Kaliya Sahni: Volume One (Kaliya Sahni Volumes Book 1)

by K. N. Banet

  “She’s just met you, so she has more patience than me,” Cassius said with a seriousness I knew meant he was pissed. “You’re the one dealing with this, and it’s going to hurt you the most if anything goes wrong, so…I’ll let it slide if it never happens again.” He was silent for a moment, then gave me a concerned look. “How will your people take it when they learn your mate is a cambion?”

  I winced. “I didn’t know we were going to use the word…”

  “I didn’t want to be in front of him, not yet anyway, but you know the legends—demonic children of humans and demons, myths from a long time ago. None of them have ever described what we’re seeing, though.”

  “Which is probably why the old legends are wrong,” I said softly, leaning in the doorway, so Sorcha couldn’t close it. “They’re old. And I don’t know how my people will react. I don’t even know how I’m reacting. I threw up when I saw the demon turn into a human. I still…” I tapped my fingers and looked away. “I don’t know how this is going to play out, and that terrifies me.”

  “Take it one step at a time,” Sorcha said softly, reaching up to touch my cheek. It was tender and foreign. Friends never touched me like that. “We’ve got your back. Introduce him tonight to the legends about his kind. We’ll keep this secret. Get some rest, and we’ll regroup tomorrow.”

  “You two have a good night.” I pulled away from her hand and closed the door for her. They drove off, and I finally made the seemingly long walk inside.

  I looked for him, needing to see him. Needing to know he wasn’t angry with me or wanted to leave or do anything else I couldn’t handle. When I reached his room, I heard the familiar sound of a shower. I decided to do the same, heading for a shower.

  I cleaned myself thoroughly. We didn’t have time to clean off the black tar-like blood before leaving Sedona, and I had a feeling Cassius was going to completely trash his SUV. I scrubbed myself raw to get it all off. When I was done, I left my hair wet, got dressed, and went to look for Raphael again.

  “Raphael?” I called softly, walking through my house slowly.

  “In here,” he called back.

  I found him in my less-private office, staring at the work up I did on this case. He was staring at his own picture. When I stopped beside him, he sighed.

  “I look so normal.”

  “Don’t we all?” I bumped him with my elbow, hoping to get him to look at me. When he looked down at me, his eyes were filled with terror, pain, and sadness.

  “I’m a demon.”

  “No, you’re not,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re a cambion.”

  “What is that?” he asked, exasperated. “What the fuck is a cambion?”

  “The term used to describe children of human and demon unions. There’s…a handful of stories. Come on.” I took one of his hands in mine and pulled him to follow me. “They’re all wrong, which is why I didn’t put the pieces together. I should have, and I’m sorry—”

  “It’s not your fault.” He followed me even though I knew he was reeling. Raphael, my Catholic man, was having a hard time with being part demon. This was what I had wanted to protect him from.

  “Most stories about cambions have been debunked,” I explained as I used my free hand to grab a book from the shelf. “Sorcerers and other powerful beings would claim demonic heritage, but later research exposed them as regular witches and whatnot who were just trying to give themselves a better name. Over the years, those sorts of claims died out. No one could ever confirm a cambion was even possible. This book is on demons who have shown up through history and has a lot of mentions about cambions or those who claimed to be cambions.”

  “How are you certain I’m one and not something else?”

  “We killed someone like you,” I reminded him softly. “And that was a demon. There’s no denying that. Maybe cambion isn’t the best term, but it’s the best we have.” I put the book down and released his hand. “Talk to me, Raphael. Don’t live in your head.”

  He turned away from me. “I remembered there were other people like me that I left behind,” he said softly. He sat down on the couch and took the book from my hands. He threw it onto the coffee table and leaned back to stare at the ceiling. “I remember their names.”

  I swayed as I listened, then forced myself to sit down in my armchair. Normally, I would have picked the couch next to him, but I didn’t want to crowd him.

  “Who were they?” I asked softly.

