Page 70 of Dark Gambit: The Play

"True," Syssi said. "But since we invited Aliyah and Vrog into our community, we need to find out for their sake. What if they have children, and they are born human? They would need to know whether their children can be activated."

53

MARCEL

Marcel collected everything that the team of bioinformaticians had been working on, scanned it, emailed it to William, and destroyed the documents.

After that was done, he disconnected all the servers, locked up the lab, and headed back to Emmett's cottage.

Kian's call caught him when he was entering the cottage.

"Hello, Kian."

"Where are you now?"

"I'm about to enter the bunker. Why?"

"We need to question Sofia again. Turner's team wasn't able to reach the compound with the map she drew for Toven. The fourth river has strong rapids, and they are waiting for more equipment to cross it. She mentioned tunnels, and we believe that she knows where to find the entrances. We also need her to draw us a layout of the compound. Once we have the locations of the entrances to the tunnels, we plan on sending spiders to collect information. Between the layout she draws for us and what the spiders transmit, we will have a better idea of what we are dealing with. Get Eleanor and have her compel Sofia to cooperate."

She wasn't going to like it, but it was necessary.

"What are you planning to do?" he asked.

"Nothing yet. We are debating the benefits versus the pitfalls of capturing a pureblood and pumping him for information, and we haven't decided yet whether the risks outweigh the benefit or vice versa. If we could manage to do that without Igor being any the wiser, then it's a no-brainer, but it doesn't seem feasible. The moment he gets a whiff of anything being amiss, he could flee, or he could retaliate against Sofia's family, and we promised her not to endanger them."

"I see. I wish I had some insight to offer, but I don't."

"You're not a strategist, Marcel. I only shared our deliberations with you because of your involvement with Sofia."

That was the opening he needed to ask Kian's permission to tell her the truth about them, but it was bad timing to bring it up. Nevertheless, he had to do it. He might have induced her already, and if Kian didn't allow him to tell her about her potential transition, he should start using protection and make up a good reason for why it was suddenly needed.

"Thank you for keeping me informed. I also have something I need to discuss with you."

"I know. You think that Sofia might be a Dormant, and you want to try to induce her transition."

That was a relief.

Kian had probably spoken with Bridget, and even if he hadn't, it must have occurred to him that the rare daughter of a hybrid mother and human father might be a Dormant.

"I wouldn't have brought it up if it weren't urgent, but we’d been intimate twice before it occurred to me that Sofia might be a Dormant, and since she's on birth control, we didn't use protection."

"Bridget told us that you called her, and we decided that it's a good opportunity to find out whether a child of a hybrid Kra-ell female can be induced by an immortal male. Did you ask her if she had sex with any of the purebloods or hybrids?"

"The same thing occurred to me, but when I asked her, she insisted that she didn't. She said that rape was not condoned in the compound, and that she had the right to refuse, but I don't think she told me the truth. Sofia emits very little in terms of emotional scents, so I can't tell by that, but she averted her eyes when she said that. It was either a lie or a half-truth."

"She might have special status in the compound," Syssi said in the background. "Because of her being a rare daughter of a hybrid female. It's also possible that her mother and or her grandfather are important members of Igor's community."

"That's possible." Marcel rubbed the back of his neck. "The same thought had occurred to me, but I was afraid of being biased and looking for explanations that would validate Sofia's statement."

"Refusing a female's invitation was considered a great affront in Jade's community," Kian said. "I assume that to refuse a male's invitation in Igor's carries the same stigma. I don't see how human or even hybrid females can refuse without suffering the consequences. You can ask Eleanor to make Sofia answer that truthfully."

Sofia was going to hate him for it, but they had to know. "What about telling her about us? Do I have permission to tell her our history and why I think she can be induced?"

"As I said, we want to find out whether that's possible, but we don't want to do that without her consent or her knowledge. We all know the law, and I don't think Edna would let it slide if we forgo asking for Sofia's consent, even taking into account the special circumstances. Besides, Sofia is not going back whether she transitions or not. She already knows too much, and we can't release her. We will have to fake her death, and she will have to be confined to the village. Like it or not, you are stuck with her for as long as she lives."

"I don't have a problem with that, but Sofia might, especially after I get Eleanor to interrogate her about her sex life. She might not want to have anything to do with me ever again."

"If she's your truelove mate, she'll forgive you. It is what it is, though, so let's make the best of it. If she refuses to be with you, we will get her accommodations elsewhere, and find her something to do. There are plenty of jobs available in the village for anyone willing to do them."