“You have a problem with dogs, little one?” Derrik asked with a laugh. “Promise we won’t bite.”
“Kassity, after last night you’ll be safer somewhere else. We don’t know how they found your or why they want you back. So you will work for the wolves and fill in for me when I need you. Until the debt is paid and things are better. You understand?” A trundle of power brushed her, threatening her with just a little pain that promised more.
She swallowed her snarl as a chill went through her. “Understood.” She looked up at the wolf. “I have nothing against you, my panther just doesn’t like wolves. So speak to her.” The beast stirred in her, pushing against her skin and seeming to make her bones creak a little. With a groan, she shrank back against Lucius.
The vampire put a hand on her head and her beast calmed.
“Some control you have over your kitten. I’ll take her as long as she’s not a ticking time bomb.” Derrik waved his hand. “I don’t need any trouble on my hands.”
Kass glared at him. “She won’t come out unless provoked or Lucius tells her to come out. Stupid cat won’t listen to me.”
“Fair enough, you start tomorrow.” Derrik’s gaze shifted to Lucius. “You sure the stone belongs to him?”
“Sent it away.” Tegan’s voice was so soft that Kass wasn’t even sure the woman spoke. “Sent it away.”
Lucius looked down at the human. “You did what?”
“Sent it away.”
Kass noted the fine tremor that shook Tegan’s body and frowned. “Tegan?”
“Sent it away!” The woman clutched her head and doubled over. “Sent it away!”
Lucius growled at Derrik. “You are dismissed, I need to handle my human.”
“Of course. See you tomorrow, Kass.” His eyes were all for Tegan, who was rocking back and forth.
Kass nodded and moved to Tegan’s side. “Tegan, can you hear me?”
“Sent it away!”
“Fuck.” Lucius pushed Kass out of the way and put his hands on either side of Tegan’s head, forcing the woman to hold still. “Tegan, listen.”
Kass shivered as his power filled the room and demanded Tegan’s attention. Tegan’s head came up a little as her hands rose to remove the fabric.
“No, not yet.” Lucius voice softened. “Kass is still in the room. What happened, Tegan? Why did you send the stone away?”
Tegan shook her head. “Pain, pain, oh gods, Lucius, it hurts.” She laid her hands over his. “Sent it away.”
“What’s happened?” Kass sat back on her heels. “She shouldn’t be able to deny you an answer.”
Lucius pulled Tegan into his arms. “A vampire has messed with her mind.”
Tegan clawed at him. “Sent the stone away.”
“Do you know where?” He asked, wrapping his arms around her.
“No.” She pulled back, shaking her head.
Lucius nodded and looked at Kass. “Come here and I will take the collar off. I’ll deal with this, you get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow at the club.” He stood and held Tegan’s hand to help her up.
Kass nodded and rose from the floor. Going to him, she raised her hair so he could unlatch the collar. “I still can’t believe you’re loaning me out.”
“Get over it, it’ll be good for you.” He snapped as he pulled the collar off. “Now go.”
Before she left she glanced back at Lucius and Tegan. He pulled the woman close to him, holding her as if she would break and kissing the top of her head.
Quinn walked into the meeting room with the vampires. The Circle, head of all vampires, demanded an update on the search for his daughter. They had come to him when they heard the rumors about her and now wanted her for themselves. He should have killed the bitch when he had the chance. Now that he had an update from his sons he had something to give The Circle. The cold room felt more like a clinic than a meeting room, with a screen wall at the other end. There he could see seven human-like shapes sitting. The silhouette routine showed how much The Circle didn’t trust him.
“You call for my aid, yet you hide.” Quinn growled.
“We hide for your safety.” A male voice sounded. “You have news on your daughter?”
Quinn watched as the figures remained motionless. “I do. We are in the process of getting her back, but she is under the protection of Lucius. The advantage of this is that she has already been trained to kill.”
“And the mark? Has it appeared?”
