I dated the deafening wh.., p.1
I Dated the Deafening Whisper, page 1
A sonic active with a heroic sideline, Ivetha ends up at the mercy of a familiar monarch on an island she can’t escape from. When he recognizes her, she knows her stay is going to be longer than she thought.
Ivetha usually spends her days working at Z Corp, writing programs for their myriad new creations. In her off time, she listens to her network of informants who identify actives who are being smuggled and sold around the world. Ivetha and her sister Sariah travel and get the actives in question to safety. All is going well until one of the abductors brings armour-piercing rounds, and Ivetha is just wearing her jumpsuit. No contest.
Her sister assesses Ivetha’s condition and summons her husband. Their agreement was that her globe-trotting would continue until she called him, and then he would bring her home. Today was that day.
After begging the sonic healer for assistance, he reluctantly agrees and closes the holes in her torso. A casual conversation with her sister identifies her skillset to the healer, and he recognizes her. Her visit to the very exclusive island has now been extended indefinitely.
She should be more upset about it.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
I Dated the Deafening Whisper
Copyright © 2024 by Viola Grace
ISBN: 978-1-990635-47-2
©Cover art by Angela Waters
All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publisher.
Published by Viola Grace
Smashwords Edition
Look for me online at violagrace.com.
I Dated the Deafening Whisper
Blind Date Corporation Book 16
By
Viola Grace
Chapter One
The portals started to appear, and Ivetha got ready. She hadn’t done this in years and hoped she hadn’t lost her touch. The men were moving fast, so she didn’t have to wait long. Her scream caused them to jerk, and one of the bastards pulled the trigger on the weapon he carried.
Multiple impacts tore into her, but Ivetha kept her incapacitating scream going while Sariah used light to burn and cut.
The whole battle took five minutes, and the portals slammed shut. Bodies littered the ground. Those that were moving would be dead in moments.
Sariah was laughing when she turned, and the laugh died abruptly. “Ivy!”
Ivetha slowly sank to her knees. She coughed and smiled. “Well, this sucks.”
“Nononononono.” Sariah was at her side and trying to cover the wounds, not yet realizing that the exit wounds were what was going to kill Ivetha.
“Times like this, I wish that healers were possible.”
Sariah looked at her and nodded, digging her thumb into her wrist. Something popped.
“Sari, what did you do?”
“I called my husband. They have a healer who can fix anything, and he works with energy repair.”
“I am glad you will have someone.” Ivetha coughed again, and the agony started to ripple through her.
A silver portal opened in front of them, and a familiar silhouette exited.
“Sariah, you are ready to come home?”
“Yeah, whatever. My sister needs healing. Now. She’s been shot. A lot.” Sariah was sobbing.
“Why not regular healers? Your people have them.”
Ivetha rolled her head to look at him. “They don’t work on me.”
He blinked and looked around at the death around them. “You did this?”
Sariah nodded. “I will explain later. Don’t worry.”
Ivetha was lifted, and Sariah yelled something to Clavia. They took a few steps, and a wave of warm air wrapped around her. The man holding her started to shout as he walked.
He set her down, and then she felt another presence in the room. Sariah’s husband was begging for help and was met with silence. With very little option, she let the grey fog take her.
* * * *
Arata looked at the bloody woman who was turning grey. He signed to Akio, You have permission for the one woman. What is this one?
“Her sister. She’s a sonic active. She needs resonant healing.”
Akio’s wife was kneeling next to the pallet and staring at her sibling. You will return her home once she is healed.
“Of course.”
Arata knelt next to the woman, who appeared to have nearly a half-dozen wounds. He gestured to her sister, and the woman reluctantly let go of her sibling’s hand.
He put his hands on the damage and started to whisper as softly as he could. Her body arched violently into his touch, and then he moved his palms to cover more of the damage. She really did take to healing sound. When her front was done, he rolled her over and held in his shocked exclamation. That should have killed her.
He healed her with words that were barely sound. When he was done, he stood and signed to Akio. Whether she lives or dies is up to her. Make sure your woman knows it.
Akio nodded. “She knows. You have given her sibling a chance.”
Sariah was stroking her sister’s forehead and peeling the bloody clothing from her.
Arata sighed and walked away to wash his hands. The scent of the woman’s blood was intoxicating. His upper canines had descended, and his mouth was watering. He had no idea why he was aroused.
* * * *
Sariah looked to Akio and said, “Can I get some water and something to use to clean her off? Oh, and some fresh clothing.”
He nodded. “Yes. I will be right back.”
She smiled and looked at Ivetha. She had never seen her this pale. She had surpassed chalky and gone straight into corpse-tone.
“Ivy, I want you to keep yourself alive and fight your way back to me. I want you to be with me and be an aunty and tell me stories, work on security and programming and learn weird things from around the world.”
