Now I knew what my purpose was.
As the captain sailed the yacht back to the mainland, Tristan and I were enjoying our time together below deck. I watched as he filled a glass with champagne and orange juice and then pour some Scotch for himself and bring it back over to the Jacuzzi. He rejoined me inside the steaming bath.
"You look like you want to ask a million questions," he said. "What's on your mind?"
I sighed. "Just thinking about stuff."
I took a sip of my mimosa.
"Stuff as in…your book," he said, with a crooked smile.
"No, silly. I didn't even get to work on my book. Stuff as in you," I replied.
"I'm not going to keep anything from you anymore, Elisa," he said.
"The tattoo on your back. It's a cobra. I understand enough about your businesses to know that it's code name for something."
"COBRA," he said, putting his scotch on the side of the Jacuzzi. "When I was little I used to go hunting with my great-grandfather, my grandfather, and my father. We all went out together. Those were the days before family issues destroyed that. We had great times together on those hunts. We told stories, played games…just enjoyed ourselves without the stress of the business lingering over us. We weren't on our territory so we set up tents on the land. Just to make it look like we were normal humans, ya know. We couldn't just sleep and shift out in the open like we did on Arnou territory. One day I came back to my tent to grab my grandfather's bag and when I reached under my quilt, a cobra reared up from under it. Had I been a human, he probably would've run off. Cobras are really not all that confrontational. They don't bite or rear up like that unless threatened. The cobra was taller than me. It's width…as big as my arm. I was scared as shit. I think I even wet myself some. With me being a wolf shifter, it must have sensed it. I was just a kid and could barely rein in my wolf when I wanted to. I didn't shift, but my wolf was on edge. The snake struck and bit me. Right here…"
He pointed to a bite mark on the inside of his left arm that looked like two fangs. They had since been covered by his tattoos, but I saw them plain as day now.
"I grabbed it. My claws dug into the scales. At the neck, I think. I snatched it off me and slammed it to the ground. I remember not being able to swallow."
I touched the fang marks on his skin. "Cobras are really poisonous. One bite could kill something as big as an elephant."
"They heard my screams before the Cobra bit me and saw it slithering out of my tent when they came to rescue me. I don't know what happened after that. Fortunately for me, someone had a helicopter and my great-grandfather knew a dealer who kept exotic snakes. He had the anti-venom and they administered it themselves. They said I was lucky that the poison hadn't entered my blood stream. It took me days to recover. They weren't expecting me to live through the night. My mom sat my bedside day and night. I don't think she even took a shower."
Tristan and I laughed.
"Anyway, when I woke up, my mom was there and you know what the first thing I said was?"
"What was that?"
"Mom, is the snake okay?"
I laughed.
"I didn't know I had just escaped death. I wanted to go back and look for the snake. My great-grandfather told almost everyone he met about it. He's the one who told Vinny when Vinny asked me if I was afraid of dying. Vinny dubbed me King Cobra. I took over my father's unit as Capo after he died…after I killed him. My unit was COBRA Coalition. When you hear someone talk about Cobra, they don't know it's a person. Very few people know that I'm King Cobra. So, when people say they work for COBRA, they work for me."
"And now you own the family business. You own it all," I said.
He nodded. "Yes, I've owned it all for a very long time."
"That's quite an origin story. You became what you feared."
"And what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
Chapter Fifteen
Tristan
I got the call about Vincent's shooting while I was out visiting a business associate. This was about a half a year later after Connor Maxim of Maxim Securities found Antonia, his true mate. And after I fully welcomed her brother into my family.
His daughter, Sophia, called me hysterical, asking me to help him. Of course, I dropped the ball on the meeting, left my drivers at the country club where I was, and sped so fast down the freeway I remember suffering from whiplash when I finally made the stop in front of his mansion.
* * *
I pushed through the front door and followed the men up the stairs. They had Vinny propped up onto a bed with about four nurses surrounding him.
He was choking on his own blood.
"Four fucking nurses and he's still leaking blood!" I ran into the room exploding with anger. "Who did this?"
"Tristan, we did everything we could. We had him in stable conditions, but there seems to be some internal bleeding," one of the nurses explained.
I ran to Vincent's bedside, exchanging glances with Sophia who held his other hand, clutching it tightly. I saw the fear in her eyes. They mirrored my own. We were both afraid to lose him.
Vincent lifted his hand. "Tristan…"
"Yes, Vinny, I'm here…"
"Who fucking did this?" I cried. "I'll fucking gut the bastard and feed their entrails to their family."
"Tristan…stop it," Vinny commanded. "Don't start a riot. You know who did this. Your efforts have to be concentrated."
"Tristan—"
"I have to go now. I'm sorry I have to go so soon," he said.
"I don't want you to go. Tell me what I have to do. Fuck, shit." I rose swiftly. "Call the fucking police. The Feds. The ambulance. Something. He can't die."
With strength that surprised me, Vinny yanked me back down. "Control yourself. Get ahold of your fucking self. You can let me go without being a pussy. Now shut it and listen to me. "
I shut my mouth.
"You were the son I never had. Promise me something."
"Anything," I stated.
