Dark Secrets Absolved (The Children Of The Gods Paranormal Romance Book 46) Read online

  Dark Secrets Absolved

  The Children Of The Gods Book 46

  I. T. Lucas

  Also by I. T. Lucas

  THE CHILDREN OF THE GODS ORIGINS

  1: Goddess’s Choice

  2: Goddess’s Hope

  THE CHILDREN OF THE GODS

  Dark Stranger

  1: Dark Stranger The Dream

  2: Dark Stranger Revealed

  3: Dark Stranger Immortal

  Dark Enemy

  4: Dark Enemy Taken

  5: Dark Enemy Captive

  6: Dark Enemy Redeemed

  Kri & Michael’s Story

  6.5: My Dark Amazon

  Dark Warrior

  7: Dark Warrior Mine

  8: Dark Warrior’s Promise

  9: Dark Warrior’s Destiny

  10: Dark Warrior’s Legacy

  Dark Guardian

  11: Dark Guardian Found

  12: Dark Guardian Craved

  13: Dark Guardian’s Mate

  Dark Angel

  14: Dark Angel's Obsession

  15: Dark Angel's Seduction

  16: Dark Angel's Surrender

  Dark Operative

  17: Dark Operative: A Shadow of Death

  18: Dark Operative: A Glimmer of Hope

  19: Dark Operative: The Dawn of Love

  Dark Survivor

  20: Dark Survivor Awakened

  21: Dark Survivor Echoes of Love

  22: Dark Survivor Reunited

  Dark Widow

  23: Dark Widow’s Secret

  24: Dark Widow’s Curse

  25: Dark Widow’s Blessing

  Dark Dream

  26: Dark Dream’s Temptation

  27: Dark Dream’s Unraveling

  28: Dark Dream’s Trap

  Dark Prince

  29: Dark Prince’s Enigma

  30: Dark Prince’s Dilemma

  31: Dark Prince’s Agenda

  Dark Queen

  32: Dark Queen’s Quest

  33: Dark Queen’s Knight

  34: Dark Queen’s Army

  Dark Spy

  35: Dark Spy Conscripted

  36: Dark Spy’s Mission

  37: Dark Spy’s Resolution

  Dark Overlord

  38: Dark Overlord New Horizon

  39: Dark Overlord’s Wife

  40: Dark Overlord’s Clan

  Dark Choices

  41: Dark Choices The Quandary

  42: Dark Choices Paradigm Shift

  43: Dark Choices The Accord

  Dark Secrets

  44: Dark Secrets Resurgence

  45: Dark Secrets Unveiled

  46: Dark Secrets Absolved

  Dark Haven

  47: Dark haven Illusion

  PERFECT MATCH

  Perfect Match 1: Vampire’s Consort

  Perfect Match 2: King’s Chosen

  Perfect Match 3: Captain’s Conquest

  The Children of the Gods Series Sets

  Books 1-3: Dark Stranger trilogy—Includes a bonus short story: The Fates take a Vacation

  Books 4-6: Dark Enemy Trilogy —Includes a bonus short story—The Fates' Post-Wedding Celebration

  Books 7-10: Dark Warrior Tetralogy

  Books 11-13: Dark Guardian Trilogy

  Books 14-16: Dark Angel Trilogy

  Books 17-19: Dark Operative Trilogy

  Books 20-22: Dark Survivor Trilogy

  Books 23-25: Dark Widow Trilogy

  MEGA SETS

  The Children of the Gods: Books 1-6—includes character lists

  The Children of the Gods: Books 6.5-10—includes character lists

  TRY THE CHILDREN OF THE GODS SERIES ON

  AUDIBLE

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  Copyright © 2020 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.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

  Dark Secrets Absolved 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.

  Contents

  1. David

  2. Kian

  3. Sari

  4. David

  5. Sari

  6. Syssi

  7. Kian

  8. Sari

  9. David

  10. Sari

  11. Richard

  12. Stella

  13. David

  14. Sari

  15. David

  16. Sari

  17. David

  18. Sari

  19. Eleanor

  20. David

  21. Sari

  22. Kalugal

  23. Kian

  24. Richard

  25. Sari

  26. David

  27. Stella

  28. Sari

  29. David

  30. Sari

  31. David

  32. Sari

  33. David

  34. Sari

  35. David

  36. Sari

  37. Eleanor

  38. Lokan

  39. David

  40. Sari

  41. David

  42. Sari

  43. Richard

  44. Stella

  45. Richard

  46. Cilia

  47. Richard

  48. Cilia

  49. Richard

  50. Cilia

  51. Richard

  52. Stella

  53. Kian

  54. Eleanor

  55. Richard

  56. Kalugal

  57. Stella

  58. Richard

  59. Sari

  60. David

  61. Kian

  62. Sari

  63. Richard

  64. Stella

  65. Syssi

  66. Sari

  67. Kian

  68. David

  69. Sari

  70. Richard

  The Children of the Gods Series

  The Perfect Match Series

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  1

  David

  Absolution.

