“Okay,” Divine murmured. She considered it briefly and then said, “So we were human once?”
“We are human,” he corrected. “We are not a different species. The nanos simply make us stronger, faster, and able to live longer.”
“And the fangs?” she asked.
“Ah, well, see—” Marcus grimaced and admitted, “I guess I skipped a part.”
“Okay,” Divine said patiently.
“You see the nanos were originally developed as a short-term aid. They were supposed to be injected into the host—a sick or injured human—where they would heal the wound, or surround and destroy the viral cells of illness or what have you. Once their job was done the nanos were programmed to then destroy themselves and be flushed from the body. But as it turns out, what the scientists didn’t take into account was that the human body is constantly under attack by sun, pollution, and even simple aging. There is always something to repair or heal, so the nanos never broke down as expected.”
“Ah,” Divine said slowly. That made sense.
“And then Atlantis fell. Nearly every Atlantean died that day. The only survivors were the ones carrying the nanos. They crawled out of the ruins and over the mountains and joined a society much less developed than their homeland had been. While they’d had blood transfusions in Atlantis to help feed the nanos, those were no longer available. Some survivors died, but in others, the nanos followed their programming to keep their host at their peak condition and basically forced the necessary evolution on us to ensure that happened. They made immortals stronger and faster, gave them better night vision, and the ability to read and control the minds of other humans, and they gave us fangs. Every extra skill or strength they gave us was to make us better able to hunt and successfully feed off of mortal humans. It was so we could get the blood we needed to ensure their continued ability to fulfill their programming and keep us at our peak condition.”
Divine nodded slowly, and then asked, “Is there anything else I should know?”
Marcus frowned and considered it briefly, and then said, “I think that covers it.”
“Okay. Thanks,” Divine said, standing up.
“Okay thanks?” Marcus echoed with disbelief, jumping up to follow when she carried her plate out through the lounge to the kitchenette. “That’s it?”
Pausing at the sink, Divine glanced over her shoulder with surprise. “You were expecting something else?”
“Well . . . yeah,” he said dryly as she opened the cupboard door under the sink and began to scrape the remains of her omelet into the garbage there.
“What were you expecting?” Divine asked curiously as she closed the door and began to rinse the plate in the sink.
“Well . . . I don’t know,” he admitted with a frown. “I gather most people react with shock and amazement to finding out the source of nanos.”
“Really?” she asked, and considered that as she set her plate and fork in the tiny dishwasher next to the sink. Vincent really did like his luxuries, she thought, and then turned to Marcus and shook her head. “I suspect if they’re shocked and amazed it’s more by the fact that vampires truly exist than by their source being scientific. I already knew about us, just not the mechanics of what made us this way so there’s nothing for me to be shocked and amazed at.”
“She’s probably right,” Tiny commented.
Marcus glanced to him, then back to her, and then relaxed and smiled wryly. “Yeah. She probably is.”
Divine turned to Tiny and Mirabeau then to offer them both smiles and said, “Thank you very much for breakfast. I appreciate it.”
“Tiny did all the work. He’s the cook in the family,” Mirabeau admitted with a smile. “All I did was make the toast.”
“And it was delicious too,” Divine assured her, and then hesitated before saying, “Now, I suppose I’d best go relieve Jackie.”
“Actually . . .”
Divine had started to turn toward the door, but paused at that one word from Mirabeau. Turning slowly back, she arched an eyebrow in question.
“We’ve arranged a play day for you,” Mirabeau blurted.
“What?” Divine asked on a half laugh.
“Well, half a play day now,” Tiny put in wryly. “A play evening, I guess.”
Divine peered at them with bewilderment. “A play evening?”
Tiny nodded. “What with one thing and another you two have had a rough couple of days. Both of you. So, we got together with Jackie, Vincent, and Madge and arranged a play day for you. Madge gave us these passes for you.” He turned to pick up two passes off the counter and held them out and she glanced at them curiously as Marcus took them. They were VIP passes, allowing them on all the rides. “Jackie is going to continue at your readings, Vincent is going to continue at the Tilt-A-Whirl, and you two get to have fun for the evening.”
Divine frowned and started to shake her head.
“Oh come on,” Mirabeau chided. “I bet you’ve never ridden on the rides. From what I’ve heard you’re always trapped inside with a long line of customers outside the door waiting for their readings. Madge says they keep you going from the time you open, usually until several minutes after closing. But tonight you’ll have the freedom to go where you want and do what you want. You can have a little fun for a change.”
Divine stopped shaking her head. Mirabeau’s use of the word trapped had caught her attention, and the comment about being free to go where she wanted and do what she wanted had too. Both made her realize that if she took over reading customers she would be trapped inside the RV until after closing. But taking them up on this offer would give her some freedom. She wouldn’t have five babysitters watching her, she’d only have Marcus, and surely it would be easier to give him the slip than to try to get away from all of them? It was suddenly sounding like a really good idea.
“Okay,” she said finally. “A play evening it is.”
“Great,” Mirabeau said and then suddenly held up a bottle of lotion. “SPF 100,” she announced. “The sun is still out and it’s better to be safe than sorry. Fortunately, it’s spray-on, so easier to apply. But we’d better do it in the bedroom or the apples will all taste like lotion.”
“Right,” Divine said wryly, and turned to lead the way into the bedroom.
Eighteen
“Who gets the rip cord?”
“She does,” Marcus said at once and when Divine glanced to him with surprise, he added, “Well, I’m sure not pulling it. I hate heights. We’d be sitting up there forever if it was left to me.”
“You don’t hate heights,” she said on a laugh as the two girls attached their harnesses to the rig for the bungee drop. Divine and Marcus had been on the Zipper, the Yo-Yo, and every other high ride available and both of them had laughed their way through them as everyone else screamed. Divine hadn’t known what she was missing never bothering with the rides at the carnival. Honest to God they were incredible; exhilarating, exciting, fun as fun could be. She’d been having a blast all evening, and Marcus had seemed to be too. The two of them had done the Zipper three times, the third time at his insistence. Divine felt like a kid again, or maybe for the first time, since she’d missed out on anything resembling a normal childhood when she’d actually been a child.
“I do hate heights,” Marcus assured her, laughing even as he said it. “I mean I know I’d probably survive a fall even from incredible heights, but the healing . . .” He grimaced and shook his head.
“Well, why didn’t you say so?” she said with exasperation. “We don’t have to—”
Her words ended on a gasp as their legs were suddenly swept out from under them, leaving them dangling in the air Superman-style.