Sin Eaters: Devotion Book One

by Kai Leakes

“How is it that she doesn’t know what she is then? How is it that she’s having migraines, as if she’s maturing into her powers now?” Calvin asked, confusion lighting his eyes.

  Kali responded, her eyes wide in excitement. “And who is she? She is the Vessel of who?”

  Tamar’s own eyes lit up with the power of a Prophet as she sighed. “My husband. He did something at his death, and her real identity is locked away from even me.”

  “That’s what’s up. It’s the way of the Vessels to stay hidden as a means of protection,” Calvin explained.

  “Tell us how Uncle Bishop died, Momma Tamar. We need to understand because there is so much we just learned before we came here.” Kali stood then kneeled near Tamar as she held her hand.

  “It was right after we left from visiting New Orleans. Sanna’s birth was a trigger that we had to hide, but when the twins were born and Takeshi was born at the same time, we had to be even more careful. It was as if Sanna’s powers grew when they were born. My husband told me he had another Denotation dream about them. And I did too, after he died.”

  “What are they then?” Calvin softly asked as he ran his hands over the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension.

  “I’m not sure yet. My husband knew though and died protecting his children. As I said, it happened after we left New Orleans. Sanna was playing with the twins in the back of the car, and she made a power surge happen. She was three. They were giggling and cooing. Sanna was trying to sing to them. They loved her so much, she was always able to connect to them. It was like they all knew what each was thinking, so when the power surge happened, it scared the hell out of us. We knew we had to figure out a way to hide them.”

  Hesitating, Tamar rubbed her temple and continued on. “It took until Sanna was seven—you were ten, Calvin, right when you were coming into your own gifts.”

  Calvin bowed his head, nodding in remembrance. He loved his cousin, had started calling him uncle when he was young, because he felt a kinship with him left void by the father he had lost long ago to depression over the loss of his mother. “Yeah, I remembered. He was a cool OG. He taught me a song.” Calvin held a hand up then dropped it as he ran his palms over his massive thighs and chuckled. “Ey, I’m a damn chump. That song, a rhyme he taught me, is a spell. I had no idea at the time. I thought it was some rhyme he made up. Man, that shit makes sense.”

  Calvin observed the woman who sat quiet, her toffee skin glowing with a mother’s love. Comfort as well as the wisdom of a Prophetess wrapped around him in comfort.

  “Ma Tamar, I think I know what he did.”

  Tamar gave a ghost smile as she nodded. “Yeah, you do. You just have to remember what he taught you.”

  Kali sat confused as she listened. Everything was settling in her mind like puzzle pieces, except for the link between the three Steele children. She had never heard of a link that can charge an Oracle, let alone a Vessel.

  “My husband was always doing research, creating scrolls of power to protect us. It was like he was a man obsessed. He made sure he spent his time with our children. Teaching them some of his legacy as they played. He even taught Kyo and Takeshi some protection spells as well.”

  “How?” Calvin and Kali chimed at the same time.

  Tamar softly chuckled as she stared at the pair. “He was a very strong Mystic and an even stronger father and husband. That man loved us with all of him. I guess this is why I was a Prophet. There is so much that your Society has documented but kept from you or just lost through the ages. I know what I know because my husband fused his knowledge with me as he passed, and thanks to the later dreams of Knowledge I had as my babies grew up. I also know what I know because of Sanna. It’s like she knew what was going to happen before us.”

  She shook her head and gave a drained laughed as she thought on it. “Of course, she knew. She was only a baby when she gave me that knowledge, and I later was able to unlock it. My little girl is . . . so powerful.”

  Kali had to bite her lip and let Tamar settle through her emotions before she shouted and asked what happened.

  This was a lot of much-needed information, information she knew she would defiantly keep away from Society until she could document it in a way that didn’t scare the Elders or rile up the pretentious council members’ angelic feathers.

  “I’m sorry, babies. I’m just worried for my children, and the doctor is taking too damn long.”

