”

“My mother has contingency plans for her contingency plans. She made us wait nearly a full extra year because midnight here and midnight there line up exactly today. She will have three hours to coordinate getting everyone who isn’t going to the mating out and everyone who is going changed and ported over. Both facilities have been set up for days. She has a time chart posted by the port as well as written on the inside of the guests’ place cards so they don’t miss their allotted slot.” Violet nonchalantly waved her hand toward the event hall, where the temporary port was set up in the wine cellar.

Grace shook her head. “There’s nothing wrong with having an efficient plan. Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere by now?”

“Let’s see. It’s six thirty-five now. I have hair and makeup at two in room A. Four o’clock wedding, an hour for pictures, five thirty reception, six thirty dinner, nine o’clock start moving guests, ten o’clock Jack and I depart for our ‘honeymoon.’” Violet used air quotes. “Midnight, I snap Jack’s neck.” Violet took a deep breath and let it out quickly. “I’m free as a bird before that. What about you? Any assignments today?”

“Surprisingly, no. I’m scheduled for hair and makeup right before you at one in room A. Asta’s with me, so Viv must be with you.”

“Nope. I’ve got Ella with me.” Violet pulled out her copy of the schedule from her jacket pocket.

Ella was one of Violet’s closest and oldest friends. They worked together at the Napa offices. If Asta hadn’t been her maid of honor, Ella would have been. Grace didn’t know Ella well. She hadn’t been Violet’s assistant in the other timeline.

“The rest of the bridesmaids are in room B, starting at one. I don’t have Mother on my schedule at all.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. I can guarantee you every second of her day is scheduled somewhere. Want to go up to the hall and see if they need any help?”

“Oh, you haven’t seen it yet, have you? We can walk up if you really want, but it’s best to stay out of the way. An offer of help to my mother is an insult of monumental proportions. Besides, she knows how to reach out to you if she needs to. My vote is we stay clear of that place until we are summoned.” Violet’s eyes grew wide in an exaggerated, ominous expression.

Grace searched her thoughts for a second. “True. And anyway, Ivan and Lukkas are with her now.” She giggled as she felt Ivan roll his eyes. “They’re getting instructions on the groomsmen’s schedules and the seating assignments for the ushers. Wouldn’t want to seat Ami next to a devout Christian, now would we?”

Violet shot her a nervous look. “Like Jack’s Aunt JoAnn? Can you imagine?”

“Don’t worry. Ami will be with Ben.”

“That’s a new twist. I thought they hated each other.”

“It took a lot of convincing for Ami to realize Ben was protecting me. They get along well enough now.”

“Hmm. Ty is going to be here too, so we may have to sequester them away from any humans if they get excessively loud,” Violet offered.

“You may want to warn your mother about that. She may need to port them early.” Grace felt that would be a decent solution.

“Yeah, right. I’m going to suggest something to her?” Violet replied with sarcasm. “I’m sure she has it on lock. She’s briefing Lukkas and Ivan on the ushers’ seating assignments, for heaven’s sake!”

Violet sat upright, speaking forcefully while pointing toward the hall. “The ushers are service units, Grace! They’re programmed with the chart. Lukkas isn’t even involved with the ushers or groomsmen, and Ivan is performing the ceremony. Why would they need to have this briefing?” She craned her neck and shrugged.

“Before you answer that, they don’t. It’s all about the ridiculous amount of control my mother needs to have over everything. The best advice I can give you is to nod your head, agree, and stay out of the way. That’s what I’m planning on doing today. Why else do you think I’m down here?”

Grace gave Violet a mock-sad look, sticking out her lower lip a bit. “Aww, and here I thought you wanted to spend time with me.”

Violet gave her a shove that nearly took her off the bench. Grace grabbed Violet’s arm to keep balanced as they both burst out laughing again.

“I’m starving. Let’s go see what Mrs. B has laid out for breakfast.” Grace hadn’t realized how hungry she was.

The sunrise had been a lovely start to the day. Time alone with Violet had made it even better. They had become good friends over the last year. It wasn’t the relationship they had before. It was different. They were more equal. As they walked up the hill toward the house, Grace thought to herself, Let the chaos begin.

They entered the house through the side door and made their way down the long hall. The smell of freshly baked pastries and bacon drew them toward the large kitchen. When they took the last turn at the end of the corridor, Grace rubbed her temples, sorting out the déjà vu sensation that had overtaken her. It was exactly as she remembered, yet completely different. It had been updated recently, but not in the modern style with the marble slab counters she had pictured in her head. The style was more old world. Warm, ornate, and colorful. The counters were black granite. White marble was only used on the center island, while Grace had remembered it being on all the counters. The commercial-grade refrigerator was paneled in dark oak to melt into the cabinets. The stove was huge, made of shiny black cast iron, and gas burning, with a flat griddle in the center. It was along the far wall next to the double ovens, not on the island. The steel farm sink was the size of a small bathtub, with a tall spray faucet set out from the wall. Vivienne had decorated the deep-green walls with a myriad of wine-centric paraphernalia. The backsplash was tiled in a hazy large blue-and-orange Mediterranean stone. It was very Vivienne. Old Italy, rich and deep. There was no glass folding wall. In its place was a set of French doors flanked by two sets of tall glass panes on either side. The word that came to Grace’s mind was “provincial.” Grace was snapped out of her abstraction by a welcome, familiar voice.