  David had given and received it.

  The few short hours since he’d emerged from the coma had felt incredible. He’d finally been free of the guilt and pain, and for the first time since Jonah’s death, he had felt truly happy and optimistic about the future.

  He’d survived the transition into immortality, had been accepted into the clan, and was about to marry the most wonderful woman on the face of the planet, his true love mate, his salvation, his everything.

  What could have possibly gone wrong?

  Just about everything.

  The last thing David had expected when he called home with the happy news about his and Sari’s upcoming nuptials was to find out that his mother and her husband were missing.

  He’d already lost his brother and father. Why was fate so cruel to him? Hadn’t he suffered enough?

  A small voice in the back of his head whispered that he shouldn’t mourn his mother before finding out what had happened to her, but that voice was weak and unconvincing.

  As much as David would have liked to come up with a plausible scenario in which his mother and Frank were found unharmed,
it wasn’t likely.

  They weren’t a young couple who, on a whim, might have decided to take a road trip without notifying anyone. They had a teenage daughter who they had left alone in the house, so unless they were dead or incapacitated, they would have contacted her to let her know that something had come up and they would not be back just yet.

  “We are cleared for takeoff,” the pilot announced. “Fasten your seatbelts, people.”

  That was an odd request, given that the jet’s three passengers were immortal.

  Next to him, Sari dug the belt out of the seat cushions and fastened it. Across from them, Bridget did the same.

  “What’s the point?” He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “We are immortal.”

  Sari put a hand on his arm. “First of all, you are just starting your transition, and your body’s healing abilities are not at full strength yet. Secondly, even immortals cannot survive a crash landing.”

  “If that happens, seatbelts are not going to save us.”

  “True, but they will prevent us from getting sucked out of the plane in the case of a hull breach.”

  “What are the chances of that? This jet looks brand new.”

  “It’s relatively new, and the chances are slim, but being immortal doesn’t mean throwing all caution to the wind.” She frowned. “I hope that you are not going to turn into a daredevil now that you think that you are indestructible.”

  It hadn’t occurred to him until Sari mentioned it, but David could think of a few things he would like to try that he’d been afraid to before. Parachuting, skydiving, deep water scuba diving, mountain climbing, the list of adventures was long. And since he was on a sabbatical and didn’t plan on returning to Stanford even after his year off was over, he could indulge in as many of those fun activities as he wanted to.

  Fun.

  The word was a foreign concept to him. David hadn’t realized it before, but he’d always lived with fear, and he had never allowed himself to be truly happy. The best he’d achieved was a measure of satisfaction over his professional achievements. Perhaps it should stay that way. Every time he’d felt like he could finally be happy, another calamity had struck.

  When he and Stacy had gotten engaged, David had thought that everything was going his way. He’d planned to settle down and start a family, and he’d hoped his twin brother would do the same. He’d fantasized about their children growing up together, and about them becoming the happy family that they hadn’t been before.

  It had been a pleasant dream that had lasted a couple of months until Jonah’s unexpected death had plunged David’s life into the shitter.

  Then when he’d felt like he was finally climbing out of the dark hole he’d fallen into after his brother’s death, his father had died. And now, when everything seemed to be going his way again, his mother had gone missing and was probably dead as well.

  Perhaps he wasn’t done paying his dues.

  Evidently, the Fates hadn’t absolved him of the guilt for killing his brother in a previous life. They had given him Sari and immortality, so perhaps he’d been granted partial absolution, but it seemed they weren’t done punishing him yet.

  Fastening the seatbelt, David forced a smile. “I promise you that I’m not going to engage in any dangerous activities.” What he meant by that was that he wasn’t going to allow himself to enjoy things other than what the Fates seemed to have given him permission for, which was the company of his mate.

  That was more than enough. Hell, it was more than he had ever hoped for.

