They were sitting closer together now, heads almost touching. She wasn't sure when that had happened. They'd gotten into a heated debate over who was better--Batman or Superman. Kess had rifled through her brother's comic book collection when he'd outgrown them so she had pretty strong feelings on the subject.
"I'm just saying, Batman doesn't have superpowers and he still manages to fight crime. Using his brain." Kess reached over and touched Cormac's temple.
Cormac caught her hand before she could draw it back. "Yeah, and all the gazillion toys that the millions he inherited from his daddy can buy. Just look at the movie--he's got a military research arsenal at his disposal."
Kess looked everywhere but at Cormac, who still held her hand. "He's got a tragic back-story! His parents were killed right in front of him."
"And Supe doesn't? Survivor of a dead planet, sent to Earth by his parents! Way more tragic. And he didn't turn into a sociopath that dresses like a flying rodent." His hand rested warmly against hers on top of the table.
"Oh, that's right. He just wears tights. And he was raised in Kansas. They don't grow angst in Kansas--just corn. And let's face it, the Batman reboot was way better than the Superman one."
"I'll give you that one. The movie really was terrible. But did you just call Superman corny?" He threw his hands up. "You just called Superman corny."
Kess idly wiped imaginary crumbs off of the table to do something with her freed hand. "Batman risks his life every night he goes out to fight crime. He's human. Superman risks what exactly? His perfect coif?"
"He has to worry about kryptonite!" Cormac looked thoughtful. "And apparently angst-ridden scripts."
Kess laughed. "There's no comparison. Batman wins hands down, even though I prefer the comics. Supe's people are going to have to bust out something really amazing to top The Dark Knight."
He took her hand back, brushing his thumb across the back of it lightly. "You're going to throw the Joker in my face, aren't you?"
"Hey guys, we're closing!" The counter guy was wiping down the dessert case.
Kess looked at Cormac, then at her watch. It was almost eleven and they were the last ones there. She helped Cormac take their mugs to the dish tray. He slipped a ten dollar bill into the tip jar, telling the guy thanks on their way out. Kess approved of good tippers.
She shivered when they stepped onto the street. The night was cold and there was a chill wind that cut through her jacket. She began walking to her car, Cormac falling into step beside her. She found herself unable to stop smiling.
It was the best night she'd had in possibly ever.
"We never even got around to Spiderman," he said as they walked.
"Ick. No thank you. Too emo. Too much wisecracking and not enough ass kicking."
Cormac laughed. "I don't think I've ever heard emo used to describe Spidey." He stopped when they came to her car. "I had a really great time tonight."
Kess ducked her head, suddenly shy. "Me too. Thanks for the tea."
He took her hands in his. It was weird, the contact. She wasn't used to it, hadn't been raised to it and she hadn't had any human physical contact in all the months of running. It made her feel awkward. She raised her head back up, catching his eyes. They were sort of iridescent in the light from the streetlamps. His voice was soft, pitched for her ears alone even though there was no one on the street. "I'd like to see you again, if that's okay with you."
No. Yes. Maybe. Damn it. His words in the coffeeshop came back to her. Why should she have to choose? More to the point, why couldn't she choose him? If only for a little while?
"Kess?"
She slipped her hands out of his. Tonight had been wonderful but it couldn't happen again. Just because it would make her happy didn't mean it solved any of the problems she'd been worried about at the beginning of the evening. She was still a wereleopard. She was still on the run. She still had her brother to worry about. Tonight had been a vacation from all of that. Now it was back to real life.
"Cormac, I had such a good time tonight. More than I've probably ever had. But I just can't do this right now. I'm sorry." She was sorry. More than he'd ever know.
His eyes were a mix of confusion and hurt. She hated that she'd put it there. He opened his mouth to say something and closed it again. He stood there, looking at the ground. "I don't get it."
"I know you don't." She sighed. "I wish I could explain it to you, but…" she trailed off with a shrug. She felt horrible.
He picked up her hand again. "Look, I'm not asking you for anything. I swear. I just think you're really cool and I like spending time with you. No strings, no promises. Just talking, maybe some coffee. If you want to get crazy we can even get something to eat." He smiled. The hurt was still there, but he wasn't giving up on her like she expected him to. He was making it really hard for her to walk away.
He opened her car door for her. "Just think about it, okay?"
Kess sat down and put the key in the ignition. He hadn't closed her door yet so she looked up at him. He looked so serious starting down at her. He was waiting for her answer. "Okay." Weak, that's what she was. Pathetically weak.
Cormac's smile was faint but there. He gave her a nod. Before he shut her door, he said, "You don't need to throw something away just because you're afraid of how it might turn out."
He closed the door and walked to his own car, leaving her to mull over the things he said on her way back to the boarding house.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Sek wandered the house aimlessly, opening windows as he went to let in the ocean breeze. Night was falling, but Miami would still be lit up as if it were day. The wind off the water ruffled the silk shirt he hadn't bothered to button so that the tails of it flared out behind him like a cape. He was just waking up, having slept most of the day. He preferred to maintain night hours; most of the clan business was done at night, the city was at its most alive at night, and it was in keeping with the animal side of himself. Leopards were nocturnal beasts.