“Come here and let me inspect you, little missy.” Mrs. B. approached Grace with her arms out wide. “Snuck in here in the midnight, did ya now?”

Grace hugged her affectionately. Mrs. B. was both motherly and stern. She treated everyone equally, putting on airs for no one.

“It’s been a long time. I’ve missed your hugs.”

“It appears you’ve missed my cooking, too. Look how skinny you are.” She stepped back, still holding Grace’s hands, and proceeded to scrutinize her up and down. Grace had lost no weight, and suspected it was Mrs. B’s excuse to fill her stomach, which was the one way she knew how to show love. “Sit. Let me get you something.”

Violet offered her help. “Let me get it, Mrs. B. I’m sure you have a list of assignments from Mother.”

“Humph. I have my side of things under control. Don’t you worry about that. You two sit and let me enjoy your company before all hell breaks loose around here. Eggs? Waffles? What can I get for you?”

“Just fruit and a little oatmeal for me, please. I have a dress to squeeze into.” Violet didn’t want an enormous meal before strapping into a hard-corseted gown.

“And you have eight hours before you have to put it on. You’ll eat what I bring you. Don’t want you passing out up there. What about you, Grace? Anything special?”

Grace already knew Mrs. B. would bring her a massive plate no matter what she asked for. “Anything with bacon.”

“Good answer.”

They continued to talk as Mrs. B. filled their plates full of eggs, bacon, and her special breakfast muffins. They also each got coffee and oatmeal with fruit. As they conversed, the staff swirled around, ducking quickly in and out of the room. Mrs. B. intermittently called out orders about what went where and who was supposed to do which tasks. She never lost her huge smile the entire time. She was quite pleased with the additional service staff Vivienne had hired for the wedding. They were incredibly professional. She never had to tell them anything twice. Little did she suspect they were service units on loan from Rasa. They were completely undetectable from humans. At least not by other humans. Any immortal would know the difference immediately.

While they had genetic material overlays, real heartbeats to circulate nanite-infused fluid, and breathing that allowed for internal cooling, detecting scents, and evaluating atmosphere, they emitted a mildly synthetic scent.

Mrs. B. knew a little of what was going on. Instead of knowing the family was going to relocate to another world, she believed they were going back to Italy. Galin would stay on for the five-year transition planned by the Board and the Council. He would take Ivan’s place as Regent and establish a stable government for the few who chose to remain. Vivienne would travel back and forth to support him while also establishing their new home on Rasa. Lukkas would be here for another year or two to ensure properties and assets not sold off by the clans would be transferred to the remaining members. They wanted to ensure their financial security, and who better to do that than Lukkas?

Vito would be staying. He didn’t feel as if he fit into the new world. He would eventually go back and take over the small vineyard the family still had in Italy. Asta had initially been planning to stay on until after the fall harvest, then travel back and forth as her mother would until Galin joined them. She hadn’t yet informed her parents that Lukkas had agreed to oversee the harvest, so she didn’t plan to return.

Today was the real beginning. After the ceremony, many would never come back. All of Ben’s people had migrated months ago. The new immortals on Rasa would take longer as many of them still had ties outside their clans. Once they took that final step over the threshold, they were all Rasans. No more Æsir. No more vampires. They were all one people.

The remainder of the morning was very relaxing for both Violet and Grace. Violet was obviously the center of attention. Grace also held a prominent position in the festivities. She was the sacrifice for the turning ceremony. It was only a symbolic position now, but it gave her a special place. She would also receive gifts and be treated like royalty. She was to be placed into the death chamber for Jack to feed from when he woke out of his death sleep. The new ceremony wouldn’t have a blood sacrifice and, hopefully, not even a need to take CB to complete the transition. Grace was still an important symbol of the old ways, and she needed to be there when he woke up. She needed to make sure if he did require blood or CB to complete the transition, he would be given only enough to become complete. She would also be responsible for calming him before presenting him to the rest of the guests. Newly turned vampires normally woke a little confused and overwhelmed by their greatly enhanced senses.

Asclepius had taken on the task of monitoring the turning. He was Apollo’s son and considered by humans to be the god of medicine. Apollo hadn’t stuck around long after the revelations from last year. He wasn’t much of a team player and at the last minute decided not to involve himself with the CB experiment, which had made Beivve livid. Apollo preferred flitting off on his own after creating as much dramatic impact as possible.

Asclepius came over at Grace’s request to help with the new way of transitioning. Beivve had objected, becoming highly offended she hadn’t been asked. It wasn’t that Grace didn’t like her. She had just known him longer.

Jack would be the first human turned without blood or CB. At least, that was the intent. He would also be the first turned Rasan on their new world. It was crucial to make sure they gathered as much data as possible during his procedure. Asclepius had already set the chamber and the ceremonial slab with sensors. He would be placing a monitor on Jack soon. Jack’s change could take anywhere from four hours to several days. No one was sure why there was so much variation in the process. Asclepius would try to find an answer to that question, as well as seeing how the change physically took place in real time.

