Donovan had the look of someone who was defeated. He picked up the tablet that he had placed on the table touched a couple things on the screen, then placed it on the table facing us. What was on the screen was a grainy photo of a man of indeterminate age but dressed in clothes that were hundreds of years out of date. Khloe’s body went rigid under my hands. I looked over to Talia, who seemed deep in thought. That’s my sis. She has the ability to detach emotion when needed to process what she was seeing. I looked back to Donovan, who was visibly shaken. He appeared to be unsure of what to do next.
Khloe spoke, at first her voice quiet and unsure. “That can’t be possible. How? Our history says that he was killed; beheaded, then his body burned to ash.”
“What does this mean?” I asked Donovan.
“We don’t know. My superiors are searching for answers. I was asked to come and speak with Khloe. It seems that the Masters know of the Eagle Warriors and your people’s past.” Donovan answered.
I took my hands off Khloe’s shoulders, and she immediately grabbed my hand. I looked down into her distressed eyes, then nodded. “Don’t worry, I’m not leaving you. I just need to see what resources we have.” I looked over to Thomas. As our eyes met, he nodded then left the room. As Thomas left with my unsaid command I turned back to Donovan. “We need more info on this vampire, Kirin. What can you provide?”
“I’ll make some calls and see what we can provide to you and your people.” He said, then continued, “My people are scared. We don’t like the idea of him being alive any more than you. He ruled our race with an iron grip and his idea of mercy was …”
As his voice faded Khloe spoke up “I need to get in touch with my parents. My mom and dad should be warned. My mom can get in touch with the Warriors to alert them. My dad should also have some ideas on what we can do.” She pulled her cell phone out as she got up then began heading towards the door as she dialed. “I’m going up to my room. I need to think.” She looked at me smiling weakly.
After she left I looked at my sister. “Talia, we need to alert mom and dad.”
“I’ll have Lela call them.” She replied, looking at Donovan, “As soon as you have something call me.” Her tone indicated that the meeting was over. The vampires got up and headed for the door.
After seeing to their departure we headed to her office so we could start making calls and preparations. As I was heading over to an unused desk I called Craig, in the security office. “Hey, I need someone who can do some research on this Kirin guy. Call our contacts in Central and South American packs to see what they know. Nothing is too small on this and any scrap of intel can help. After that, I need you to call up whoever is on our Quick Response Force and get them over here ASAP.” I finished my call with Craig and saw that Talia and Lela were in quiet conversation.
“Mom and dad said that they’d support whatever we decide to do. Knowing you, you aren’t going to let this go, are you?” She asked with a determined look on her face. “Just remember that this time you aren’t alone.”
“I know. Thanks. I’m going to go change out of this suit into something more comfortable.” I said, leaving Talia and Lela to work out the logistics.
Chapter 10
Khloe
After leaving Dorian and Talia in the conference room with the vampires, I made my way up to my room. Kirin back among the living. I can’t even begin to imagine what Mom’s reaction is going to be. I kicked off my shoes immediately upon entering the living area and began heading towards my bedroom. While taking off my dress I thought back to Dorians expression upon see me in it. Well, he liked how I looked in it. I thought as I went about changing into something more comfortable.
A few minutes later I exited my bedroom wearing a blue sports bra and black workout pants. I grabbed my purse and pulled out my phone. I dreaded making this call.
While I waited for them to answer my thoughts drifted back to Dorian. His hotness was way better than Talia described, but I can’t blame her, it is her brother. But damn! She could have warned me that he was just awesomesauce. I shook my head as I heard my dad answer.
“What’s up, kiddo?” He asked
“I’ve got some rather disturbing news, and I think you’re going to have to get mom on the phone as well.”
“Sure thing, sweetie. Hang on a sec.” I heard him in the background call out, “Zantana, Khloe’s on the phone and needs to talk to both of us.”
Hearing the other line pick up my mom asked, “What is it, sweetheart?”
I explained everything that we had learned from Donovan. “Are you sure it’s him, darling?” My mom asked me.
“From the picture that the vampire showed us along with the way they are behaving it might be him. They are scared to death that he’s returned.”
“More likely, they are worried that they are going to lose the power they’ve accumulated in the hundreds of years since Kirin’s demise.” My dad added.
“Don’t you worry about us, Khloe. We’ll let the others know. See if we can dig anything up for you.” Mom said.
“What news of the Book of Souls location have you guys heard? Last I knew it was supposedly destroyed along with Kirin, but I’m beginning to think that it was just hidden away somewhere.” I asked.
“I only know what we’ve been told. Like you, I thought it was destroyed.” Mom replied.
“I wonder if it was ever dug up in any of the temples or ruins that archeologist always seem to be digging around.”
“Don’t know, kiddo, but I’ll reach out to some of the Circles down here to see what they’ve heard.” My dad said.
We chatted for a few more minutes, throwing ideas back and forth about the protection wards I wanted place around Talia and Dorian’s townhouse. After I finished my call with them, I went into the kitchen to make some coffee. While the coffee was brewing I pulled out my grimoire and turned to the section about protection wards. I grabbed one of the notepads I kept close by and jotted down the items I was going to need.