  She pulled out a bottle of water and took a slow sip, exhaling at the cool feel of the liquid sliding down her throat as she licked her lips. “This is what happened. My husband was at work. He had just dropped off some of his scrolls and then went off to the office, heading down two seventy, toward Chesterfield. The Cursed somehow was able to link him to the power surges occurring, so they started stalking him since the first one when Sanna was three. Those . . . bastards crossed the boundaries, took the fight in front of human eyes and caused a massive pileup on the highway with him in it. Somehow he was able to escape as they pulled him out of the car. He took the fight away from the confused humans and died fighting Snatchers, Hunters, and . . . a Fallen Elder. A Shroud-Eater.”

  Kali’s mouth dropped open, and she stammered, “A Shroud-Eater! They do not get involved unless what they want is of highest value.”

  Calvin stood. “Motherfucker! How did they know?” Calvin’s roar filled the room and caused the hair on everyone’s body to stand with the electrical charge he shot through the place. He slammed a fist on a nearby wall as he thought of his cousin, the man he called uncle. It just didn’t make sense at all. He needed to remember the rhyme he had taught him. It was fucking mandatory. He just had to.

  He remembered clearly that his uncle had told him that he would need it one day in understanding everything that was going to happen soon. Of course, he didn’t understand and pestered his uncle all day to tell him what he meant. But his uncle just laughed, handed him a basketball, and had him go it over and over as he made hoop after hoop. A song, a simple rhyme to him, but what was it?

  “I think they traced the surges to him. Somehow my husband manipulated the power to focus on him and, in doing so, deflected the Cursed from us. I do know that. I felt his last word, a rhyme, a poem he wrote, vibrate through me, through our children. I knew then, when I couldn’t sense his heartbeat anymore, that he was gone from me.”

  Tears choked her throat as she remembered the pain and relived it all over again. Her nephew’s comforting hand rested on his shoulder.

  “My Immortal beloved cut down and killed. The Shroud-Eater took his last breath. But my husband protected his soul from being permanently killed off by his spell. The poem and my children’s powers were bound, their memory of their powers locked away, as I was made an Immortal and we were hidden from the Cursed, until now.”

  Kali abruptly called forth her laptop and went to clicking. “What you just said, I know. I remember it somewhere. When I was visiting my family in India, my great-aunt was talking about something like that. Spirit song? Spirit anchoring . . . something like that.”

  Everyone in the room got quiet as they watched her click away, staring at the screen as she spoke. “I’m searching. We can learn so much about what he found and help many.”

  A knock at the door had everyone looking up as a tall, handsome, syrupy cocoa-kissed man with sprinkles of white at his locked fro’s temples and goatee walked into the room. His dimpled smile calmed everyone as he quietly closed the door.

  “Sweetheart, close that laptop. You can search later,” Tamar calmly said, switching into the concerned human mother routine. She stood and smiled at the handsome doctor. He was a tall drink of water. Stood over her in a towering six five, with black, wired glasses that accented his chiseled face and welcoming, dimpled smile.

  The speckles of white grey in his low-cropped, spiky fro and goatee added wisdom to his golden eyes. Tamar had to inwardly pray. Something about this man felt familiar to her spirit. Had her blood pressure rising in all the right areas,
areas that had been ignored since the death of her beloved husband, and it scared her. She shook her head and offered a warm smile as concern over her sons took over.

  “Hello, I’m Dr. Eammon Toure,” the doctor stated.

  A soft island lilt to his voice filled the room while he held out his hand for Kali to shake. Calvin sized him up and quickly moved to block his view from Tamar.

  Dr. Toure chuckled and reached around Calvin fast, gently taking Tamar’s soft hand, his eyes briefly flashing, letting Calvin know who he was.

  Calvin stepped back to watched Tamar’s pupils expand as she held the doctor’s large hand. Both Kali and him glanced back and forth as the doctor swallowed and gently let go, blinking as well.

  “You must be part of the Chicago team, Doctor?” Calvin gruffly interrupted, slicing the tension in the air as he crossed his arms over his broad chest.

  “Ah, yes. As I said, I’m Dr. Toure. I was told by the Satous that you all were in here. Dr. Satou is with your son and his son, Mrs. Steele. Both young men suffered extreme trauma, but they will be okay. They seem to heal fast.”

