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  Dark Operative

  A Glimmer of Hope

  I. T. Lucas

  The Children Of The Gods Book 18

  The Children of the Gods

  Kian & Syssi’s story

  1: Dark Stranger The Dream

  2: Dark Stranger Revealed

  3: Dark Stranger Immortal

  Dark Stranger Trilogy + Goddess part 1

  Amanda’s story

  4: Dark Enemy Taken

  5: Dark Enemy Captive

  6: Dark Enemy Redeemed

  Kri & Michael’s Story

  6.5: My Dark Amazon Novella

  Andrew’s Story

  7: Dark Warrior Mine

  8: Dark Warrior’s Promise

  9: Dark Warrior’s Destiny

  10: Dark Warrior’s Legacy

  Bhathian & Eva’s Story

  11: Dark Guardian Found

  12: Dark Guardian Craved

  13: Dark Guardian’s Mate

  Brundar & Calypso's Story

  14: Dark Angel's Obsession

  15: Dark Angel's Seduction

  16: Dark Angel's Surrender

  Turner' Story

  17: Dark Operative: A Shadow of Death

  18: Dark Operative: A Glimmer of Hope

  19: Dark Operative: The Dawn of Love

  Copyright

  Dark Operative: A Glimmer of Hope

  is a work of fiction!

  Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any similarity to actual persons, organizations and/or events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2018 by I. T. Lucas

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Prelude

  1. Chapter 1: Roni

  2. Chapter 2: Bridget

  3. Chapter 3: Turner

  4. Chapter 4: Roni

  5. Chapter 5: Bridget

  6. Chapter 6: Turner

  7. Chapter 7: Losham

  8. Chapter 8: Bridget

  9. Chapter 9: Turner

  10. Chapter 10: Bridget

  11. Chapter 11: Kian

  12. Chapter 12: Turner

  13. Chapter 13: Bridget

  14. Chapter 14: Turner

  15. Chapter 15: Robert

  16. Chapter 16: Sharon

  17. Chapter 17: Robert

  18. Chapter 18: Sharon

  19. Chapter 19: Robert

  20. Chapter 20: Bridget

  21. Chapter 21: Turner

  22. Chapter 22: Anandur

  23. Chapter 23: Bridget

  24. Chapter 24: Turner

  25. Chapter 25: Bridget

  26. Chapter 26: Turner

  27. Chapter 27: Syssi

  28. Chapter 28: Turner

  29. Chapter 29: Bridget

  30. Chapter 30: Kian

  31. Chapter 31: Losham

  32. Chapter 32: Turner

  33. Chapter 33: Bridget

  34. Chapter 34: Turner

  35. Chapter 35: Roni

  36. Chapter 36: Robert

  37. Chapter 37: Bridget

  38. Chapter 38: Turner

  39. Chapter 39: Bridget

  40. Chapter 40: Turner

  41. Chapter 41: Bridget

  42. Chapter 42: Robert

  43. Chapter 43: Sharon

  44. Chapter 44: Robert

  45. Chapter 45: Sharon

  46. Chapter 46: Kian

  47. Chapter 47: Bridget

  48. Chapter 48: Turner

  49. Chapter 49: Sharon

  50. Chapter 50: Robert

  51. Chapter 51: Turner

  52. Chapter 52: Robert

  53. Chapter 53: Turner

  54. Chapter 54: Robert

  55. Chapter 55: Turner

  56. Chapter 56: Sharon

  57. Chapter 57: Turner

  58. Chapter 58: Bridget

  59. Chapter 59: Turner

  60. Chapter 60: Bridget

  61. Chapter 61: Bridget

  62. Chapter 62: Turner

  The Children of the Gods

  Sneak Peek at my next book

  Prelude

  “Fuck!” The young man tore the headphones off his head.

  The operative was still alive.

  Even if he weren’t so familiar with Turner’s voice, he heard Sandoval call the fucker by name.

  With another curse, he hurtled the expensive headphones against the wall of the shed he’d been hiding in—his camouflaged command post, or rather listening post, because he commanded no one.

  Watching the expensive set shatter, pieces of broken plastic bouncing off the floor, brought no satisfaction. No remorse either. He could afford new ones. Hell, he could afford anything money could buy, but nothing was going to fill the big hole in his heart.

  Xavier was gone, and no amount of worldly riches was going to compensate for the loss.

  Someone had to pay. The burning need to avenge Xavier was the only thing that kept him going, but the idiots he’d hired hadn’t done their job.

  Fuck, he sucked at this.

  Xavier had been the brain of their operation. He would’ve known the right people to hire for the job, and he would’ve demanded proof of execution.

  A sob escaped the young man’s throat.

  He was such a failure. Avenging Xavier was the singular goal in his life, and yet he’d messed it up because he had no fucking clue what the hell he was doing, and there was no one to teach him. It wasn’t as if he could’ve learned this at the fancy university he’d gone to.