"Don't avenge me…"
I loosened my grip on his hand and shook my head. "Oh, hell no…you can't ask me not to avenge this."
"Listen, boy," he commanded. "Don't waste my goddamned time! Revenge is a waste of time. You're going to learn from the mistakes that those who came before you have made. You're going to build your kingdom from the ground up. Patience…"
"I don't understand."
"Goran Zovic's time has come to an end. You can't fight him with a kingdom you don't have. You need to be strong on your own. You be boss. You be King Cobra. Don't ask anyone else to do it for you. You are not advisor. You are not a follower. You are a leader. You will take this business and you will carry on."
"I will. I will. But you can't die…" I stated.
"Goran will get his. That I promise."
I nodded.
"You don't upset me or I'll come back and kill you…if you don't do this. You told me…You. Wanted This. You told me. You wanted. To lead…Now do it. You go. And do it…"
His heart beats faded away. His eyes fluttered closed.
"Strap up, kid," he said.
"Alright, gotcha."
His grip went lax.
I choked on a sob. I tried to hold in so much pain and frustration that my lungs burned. I couldn't see anyone in the room, but I knew they were all looking at me, waiting for my next command. I couldn't find my voice. I had just made a fucking promise to the man I loved who was a father to me and I couldn't find my fucking voice to fulfill that promise.
Someone came up behind me, but I swatted them away. Tears stung and blinded my eyes.
Finally, I rose up and bolted out of the room. Out of the mansion. Clear across the roads. Through the fields. I shed everything. My clothes. My belt. My soul. My wolf spirit burst free and the shift was instantaneous.
I ran with no direction. Without purpose. There was nothing else left. Only the freezing cold rain pelting at my back.
And darkness.
The vo
id in my heart…replaced by darkness.
Chapter Sixteen
Elisa
My eardrums began to pop as the jet reached a higher altitude. I wasn't fond of flying. I preferred trains and buses. But I did it anyway to be with the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
Tristan took my hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. I settled back in my inclined seat and was about to close my eyes when I caught a view of the landscape peeking through the clouds. The jet had just reached the mountainous region of Virginia.
I leaned over and glanced out of the window. The scene was beautiful, but it reminded me of something else. At the end of the day, responsibilities were still responsibilities. And the picturesque view was a reminder of what I had to do.
Chapter Seventeen
Tristan
"Tristan." Brian Hexel pounded me on the back. "You're back, boss. Thought you and Elisa were going to go AWOL on all of us."
I grabbed the stack of mail from the console table and then said, "Elisa wouldn't let me do that."
"Good to know," Brian said. "We all know you'd do anything for her." He nudged my chest. "Plus, you're looking bright and chipper after that lengthy vacation. Back straight, chest high…" He grinned and wiggled his eyebrow.
I couldn't help but grin. Besides being my most trusted Enforcer Brian was also my best friend. He knew when to get me in line and he knew when to fall back and let me be a leader.
"Well, what can I say?" I shuffled through the bills.
"You scored! Ohhh." Brian clapped his hands.
I threw a stack of letters at him. "Stop with the dramatics. You're acting like I'm a sixteen-year-old boy. Can you get these to my accountant?"
Brian picked up the letters. "Wait until the rest of the crew hear about this. You've got your mate now, but I can't wait until you have children of your own. Then you'll see what it’s like to have living breathing alarm clocks running around eating up all the food in the house. But good thing you pay really well or I'd be in the dog house." He laughed on his way out of the door.
I smiled and rolled my eyes. "I'm sure I'll get to experience all that someday. I'm going to see how my grandfather is doing? Can we chat later?"
"Sure thing. The old man's just taking it easy. I'm going out with Sophia tonight, but page me if you need anything."
I made a mental note not to page him tonight if I needed anything. He and Sophia were entitled to their time together.
As I walked up the stairs, I pulled out a small yellow envelope. It was strange since it didn't have a return address or anything.
I broke the seal with my finger and took out the note. There was a single letter inside, folded. I unfolded it and read.
'I heard you were looking for me. Let's start where it all began.' — Jovan
Chapter Eighteen
Elisa
My back pack was heavy, but I trekked on anyway. The tall grass wiped at my legs as I hurried through the straw fields to the other side of the mountain. My cell phone had rung about a half a dozen times since I began my walk from the Caedmon Village and into the mountains. First, it was Devin who wanted to know if I was feeling alright. When I returned yesterday, he'd someone noticed a change in me. Somehow, I think he knew what Tristan and I had done. Then someone called about an ancient scroll I was trying to locate. A Caedmon relic that had gotten lost over the years. They thought it might be in Texas somewhere at a museum. And of course, Tristan phoned me twice.
If I had to explain to someone that I was going out alone so that I could talk to Caedmon spirits and conjure up the energy of dead people, they'd probably throw me in a ward for the insane, but almost everyone now knew about my gifts. They steered clear for the most part, but even I figured this thing I planned to do was going above and beyond. The only person I trusted to tell was Alessia, but of course, she was on her honeymoon with Dawson. She was possibly the only witch in town who was strong enough to help me contact the spirits, but I couldn't ask her to do this.