I was lost in my thoughts when I heard a knock on the door followed by, “Khloe, are you okay? Do you want to talk?” Dorian asked through the door.
Opening the door, I immediately thanked the goddess for the smoking hotness in front of me wearing low rise jeans and one of those stretchy performance tees that showed every delicious muscle on his torso.
Chapter 11
Dorian
I went to my room and started changing my clothes. I pulled on a performance t-shirt and some comfortable jeans. After changing clothes, I paced around my living room. I turned on the stereo and cued up my Rush playlist and as the sounds of Xanadu flowed from the speakers I sat on the couch and replayed the events of the day. Talia had been successfully running the business while I was away, and as soon as I come home all hell breaks loose. A dominant in the pack decides that he wants to start running things his own way and that we should be ruling over the humans, then the Vampire Master of the City shows up and lets loose with the possibility of an ancient vampire everyone thought was dead is now, in fact, alive and is also looking for probably the most powerful death magic grimoire. On a positive note, I met the most intriguing and beautiful woman that I’ve seen in years and, oh yeah, she’s also a shifter and a witch to boot. Not to mention that she is also Talia’s best friend and old college roommate. That dress she had on tonight. I sure as hell didn’t see her coming.
I pushed my thoughts of Khloe to the back of my mind and turned my attention to what needed to be done regarding Fenris Security. The company will still function as normal. We have regular employees to handle the day to day stuff just need to talk to Craig about increased security for the townhouse. I wonder if the crap with Dutch could be related to this Kirin fellow. Could this be a way to sow dysfunction among the supernatural community while he secures his place among the vampires before he moves against the rest of us? If what Khloe said is true about his history, then if he gets the Book of Souls we will be truly screwed.
I laid ba
ck on the couch and just let the music soothe me as my thoughts drifted back to Khloe. Smart, funny, tough, one hell of a martial artist, and damn she is a gorgeous looking woman. The dark brown hair, green eyes, and the tats… that alone really got my attention. I wish I could just take her up to the woods in Maine and spend a week hunting with her.
About an hour later I got up and head to the kitchen, grabbed a six pack of Newcastle out of the fridge, and head towards the door. My feet took me over to Khloe’s rooms and after a few minutes of indecision, I knocked. “Khloe are you okay? Do you want to talk?”
Khloe opened the door, taking my breath away with what she had on. Standing there in a sports bra and what I believe are yoga pants I stammered out. “Would you like a drink and some company?” I held up the six pack and I said, “I’m not much of a wine guy, but if you want some I’m sure Talia has some in her room.”
She smiled shyly and replied, “No, the beer is fine. Come on in and make yourself comfortable.”
I went to the kitchen, put the six pack in the fridge, and grabbed two of the bottles. I opened them and joined her on the couch. “Are you doing ok after all of that tonight? You seemed pretty upset and bothered about everything that Donovan said.”
“Yes, I am doing better after talking to my parents. I never thought that I would ever have to deal with something that happened so far in the past. We were all taught about the history of Kirin and the other Maya and Inca gods. We knew they were vampires but we were helpless against them until we could band together with the other shifters and witches from the area. Kirin was the worst of them all because of the Book. Being a vampire and sorcerer he was beyond powerful. He wasn’t just a bogey man to us. He was the embodiment of pure evil. Even the younger vampires didn’t raise much of a fuss over his demise and for that he is going to make them pay… if it is him.” She said.
“What about your parents and your people? Will they be ok?” I asked
“The village where my parents live is pretty isolated. They should be ok and once my mother gets the info out to the rest of the Eagle Warriors they will begin their search for Kirin and his minions. I’m sure that there are still some around that have never given up the faith that he would return. I wouldn’t be surprised if they are the reason he has resurfaced.”
“Well, hopefully, we will get some answers sooner rather than later. What about the book? That seems like something that we should make sure he never gets his hands on.” I asked, curious about it. I had little to no experience with magic.
“Yes, I’ve sent out a couple of texts to some colleagues of mine in the pre-Columbian studies network. Something like that would be a huge find if it has surfaced. My dad is also going to check with the Circles to see if they know anything. There’s nothing else we can do now.” She paused and bit her lip with her brows pinched before she got that eureka look and continued, “Oh, I want to set some wards around the property tomorrow to help with defenses, if you don’t mind?”
“I don’t see why not. I’ll help anyway I can. I’ve never been around any Witches. I’m curious how the magic thing works.” I replied.
I spent the next hour regaling her with stories from when Talia and I were children, some of which she had heard from Talia. She, in turn, told me about growing up in Peru. I decided then that I would love to see Peru from her perspective. I realized that with every minute I spent with Khloe, I found myself being drawn to her. Just as we finished our third beer her phone buzzed.
“It’s Talia asking if I’m up and if you are here.” She said with an impish smile.
I grinned at her and shook my head. “That’s my sister, always trying to play match maker.”
Khloe laughed and continued. “Oh, yes she does. She did it for me all through college. We should find someone for her and turn it around on her.”
“That would be a sight. I’m sure our parents would love that too.” I said as I looked around, “I should be going. It’s getting late and we’ve got a busy day tomorrow.”
