Page 61 of Dark Awakening: Hidden Currents

"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 hedidn'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 inThe 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.

44

ROB

"Ithink I need another drink," Rob murmured. "Or maybe an appointment with a shrink."

"I can help you with the first one." Margo pushed to her feet.

Toven just regarded him with amusement dancing in his blue eyes. "I know that it's a lot to be exposed to and process, but I suggest that you suspend your disbelief until I'm done."

Rob swallowed.

So far, he had seen Toven's skin start and stop glowing on demand, and he also saw the guy's fangs. Unless this was the strangest dream he'd ever had or he was hallucinating, Toven was really an alien from a race of alien beings who called themselves gods.

Also, Margo was not disputing a word he'd said.

Maybe it was all true?

"My sister vouches for you, and Margo is not easily fooled. I'm listening."

"Good." Toven seemed relieved. "So here is how the induction process works for males. It requires a fight with an immortal. The goal isn't to win, as immortals are much stronger than humans. Still, the resistance you put up needs to be enough to trigger the production of venom in the immortal's glands. When he bites you, and the venom enters your system, it triggers the activation of your immortal genes. It doesn't always work with the first bite, and sometimes the process has to be repeated, but at least you don't need to worry about not having the genes. Since your sister turned immortal, there is no doubt that you will turn as well. You share the same mother, right?"

"We do." Rob frowned. "Can our mother be activated as well? Given what you have told me so far, she should also be a Dormant."

"It's risky at her age," Mia said. "And since for females, the bite is not enough and sex with an immortal is also required, it's problematic because I doubt your father would be okay with that."

Suspension of disbelief was getting more and more difficult, but Rob had promised Toven that he would try. "Why is sex required? Is it because females can't put up a decent enough fight to trigger an immortal's aggression?"

Toven laughed. "It's not about a female's inability to put up a fight. There was one case of a male who aggravated an immortal into producing venom by reciting vile poetry, so physical strength is not the issue. It's just that we are programmed not to respond that way to females, no matter what they do. We produce aggressive venom only in response to male aggression, and we produce erotic venom in response to desire, mostly toward females, but I assume that for some, the response is the same toward males they find desirable."

"That could get confusing," Mia murmured. "I mean between two males who are into each other. What if they get into a fight?"

"I wouldn't know," Toven admitted. "But I agree that this is an interesting question. My guess is that when desire and love are involved, the venom produced can only be the erotic kind."

"I'm exclusively into women," Rob said, to make sure they were all on the same page. "Who do I need to fight and when?"