Ruth looked at Kian’s closed office door and imagined herself knocking on it. Except, her arm was still down by her side, and lifting it to do what needed to be done seemed like mission impossible.

Why was she such a coward?

He’d said to come see him anytime she needed to discuss Nick’s transition.

“Come in, Ruth,” Kian said.

Crap, how did he know it was her? Did she emit a cowardly scent so potent that it had percolated through the closed door?

Taking a deep breath, she commanded her hand to stop shaking and depress the handle.

“Hi.” She walked in but stopped a few feet away from his desk. “I hope I’m not interrupting. You said to come to see you if I needed advice regarding Nick.”

Kian closed the file he was working on and pushed it aside. “As I said before, this takes priority over everything else. Come, take a seat.” With his soft tone and encouraging gestures, Kian was making an effort to be less intimidating.

Ruth appreciated and hated it at the same time.

Everyone thought of her as the little mouse who was afraid of her own shadow, and, frankly, they weren’t entirely wrong. As hard as she tried to work on it, her social anxiety wasn’t something she could get rid of by just willing it to go away.

She was getting better at handling people at the café, but Kian was a different story. His intensity still intimidated the hell out of her.

“It didn’t work,” she said as she pulled out a chair and sat down. “Last night, Jackson tried. We talked about a certain band, and he thralled Nick to forget its name. It worked for a few minutes, but Nick managed to bring the memory back.”

“Did you have Bhathian give it a try?”

“I texted him this morning. He called me later and said that his thrall held for about ten minutes. He made Nick forget the list of items Eva asked him to get from the supermarket. Five minutes later, he asked Nick to recite the list. Nick struggled to remember, complaining of a headache the same way he did last night, but eventually he broke through the block.”

Ruth looked down at her hands to avoid Kian’s piercing eyes. “I don’t think we should keep trying. I don’t like the headaches he gets each time. It might be a sign that it’s harmful to his brain.”

“I agree.”

Kian’s answer surprised her. Ruth had expected him to suggest giving the thralling a break, or to offer to do it himself like he’d suggested before.

Was he canning Nick’s transition?

Her heart sank low in her gut. “So what do we do? Give up on Nick?”

“Not at all. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I think I have a solution. It’s up to you if you want to implement it, though. It’s not an honorable approach, but in this case I see no other choice.”

“What’s your idea?” At this point, Ruth was willing to listen to the most out-there suggestions.

“Nick would have to be induced without his knowledge. Which means without his consent.”

She could live with that.

As Kian had said, there was no other way. Nick might get a little angry, like he had about Jackson’s supposed hypnotism, but he would get over it. He wasn’t the type to hold a grudge, and he was also smart enough to understand why it had to be done like that.

The problem was that she couldn’t see a way to implement Kian’s suggestion.

“How? It’s not like it’s a quick injection that can be explained away somehow. Nick needs to fight an immortal male and get bitten.”

Kian leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest. “You’ll have to slip him a sleeping pill or a potion. Then when he’s out, he’ll get bitten. He won’t remember a thing when he wakes up. Then if he starts transitioning, you’ll tell him what’s going on. And if not, no harm done.”

“I still don’t get how you plan to do it. Don’t you guys need to get aggressive or aroused to produce venom?”

As far as she knew, venom production required a high level of aggression, which was impossible to induce toward a sleeping guy unless they found a clinically insane immortal male. Except, she wasn’t aware of any such clansman. And if Kian was thinking about asking a gay immortal to bite Nick, she doubted the male could get aroused just by looking at Nick’s inert body, not unless the guy was into necrophilia.

Yuk.

Besides, Ruth would have a tough time agreeing to that. Nick belonged to her, and she couldn’t tolerate anyone having naughty thoughts about him, regardless of their sex or sexual orientation.

“You’re right. Most of us need provocation to bite another male. Fortunately, I know one guy who can produce venom and elongate his fangs on command.”

It was as she had feared.

With a resigned sigh, Ruth closed her eyes and nodded. “It’s going to be very difficult for me to have someone ogle my Nick. But I guess that’s the only way.”

“Ogle?” Kian sounded surprised.

“Yeah. I know it’s possessive and silly of me, but I can’t help it. It doesn’t matter if the naughty thoughts belong to a female or a male. I don’t want anyone getting excited by looking at Nick while he is sleeping. I don’t think he would appreciate it either. I know I wouldn’t. Biting him without his consent is bad enough, but this feels like an even greater violation.”

Kian regarded her as if she had several screws missing. “What the hell are you talking about? There is nothing sexual about one male biting another. It’s an act of aggression. I’m sure you’re aware of that.”

Ruth’s cheeks weren’t the only thing that was heating at an alarming rate. Suddenly, she was covered in sweat.

Had she misunderstood?

“I thought that since Nick couldn’t fight anyone while he was asleep, the only way a male could produce venom was if he got aroused by looking at him.”

Kian’s broad shoulders began shaking, and a moment later he burst out laughing. He even banged his fist on the table. “I’m sorry, Ruth, but imagining Brundar ogling Nick is just too much.”

“Brundar? Anandur’s brother?”

“Do you know any other Brundar? Yes, that Brundar. He can produce aggression without any provocation.”

That was a revelation. Ruth didn’t know the Guardian well, but he seemed to have no emotions at all. Except, he was a mated male now, to a female, thank the merciful Fates, so perhaps things had changed for him.

“Is it a newly discovered ability?”

“Not really, but I didn’t know about this until recently. The guy isn’t the sharing type.”

“He was one of those who tried to induce Roni’s transition.” And he hadn’t been successful. In the end, Kian had done it, which wasn’t very confidence-inspiring. But at least she had nothing to fear as far as ogling went.

“I’ve already talked with him about Nick. He said that it’s not a sure thing. He never had to summon aggression toward an unconscious male without anything triggering it immediately before, like participating or at least witnessing a fight. It’s going to be doubly tough to do so to an unconscious guy that he feels no animosity for. On the other hand, Brundar had no problem summoning his fangs for Roni, and he likes the kid, so I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”

Crap. If Brundar failed, they were back to square one. Roni had been fully conscious and probably scared shitless, which might have helped trigger Brundar’s predatory instincts.

“How am I supposed to bring Nick to Brundar?”

Kian tore a piece a paper from his yellow pad, scribbled something on it, and handed it to her. “Here is Brundar's number. I told him to expect an invitation from you. He knows he will have to come to your house. Invite him and Callie to dinner, preferably along with Sylvia and Roni, whom Nick already knows. It will look less suspicious to him if you invite people he knows together with a new couple he doesn’t.”

Folding the piece of paper into a square, Ruth tucked it inside her wallet. “Thank you. I really appreciate your help.”

Kian pushed to his feet and walked around to give her a hand up, which was a good thing since her legs felt like wet noodles.

“I’m glad to help in any way I can. If I could summon aggression on command, I would induce Nick’s transition myself. But, unfortunately, it’s not an ability I possess.”