That wasn't all they were. Sek was very pleased with the findings of his research team. Leopards had a long history in Egypt, even being linked to the god Osiris. Leopard statuary had been found in King Tut's tomb. They'd confirmed what he'd believed all along. He'd been looking for ways to change the looming future that played out in his imagination every day. He'd been correct to look to the past for clues to reverse his clan's trajectory.
The ancient Egyptian rulers knew to keep the bloodlines pure. Sek thought this might be the solution he'd been looking for: two full weres were more likely to pass on the shifting anomaly to their offspring. While it wasn't guaranteed that the child would be a were, the chances were significantly increased. And, in his case, it would consolidate the lines of power, just like it did with the pharaohs of ancient Egypt; it would ensure his family line and genes would continue on.
He yawned hugely. He would have liked to take the boat out, but he had calls to make and guests coming later. Still, he wanted to feel the wind in his hair, feel the rush of speed as he piloted the boat at high speeds, making it leap like a salmon over its own wake. He'd make a note to pencil in some time to do that tomorrow.
Sek ran his hands through his black hair, cut short and worn close to his skull. His head ached, a holdover from the drinking and entertainment of the previous evening. He looked out at the ocean, eyes tracing the shoreline, watching as the neon glow slowly mapped out the border between land and sea.
He walked into his temporary office. He wasn't pleased with it--it wasn't as secure as his old one--but he needed a place to work while his old one was repaired. He shut the door and dialed the main contact for the private investigators who were scouring the country for Kess. He'd hired a new group of men after the screw-up in California. He'd been meaning to check in with them for a few weeks but had been distracted by a rogue werecreature in the territory that had been eluding them for weeks. He'd found the interloper--a werehyena from Samara's crew--and disposed of the scavenger. He'd
sent the head back to the matriarch of the hyena pack overnight express. If she was a spy, he hoped the information she'd gathered had been worth her life.
The man picked up after three rings. "Charles, it's Sekhmet. Have you found anything new?" Sek didn't believe in wasting time on meaningless pleasantries with the hired help.
He heard the surprise in the investigator's voice. "Ah, we haven't been looking for anything. We were taken off the case weeks ago."
He nearly crushed the phone's receiver. For a few minutes, Sek was unable to speak. Father. The only one who would have called off the search was his father. Darius had already called off his own investigators, but Sek had his own secret team working on finding Kess. His father must have found out about them and dismissed them out of some misguided fatherly affection.
"You're back on it," he said when he could speak without screaming. "Orders are the same. Find her. Spare no expense." He slammed the receiver down. His father was now actively interfering and trying to stop him from finding Kess on his own. Son of a bitch.
Rage consumed Sek, so much that he thought he would choke on it. It filled him, making his skin feel tight and his head ache. He wondered what would happen if he opened his mouth--would a series of vile words just burst out or would he be unable to speak words at all? Would it just be gnashing of teeth and animal noises? He was long past the point of caring. His father—their father—had found her once and then had let her go. That had been Darius' mistake, and it was one Sek had no intention of repeating.
He stomped down the hall to his father's office, interrupting a meeting between his father and Bomani. He didn't care. He ordered the counselor out with a glare. Darius nodded at the wereleopard and Bomani left them alone. Sek paced before the large desk, nearly spitting with fury.
"I assume I have displeased you in some way?" his father began mildly, eyebrow quirked. Sek had been careful not to display too many acts of temper in front of his father, trying to keep his frequent mood swings under wraps. But today he had no interest in controlling his anger.
"You called off my private investigators! How did you even know about them? Are you spying on me now?" He waited for an answer, for something. His father said nothing. "Answer me!" he screamed.
Darius' expression hardened. "I did know about the men you hired and I did call them off," his father said, voice and expression unreadable. "There is precious little that goes on in this house that I do not know about. I am still the clan leader here and my decisions still hold weight. Kess is not your concern."
"Not my concern? Not my concern! She's my sister, damn it!"
"And my daughter." There was steel in that tone. "I spoke with her and we reached an agreement. She does not wish to return home at this time, but she has promised to call me for help should she need it. I will honor her wishes for the time being, giving her the space that she seems to require, in the hope that she will work through whatever is troubling her." He looked at Sek sharply. "We need her to come home of her own volition. The clan needs her, yes, but not if she doesn't want to be here."
Sek rolled his eyes. He and his father had had this argument several times before, his father taking the misguided stance that Kess had to come back to the clan on her own terms. "That was months ago. She's not even eighteen--you don't have to honor anything!" Fear shot through him and Sek wondered how much his father knew. His father had never said what they spoke about, just that Kess had called. "Did she say why she didn't want to come home?"
His father shook his head. "She only said that she couldn't." He paused, then asked, "You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Sek thought he heard suspicion in his father's voice.
Sek gritted his teeth. "No. I would not." He couldn't be sure if his father was playing with him or not. "This is ridiculous. She belongs with her people."