I got up, grabbed the empty bottles and took them to the trash. Khloe followed me to the door and as I was about the leave she reached out and grabbed my hand. I stopped and turned. I stepped closer to her and placed my other hand on her cheek. Before I said anything stupid I leaned in and kissed her. I hoped I hadn’t misjudged her. When she didn’t knee me in the groin, I deepened the kiss as she wrapped her arms around me. Breaking our kiss, “I really like you. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She laughed at me, “Yeah, I kind of caught that part. See you in the morning, Dorian. I hope there will be more of that.”
“I sure hope so,” I said as I slipped out of her room and made my way back to mine with a shit eating grin on my face.
Chapter 12
The smell of coffee brewing woke me from a sound sleep. I rolled over and realized that someone was in my kitchen, and by the smell of it, cooking bacon. Ok, Talia could be cooking since she has a key. I got up and put on some shorts and pulled a loose tee on and made my way toward the kitchen. I came out of my room and turned to find Khloe, not Talia, in my kitchen cooking bacon and scrambled eggs. She had my stereo on playing some Latin music and appeared to be dancing in her yoga pants with that same black sports bra that she had on last night. I stood there mesmerized by the moves her body was making, drawing my eyes to the tattoo on her back. It was a work of art and covered her whole back. It was a bird of prey with clouds and lightning all around the bird that appeared to be in a fierce dive with talons extended. After watching her for a few seconds, I moved up behind her to help myself to a cup of coffee she had made. “You like what you see?” she asked while she continued to sway back and forth.
I ignored the coffee for a minute and moved up behind her, placed my hands on her hips and kissed her on her cheek. “Yes I do, but how did you get in here?”
“Talia, of course. She came by my room after you left last night and we had a nice long talk about you, and she gave me one of the spare keys for your room. She also might have mentioned that you loved bacon and eggs. You don’t seem to be to be offended by what she did.”
“Nope, glad to see that my sister is looking out for me,” I said as I turned to make that cup of coffee.
“Can you get out some plates and flatware? Make sure you get enough for three settings, Talia is coming for breakfast too.” She asked.
“Oh, is she now? Maybe I was planning on keeping you to myself today.” I answered.
A laugh burst from my sister as she entered and said “You have to share, Dorian. She was my friend first.”
“You should’ve thought of that before you began plotting to set me up with her. I think I probably should be saying thank you for that.”
Khloe turned from the stove and carried two plates, one of bacon and the other loaded with scrambled eggs. “Hey now, you two behave. I’m not some child about to be torn between two divorcing parents.”
After she placed the plates down on the dining room table she went back to get the coffee carafe. Joining Talia and me at the table she sat down next to me which caused my heart to skip a beat. What the hell is this woman doing to me? Talia saw my expression and laughed, Khloe blushed, and I just shook my head and went about filling my plate.
While we ate, we discussed our next step in this situation with regards to Kirin and The Book of Souls. We tossed ideas around including the idea that Dutch might have been recruited by this Kirin or his agents to help sow the chaos he needed while he went about securing his position within the vampire world. She agreed it was something that we should consider. Khloe also went over the protection and detection wards that she wanted to put around our property. I told them I was meeting with Craig this morning to go over what we knew and what possible problems we might encounter. As we finished our breakfast, I went about cleaning up the kitchen and the girls sat at the table talking quietly, most likely about me.
Talia came into the kitchen and kissed me on the cheek. “I’m glad to see you happy. I’m go
ing to go and get ready for work. See you downstairs in a few.”
As I was finishing up with the dishes, Khloe came over, slipped up next to me, and wrapped an arm around my waist. “I’m going to go shower and get dressed. You still want to help me with the wards this morning, right?”
“Yes, I’ll meet you downstairs in my office in a couple of hours. I have to talk with Craig and then we can get started.” I said as I bent down and kissed her soft lips. She broke off the kiss before it got intense and slipped out of my room’s. I blew out a breath and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day. A cold shower was in order after the vision of her in the shower. Hey! What did you expect? I am warm blooded male, and she is one fine looking woman.
Chapter 13
After my shower, I stood there in my bedroom with a towel wrapped around me as I looked at my closet. A suit seems a little much and obviously, the Marine battle dress uniform was a no go for the office. Jeans seemed a little too casual for work even if the office is in my own house. Talia always dressed for her work wearing business attire. I decided on a pair of pressed cargo pants, a nice polo, and some desert combat boots. After dressing, I pulled out my pistol to put in the holster I had on my hip. I may be a werewolf but one can never be too sure.
As I approached my office I found Craig and Thomas waiting for me with someone I didn’t know, but he had the scent of a Were. Probably the leader of our QRF team. “Morning gentlemen, if you’d please follow me inside we can go over everything that we now know.”
Once inside, I bid everyone to sit and started the meeting. “First thing you should know, I’m not big on formality. We’ll get along a lot better if everyone knows and does their job. I know from your background, Craig, that you and Thomas are former military and know what I’m saying.” I looked at the newcomer and continued “I know from your scent that you’re pack but I don’t think we have ever met before.”
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