  “Good.” Sari blew out a breath. “Try to get some rest. You just woke up from a coma, and you have already overtaxed yourself.” She patted his arm. “The stressful news must have sapped whatever energy you had left.”

  “It did.” David closed his eyes. “Let me know when it’s okay to recline the seat.”

  “When we reach cruising altitude, I’ll lower it for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  David was probably too stressed out to fall asleep, but he had to try. If he succeeded, Jonah might visit him in his dreams again.

  His brother’s revelations should have made it easier for David to deal with their mother’s likely death. After all, Jonah had proved to him that the body’s death was not the end, and that the soul was immortal.

  But it was only a partial consolation.

  If their mother was dead, she would be lost to him forever. He would no longer be able to talk to her or hold her in his arms, and even if she reincarnated as someone he knew, she wouldn’t be who she used to be.

  She would not be his mother.

  And given that David was immortal now, chances were that he would not reincarnate as her son ever again. Immortals’ life cycles were extremely long. Tens of thousands of years might pass before he started a new one.

  Except, even if he was still human with a human’s short life cycle, he probably wouldn’t be reborn as Ronja’s son.

  Unlike his relationships with his father and brother, David’s relationship with his mother had been good. There were no lingering issues that they needed to work out over subsequent reincarnations.

  And wasn’t that a sad fact of universal karma.

  Because he hadn’t gotten along with his brother and father during their lifetimes, David would get to meet them again. But because he’d had a good relationship with his mother, they wouldn’t meet again in another life.

  Just one more testament to his conviction that life wasn’t about happiness and fulfillment but about a never-ending cycle of struggles and incremental improvements.

  Jonah, if you can hear me, I need your help. Is our mother alive?

  There was no response, but then David hadn’t expected any. He wasn’t asleep yet, and even if he were, Jonah would most likely not show up in his dreams again.

  They had already said their goodbyes.

  2

  Kian

  “It’s depressing in here,” Amanda said from across the table. “The rumor about David’s mother and her husband must have spread already.”

  Kian had noticed that the castle’s dining hall was quieter than usual, and as his gaze followed Amanda’s, he saw that hardly anyone was smiling.

  Anandur shook his head. “Gossip spreads even faster here than in the village because they all live together.”

  “It’s nice that they care,” Callie said.

  Kian doubted that the reason for the somber mood was the news about David’s mother. Sari’s people barely knew David, and his mother was just another faceless human to them, one of the seven and a half billion they were sharing the planet with.

  Ronja was a Dormant, though. Too old to transition, but she was still a member of their tribe, and they must have realized that. Except, that didn’t explain the dark cloud hovering over the dining room either.

  Could it be that they were saddened for Sari? Or maybe they missed her?

  His sister hardly ever left the castle for longer than a day, the exceptions being his and Syssi’s wedding and then Kalugal and Jacki’s.

  Sari was the heart of her people, and when she left with David to help him find his mother, they weren’t happy about it.

  Not that anyone expected Ronja and her husband to be found alive. Middle-aged parents of a teenage daughter didn’t just vanish without a trace voluntarily. Sadly, a funeral was more likely than a reunion, and Sari would need to support David during the difficult time.

  Putting her fork down, Syssi let out a sigh. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but my mood is down the drain, and I don’t feel like staying. I want to go home.”

  “I feel the same.” Amanda turned to Kalugal. “Are you ready to go home? You have the means of transportation.”

  “I would love to.” Kalugal turned to Kian. “The question is whether you can leave. You promised Sari to take care of things in her absence.”

  “I can do it from home. I don’t need to be here physically.”

  “What about you, my lo
ve?” Kalugal took Jacki’s hand. “Do you want to go home?”

  She nodded. “I hate to admit it, but Bridget scared me when she said that she needed to keep a close eye on my pregnancy. I want to move to the village as soon as possible.”

  “I agree.” Kalugal lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. “After we get home, we will pack the essentials and fly to Los Angeles.”

  Jacki’s eyes widened. “Not so fast. It’s not as easy as you make it sound. We are not going on a vacation in the village, we are moving there. The entire house needs to be packed, the contents either donated, sold, or shipped to the village. Who is going to decide what to take and what to get rid of?”

  “You worry too much, my love.” Kalugal leaned and kissed her cheek. “My men can handle everything, and we don’t need to be in the house to make those decisions. It can all be done with a video call. Shamash can pack my wardrobe and yours in a day or two, and we can take that with us on the plane. The rest can be shipped later.”