Page 80 of Dark Shaman: Love Found
Lokan would have bitten him regardless of his declaration.
When his fangs had pierced the skin at the junction of neck and shoulder, Jeremy had gone rigid for a moment, then limp, and then unconscious.
Thankfully, he'd come to less than an hour later, and his girlfriend helped him back to their apartment.
Now, eighteen hours later, they were all waiting to see if it had worked.
When the front door opened and Carol entered, Lokan was pulled from his thoughts and turned to her, spreading his arms in invitation.
"Any change?" she asked, walking into his outstretched arms.
He kissed the top of her head. "Naomi says that he's loopy and just wants to watch television. No fever yet."
Fever was usually the first sign that the transition was starting, and Naomi was checking it every five minutes.
"It might not happen at all." Carol leaned her forehead against his chest. "We shouldn't wait for Jeremy to starttransitioning. It could happen in a day or two or not at all, and meanwhile, we are wasting time. We should induce the next one."
Lokan dipped his head to look at her. "You want me to induce another guy tonight?"
"Why not? You barely broke a sweat with Jeremy, and Spencer is even smaller. You could induce him with one hand tied behind your back and hopping on one foot."
"That seems unnecessarily performative."
She laughed. "But entertaining. So, what do you say? Are you going to induce Spencer tonight?"
He shrugged. "The faster I do it, the faster we can be done with this little project."
"Speaking of projects, I ran into Kalugal this morning, and I invited him and Jacki for dinner this evening. I told him we would order from the Golden Dragon. He said he would ask Jacki and let me know."
"That's great. But what does it have to do with our project?"
"Nothing. He mentioned a project of his own. Did you know that he was buying an island?"
Lokan shook his head. "First I'm hearing of it. Though with Kalugal, it could be anything from a tax shelter to a super-villain lair."
"Probably both." Carol pulled away to take out her phone. "I should order the food now if we want it delivered by seven. Do you know what they like?"
"Perhaps we should wait until Kalugal gets back to you. What if they decide not to come?"
"Then we will eat everything ourselves." She brought up the menu and handed him the phone. "Here. Fill the cart with what you think they like."
Lokan didn't know what his brother's culinary preferences were. They had gotten closer since Lokan had made the final move to sever contact with their father, but they were still getting to know each other.
He probably ordered too much food, but more was always better than less, and when he handed Carol the phone back to finalize the order, she grinned.
"They're throwing in extra fortune cookies because we are such good customers. They recognize the address from all the previous deliveries."
The text from Kalugal arrived mere minutes after they had placed the order, saying that he and Jacki were on their way and should be there in an hour or less.
"Awesome," Carol said. "I have just enough time to shower and change. Want to join me?"
"I can never refuse an offer like that."
Of course, the two of them together in the shower turned into more than just soaping and rinsing, and when they were done, they barely had enough time to throw some clothes on before the doorbell announced the arrival of either his brother and sister-in-law or the food delivery.
When Lokan opened the door, he found Kalugal and Jacki standing in the vestibule, Kalugal carrying a bottle of wine, and Jacki holding a container and looking amused.
"We're a little early," Jacki said apologetically. "The roads were much less congested than we expected. Is there some major sports game going on that I'm not aware of?"