Ivy didn’t move, but she was still breathing. Sariah stripped Ivy and wrapped her in the top sheet on the bed. Akio arrived a moment later with clothing and two women who carried basins and water.
Her sister was cleaned and wearing a gauzy robe a few minutes later.
Sariah braided her hair, and Akio assigned one of the women to alert them if Ivetha woke up. It was a monitoring activation that had limited use on an island where folks liked their privacy.
“Now, I would like to discuss the wedding, Sariah,” Akio told her calmly.
She looked at him, opened her mouth, and then closed it as tears started to flow down her cheeks. She squeaked, “What do you want to discuss?”
He sighed and wrapped her in his arms. “You want your sister to be an attendant?”
Sariah swallowed and nodded. “Yes, please.”
“We will give her a week. If she doesn’t wake up, we wed. Fair enough?”
She smiled softly. “Yeah. Thank you. Did Arata mind healing her?”
“He was pissed at me for bringing an extra woman here. Have you told anyone the particulars of our binding?”
“No. Not even Ivetha.”
* * * *
Before he washed his hands, Arata looked left and right then licked his palm. A memory struck him, and he licked every bit of that blood off his palms and fingers. His escort had tasted this sweet.
As he rinsed his hands, he thought about the odds of his nightingale being here were astronomical. He was going to check on her later. There was something about his brother’s sister-in-law that was very familiar, aside from her taste. He sighed. He needed to heal her and get her off the island. This situation was unsettling.
He went back to his office and checked population stats as well as occupancy requests. He groaned. Every year, there were more actives around the world that were too monstrous for local standards, and applications to Ekovar came thick and fast. He hated dealing with it, but the people had voted him in. This was his job.
Arata thought of the chaos that used to fill his mind before his nightingale, and now that he was calm, he had no need of her. He did miss her though. That was probably colouring his perception of the sister. He was trying to see the one he missed in every new face.
Two hours later, he stretched and checked the time. That was enough for the maids to be on duty. He got up and walked back to the guestroom where the woman was stored.
He entered the room, and the maid jolted to her feet. He jerked his head, and she scrambled out of the room.
The woman was pale. Very pale. She was dressed in a sleeping robe that made her look soft and sweet. Arata blinked. That wasn’t what he should be thinking about a woman on the edge of death.
No one on Ekovar was capable of giving a transfusion. Their activations prohibited their ability to be compatible with another being on the cellular level. Only sibling matches could share blood.
He paused. They could get a transfusion from Akio’s bride.
Arata crouched at her side and stroked her hair. It was so much darker than his nightingale’s hair.
The woman was barely breathing. Her skin was cool, and her body was unnaturally still.
He sent Akio a message on their coms and asked him to bring his bride and two IV kits. They would make do.
Five minutes later, they were in the room, and sound surrounded him. He took a deep breath, and Akio ha
“She confirmed that they are the same blood type.”
Sariah sat down next to her sister and took her hand with the inside of her elbow up. She nodded.
A little sterilization, some tubing and needles, and the infusion began.
Akio looked at Sariah. “Let me know if you get too lightheaded.”
“I can just eat a sandwich or something. Ivetha is stuck.”
Akio nodded and was going to get up, but Arata stopped him and signed, Liquid will help her faster. Solids later. Fruit for energy. Protein for bulk.
Akio nodded and left for the fluids.
Sariah looked at him and smiled. “My sister talks like that. She took a course.”
He paused and cocked his head. He mouthed the word, Sign?
She looked at him. “Yeah. She knows sign language. When I left, she started taking courses to fill her days and evenings. She even developed a sort of social life that surprised me. She joined the BDC.”
He blinked and stared at the woman on the receiving end of the transfusion.
Sariah said softly, “She didn’t tell me anything about her patron except that he was very sweet and she was able to use sign. I don’t know what their dates were like, but she wasn’t upset by it.”
Arata carefully took the sleeping woman’s left arm and turned her palm up. There it was. Two small pale marks on her skin. His marks. He had bitten her to keep control over her during their association, but he had never needed it. She had a natural resistance to his energy and a sweet heart. She wanted him to relax and heal, so he did.
Akio returned with a cup for Sariah, and he held it for her as she gulped it down. Arata nodded at the care and patience that his hot-headed brother was exhibiting. From the moment he saw Sariah, he had been working toward designing a future on the island just for her.
Arata took the unconscious woman’s pulse, and it was stronger. How much does your bride want to give?
Akio said, “How much do you want to give, Sariah?”
“Whatever it takes to wake her. She doesn’t sleep much, so this is really freaky.” She squeezed her sister’s hand.
Arata watched, and very slowly, the chalky hand squeezed back.
