Page 60 of Dark Awakening: Hidden Currents
A lone figure stood atop a dune, the form wavering in the heat haze. At first, Syssi thought it was a man, but as the vision coalesced, she realized that the shape under the loose desert garb was feminine. The turban was male, though, as was the clothing.
Was the woman pretending to be a man?
It made sense. A female alone in those parts of the world would not survive for long.
As if her thoughts got the woman to reconsider her position, her form started to waver, but before she disappeared, she turned, and suddenly, Syssi was right in front of her and could see her face, or rather her eyes, which were the only part of her face that was not covered with a frayed scarf. They were big, brown, and had golden flakes swirling inside of them.
They were familiar, but before Syssi could remember where she had seen them before, the female disappeared.
The sun began to set, painting the sky in breathtaking hues of orange, pink, and purple. The temperature dropped rapidly, and Syssi could almost feel the chill settling over the land. Stars began to appear in the darkening sky, more numerous and brilliant than she had ever seen in the city.
The vision began to fade, the desert landscape dissolving like a mirage, but the impression of that harsh, beautiful land and the mysterious woman lingered in Syssi's mind.
Suddenly, everything stilled, the kaleidoscope collapsing into a single point, and reality rushed back in.
43
ROB
Rob 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 aremany 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?