  “Sammy, Nathan, Maude, Saleem…The guy we killed…his name was Saleem,” Raphael said, blinking rapidly.

  My stomach twisted. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, leaning over to cover my mouth. I watched him carefully as he leaned forward and put his head in his hands.

  “He was trying to kill us.”

  “Are there others we can help? In honor of Saleem?” I had never felt guilty for killing a monster. Now, it was a bone in my throat. Saleem was probably a monster without any choice. That was my guess. If I were locked in a dark room for who knows how long, I probably would have tried to kill the first thing that walked in, too.

  “Yes,” Raphael said, without looking up. “There were a dozen or more of us. We saw each other as we were forced around the lab. Sometimes, we got to hang out. We couldn’t use our abilities most of the time. I…I’m not sure why. I don’t know how they did that, but it kept us from fighting back. I mean, I already remembered, but…it all feels a little clearer now.”

  “There are ways to stop any species from using their abilities, commonly employed by the Tribunal,” I said softly, thinking of the room with pentagrams. I was still uncertain how everything happened today, but I had a feeling my actions kept Cassius from explaining some detail I was missing. We could go over all of it tomorrow.

  Raphael nodded as he looked up at me, his chocolate brown eyes wet.

  “I left them there and forgot about them.”

  “Not because you wanted to. You’re too good a man.”

  “Am I? I’m a fucking…demon,” he said, his eyes flashing red and black.

  “No, you’re a cambion. You’re still part human, probably mostly human.”

  “Both my parents were human. How did this…did they add it to me later?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” I didn’t know what else I could do for him except promise him we would find the answers. I would find the answers he needed. I would crush the people who did this to him and to the others like him.

  “You tried to hide it,” he said very softly.

  “I was…” I rubbed my hands together and looked away. “I was butchering a monster and watched it turn into a man.” My stomach twisted. “I’ve butchered bodies before, but I wasn’t expecting it, and it fucking terrified me. I had cut the poor man’s arms off, and I knew you would walk out and see me butchering someone like you. I thought I could protect you and tell you the whole story later, but at that moment…”

  “Kaliya?”

  I had trailed off for too long.

  “I thought you would think I was a monster, too,” I whispered, looking up at him. “I don’t want to look like a monster to you, and I don’t want you to think of yourself as one.” I spread my hands. “It was a lot of complicated feelings. The Tribunal and how they would react. How you would react. I made a quick, rash decision, and for a moment, I was willing to hurt someone to see it through. It didn’t work out.”

  “It’s the thought that counts, I guess,” he murmured, and I finally saw a small smile form. “I’m not mad, like Cassius or Sorcha.”

  “You should be.”

  “Probably,” he agreed. “But I don’t have the energy to be mad at you. I don’t want to be mad at you right now. I want to…fix this. I need to help the ones I left. That’s a better use of my energy. What are the plans for tonight?”

  “I’m going to talk to someone, the only person I trust to give me information without asking for something in return. You can read, train, or just sleep. Raphael, tomorrow wil
l be better for what’s next than right now.”

  Raphael frowned but nodded. I stood and left the living room, heading for my private office. Locking the doors, turning it into the most secure room in Arizona, I sat down at my computer and sent a single email.

  I got a response in ten minutes, then a secure call. I put it on speakerphone.

  “Kaliya, it’s been a long time,” Hisao greeted, sounding like he always did—somewhat distant, somewhat bored, and incredibly dangerous. He rescued me, he trained me, and he scared the shit out of me.

  15

  Chapter Fifteen

  “It has,” I agreed. “I talk to your dad more than I talk to you now.”

  That earned me a soft chuckle. “Yes, I’ve heard. He says you are very interesting to work with. You have certain a disregard for the rules he finds humorous, and the excuses on hand to get away with it. I told him that sounded typical for you.” He loosened up as he spoke, how I assumed he talked to his family.

  “He likes me,” I said with a smirk. “Right?”

