second can make the difference between that and death.”
David shuddered. “Are you telling me that Kalugal might have overdosed me with his venom and put me in stasis? Or even killed me?”
“Not unless he wanted to. It would have taken much more venom than what he gave you.” Sari opened the door to her apartment. “To induce transition in a male, the venom bite shouldn’t last longer than a minute. I don’t know the precise timing for stasis or for a lethal dose, but it takes much longer than that. The male who’s doing the biting must listen carefully to his victim’s heartbeat. To put an immortal in stasis, he needs to pull out before the heart stops completely.”
“Scary.” David walked over to the bar and poured them both a glass of water.
“Is stasis a sort of hibernation?”
“I guess it’s a similar state only deeper.” Sari took the glass he handed her and sat on the couch. “The heart and all other body functions slow down to a level that is almost undetectable. Our bodies can survive without food or water or even air for thousands of years.”
“How is that possible?” David joined her on the couch.
“Bridget thinks that our bodies can absorb nutrients from the earth and convert them to the essentials needed.” She chuckled. “I wonder if the stories about the undead originated with immortals in stasis who’d been buried and accidentally found and revived. They look like mummies, and the poor mortals who found them must have been terrified enough to run for their lives when the mummy started breathing.”
David frowned. “How are immortals in stasis revived?”
Sari lifted her glass. “With water.”
“That’s all?”
“That’s what I’ve been told. I never tried to revive an immortal from stasis. Wonder, Anandur’s mate, was Annani’s childhood friend. She escaped just before the attack, but she was caught in an earthquake. She was buried in the Egyptian desert for thousands of years until a water pipe burst in a new housing development and flooded the cavern that she was in.”
“Did she retain her memories?”
“She didn’t remember anything at first. Not who she was, not where she was from, but she knew that she was an immortal and that she was different from the humans. After a long while, she started having little glimpses from the past, and when she saw Annani’s portrait, the rest of her memories were unlocked.”
David’s eyes shone with excitement. “Fascinating. I would love to talk with her about her experience.”
Sari didn’t know Wonder well, and she wasn’t sure whether her mother’s best friend wished to relive the traumatic experience. “Let me check with Anandur first. I can’t imagine how traumatic it was for her to be buried alive and spend weeks awake and aware until her body entered stasis on its own. In that regard, venom-induced stasis is much more merciful.”
“I’m less interested in what happened before than what happened after she woke up. She might be more willing to talk about that.”
“Makes sense. But in any case, I would like to ask Anandur before approaching her. I don’t want to inadvertently spoil Wonder’s vacation.”
“Of course.” David got up and put his empty glass on the bar’s counter. “So, what are our plans for the rest of the day?”
“How about a picnic by the lake?”
“Sounds lovely. But we’ve just had breakfast. By the way, where is your butler?”
Sari pushed to her feet and walked over to the bar. “There is no shortage of work around the castle.” She put her glass in the sink. “When I don’t need Ojidu’s services, he’s working somewhere else. I’ll ask him to prepare our picnic, and while he’s doing that, we can go horseback riding to tour the grounds. We didn’t get a chance to do it the other night.”
David chuckled. “That wasn’t the other night. It was The Night. You turned my world upside down.”
“I hope for the better.”
He lifted his hands and brushed his fingers through her hair. “With you, my world is infinitely better.”
Sari swallowed. “So is mine with you.”
Except, the happy dream could be cut short at any moment. David still had the transition ahead of him, and she was worried sick about him. Perhaps she should ask Bridget to fly over?
Steven was a good doctor, but he had no experience with transitioning adults.
“Stop worrying.” David kissed her lips softly. “Let’s go riding, have a picnic on the lakeshore, make love on a blanket, and then take an afternoon nap under the sky.”
She laughed. “The lakeshore is a