There weren't any climbers today and I didn't expect there to be any. There was a thunderstorm approaching and most shifters weren't going to climb in these conditions. That gave me ample time to reach the mountains before anyone saw me.
When I reached a thicket of bushes, I looked down at the map in my hands and the landscape around me. There was a mountain on my left and one my right. The middle ground was full of dense trees and bushes. After walking two hundred more yards, I found a cypress tree whose trunk literally had to be the size of a small hut. It took me about twenty minutes to get a fire going. Five years ago, I might have started a fire in under a minute, but it took me some time to lay the stones just right—to make natural fire.
After I got the fire going, I sat cross-legged under the ancient tree with my writings and then meditated a bit. When it was time, I produced a vial holding what I believed to be the ashes of Damon Caedmon, retrieved from the location where Dawson had spilled them. I cut a small slit into both of my palms and began my spell.
Chapter Nineteen
Tristan
Devin answered the door in pajama pants and no shirt. I heard his kids screaming somewhere in the background. He scratched his head when he realized it was me on his doorstep.
"Tristan…I didn't know you were coming by."
"I'm sorry I didn't give you a heads up. I just need to talk about something that's been bothering me," I told him.
He opened the door wider and welcomed me into his home. "How was your vacation with Elisa? She wouldn’t talk about it with me."
I rubbed my chin and stole a look at Devin. "I had the best time ever." I wanted to say more, but this was Elisa's brother.
"From the low-key manner in which you and Elisa are keeping what happened on that trip a secret, one could assume something Earth-shattering occurred and you two don't want anybody to know."
"Yet…we don't want anybody to know yet," I replied. "I haven't…marked her yet. We still want the ceremony and all that. I think we owe our people that much. That way they know it's true. We were meant to be together."
Devin smiled and clapped me on the back. "And you'll have my support."
I smiled.
"By the way, do you know where she is?" Devin asked.
"No, I thought she was here with you and Tamara. She didn't answer any of my calls, but we don't have another date until tomorrow night," I said.
Devin frowned and shook his head. "That damn girl is always up to something. She was at the old Caedmon mansion earlier. You should check there before you leave if you want to see her."
I nodded. "Yeah, I need to see her too."
Devin gestured to the grand room and a chair. "Have a seat! I'll get you a drink. Scotch, right?"
I took a seat. "You know, Devin. I don't want a drink. I just need to ask you something."
Devin sat down. "You seem nervous."
"That's because I am. I received a note Jovan Zovic. Remember when I told you about him?"
"Yes, you told me what transpired between your families. How they reneged on your agreement to hand over the network after you united. How you forced Goran and Jovan to give up their leadership position. And how they murdered Vinny," Devin said. "You told me everything."
"They're not going to go down without a fight."
"None of our enemies do,” Devin said. "We put them down. The Zovics are no different. We'll put them down too."
I sat back in my chair. "They were the ones who were killing all my soldiers and intercepting all of my business dealings. It almost cost me my business. They could have put me out of business."
"And they also could have outed us if these killings were investigated on a massive level. They wouldn't want that, would they? To make our existence known," Devin asked.
I shook my head. "I don't know these people anymore. They've turned my life into a nightmare. Sometimes I wish my family had never made that alliance with them, but it's done."
"Yeah, don't worry. Whatever comes
our way, we'll deal with it. If it's time to reveal what we are to the public, then it's time. And we'll deal with that if it comes down to that. We have connections far and wide. People…humans who know we aren't violent monsters."
I nodded "Yeah…" A bad feeling passed over me and I felt nauseous. "I don't know if it's the jet lag or not, but my fucking ears are still popping from that flight."
"I've got drinks. Water. Ginger ale. Scotch. Our family doctor moved right up the road. You should go see him and get yourself checked out."
"No…I should be fine." I stood up and rubbed my head. "Are you sure Elisa went to the old Caedmon mansion?"
Devin frowned. "We're talking about Elisa here. I can't be sure."
I grabbed hold of the chair arm as a dizzy spell took me.
"Something's not right," I said, moving toward the door.
I burst out of the mansion and looked out across the fields. Devin's mansion was hidden in the forest and all I could see were miles and miles of trees. And the tip of the mountain to the far west.
"What is it, Tristan?" Devin asked, following me outside.
I turned around. "It's Elisa. She's in trouble."
I ran out into the clearing, tore off my jacket, shirt, and shifted swiftly.
Chapter Twenty
Elisa
The blood leaking from my palms made it difficult to climb the nearly nine-hundred-year-old cypress tree. Not only that, splinters riddled my fingers and hands as I worked my way up the trunk. Good thing I wore climbing shoes. I was never planning to climb the tree, but when I laid my hands on the trunk, something was revealed to me confirming that this was the tree they found Damon in after his fall.
A shiny object was stuck between some of the branches nearly twelve feet up the trunk. I lost my footing and almost fell. I dug my nails into the wood using some of my wolf's strength. Thunder cracked somewhere in the distance but judging from the lightning that hit the ground thereafter I had another thirty minutes before rain fall. If I focused, I could reach the object.
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