  “He does. So, what do you need from me? I’m assuming this isn’t a personal call.”

  “I wish it was,” I said honestly. “I should call you more often. I never get around to it.”

  “None of you ever do.”

  “Sorry.” I was saying that a lot tonight.

  “Don’t concern yourself with it. What do you need, Kaliya?”

  “Information your father might know without your father knowing I’m asking for it or him to never know I asked for it,” I said, swallowing.

  I was greeted with silence.

  “Hisao, I’m serious. I would take this to him, but he’s a member of the Tribunal, and there’s a chance if he tells the others, they can be pushed into making a rash decision I can’t live with. I’m trying to learn everything I can without them feeling the need or reason to do something that would put me against them.” That was the best way to say it. If the Tribunal declared that Raphael needed to die, I would become their worst enemy. There was no question in my mind, I would do everything in my power to destroy them to protect him.

  “Is this about the…case you’re working on?” he asked. “My father doesn’t talk to us about Tribunal affairs. It’s easier for him to keep his family and the Tribunal separate, but he mentioned to me that you were working on something that many on the Tribunal didn’t much care for.”

  “Yeah, this is that.”

  “Okay…” He sighed. “Tell me what you need to know, and we’ll go from there.”

  “I know Hasan is older than dirt—”

  He snorted. “Yes.”

  “And he’s ancient Sumerian. I have it in good faith, he was around before vampires even existed.”

  “Yes and…yes, he was. He’s not the only one in my family, but he’s the oldest of them. I won’t ask how you know that. The general consensus is those who do know don’t say anything, so they don’t offend the vampires.”

  “Does he know anything about that? The vampires?”

  “What I can tell you is knowledge kept to my family alone, and I would expect you to respect that privacy and secrecy. There is only one other who knows it, and he is watched carefully.”

  “A secret for a secret,” I whispered. “You tell me what you can tonight, and I’ll tell you why it’s important.”

  “My father and my two oldest siblings, Zuri and Jabari, were there,” he said quietly. “Kaliya, when the first vampire showed up in the world, they were in the same city.”

  “Holy shit.” That was fucking something. “Do…do the vampires know?”

  “Some vampires know part of it, but they don’t know how close my family was to the situation. The first generations of vampires were…feral, from what I’ve been told. No one likes to talk about it at length. It reminds those posh pricks they aren’t perfect. They were once beasts.”

  “Will you tell me everything your family knows about vampires? It’s not…it’s somewhat important. It might shed light on a mystery.”

  “Vampires are of demonic origin,” he said simply. “My father, sister, and brother performed tests long ago and discovered that, but by the time they learned of it, there were too many of them to stop from reproducing and creating more. From there, they spread over the world. The feral originals are either dead or hibernating. The others have weakened enough to keep some of their sense when they are turned, becoming what we think of as classic vampires.”

  “Demonic origin? Like…what are we talking about? A deal? A curse? A…taint?” That was concerning for me and very well could have been the explanation why Sinclair went fucking insane when he ingested Raphael’s blood.

  “They were never able to figure that out,” he said, almost sad. “And the family is divided about it. We all have our own theories.”

  “Okay…”

  “Now, a secret for a secret. I won’t tell my father. I’ll let you continue collecting your information until you are ready unless it threatens my father’s life.”

  “It shouldn’t,” I said quickly. “There’s no reason this should get back to him or any of the Tribunal.” I hoped because if it did, I would be dealing with something much more problematic than I already was. “So…one, Raphael is my mate. That’s why this all has to stay secret.”

  “He’s not a human or a naga.” Hisao was genuinely curious and confused. “How is that possible?”

  “I don’t know, but today, we finally may have figured out what he is, and that’s a can of worms. See, when I first…rescued him from Sinclair, Sinclair drank some of his blood and turned into a fucking beast, Hisao. A monster. It made no sense. He lost all sense of self and restraint. He was powerful, too.” I ran a hand through my hair, leaning onto my desk as I talked. “Today, we found a demon in a basement, and we killed it. It took four of us, but we killed—”

  “Demons can’t die,” Hisao snapped. “You have to banish what was brought here. I trained you better than thinking you can kill a demon.”

