Page 60 of Dark Destiny: The Turning Of The Loom

Julian nodded. "Some transitioning Dormants dip in and out of unconsciousness for days, and some stay unconscious for weeks. You are very lucky."

"I feel lucky," she said quietly. "Very, very lucky. Scarily lucky. I'm here while hundreds of women like me are still trapped in that enclosure."

"I know." Julian patted her shoulder. "It's tragic, but as much as the clan wants to right all wrongs in the world, there are not enough of us to do so." He turned to Gertrude. "If Sullha stays awake until the evening, you can remove the tubes and wires so she can shower." He turned back to Sullha. "I'm sure you want to look presentable for the ceremony tomorrow."

"What's the ceremony about?"

He frowned. "No one told you?"

She shook her head.

"It's simple, and in your case unnecessary because you were a confirmed Dormant, but it became a tradition, and now we do it with every newly transitioned Dormant."

"That still doesn't tell me what to expect."

"Right." Julian wound the measuring tape around his finger. "I come in, make a small cut on the palm of your hand, and we time how fast it heals. The faster it heals, the closer you are to the source, so there's some snobbery involved, with people boasting about how fast it happened for them. Your family and friends are invited to come in, but since not many can fit in this room, most stay in the waiting area. Someone films it so you will have a nice souvenir."

That sounded simple enough, but what the cut would prove was what counted.

If she healed as fast as an immortal, it would prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the transition had happened.

"You said something about me being a confirmed Dormant. What does that mean?"

"Only that we know for sure that all the women in the enclosure are Dormant and can be turned. Some of those who made their way to the clan were suspected Dormants, which meant they had some paranormal talents or a special affinity, but since there is no blood test that can prove the existence of godly genes, the only way someone can be a confirmed Dormant is if they have a known relative who transitioned. Also, some transitions are so mild that they feel like a bad flu. In those cases, a cut and the speed of its healing are the quickest and most definitive proof."

She wondered how the others had made their way to the clan if they hadn't known their lineage, but then she remembered a saying about the Fates and how they wove destinies. At the time, she'd thought it was just something people said, but now she understood what Margaret had meant.

"My mother says that every time she conducted the test, she felt like she was delivering a new baby," Julian said. "Only in the case of Dormants, the baby was fully grown."

It reminded Sullha that there was a reason Julian was taking care of her and not Bridget.

"How is your mother?"

"Enormous and cranky," he said. "She's a few days from her due date, but I'd put money on her going into labor early. The baby is big, and she is small, and she can barely make it from the couch to the kitchen without stopping to lean on something."

"Are you going to deliver the baby?" Sullha asked.

"Fates, no," he said, with such feeling that Gertrude laughed. "Merlin and the nurses will be there for that, and Turner. I'm in charge of the baby once it's born."

She remembered Tomek's birth. The women took care of everything, her and the baby, and her mother hadn't been there.

"Can I have some water?" she asked. "My mouth feels so dry."

"A little," Julian said. "Small sips."

Gertrude filled a plastic cup from the faucet, stuck in a straw, bent it, and brought it to Sullha's mouth. "If you can hold the cup, go for it. You should be able to do that."

Sullha lifted the hand that wasn't attached to a tube and took a long sip, even though Julian had warned against it.

The first sip was incredible, cool and clean, sliding down her dry throat. She had to stop herself from sucking the whole cup through the straw.

"Slowly," Gertrude said. "There's more where that came from."

"Thank you."

Julian was writing something else on the tablet. "She can have a light lunch if she can keep the water down," he told Gertrude. Then he shifted his gaze back to Sullha. "Congratulations. I will save the 'welcome-to-immortality' speech for the ceremony."

"Thank you," she murmured again.