Page 28 of Dark Gambit: The Play

"I wonder if she knows the kind of monster he is," Mia said. "We know that the purebloods don't share information even with the hybrids, let alone the humans in their community, so Sofia might not be aware of what he did to Jade's tribe and possibly to others as well. Maybe if we tell her, she will be more inclined to talk."

Toven took his mate's hand. "It's not her reluctance that I'm worried about. What I'm worried about is that he might be a stronger compeller than I am, and that I will need your enhancing powers to break through his compulsion. I'm also worried about what it will do to Sofia's mind."

It was inconceivable that anyone could be stronger than a god. The Kra-ell were less evolved than the gods, and it didn't make sense that one of them was more powerful than Toven.

But then Navuh, who was the immortal equivalent of a hybrid, shouldn't be such a strong compeller, and yet he was.

"Is Navuh more powerful than you?" Julian asked, giving voice to Marcel's thoughts.

"He wasn't stronger than me back when I still knew him, but five thousand years later, he might be. Power grows with age."

"So yours grew as well," Mia said. "If you were stronger then, you should be stronger now."

"It isn't an exact progression, and Navuh has used his ability much more extensively than I have. I wouldn't be surprised if he grew stronger than me."

If that was true, it could partially explain why the Kra-ell leader was so powerful. He used his talent a lot. But on the other hand, he couldn't be as old as either Toven or Navuh.

Unless he was a god, and that was unlikely.

Or was it?

"Who did you inherit your compulsion ability from?" Mia asked. "No one ever mentioned Ekin being a compeller."

"He wasn't, but his brother Ahn was, and so was Mortdh. Since Ahn and Ekin only shared a father and so did Mortdh and I, the common compeller ancestor must have been our paternal grandfather."

"Who was he?" Julian asked.

"I never met him." Toven pushed to his feet. "Anyone want coffee?"

Marcel had a feeling that Toven knew very well who his grandfather was but didn't want to share the information with them, or even with his mate, which was odd.

What was he hiding?

"I'll make it." One of the Guardians got off the couch. "There is a pod machine in the kitchen. Who likes it strong?"

"I do." Marcel lifted his hand.

After the Guardian had collected everyone's preferences, Marcel decided to voice his improbable hypothesis. "Igor is supposedly a pureblooded Kra-ell, which means that he can't be more than a thousand years old. It doesn't make sense that he's more powerful than a god, unless he's a god himself, or maybe a hybrid of a pureblooded Kra-ell and a god. If we assume that the Kra-ell came from the same place, and that they are a more primitive version of the gods, it's not such a big leap to consider that as a possibility."

Toven's brows dipped low. "It actually makes sense. When I was trying to break through Igor's compulsion, and Sofia kept resisting mine, I wondered how it was possible for a Kra-ell to be a more powerful compeller than I am. I'm aware that they are physically very strong, but they shouldn't possess more powerful mind manipulation abilities than those of the gods. If they do, we are in even deeper trouble than Kian or I have ever considered."

"Why is that?" Mia asked. "What else can a god do?"

Toven smiled. "Do you want me to reveal all of my secrets?"

She laughed. "It was a rhetorical question. We all know that gods can manipulate minds, and the stronger the god, the more minds he or she can manipulate at once. But you can't conjure an explosion, manifest rain, cause a flood, or any such things. You can only cause people to think that those things are happening, and we know how to block compulsion with those special earpieces."

"Compulsion can be blocked, but thralling and shrouding cannot unless you are immune. If Igor can thrall as well as compel, our people will have no defense against him."

Mia frowned. "Can't you shield us? You and Annani combined should be able to do that, right?"

Toven shook his head. "It's not something that I’ve ever tried doing, and neither has Annani. I don't know how."

19

KIAN

"Did it work?" Syssi turned on her side.