  Xavier was gone.

  It had been Xavier who had come up with what had seemed at the time such a simple plan, foolproof. The ransom money could’ve set them up for life. But they hadn’t counted on Sandoval hiring Turner, or on the hell the operative would unleash upon them.

  Xavier’s people were good, rough and tough gangsters who hadn’t been easy to take down, but Turner’s people were better. Ex-commandos, trained professional killers who as civilians were selling their murderous skills for money.

  What carnage. The blood and lifeless eyes were still vivid in his nightmares.

  After securing the hostage, there had been no need to go on a killing rampage. But the commandos had been instructed to make an example out of Xavier and his men so no one would dare mess with Sandoval again.

  Turner’s instructions, not Sandoval’s.

  The fucker was going to die even if it took years. The right opportunity to avenge Xavier would eventually present itself.

  It was karma.

  Chapter 1: Roni

  Roni wasn't sure what he’d expected to feel right out of transition, but it sure as hell wasn’t an underwhelming sense of sameness.

  He was still the old Roni. Same skinny arms peeking out from the sleeves of the hospital gown, same bony knees tenting the thin blanket, and the same flabby middle even though he was underweight. Without looking in the mirror it was hard to tell, but he had a feeling he’d lost even more weight and was scrawnier than ever.

  His hopes for waking up with an amazing new body were crushed.

  Except, if nothing had changed, why the hell was he so sore?

  Roni ached all over as if he’d spent days stretched on the rack. Skin, muscles, tendons, they all felt too tight for his skeleton.

  “You’re awake.” Dr. Bridget stated the obvious as she walked in and handed him a cup of water with a straw. “Congratulations. Welcome t
o immortality.”

  He looked at the paper cup. “Shouldn’t a toast be made with champagne?”

  “Pretend that it is.”

  Pushing himself back on the hospital bed, Roni gulped greedily, moistening his dry throat. He still hadn’t asked the most important question. “How long have I been out?”

  “Almost three days.”

  He whistled. “That long?”

  She nodded.

  “Fuck, Sylvia must be worried. Where is she?”

  “I sent her up to get some sleep.”

  Disappointing. He had fantasized about Sylvia watching over him throughout the transition.

  His expression must’ve revealed his thoughts because Bridget added, “We knew you were doing fine and that there was nothing to worry about.”

  “How did you know that I was? Three days in a coma doesn't sound okay to me.”

  Bridget smiled. “You were growing. That’s an excellent indicator that your body was working hard at transitioning. It needed to divert all its energy to the rapid growth.”

  Grimacing, Roni lifted his arm. “Does this look bigger to you?”

  She whipped out a measuring tape, wrapped it around his bicep, and noted the measurement on her tablet. “You lost three-quarters of an inch of muscle.”

  He let his arm plop at his side. “That’s what I thought.”

  “But.” Bridget lifted her hand. “You gained an inch in height, bringing you to an impressive six foot two. Your shoulders are also wider by nearly one and a half inches.”

  That explained the aches and pains. “No wonder I feel like I’ve been stretched on the rack. Everything hurts.”

  “I can give you something for the pain.”

  “Please, but none of those mind-bending drugs. Plain ibuprofen will do. I’m the ultimate anti-macho guy, and I welcome pain relief whenever possible, but I hate mental fog. I’d rather suffer than compromise my brain.”

  She patted his hand. “I wasn’t going to offer you anything stronger than that. There is no need. Do you want me to call Sylvia?”

  Duh. “Please.”

  Bridget picked up the bedside phone and dialed. “Your guy is awake, and he is asking for you.”

  There was a happy squeal on the other side. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

  It took him a moment to realize that Sylvia sounded as if she had been talking on a speakerphone, but he knew she hadn’t. The phone was right there where he could see whether the button was lit. “Unbelievable. The hearing, I mean.”

  Bridget nodded. “Do you want to test your eyesight?”

  “Sure.”

  She pointed to a chart on the wall. “Can you read the small print at the bottom?”

  Even though the lights were dimmed and the writing was small, he could read it easily. “Amazing. Can you dim the lights even more? I wonder if I can still read it in near darkness.”

  Bridget did as he asked, lowering the switch all the way down. “Give it a go.”

  He squinted a little. “I can still read it.”

  “What about smells?”

  He sniffed. “I like your perfume. What is it?”

  Bridget chuckled. “Not this kind of scent. I meant the more subtle ones. What do I smell like under the perfume?”

  Roni closed his eyes and concentrated. “Happy. You smell happy and excited.”

  It was so weird to be able to detect the smell and even weirder to recognize it for what it was—kind of like taste. You knew sweet when you tasted it.

  The other scent, however, was not something one mentioned to one’s doctor. Roni felt his cheeks heat up but went ahead anyway. “And horny. I’m sorry, but you asked.”

