Rufsur smirked. “You see? There isn’t a single reason you can think of for why we are a threat to your clan.”
“If you take away our females, you are.”
“But you’ll get some of us in exchange.”
“That also worries me.”
24
Rufsur
Rufsur wasn’t a psychologist, but he had no doubt that Edna’s fear was rooted in her loss.
She was a rational woman, and yet she relied on a gut feeling that had nothing to do with reality. She’d lost Robbie in one of those skirmishes between clans, and his death was the result of betrayal. Edna hadn’t elaborated, but she’d said that Robbie had been trying to negotiate a peace treaty, so the betrayal had been perpetrated by the neighboring clan members pretending to come in peace, and not by some random attackers.
Rufsur didn’t know much about Scottish history, but he’d seen enough examples of the same tactics in other parts of the world. In that respect, Edna was right. The best way to ensure her people’s safety was to stay isolated and make it unwise for anyone to dare to attack them. The second best was to hide really well, so no one knew where to find them.
The clan had no chance against the Brotherhood, so their best tactic was to remain hidden. But what about Kalugal and his men?
There were too few of them to be a threat to the clan, which made it unwise for them to try anything. But Edna wasn’t thinking logically, she was thinking with her heart, which still bore the scars from her loss.
The thing with smart people was that they could rationalize their irrational fears, as well as their aspirations, with perfectly logical reasons and convince themselves that they were right.
Kalugal was an excellent example of that.
He wanted to rule the world, so he convinced himself that he could do a better job of keeping everyone fed and happy than all of humanity’s leadership combined.
Maybe he was right, but Rufsur wasn’t sure about that. As smart and as powerful as Kalugal was, he was just one man. That was good enough to lead their small group, but not to lead billions of humans. Even Navuh, the ultimate despot, had advisors and didn’t do everything himself.
But that was another problem altogether.
Right now, Rufsur needed to address the one in front of him, and the best way to convince a smart woman that her gut was mistaken was to show her proof to the contrary.
“You probed me. You know that we don’t harbor any malevolent intentions toward your clan.”
“I know that you don’t, but that doesn’t mean that your boss has no such plans.”
“Kalugal shares everything with me.”
Edna sighed. “The other problem is that my sensors are not as infallible as I thought. Jacki’s friend Wendy, a nineteen-year-old girl who was a human at the time, managed to fool me. She hid her nefarious intentions under a mountain of pain and suffering, knowing that I would get stuck on that and not dig any deeper.”
“That’s clever. But I’m an open book. You said so yourself.” He lifted her hand and kissed it. “I’m a simple man, Edna, and I’m honest.” Or as honest as he could be without revealing secrets that weren’t his own.
Pulling away from him, Edna turned to face him and crossed her arms over her chest. “I was wondering about something. What do Kalugal’s men actually do? I mean besides training and securing his mansion.”
“That’s a big part of their job.”
“But not all of it.”
“Well, he has to keep them busy doing other stuff.”
“What is that other stuff?”
“Gathering information.”
He really didn’t want to get into it because Edna might figure out what Kalugal needed that information for.
“On what?”
Damn.
“Everything worth knowing. He can’t do it all himself, and he likes to have his finger on the pulse of the world. They search for information about new technologies, political and social changes around the world, interesting scientific discoveries, astronomical discoveries, artifacts, and whatever else that catches their attention.”
Her pinched expression relaxed. “Fascinating. Do they prepare briefs for him?”
“It depends. They give him the high points, and he chooses what he wants to get more information about. When it’s something he is interested in, he digs in himself.”
“The more you tell me about Kalugal, the more fascinated by him I become. He must have a treasure trove of information.”
“He does.”
Rufsur frowned. Kalugal would have made a much better mate for Edna than he would, but fortunately he was no longer on the market.
“Just don’t get too excited. He’s taken.”
“Oh, Rufsur.” Edna reached for his hand and clasped it. “I find him intellectually intriguing, but I would never be attracted to a guy like Kalugal. He’s not my type.”
He arched a brow. “Oh, yeah? So, who’s your type?”
“You are.”
He shook his head. “That doesn’t compute, judge. You are a well-educated woman, an intellectual who’s interested in many of the same things Kalugal is. Why would you be attracted to a simple guy like me?”
“You are not as simple as you pretend to be.”
“I assure you. With me, what you see is what you get.”
Edna looked down at their joined hands. “Robbie was a lot like you. He was upbeat, straightforward, cocky as hell, loyal to a fault, and fun to be with. If I ever fall in love again, it would be with someone like him.”
Rufsur smirked. “You mean like me.”
She lifted her eyes. “I can’t fall in love with you.”
Leaning, he wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her to his lap. “But you are already in lust with me, and for now, that will do.”
25
Kian
“That was pleasant.” Amanda stretched her arms over her head. “I like Kalugal.”
Even though it had indeed been a pleasant evening, with Kalugal entertaining them with stories about the various artifacts he’d collected over the years, Kian was glad that it was over, and he could finally relax.
“Yes, it was,” Syssi said. “He is so charming, and he’s so knowledgeable about so many things.” She handed Amanda a fresh cup of cappuccino.
“Thank you.” Amanda took a small sip and sighed. “This is good, Syssi. You are the best barista in town.” She put the cup down and chuckled. “All throughout dinner, I kept wondering whether I would ever be able to eat goat cheese in front of Kalugal.”
Kian waved a dismissive hand. “After the demonstration at Richard’s induction ceremony, he knows that Annani can not only override his compulsion, but can compel him as well. He’ll figure out that she did that.”
“I know. But I don’t want him to know that it was a test, and I also don’t want him to think that I have no willpower and couldn’t abstain from cheese even with him compelling me not to crave it.”
“Then I guess that whenever Kalugal is invited, there will be no goat cheese on the menu.”