  The last statement was said with a hidden undertone that everyone in the room clearly understood. Those with Nephilim blood or who were pure Nephilim typically healed faster than typical humans.

  “Due to security issues, I placed the men on blackout. Just as a precaution to keep them hidden from any Cursed spies. I am sorry that you all had to wait so long and had to deal with the inconvenience. I had noted that you all were coming in and should be escorted right away to the room, but as you all saw, sometimes we get mishaps.”

  Tamar hustled to the door. “Good. Then let me check on my sons then.”

  Dr. Toure placed a hand on Tamar’s shoulder as she stopped and looked behind her. Her head tilted to the side as she gave him a sidelong glance that could cut a man in two. This woman was beautiful. Simply elegant. A queen. And he felt as if he knew her all his life.

  Eammon thought as he sharply inhaled her sweet sultry scent and tried to shift back into his professional manner. “There are some things of concern. As you know, your son is past his maturity stage, yet he is going into the ‘priming,’ as is your daughter. I had one of my trusted nurses check her as well, since she had a seizure in the waiting room.”

  Calvin inwardly cursed as he moved to head back out of the room but was stopped by the doctor.

  “Listen to me, and listen to me quick. If there is a better place for them to transition, then this hospital is the best. I will keep them on blackout, while we help them through the transition. We’ve had documents telling us of those Nephilims who did mature in later life, so we know what we are up against. They will not die on our watch. But if you keep moving them as you are, they may not make it through it.”

  Dr. Satou offered a soft smile as he turned to help Tamar relax in understanding. “Mrs. Steele, can you tell me why they may be going through this late transition? I’ve taken blood samples and saw that they should have gone through this already.”

  Tamar opened her mouth and then quietly shut it as Calvin took over.

  “This late transition happens in our family from time to time. We have the necessary capability back in St. Louis to take care of them. We just need to make sure they are okay. Can you keep them safe from Cursed here and help us move them out?”

  “No. Darren and Take will want to stay here. They are in school. I cannot uproot them from their new home. Take Sanna home, but I need someone here to guide them through this here and keep them hidden until they come into their power.”

  Dr. Toure’s soft, slight accent lowered with concern as he agreed. “We can do that. My team can watch over them. It looks like they do not know what they are, so . . . I will leave that to you of course, Mrs. Steele.”

  Dr. Toure looked at everyone in the room as a need to protect them all suddenly swelled in his chest.

  Tamar’s head was bowed low as Calvin wrapped her in an embrace, while Kali slid in to hug her as well.

  “We have your back, Momma Tamar. You know it’s time to tell them.”

  “Yes, I do, and I will soon. It’s for the best,” Tamar whispered.

  “It’s for the best.”

  Chapter 8

  Khamun was shaking his head. It was taking everything in him not to slam his foot on the gas and hoof it down the highway while he listened to Amara and her shadow, Miya, idly ramble. He had picked them up fifteen minutes ago and was now on his way to the hospital.

  “So are you single, mister man?”

  Khamun had to keep himself from rolling his eyes behind his shades as he drove on, ignoring Amara and Miya’s questions.

  “Girl, do you see this? Meme, I asked a direct question, and he’s ignoring me! Khamun, what’s your last name again?”

  He almost said V’ance but remembered to give his mortal last name. “It’s Cross, and yeah, I’m single. Why are you both so damn talkative?”

  Miya was chewing on some gum as she looked at him through the rearview mirror, her yellow-painted, razor-sharp fingernails tapping with nervousness.

  “Because we need something to keep our minds off of where we are going. So tell us about yourself, like why you are so fine and single. You gay?”

  Amara exploded with laughter as she gave her best friend a high-five. “Meme! I was so going to say it!”

  Khamun closed his eyes at a red light that seemed to be taking forever and slowly inhaled. Both were cute and bubbly. If he wasn’t under so much stress and worry over protecting Sanna, he would’ve been able to handle their antics. But as of right now, he wanted to stop the car and walk away.