He shook his head. “If it has, it’s not visible.” He waited as the silence fell over him, making the beast inside him nervous. The war was growing out of hand, but he knew that if there was anyone to ally with, it was The Circle.
“We need to know if the mark has appeared. Once you get her, check her for it.”
“Her mother promised me that it would appear. She just escaped our grasp before it could.”
“Get her back. If the mark has appeared, bring her to us and we can promise to keep you safe.”
Quinn shivered, knowing what the alternative was. “I have another daughter-“
“But she does not carry the mark.” The vampire hissed back. “We are interested in only Kassity.”
“Understood.” He swallowed and then bowed. “Is that all?”
Something shifted behind the screen; just a subtle movement, but Quinn heard it. “Do not harm any of Lucius’ other people unless they attack you. Get your daughter and get out. We cannot have any attention drawn to us at this time.”
“Understood.” Quinn turned to leave. He would do anything to protect his sons in this supernatural war. Anything.
Chapter Five
Jax studied the man approaching his table. The crowd of the cafe bustled around them, paying no attention to the two non-humans who joined each other for a cup of coffee. The demon’s eyes glinted in the morning sun as he pulled a chair out and sat, grinning at Jax.
“You bring me the money?” He sat his coffee on the table.
Jax slid an envelope over. “There you go, plus tickets to the concert you requested. You have some strange demands for a demon.”
“I like to have my fun.” He snorted. “What did you want in return?”
“I need to know what’s been going on, rumor has it that the wolves lost a few top notch fighters in the last battle against the demons.”
Kaden nodded and sighed. “Yeah, the alpha lost his brother in it, bloody battle. They were trying to protect something that Lucius wanted. What it was, was a mystery. But Lucius lost a few of his vampires as well. Heard you’ve been hanging around his territory a lot. Find anything interesting?”
“No comment. Any news on the fae and others? I heard they were starting to heat things up as well, that the demons were working on getting them to choose their sides.”
“I don’t know, the prince of the fae is missing, heard he’s been missing for a long time. So things are a mess there.” He took a huge gulp of his coffee. “Can I ask you something?”
“Depends.”
“Lucius is rumored to have a stone and a very interesting human. Know anything about it?”
“I know he lost the stone and I haven’t met his human, so I can’t say much about her. I know he has a female panther in his clutches though.” He leaned back and cradled his coffee between his hands.
Silence surrounded Kaden before he spoke. “There’s only one panther clan in the northern U.S., and they don’t willingly let anyone leave.”
“They are a very close knit family.” He nodded. “It’s a complicated situation, really. Lucius is strong, probably one of the strongest territory leaders in the U.S.”
“That’s what I hear, and that the Circle is keeping an eye on him. They are worried, they think he is hiding something from them.”
Jaxon laughed. “Like what? From what I hear vampires can’t hide anything from their hierarchy.”
“I think it has to do with what the wolves were protecting in that last battle.”
“If you
find out what it is, I’ll trade you goods again.” Jax chuckled. “Just as long as it’s not something insane.”
Kaden nodded. “Yeah, I’ll let you know if I find out. Hope your mercenary stuff is going well. Seems to be since you can afford to keep helping me out.” He downed his coffee. “Thanks, man. I’ll see you later. Careful around Lucius. I think the Circle is right and that he’s hiding something.”
“Do you know what the stone was?” Jax asked.
Kaden chuckled and stood. “I hear rumors.”
“Oh?”
“It’s apparently a soul. A bad ass mother fucking soul, but no one knows who it belongs to.” He shrugged and walked out the door, blending in with the crowd of humans outside. Jax thought about Kaden’s words as he finished his coffee. He threw a tip on the table before leaving. He needed to create a new list of places to search for this stone.
Techno music thudded against Kass as she approached the doorman, who waved her in. The crowd bumped and grooved against each other and she swallowed as her eyes wandered over the mix of people. Some human, most of them supernatural. A hand touched her shoulder and she jumped, spinning around, ready to fight.