Sariah cried silently and said, “I shouldn’t have left her so long. We should have kept practicing.”
Akio frowned. “Practicing?”
“Our activations work well together. Light and sound. She used to have a shield. I don’t know why it didn’t work.” Sariah sighed. “She said she was out of practice.”
Akio said, “Was she in front or behind you?”
“She was behind me. Why?”
Akio looked at Arata and nodded. The sister had used the shield but not on herself.
They stood around and watched the clock. When an hour had passed, Arata removed the needle from Sariah, and the woman pressed down on the puncture wound.
He made sure that no blood was wasted before removing the needle from the sister and pressing down.
When he looked at her face, pale green eyes stared at him. Her lips were pale pink, and her dark hair was braided away from her face. She swallowed. “Is Sariah okay? I don’t remember much after the fight started.”
Sariah sobbed and hugged her. “Ivy, you scared the shit out of me.”
Arata smirked, and Akio sighed. “Sariah, you are insulting the king.”
Arata let go of the wound and checked for bleeding. She was keeping it all in. Good girl.
The woman flexed her hand. “So, catch me up.”
Sariah sobbed. “Shot. So much blood. Wouldn’t wake up. Blood transfusion and now here.”
“The baby and Clavia are okay?” The woman struggled and sat up.
“Yeah.”
She looked around at the two men in the room, and Arata smiled, all teeth visible. To his astonishment, she blushed instead of being terrified. That was an interesting turn.
She glanced at Akio. “So, can I get amnesty to be here until the wedding?”
Akio chuckled. “I will ask.” He turned to face Arata. “Is she safe here until the wedding?”
Arata signed, Maybe.
To his astonishment, the woman signed, Don’t be a dick, Your Majesty.
Akio let out a burst of laughter.
Arata looked at her and asked, How did you know?
She signed, Read tattoos.
He glanced down at the markings that had come to him with the rest of his activation. How do you recognize it?
She shrugged. Must have seen it before.
Sariah muttered, “What is going on?”
Akio said, “She knows he’s the king. He asked how, and she said she could read his tattoos. He asked how she recognized them, and she said she must have seen them before.”
Sariah chuckled. “I knew it. He’s the one you mentioned.”
Arata asked, Mentioned?
The woman said, “We were comparing what we did in our spare time. I joined an after-work organization, and she got married. Oh, shit. We need to tell Aunt Bex.”
Sariah smiled. “I will. You get some rest and get stronger.”
“Great. Everyone here can quit looming. I hate looming.” The woman rubbed her forehead. “I have to call my boss as well.”
Sariah smiled. “I can do that for you.”
“No, you really can’t. You don’t have clearance, and if I don’t call in, they will put out a search party for me. I am not expendable.”
Akio chuckled. “I dare them to find you. Ekovar isn’t visible on any detecting devices.”
She looked at him calmly. “They will use seers and other patrons. While I no longer work for the company, I am still on the books. My number is my own.”
He blinked. “Patrons? Why would they look for you?”
“Because they were asked to.”
Arata asked, Your patron?
She answered in sign and spoke. “No, not my patron. I was fired. It was rather brutal, actually. I was not needed or wanted any longer. End of contract.” She shrugged. “But other patrons of other escorts like doing favours for the BDC. It gets them extra time with their preferred companions.”
Arata was reeling. You were not fired. I had what I needed.
She remained silent and spoke to him. You had no reason to remain on the books. I understand, but it was sudden. If you had told me, I would not still be in shock. What did I do wrong?
Akio was trying to keep up, but she was talking very quickly.
Arata wondered how he was going to explain that he had feelings for the woman who stilled his mind and calmed his heart. He had to stop their association before he developed an obsession. I had to stop before I wanted more.
She stared at him and nodded. Of course. I understand.
Sariah blinked. “What are you two saying?”
Akio cleared his throat. “They are discussing the terms under which they last saw each other and why it didn’t happen again.”
Sariah’s sister nodded and whispered, “Now, as everyone here but me is capable of leaving, I would like to rest.”
Arata scowled and signed, We need to talk.
No, we don’t. We are done. I get it. I am exhausted, not stupid.
I never said you were stupid. It—
Never mind, Your Majesty. It is done. May I stay until the wedding and then leave?
Akio watched and tried to keep track, but the woman talked fast. Arata nodded.
You can stay until the wedding.
Our aunt also needs to be here.
Arata rubbed his face. Give me the information. I will send the request.
She smiled. Thank you. I really need to sleep now. Thank you for your help.
Did you just dismiss me?
She chortled and eased herself back to the bed while he watched. “I need to get some rest.”
She had dismissed him just like that. His precious nightingale had dismissed him.
Arata got up and left the room.
Chapter Two