"If I make her come back, I risk losing her for good. And so do you." He locked eyes with his son. "I forbid it."
Sek shook his head, unwilling to listen. If it were left to him, Kess would not be given the choice. She belonged here. With him. But his father would not see it this way. His father was standing in his way of what was best for the clan. As to forbidding him, well, what could the old man do to stop him? He was the future of a clan that had precious few options available to them. It was too late to change succession now.
"You're weak," he said, coming to a horrible realization. His father had to go.
"And you are too easily led, Sekhmet. I've listened to some of what you tell the others and I've made inquiries into this genealogical research of yours. Everything that researcher of yours told you about ancient Egypt and our place with pharaohs is pure, unadulterated fantasy."
"He verified it." Sek had dug and sorted through old family histories and genealogies, reading books on animals and worship in ancient Egypt, hiring people to do more in-depth research. His research team had found a link to a cult revolving around the goddess Bast that could be related to them.
"No, he verified your belief in it, Sek, that is all." His father sounded regretful. "You will not save our clan from extinction by believing in some ridiculous mumbo-jumbo. There is no mystical reason to explain the loss of our numbers. It comes down to genetics, plain and simple. Which is why we have doctors working on the problem."
Sek knew that his father was trying to steer the conversation away from the real issue: Kess and her return. "I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to find out what you propose to do about Kess."
"And if I say nothing?"
"Then I will do it myself," Sek snarled.
"You forget your place."
"I don't think so." He made a decision then, one he’d been toying with for weeks. His father could not be allowed to continue this way. There was only one door left open to him. "You've forgotten what it is to lead. Without me, this clan would be dead or dispossessed already." His father looked sad, but said nothing. Sek continued, determined to force his father's hand. "I invoke rite of challenge."
Something like disappointment flashed across his father's face, but Sek didn't care. His father was old, bound by outdated thinking. The clan would be better off with him at the head. His father could always acquiesce and declare Sek his heir and leave the clan to him. Live out his days in peace. That would be the smart thing to do. Sek was young, in his prime, and he'd been leading this clan in all but name anyway. He had the clan's best interests in mind. He was the future.
Darius' next words surprised him. "As the challenged party, I decide the time and place. Midnight tomorrow. We'll do it in the Everglades."
Sek swallowed. He hadn't expected his father to fight him, not really. He thought that if pushed, the old man would back down. It had always been accepted that Sek would assume leadership of the clan when Darius no longer wanted it or died. But if his father was determined to consign their clan to oblivion, Sek had to step up and take his rightful place. And if he had to go through his father to get it, so be it.
"Bomani will be my witness. I trust you will have one of your own." The sadness in his father's voice threatened to make Sek ashamed, but he pushed those feelings aside. He was right to challenge his father, but it didn't mean he had to be happy about it.
Sek nodded and turned to leave. He paused at the threshold as his father spoke again. "Kess warned me to watch out for you. I had thought she meant to protect you. I see now that I was mistaken."
CHAPTER TWELVE
Kess knew in her bones that tonight she needed to change. She hadn’t been in her leopard form for the weeks she’d been here and it was costing her dearly. It grew harder and harder to control that part of herself and she realized that tonight she needed to let it free. The moon had waned and no longer hung like a scythe blade in the sky. It would begin to wax again in another night or two. She almost felt like her skin rippled with the need to morph, to run, to hunt.
Work had been especially hard that day and she was glad she hadn’t picked up a double shift, even though it was a Friday nigh
t and she could always use the money. She wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on taking people’s orders or able to handle the large trays of plates without dropping them. Better to get it over with and done and get back to real life. The longer she kept it in, the harder that side of her was to control.
She stopped by her boarding house to change into her rattiest jeans and an old sweater. The sun had already set and she knew Anita would be busy making dinner, so she stuck her head in the kitchen doorway to ask her a question on the way out. "Hey Anita," she began, startling the older woman who was elbow deep in flour, "is there an overlook or someplace like that nearby? I wanted to take in some of the nighttime scenery."
Anita looked at her oddly. "You aren’t going in the woods, are you? It’s easy to get lost out there, especially in the dark."
"Wasn’t planning on it," Kess lied easily, not worried at all about losing her way in the dark. "Just want to get out a little, stretch my legs, see the stars." She’d been scoping out the area surrounding the town for a place suitable for a good run. She’d been disappointed. The college was large with a lot of ground, including a number of off-campus natural observation areas but the risk of running into a student out there was too great. The resort was off-limits up at the top of the mountain. That left the Parkway, but she’d not gotten a chance to really get out there and scope it out. Now she couldn’t wait and would just have to rely on instinct, and hope for a quick and successful hunt.
"Head out of town going north and get on the Parkway. You should run across an overlook after a couple of miles. Just make sure you have plenty of gas—there are no stations once you hit the parkway." Anita looked at her closely. "Be careful, okay? It’s not a good idea to go walking out there alone."
Kess grinned, not worried in the slightest. "I’ll be fine. I’m not planning on going too far and I’m certainly not going to run around out there like this." It wasn’t technically a lie.
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