Page 103 of Dark Gambit Reliance

KIAN

Kian suspected that the gods had something to do with the disease that targeted the animals. They were experts in genetic manipulation, so creating a virus that would selectively affect just the larger hot-blooded animals that the Kra-ell fed on shouldn't have been much of a challenge, and that was how they had secured a slave workforce.

Nasty.

The gods who had been sent to Earth had obviously lacked that ability. Otherwise, they wouldn't have sent a flood to cull the spread of humans. They would have sent a virus.

The angle at which Yamanu's phone was recording the conversation provided him a good view of Jade and Toven, the coffee table, and Yamanu's huge feet. The others were not on the screen.

His phone had the camera off and was muted, so he and Turner could talk while listening to Jade's story.

"Did the animals ever recover?" Sofia asked as she bent over to refill Toven's cup with fresh coffee.

"Eventually, they did." Jade lifted the cup for Sofia to pour into. "But it took a very long time for the animal population to sufficiently replenish its numbers to feed the Kra-ell population, especially since that population had nearly doubled in size since the gods took over their lives. There were no more tribal wars, and the gods didn't permit duels to the death except on special holidays, so there was nothing to cull the male population. The gods were happy to accommodate the additional workforce, and the growing disparity between males and females didn't bother them.

"On the contrary, they used it to get better control over the males. It's also possible that the gods did something to alter our genetics, so we produced many more males than females and blamed it on nature. At that stage in our history, we were under their complete control."

"Whose history is that?" Toven asked. "I assume that the gods would try to put a more positive spin on these events and portray themselves as the benevolent saviors of the Kra-ell."

Jade cast him a smile. "You are absolutely right. My story might have led you to believe that it all happened during one lifetime, but it spans hundreds of thousands of years. You won't find this version in their recorded history, but at some point the Kra-ell started recording their own history, and the gods who were opposed to slavery recorded their opinions as well. Not that I got to read any of them, but I was told that they still exist but are difficult to access."

"Like the Vatican documents?" Sofia asked.

"Not exactly," Jade said. "Even though the gods were ruled by a king, they pretended to be a democratic society, and things got voted on by an elected council. But they had a way of dealing with those who disagreed with the majority. Those rebel recordings were deemed dangerous propaganda threatening the peaceful coexistence between the gods and the Kra-ell, and they were eliminated from all official publications."

"The Kra-ell were physically stronger," Yamanu said. "They were a warrior race that probably chafed at being captive. Didn't they try to rebel?"

Kian had a feeling that he knew the answer to that, and it had to do with the Odus.

"In the beginning, the Kra-ell depended on the gods' synthetic blood to survive, so they didn't rebel. Those who did were dealt with harshly, but their biggest hold on the Kra-ell males was the females. Only the adult males were employed by the gods, while the females and the children were kept in seclusion, supposedly for their own good." Jade's lips twisted in a grimace. "The official explanation was that the underground cities of the gods were not suitable for the young Kra-ell, who needed the outdoors to thrive. The unofficial reason was that the gods didn't want the two races to mix. The Kra-ell didn't want that either, but the gods' council feared that some of the gods might try to seduce Kra-ell females, and it was better not to allow them free access."

"What about the other way around?" Toven asked. "Didn't they fear that the goddesses would seduce the Kra-ell males?"

Jade shrugged. "For some reason, they weren't concerned with that."

Kian suspected that the mate addiction worked differently at the beginning, affecting only the female gods, but not the males.

"Anyway," Jade continued. "By keeping the females and children out of the underground cities and in special above-ground reservations, the gods had full control over the males. If they misbehaved, they didn't get access to their females, and if they did something really bad, the gods would take it out on their families."

"What did they do to the families?" Sofia asked in a near whisper.

Kian wanted to know that too.

"They limited their supply of synthetic blood." Jade's eyes flickered red. "They starved them."

74

JADE

Tom looked doubtful. "Was that also in the historical records?"

"It was implied, but I don't have proof." She glared at him. "I don't have any proof for any of the things I'm telling you, so you are free to choose what you want to believe."

She was too tired and too hyped up at the same time to play games. If he wanted to believe that his people weren't capable of such cruelty, it was his prerogative.

"I believe you," he surprised her. "They were capable of much worse."

"The flood," Yamanu murmured. "Everyone thinks that it was a natural phenomenon and that the gods just used it to their advantage to cull the human population, but even if it was nature's doing, they could have warned people to seek higher ground."