Dark Stranger Immortal (The Children of the Gods #3)(21)

Syssi had to agree. Kri would be perfect portraying an Amazon warrior.

“You may have something there. A movie featuring beautiful, scantily clad women bringing justice to the wicked and saving the innocent could become a big box office hit,” she said.

“Who would you cast as the main kickass girl?” Anandur asked from across the table.

Brandon answered without pause, “There is only one actress I could envision for that part… Charlize Theron.” He leaned back in his chair, taking his wine goblet with him.

Anandur’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “That’s one helluva woman.

You can count me in for the lead commando. I want a piece of that…”

“Nice fantasy, children.” Kian broke their happy, excited banter. “No one is auditioning for any parts.”

“Why not?” Kri whined. “We are all good actors by default; we could pull it off…”

“Don’t be stupid, Kri, this whole discussion is absurd.”

“It was a fun dream while it lasted.” Kri exchanged wistful looks with Anandur.

“By the way…” Kian turned to the doctor. “Do you have any news for us, Bridget?”

“Oh, yes, there is no matrilineal connection. Michael and Syssi are unrelated to us, or each other.”

Bridget’s announcement should have been good news, and it was. But it was like getting all excited about guessing just one lottery number out of the five—no closer to winning the jackpot than if guessing none.

With that sad realization sinking in, Syssi lost her appetite. Pretending to be busy with the food on her plate, which for all intents and purposes could have been some fast food junk instead of the gourmet meal it was, she tried to swallow. But it tasted like sawdust, clogging her tight throat.

Hiding her somber expression behind the mass of her hair, she hoped Kian wouldn’t notice. Sick of her own bouts of sadness, she imagined he was as well.

No one enjoyed the company of a whiny, sad woman.

“It will all work out. You’ll see,” Amanda said quietly from across the table. “Chin up, Syssi… You too, Kian. A little optimism wouldn’t hurt.”

The rest of the meal went by quickly, with Kian’s palm intermittently finding its way to rest on Syssi’s thigh.

After dinner, with everyone stuffed to their limit, Amanda pushed away from the table and rubbed her flat tummy. “Who’s up for watching a chick flick with me down at the theater?”

Kian got to his feet and offered Syssi his hand. “You go and have fun, Syssi. I wish I could join you, but, unfortunately, I only made a small dent in the pile of work still waiting for me.” He kissed the top of her head.

“Will you be back before I fall asleep?” she whispered, hating the thought of being alone in his big, empty bed.

“The pile waiting for me could take all night to go through, but I don’t intend to. Two hours tops. If you’re asleep by the time I get there, I’ll wake you up… Deal?” He smiled suggestively.

Syssi dipped her head, blushing into his shirt. “Deal.”

Kri, Michael, Anandur, and Arwel joined her and Amanda, and together the small group headed for the private theater down in the basement.

With its eight rows of eight plush reclining chairs each, the theater was much larger than Syssi had expected it to be. But then again, this home theater didn’t serve an average-sized family; it served a clan.

Sitting down, she engaged the chair’s reclining mechanism, turning her viewing experience from merely comfortable to decadent. As the movie Amanda had selected started playing, the quality of picture and sound rivaled that of an IMAX. And that wasn’t all. In case someone got hungry or thirsty, a full bar and a popcorn machine were housed in a curtained-off alcove behind the last row. Which was the row Kri and Michael chose, snuggling and kissing like a couple of teenagers.

The romantic comedy had Anandur and Arwel bored in no time. So it was no big surprise when Anandur tapped Amanda’s shoulder. “We are leaving to go clubbing, you want to come?”

“No, I’ll stay and keep Syssi company,” Amanda answered, sounding resigned to her babysitter role.

“Don’t be silly, go! I can watch a PG-13 movie all by myself. I promise I’ll call you if I need adult supervision to watch an R-rated one.” Syssi pushed at Amanda to go.

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Yes! Go!”

“Okay. Tomorrow at nine, my place. We have a nail appointment scheduled for ten.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Syssi saluted and faced the screen, pretending to be absorbed in the movie.

She waited until they left, and then contemplated staying or going up to bed.

The movie was nice enough, but the problem was her acute awareness of the couple necking in the back row. It was hard to ignore their muffled sounds of passion while being the only other person in the theater. She felt like a Peeping Tom, or rather an eavesdropping Tom.

Few moments and several hushed moans later, she pushed up from the comfortable chair, leaving it in the reclining position so the sound of it retracting wouldn’t disturb Kri and Michael, and draw their attention to the fact that she was leaving.





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S Y S S I

A s she rode the elevator to the penthouse, Syssi dreaded how empty the place would feel at night. She hoped to at least find Okidu there, except chances were that he was done with the cleanup and already gone.