  “It. Died,” I hissed. “Because it wasn’t a demon at all, Hisao. I was butchering the body for disposal, and it turned into a man—a man with eyes like Raphael, red set in black, and black veins radiating out from them. Hisao, I think my mate is a cambion, and there are more of them. But if that’s the right answer, the Tribunal will put him down, and I can’t allow that. If vampires are of demonic origin, then…maybe drinking the blood of something part demon is what made Sinclair insane.”

  “A cambion…” Hisao didn’t continue, which sent a bolt of fear and panic through me.

  “He acts like a human, he talks and walks like a human. He’s a good man. Please, Hisao, you have to believe me on this. Trust me. But if I go to the Tribunal, they will put him to death based on what we killed today. They will only have a sample size of one, which doesn’t do anyone any good. They’ll see a demon who can be killed and do it.”

  “And what would you do?” he asked softly. He was considering telling his father. He was considering coming here and killing Raphael.

  I had to make sure he knew how bad an idea that was.

  “Kill every single one of them,” I answered. “I’m one hundred and seventeen years old, ruler of a dying people, and an assassin for them, trained by you. If they end my mate’s time on this earth, I’ll destroy them. If you help them, the next time we see each other, I’ll end you as well.”

  “Then this will stay between us. I swear to it on my honor and the honor of my family.”

  My heart was racing, but the panic, fear, and resolve faded.

  “Thank you,” I whispered, relieved.

  “Cambions…” Hisao sounded as if he was thinking about something. “They’re not real. You know that, right?”

  “What do you mean? Of course, I know the old legends aren’t true.”

  “No, I mean, I’ve met someone with a demon parent, and they were completely human. There was no reason to think the demon parent had any sway over how they turned out.”

  That m
ade something click for me. “But what if it’s recessive?”

  “Excuse me? How do you mean?”

  “Raphael didn’t have power growing up. He was a normal human, going to college, had plans, and tried to stay out of trouble. He was given something at a hangout with friends, a drug. It must have activated something in him because he…he killed all his friends. He still carries that around with him. He doesn’t remember doing it, so whatever happens, takes them over for a short time. It’s dangerous to do, but Mygi was already there to swoop him up once it was done.”

  “If someone has discovered how to activate the demonic portion of a cambion, we need to stop them and expose that information. I’m not saying this so we can stop making cambions. Every supernatural is dangerous. As long as it can die, I don’t care if it lives. They can join our community and find their own place, but…as long as no one knows this is happening, what’s to stop someone from trying to make an army of them? If they can transform into demonic forms, people will only see an army of demons coming for them, an unkillable army.”

  “It’s Mygi Pharmaceuticals,” I said. “You know the company.”

  “Yes,” he said with a grumble. “I wish I could help you, but I’m required to stay out of things like this.”

  “Really?”

  “It’s a Law and everything,” he growled softly. “What I’ve told you is really all I can tell you, and I won’t be passing it on to my father that you asked. Good luck, Kaliya. I hope what I’ve told you is helpful.”

  “More than you can believe,” I promised. “I’ll call more often.”

  “Don’t concern yourself.” He hung up on me as he liked to do. I was pretty sure he taught me the habit of hanging up before others could say goodbye. It was such a fucking power move.

  I wrote down everything he told me in a journal of my thoughts about Raphael’s situation. It was new, necessary information. Cambions were recessive. Unless something activated the demonic genetics, they lived as humans and probably had no idea otherwise. Vampires were demonic in origin, making them a somewhat cousin to the cambions. That was my best guess. I could make other reasonable guesses, but I wasn’t a scientist or researcher. I wasn’t out to prove the origins of the vampires, who generally told people they had always existed, which was a lie no one called them out on.