  “Who said I don’t have anyone just because I’m single, baby girl?”

  Both women glanced at each other then broke out in laughter.

  “Whatever!” they said in unison, and they began to ramble to each other, almost sounding like clucking chickens to his ears.

  Khamun couldn’t help but rub his throbbing temple. He knew he had to protect these women, but damn it, they were slightly annoying. When he’d picked them up from the airport, he had to admire them both. They’d both stopped and gawked at him as he held a sign with their names on it. They looked like they’d stepped right out of a coloring book. Somehow with all that color, they looked very mature. They were very sexy, but were bright as hell. Matching ice cream Nike shoes on their feet. Bubble gum sunglasses that he knew Kali would love. And they sported denim leggings with bright-ass shirts that showed off their ample rear, perky breasts, and deep-set curves, all while they linked arms and gabbed away.

  Khamun had to adjust his shades just to keep his eyes on them. He noticed that Amara resembled a younger version of Sanna, with less thickness. Her sandy-brown curly hair framed her soft face like a halo, and the dimple in her right cheek made him want to beat any man’s ass who ever tried or wanted to touch or hurt her. The need to protect her was crazy deep as his abs clenched, and he eyeballed every man that stared too long at the young woman. He had to rein that in. Suppress that need to make her his family, his little sister, because he hadn’t even really met her older sister yet. The woman he longed for and loved.

  Miya was dressed in vivid colors as well. She looked like a living Toykopop model, but with an edgy urban feel that belonged in the next hip-hop video. Her silky ebon hair fell around her face in crinkles, giving her a sassy feel as her curvy body made many men blink twice at her.

  He felt them play with the ends of his locks, his jaw clenching at their whispers and giggles. This shit was “cray,” as his favorite rapper would say. So he quickly pulled it up into a knot, ready to lay down the law.

  “A’ight, look. No, I am not gay. I’m single due to work,” Khamun grumbled as he drove through traffic.

  “Oooh, really? How old are you, and what do you do?” Amara smiled as she studied Khamun’s muscular form.

  He was the kind of sexy that one could only dream about. Not too beautiful that you might have to question his orientation, but reality sexy
and edgy, with sinful dark-chocolate skin, like burnt caramel or burnt cinnamon. With crinkled locks so well-groomed that you just wanted to grab a few strands and begin playing in them. His body, damn! His body was like, Whoa!

  She wanted to see under the shirt just to see if he was really as ripped as his arms displayed. Everything about this man felt like he was the one, the one she had been looking for all her life, for her sister Sanna. She smiled and nodded, twirling her fingers through her hair as she chewed on her gum. It didn’t help he had beautiful eyes as well. That seemed to be the icing on his coco cake. He was definitely big brother worthy.

  “The hell?” Khamun briefly glanced at Sanna’s mini-me in the passenger seat, his eyes searching over her as if he thought she was crazy. He shook his head and deeply exhaled. “Okay, baby girl. I’m twenty-nine and work in a restoration construction firm established by my pops. I have a degree in architecture and art history. I have a purple belt in kenjutsu and a 9th degree belt in jujitsu. In undergrad, I worked as a bouncer, so I have gun training via marine training. My blood type is O-negative, and I’m HIV-negative. And I can’t stand spiders. Anything else?”

  Khamun gave an annoyed glance in the rearview mirror. Being Nephilim meant he couldn’t get the common human’s sexually transmitted diseases, so telling her he was HIV negative was just for show. He reached for his all-black, invisible-rimmed sunglasses and slid them on. Though he told her a hell of a lot of information just to soothe her, he left out his Nephilim background and his ninjutsu training.

  Amara and Miya glanced at each other as both women giggled and high-fived each other. “Damn!” they said in unison.

  “I think my sister would appreciate what you have to offer, except for the spider thing. Might want to do something about that.” Amara turned and looked out the car window.

  Khamun almost lost control of the car as he watched Amara out the corner of his shades. She said it as if she knew. It was as if all the wisdom of the world had settled into her voice, and that had him processing and reevaluating the younger Steele sister.