Asclepius believed the next natural step would be to see if it was plausible to turn other immortals. The more who were able to turn, the more who would be able to spread Grace’s light signature by blood or bite. That was the goal. It had taken a long time for this dimension to get so far out of balance, and it would take a long time to bring it back into balance. The only other option was to abandon it and allow it to collapse. The problem with that was they didn’t know the full effect it would have on the remaining dimensions. It should have been several billion years away from collapse, and no one had any idea how it had gotten to this point. They needed to do whatever they could to save it. They needed to find out why it was collapsing so quickly.

Asclepius knew it wasn’t Nyx. She only spread darkness for balance with light. She had stayed out of this dimension since she noticed it going darker. Her daughters tried to bring the light forward here, but they couldn’t stay long enough and risk all the other dimensions. Maintaining balance had become a much bigger task than they could take on. It was a battle they were losing in several dimensions.

“Hellooooo.” Violet snapped her fingers in front of Grace. “What color?”

“Huh?” Grace looked up, pulled out of her thoughts.

“Your nails. What color?”

They were in a small day spa Vivienne had set up in the pool house. Grace had drifted off in the massage chair while getting a pedicure. She and Ivan had ported in last night sometime after two and she had been up at five thirty for the sunrise. Grace was caught off guard by how tired she was. She normally slept about four hours, sometimes five, so the nap had been refreshing, but she was still dragging.

“What color are you getting?” Grace asked.

Violet half smirked. “I thought blood red would be appropriate.”

“I’ll take the same then.” Grace watched as Helen, a personal service unit, popped the blood-red vial into the back of what looked to be a laser pen. She touched it to each nail, which was instantly colored and instantly dried. Grace seldom ever used colored polish, and she felt the shiny finish was a bit too glaring, although she liked the color. “Thank you, Helen. Can I get a matte finish on that?”

“Of course. Anything you wish,” Helen replied.

“Ooh. I like that idea,” Violet squealed. “Helen, please make sure all the bridesmaids have the same blood red with a matte finish. It will be perfect. Thanks, Grace.” She reached over and touched Grace’s arm, which was unusually warm. Slowly, she turned her gaze toward her.

“Grace, you don’t look so good, and you’re really warm. Are you feeling all right?” Violet was unsettled. Grace had never been “sick.” Injured, yes, but like this, no. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were a much deeper green than Violet had ever seen.

“I feel a little warm, but I thought it was just hot in here. I am tired. I need to ask Ivan if he’s feeling anything. Maybe it’s something we picked up on Rasa, although neither of us should be, nor have ever been, sick. Maybe I should call Leo.” Leo was what Asclepius preferred to be called. Since he was already here to place Jack’s monitor, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have him check her out.

Violet tried to hide a smile as the answer struck her. “Calling Leo wouldn’t be an awful idea, but I think I know what your problem is.”

“How could you possibly know what’s wrong with me? I’ve never been sick before. This is something I should be concerned about,” Grace retorted irritably.

“Yeah? You and Ivan merged last year, right?”

“Yes. What’s your point?”

Violet was still smiling. “You got all of our little vampy things like sight, hearing, scent.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “Yes. Again, what’s your point?”

“Well, hot, tired, irritable, lustful. Estrus.” Now Violet had a huge smile.

“No.” Grace glared back at her in disbelief. “No. It can’t be. I’m not ready for this. The timing could not be worse! Ivan and I haven’t even discussed it.”

“Better get to discussing it then. You have seven days, and who knows how long it will be until the next time? Could be a few decades, could be a century.”

Grace leaned forward, placing her head in her hands. She shook her head. She really wasn’t ready for this. It was too soon. She didn’t think she wanted more children. She didn’t know if Ivan wanted children. Even if they wanted a child, should they? They had no idea what they would produce. Nyx was a dark bringer, but two of her daughters were light bringers. What if they had a dark bringer? This dimension was too fragile for that. Her thoughts swirled. They only had seven days to decide. And what if they didn’t take the chance? They may have to wait centuries to have another. But why not wait a few centuries? She didn’t want children now. Maybe never. Why was it that every time she had her life in order, her feet got swept out from under her?

She sat up and leaned back in the chair. When she opened her eyes, Ivan was standing two feet in front of her. Of course, he heard her. How could he not have heard her? She could block everyone except for him.

He stared at her. He was blank. She couldn’t tell if he was happy, upset, or concerned. He was stunned silent. He didn’t have a single thought.

Violet looked back and forth between the two of them. “Well, this is awkward. I thought you’d be happy. I’d be happy.”

Grace didn’t break eye contact with Ivan. “Not a word, Violet. Not to anyone.”

Ivan held his hand out to help Grace out of the chair. “We should talk.”

Grace sighed as she stepped out of the chair without taking his hand. She wasn’t sure she could restrain herself if she touched him. She was still barefoot when Ivan opened the port.

Violet looked at the space where they had been standing and sighed. “I’d be thrilled,” she said, nodding to Helen.