“Whoa there kitty, calm down.” Derrik held his hands up. “Just me. Didn’t mean to startle you.”
Kass took a deep breath. “Sorry, sore from a fight, don’t want people touching me.”
“I see the limp you had is gone.”
“The blessing of being a shifter. So, here I am, you want me bartending tonight?” She crossed her arms.
He laughed. “Let me show you around the club first and then we’ll get you set up at the bar for tonight. I’m assuming you know how to mix and serve drinks.”
“Yeah, one of the many things I’m trained in.” She rolled her eyes. “What’s with the thump thump music?”
He shrugged. “Not a fan?”
“It screws with my senses. I can’t really tell if anyone is around me, not something I can afford right now.” She sighed.
He motioned for her to follow him. “It’s quieter in the bar area.” He shrugged and then pointed to an area blocked off with a chain link fence. “That’s the DJ booth.” He waved to the guy in the booth.
“The dance floor covers most of the lower area, and the bar is back here. Keep up if you can, Kitty.” Derrik started weaving through the massive swaying crowd.
Kass cursed as she tried to follow him. She bent and strained to avoid touching people, but still some brushed against her or tried to dance with her. She shoved at them and growled at the wolf when she got to the other side. “I’m not a crowd kind of girl.”
“I needed to see how you would handle it.” He shrugged. “Make sure you wouldn’t shift if you got too overwhelmed.”
She raised a brow. “My cat will stay put. Lucius wouldn’t have sent me if he didn’t think I could do the job.”
“Lucius is a very strange vampire and will often do things that don’t make sense to anyone. Like stripping a shifter of their control.” He walked up a few steps that led to a raised part of the floor that housed the bar. The four sided bar held three bartenders rushing to keep up with the hordes swarming around them.
“This is the bar, it’s twice as big as the one you’re used to, but it has a person serving on every side to keep up with the demands. Well, once you start working, that is.”
Kass saw one of the female bartenders push a portion of the bar and walk through. “This is actually amazing, nothing like Lucius’ bar.”
“His bar only caters to supernatural creatures. This one is well known to the public, and it’s a safe place for all creatures. Remember that.”
Something in his voice made Kass turn to him. “A safe place?”
“A place of protection. We help new shifters, we help new vampires and people in hard places.” He shrugged and walked towards the bar.
Kass spotted a black door tucked in the back. “And in there?” She asked, pointing at it.
“The basement.” His said and waved a hand to dismiss it.
She wanted to push but thought better of it. None of her business. “All right, so I guess I’ll serve drinks for the night and try to enjoy myself.” Derrik had been right, the music was softer at the bar, but the beat still echoed off the walls and shook the floor. Her senses wouldn’t settle and her panther felt like it was pacing. She wrapped her arms around herself as the only word that came to mind was trapped.
“Yeah, you’ll be working with Coran for tonight. He’ll take you to the office to get some paperwork done.”
“Paperwork?”
Derrik looked at her. “Yeah, so we can pay you.” He paused. “Lucius doesn’t pay you?”
“No, he doesn’t. He provides me with everything so I really have no need for money. I guess it’s a perk?”
“You don’t sound too sure. I’m not going to have you working here for free, despite the fact that I begged you off of Lucius.” He laughed.
She sighed. “One problem. I don’t legally exist, I was killed two years ago.”
“Trust me, we deal with that a lot more than you think. Don’t worry about it, Kass. Relax a little, I’m not trying to screw you over or anything. Talk to Coran, serve some drinks, and enjoy the music.”
Kass crossed her arms as Derrik waved someone over to them. The man towered over her and she closed her eyes at the buzzing energy surrounding him that pegged him as a shifter. “Coran?”
He nodded. “The one and only, sweetie.” There was a slight accent to the growl of his voice, the rumble causing her cat to stand on edge.
She rubbed her chest and sighed. “Great, let’s go do paperwork so I can get this night over with.”
