Page 10 of Dark Rebel's Mystery

"Not really." Bridget paused to thank Aliya for the coffee and Danish she delivered. "The bite itself is quite intimate. It's something your parents would need to discuss whether or not they are comfortable with it."

"I think they would be." Margo looked at Rob. "Right?"

He had no idea. In fact, he was pretty sure that his dad wouldn't be on board with the whole thing.

Rob shrugged. "Maybe, but what I would like to know are the chances of success. I know it hasn't been tried, but can you guesstimate?"

"The chances are definitely lower than with the traditional method," Bridget admitted. "But they are not negligible. Given your mother's age, she will be taking a risk attempting transition, and if she's not in perfect health, her issues have to be resolved first. That being said, we had a woman in her mid-fifties transition with relative ease. Ultimately, it has to be your mother's decision, and I agree with Gertrude that you shouldn't make the decision for her just because you want to save her from having to make difficult choices."

The doctor finished her coffee and put what was left of her Danish back in the paper bag. "I have to go. If you have any more questions for me, don't hesitate to call or text me."

"Thank you, doctor." Rob rose to his feet and offered Bridget his hand. "I appreciate you coming out here to talk to us."

"It was my pleasure." She offered him a bright smile, shook Margo's hand, and strode away on her insanely high heels.

"How can she even walk on those?" Margo murmured. "My toes hurt just from looking at her feet."

"You are immortal now." Rob sat back down. "A lot of things that you thought were difficult or impossible before should be easy with your new and improved physique."

"They are, but squished toes still hurt." Margo took a sip of her coffee, which was probably cold by now. "Maybe we should just tell Mom first. Without Dad. Let her decide if she even wants to consider it."

"Makes sense." Rob ran his fingers through his hair. "But I can't be the one to explain all this to her. That has to be you."

She chuckled. "I'll handle the birds and bees talk, but we need to ensure that she doesn't reveal what we tell her. No one would believe her, but they might think she's insane."

Rob arched a brow. "Might think? Mom is crazy."

"She is complicated," Margo corrected him. "Anyway, we need a compeller or someone who can thrall the memory away if she decides against it. Compulsion will work better because we can let her think about it for a while before deciding, but compellers are more difficult to come by. Thralling the memory of what we tell her means that she will have to decide on the spot, and that's asking a lot, but since almost all immortals can thrall, it will be much easier to get someone to do that."

Rob grimaced. "It's unfair that neither of us can thrall."

Apparently, thralling had to be learned as a teenager when the mind was still malleable. Those who transitioned as adults had a much harder time learning to do it or couldn't do it all.

"Gertrude can thrall Mom," Margo said. "Or Negal. It will not even look suspicious if we invite Mom to lunch with our partners."

"We might have no choice." Rob leaned back in his chair. "Let's see who can compel. Kalugal's too busy being important, Parker's too young for this kind of thing, and Drova..." Rob paused. "Actually, Drova might work if they let her out of the village, but she's also young."

Margo laughed. "She's a girl. I bet she will have no problem with the subject matter even if she's still a virgin."

"Is she?" Rob asked. "Given the swagger on that girl, that's not likely."

Margo pursed her lips. "I think Drova is full of it and is insecure on the inside."

He wasn't going to argue with her. His sister was a much better judge of character than he was, especially when it came to the female gender. "What about the Clan Mother?" he suggested half-heartedly.

Margo stared at him. "You want to ask the goddess to compel our mother about transition logistics involving biting and artificial insemination?"

He shrugged. "She might surprise you. I think the goddess is full of love and compassion."

"She is, but I would never ask her for such a favor."

"Excuse me." A soft voice came from the next table, and as Rob turned, he saw a female immortal looking at them apologetically. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation, and there are two more compellers that you might not be aware of. Eleanor and Emmett are both compellers, but they are stationed in Safe Haven. Either would be happy to help, but you might be more comfortable with Eleanor. She used to be human up until not too long ago."

"Eleanor?" Margo straightened. "Did I meet her?"

"She was here for the wedding. A tall, very thin woman with small dark eyes and wavy dark hair."

The unflattering description didn't ring any bells. "What makes you think that she will be willing to help?" Rob asked.

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