“Enhanced humans, mostly female, can mate an immortal. When that happens, the female’s chromosomal pairs increase until she reaches a state of immortality.” He held up a hand before she could ask the question. “No, they can’t be turned into any other species. There’s no turning into vampires, demons, or any of the rest.”
Her mind scrambled for the first time in a decade to deal with a solution to a problem. A bizarre and almost incomprehensible solution. But she’d seen the fangs, and she’d seen him fight. “Urban legends have some truth to them,” she murmured.
“They usually do, although vampires are fine in the sun and would rather eat steak than drink blood. We only take blood in extreme situations like battle or sex.” He exhaled, moving his broad chest. “You’re Enhanced, sweetheart. Customary enhancements are psychic ability, empathic ability, telekinesis.”
She didn’t believe in any of those false sciences. “You have got to be jesting.”
“No.”
“I’m not psychic.” Not even close.
He shook his head. “Nope. That’s not your enhancement.”
She straightened. “Well?” If he continued to be coy, she was going to punch him. Oh, she’d never attacked another person in her entire life, but he wasn’t a person, now was he? The guy was immortal. “Tell me.”
He turned and snagged her hand, imprisoning it between his much larger palms. “We think you’re some sort of identifier for immortals who can teleport.” His hold was firm and warm. Very warm.
Teleport? In truth? “What?” She let him heat her hands. Just for a minute.
He nodded. “Adare, Benny, and Mercy can all teleport. Adare and Benny, like many demons, can go through space and time to end up somewhere here on earth. I used to be able to do it too, until I was injured. I thought the ability was coming back, but now it’s gone again.”
Teleport. Actually move through dimensions, or possibly something else, and land where one wanted on earth? How was it possible? Could it be that her dreams as a child had actually been real, and somehow she’d learned to block them? Her mind started compiling scenarios. But it was all too much.
“And Mercy,” he added. “She’s a fairy, and they have the ability to teleport to other worlds. They’re the only ones who can do so, as far as we know. That makes her more powerful than the others, which is why I think the pain in your head is worse with her.”
She blinked. “How many chromosomal pairs do fairies have?”
He shrugged. “I’m not sure we’ve ever tested them. Until recently, most of them lived off-world. And by the way, when you talk to Mercy, call them Fae. For some reason, they think that sounds tougher than fairy.”
Thoughts zinged through her mind so quickly that her head jerked. The explanations, although she hadn’t had time to process them yet, at least added up to some semblance of logic. That is, if she discarded everything she believed about reality. “Why do you need me, Ivar? If people can already teleport, as you say, what do you want with a human physicist?”
He winced, wrinkling the skin at the corners of his eyes and making him look more approachable. Maybe more human, even though that appeared to be impossible. “Because we don’t exactly know how we teleport.” He crossed his ankles, and his boot clunked heavily on the table. “Science is actually a human study. We’ve always accepted our abilities as normal and not questioned them much, maybe because we’ve been at war so often.”
“You’re immortal and you go to war?” she asked, her brain reeling.
He grimaced. “A lot. We go to war a lot.”
Maybe immorality came with a strong dose of moronism. “That’s stupid.”
“Yeah, it probably is. But evil is evil, and it’s here.” He caressed the side of her hand with his thumb. “We’ve always treated teleportation like, I don’t know, breathing, making fire out of air, or using elements to our advantage. Or even just being able to shift into a bear. For shifters, I mean.”
“All of those are out of the ordinary,” she protested.
“For humans. Not for us.” He cocked his head and looked toward her again. “Why you? Because you can help us figure out the how of what we do. More importantly, you can give me the one thing I need.”
His words softened something inside her she hadn’t realized even existed. “What do you need?” she whispered.
He released her hand and ran his palm along her face, gently cupping her jaw. “I need you to send