Coran led her to a room off to one side of the bar. She leaned on the desk while she watched him pace. “You don’t like small rooms, do you?”
“No, I don’t. I don’t like the fact that you are here either. I don’t like any of this damned mess.” He snapped and ran a hand through his dark hair. “Look, all I need to do is get your information on where we send money to for the hours you are putting in. We don’t worry about social security crap here, cause half the employees don’t have that.”
She frowned at his accent. “Including you?”
“None of your business.” He paused and pulled out a pen and paper from a drawer. “Here, info. Now.”
“Demanding little shifter aren’t you?” She said and wrote down her phone number and the address to Lucius’ place.
He growled again, this time sounding more like an animal. “You want a lesson in shifters, Kassity?”
The way he said her name made her cringe. “Please, call me Kass. What lesson do you want to give me, because trust me, I’ve learned most of them the hard way.”
“Have you ever dealt with an immortal?” He asked, meeting her gaze as her eyes widened. “Take that as a no.” He started to undo the top buttons of his blue shirt and she backed up. “Calm down, just want to show you something.” He exposed an intricate looking tattoo that scrolled across his chest.
She resisted running her fingers over it. “That’s what the mark looks like?”
“A gift from the gods, they say.” He shrugged and buttoned his shirt back up. “My life is different from yours, so do not mock me, do not joke about not existing.”
She shook her head. “Different yes, but I don’t exist either. Lucius faked my death a couple years back to save me from my family.”
“Family? You had to be saved from your family?” He raised a brow. “And Lucius is the better alternative? Man, that’s harsh.” He laughed.
She raised a brow. “You could at least extend the same respect to me. I don’t like being laughed at.”
“Right. Sorry.” He snickered and picked up her paper. “I’ve known Lucius for a long time now, and he’s...well, he’s tough, but he takes care of his people.”
“He’s got a funny way of taking care of people.” She snorted. “Are we done here? I’d like to get to work.”
; He nodded. “Yeah, I’ll show you the ropes and then you can get to work.”
She followed him out of the room, watching him. Never having met an immortal, she wanted to ask him about his life, but the glare he gave her cut down her curiosity. Spotting Jax talking to one of the other bartenders, she froze. “Well, fuck.”
“Such language from a lady.” Coran laughed. “You know the cat then?”
She snorted. “Yeah, I know the cat.”
Jax looked up as Kass walked to the bar with Coran. “Do you make a habit of working at different places?”
“Do you make a habit of showing up on nights that I’m working?” She gave an exaggerated look around. “At least we’re not in an alley this way and you don’t have me pinned to the wall.” Kass’ panther stirred at her statement, excited at the thought of Jax pinning them.
Jax shrugged. “Everyone knows about this bar, I didn’t know you worked here.” He grinned. “When did you start?”
“Tonight.” She looked to Coran for help.
The immortal smirked. “Take a break.”
She groaned. “I just started though.”
“Don’t care. Go.”
Jax grinned. “I’ll buy you a drink, and we’ll go talk in the back.”
Jax watched as Kass hung her head and exited the square bar. “Come on, it’s not going to be that bad. I just want to talk for a bit.”
“So you did know I was going to be here.” Her eyes snapped up to his and he sighed.
“No, I didn’t, but now that you are here and Lucius and his other blood suckers aren’t hanging around I’d like to talk.” He raised a brow. “What’s your poison?”
She hesitated for a moment, and he wondered what she was thinking. “Mudslide.”
“Fancy, eh?” He turned to order the drinks. The female bartender let her fingers brush and linger on Jax’s hand. He turned away without acknowledging her advance and handed Kass her drink. “ Shall we go to the back?”
“Yeah.” To his surprise she brushed past him and led him up to the next raised platform.
He pulled out his chair and sat down. The beat of the music faded away and the floor steadied under their feet. He watched as she sat down and took a hesitant drink. “What’s on your mind?”
Dark War Chronicles Box Set One Page 6