  He was quite sure the doctor’s arousal had nothing to do with him. After all, she’d seen him in all his unimpressive glory. Besides, it would’ve been uber awkward otherwise.

  Bridget was hot, but he was taken.

  Her laugh was as happy as her scent. “You are right on both counts.”

  She didn’t elaborate, which left him with an uneasy feeling. He had to find out. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

  Bridget lifted a brow. “Do you need to ask?”

  Wow, talk about a big surprise. Roni didn’t know whether he should feel flattered or threatened. On second thoughts, he was definitely flattered. Maybe that extra inch was what made all the difference.

  But then the rush of excitement helped clear the last tendrils of fog from his brain, and he slapped his hand over his forehead. Evidently, the three-day coma had affected his memory.

  Turner.

  When the guy had gone missing, Bridget had called Brundar, asking for his help. In turn, Brundar had dragged Roni out of bed and asked him to hack into several security cameras. Roni had managed to get the camera feed from Turner’s last known location, the entrance to the fancy restaurant he’d dined at that evening.

  As they’d all watched Turner exit the place, get stabbed, then pushed into his own car and driven away by a fake valet, Bridget had sobbed openly.

  She was way too cool of a chick to cry over an acquaintance. Obviously, the two were lovers.

  “Turner, right?”

  “And the prize goes to the recently-transitioned guy on the bed.”

  “How is he doing? All better now?”

  “He is. Didn’t you see him at your transition ceremony? He was there from the beginning to right after you passed out.”

  “I was a bit busy being scared shitless and trying to keep from soiling my pants while reciting slam poetry.”

  Bridget shook her head. “That stuff was awful. Did you write it yourself?”

  “Yes, but most of it was based on gangster rap. Disgustingly offensive stuff, and coming from me it’s saying a lot. I have a dirty mouth, but nothing like that.”

  Roni didn’t want Bridget to think of him as someone who even listened to lyrics that insulted women and glorified violence. “It felt bad spouting that crap. But I had no choice. It wasn’t as if I could have spurred Kian’s aggressions with my nonexistent fighting skills. He suggested I use slam poetry instead because he detests it. I forced myself through it, and it worked. I made him angry enough to produce venom. Potent stuff too. Much better than that of the other guys.”

  As far as he knew, Roni was the only Dormant who’d required four bites from four different immortal males to transition, starting with Andrew, then Onegus, then Brundar, and ending with Kian—whose bite had finally done the trick.

  Apparently, that piqued Bridget’s curiosity, and she lifted her tablet. “Tell me about the differences. Were the effects produced by the other bites similar to each other, and only Kian’s was different? Or was each bite unique?”

  Concentrating, Roni tried to remember the details, which wasn’t easy given that after each bite his brain had gone on a pleasant vacation to la-la land. But one thing he was sure of—Kian’s had been the best.

  “Andrew’s was the weakest. I don’t think he gave me enough before retracting his fangs. This was his first aggressive bite against a male, and he was probably afraid to overdose me, accidentally killing me. Onegus’s and Brundar’s were almost the same, except Brundar’s hurt less, which was a big surprise. The dude is scary, but his bite was gentle and precise. He has incredible control.”

  “What about Kian?”

  Roni smiled. “The difference between his and the others is what I would imagine the difference between pot and acid is. After the other bites, I had a short pleasant trip to dreamland. After Kian’s bite, I soared through psychedelic landscapes and felt one with the universe. That’s the best way I can describe it, but it doesn't do the trip justice. His wife is one lucky lady.”

  Bridget’s wince lasted a split second, but Roni caught it. Damn, he should’ve kept his big yap shut. All the immortal females were yearning for an immortal male’s bite, but only a few had been lucky enough to score one.

  Actually, there were only three. Kri, Amanda, and Carol. Though only Amanda and Kri had the real deal—a truel
ove mate. Carol and Robert had gone their separate ways.

  Eva hadn’t known what she was, let alone about the ecstasy of an immortal male’s bite. Syssi had started out as a clueless human, and so had Nathalie, Callie, and Tessa.

  Roni would have known none of that if it were not for Sylvia who kept him updated on the keep’s gossip. As it was, he knew the stories and the names of the participants but not the people involved. Getting to know everyone in his new family was going to be a slow process. Luckily, he now had all the time in the world, and Sylvia was the fourth clan female to score an immortal male—him.

  The full impact of what had happened to him finally hit home.

  He was immortal.

  “When will I get my fangs?”

  Bridget patted his shoulder. “Patience, Roni. Don’t expect to bite your girlfriend anytime soon. Your fangs will take a few weeks to grow, and it will take even longer before you’ll be producing venom. You can talk to Andrew and Michael. They can share their experiences with you.”

  Poor Sylvia. She’d waited so patiently for him to transition, and now she would have to wait even longer for the coveted venom bite.

  Bummer.