“That was impressive, but how do you know he’s Sangsue?”
Ian was glad Kingsley was the one who asked, but the same question had crossed his mind.
Fox rolled his eyes. “I talked to her— she could smell him! She said he said something about how there was no need for them to be enemies.”
“He tried to hit on her?”
“That’s unlikely. Like the ones today, he was just messing with her because he could.”
“Letting us know they exist in a form unlike what we’re used to,” Ian said.
“Exactly, Hunter. Something has changed, and they want us to know.”
Ian hated loose ends in a story. “Fox, how did the police get involved?”
“It was her regular grocery store. They knew her name. Somebody saw the confrontation, and when they couldn’t revive the Sucker, 911 was called. The Sucker walked away from the hospital before a doctor could see him, but at that point the police were on it. The guy with the video wasn’t the one who called the police. Luckily the police didn’t believe the verbal account of this hot woman kicking that kind of ass. And everybody lived happily ever after. Does that satisfy you, Hunter?”
“Yes, thank you.”
Kingsley openly laughed at Ian, but Ian thought he noted a softness in his eyes. He hoped he was right.
“So what should we do, Ogo?”
“We should party like we planned and deal with the Blood Suckers where we find them like we always have. Answer Dot and Nesta honestly. Make sure they both know that this home will be crawling with Hunters and immortals on Saturday; there’s no way the Sangsue will try to infiltrate the party.”
“You’re not coming back out?”
“Hell no, I’ll see you both on Saturday.” He left, but his laughter was heard a few beats after his disappearance.
“Coward,” Kingsley shouted after him.
Ian backed away.
“What are you doing?” Kingsley asked.
“The last time I said something negative about Fox when he wasn’t in the room, I got a glass of water dumped on my head.”
“He cares about all his Hunters, but you’re family now— those days are over.”
“Thank you, Kingsley, but I seriously doubt that.”
Kingsley stood. “Come on, son, let’s go calm down the ladies.”
The women were still sitting where they’d left them. “Why don’t I take us all out for dinner,” Ian suggested.
“Sounds like a winner to me,” Kingsley agreed.
“Okay,” Dot said. “But don’t think you two are going to charm us out of finding out what’s going on.”
“We wouldn’t dream of it.” Kingsley held out his hand, and Dot took it. “Come on, help me pick out something to wear.” His wife gave him a confused look, but she didn’t say anything.”
After they left Ian asked, “Do you think I need to change clothes for dinner?”
Nesta smiled. “No, I don’t think that’s what my father was really saying. I’ve seen that happen before, and he came back wearing the same thing.”
Ian took a moment to understand what she was suggesting. “Wow. How long have they been together?”
“Almost thirty years, but they didn’t get hot like that until I went away to school. I think I’ve really been blocking the action.”
“Again I say, wow. I hope we have it like that.”
“We will. It’s in the genes.”
Again a nagging thought tried to break through Ian’s thoughts. He mentally repeated Nesta words, “in the genes.” Why does that thought trigger my spidey sense? he wondered.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
As pleasant as the breakfast had been in Valparaiso, the atmosphere at dinner in Winnetka was noticeably better. Ian thought it was the difference between having a meal with pleasant strangers and having a meal with family.
With the truth out about his former profession, Kingsley felt comfortable talking to his daughter, for the first time, about his life in Mali. They learned that Kingsley’s father had been a respected wood carver, and his family’s caste status was high within their clan. Had he not been chosen as a Hunter, he too would have been a wood carver. It was a fact that tickled Nesta to nearly uncontrollable laughter.
“Daddy, you’re all thumbs when it comes to anything crafty!” she teased.
“Not true. I might be a little rusty, it has been over six hundred years, but I was quite skilled.”
Dot stopped herself before putting a forkful of salad in her mouth. “Honey, you know those masks that hang in your daddy’s office?”
Nesta nodded.
“He made them.”
Nesta’s expression immediately became serious. “Really?”
Her parents nodded.
Ian remembered the masks. He’d noticed them because his eyes automatically went to things that reminded him of home. The fact that they were authentic and old had been obvious. He made a mental note to give them another look.
They were at the end of the meal when Nesta’s questions became too difficult to answer. “Daddy, Ian, what’s involved in becoming a Hunter?”
“A Hunter is chosen,” Ian said.
“I know that, but how does being chosen make a person live longer than someone else?”
“Dot, do you think we have enough liquor for your family?” Kingsley turned and asked his wife.
“Oh, it’s something you can’t tell?”
“No, we can’t. And unless you want to visit with Ogo, I suggest we change the subject for now,” Kingsley told her.
Nesta smiled. “Okay, but I want to go on record in saying that a visit from my uncle is always a high point for me.”
A strawberry shortcake appeared next to her plate.
Nesta clapped like a child. “I love strawberry shortcake. Thank you, Uncle Ogo.”
Kingsley and Dot exchanged looks.
“Nothing’s changed, Ogo. You will not spoil my child!” Dot said through clenched teeth.
Ian couldn’t help but wonder how many other conversations and exchanges Ogo had spied on.
After dinner the women went to the restroom, leaving the men standing by the exit. “How well do you know the brothers in the Chicago area?” Ian asked.
“I know one or two very well, most on sight, why?”
“I’m thinking we should compare notes more. . .”
“I’ve always thought that too. Ogo discourages it,” Kingsley said, interrupting.
“Why? Has he ever said?”
“Yeah, he said there’s enough moving around as it is—if we start talking to each other and comparing perks, we’ll make his life hell.”
Ian laughed. “I just want to exchange information. And what damn perks?”
Kingsley shrugged. He was facing the restroom door and had spotted the return of the women. “I’ll take you to meet my friend, around lunch time tomorrow. Don’t tell Dot—those days are supposed to be over.” He whispered, speaking so fast Ian had to mentally repeat the words for them to make sense. He nodded.
* * * *
It was another quiet night in Nesta’s household. Kingsley retired to his office, and Dot announced she was tired and went upstairs. “The kids,” as Dot had begun calling them, rested in front of the television.
“Do you want to go out?” Nesta asked.
“Out like where?”
“Chicago is known for its blues clubs.”
Ian nodded.
“Wait a minute, I keep forgetting that you know Chicago. You were probably here the night Kingston Mines opened.”
“What is that, dear lady?” He blinked his eyes, feigning innocence. “Kingston Mines?”
“One of the oldest blues clubs. Do you want to go?”
“No, honestly I don’t. This last week has been the closest I’ve come to a vacation ever. I like it, Nesta, I like not being out at night. I like sleeping when normal people sleep.”
“Are you going to like it enough, Ian? If I understand this job of yo
urs right, getting married will mean getting regular work and starting to age.”
He pulled her closer. He voice was raspy and even deeper than usual. “I know your father has caught me staring at that gray patch of hair in the front of his head, but he hasn’t said anything because I’m sure he remembers what he once felt looking at a retired Hunter.”
“What?”
“Envy. Nothing is more enviable for us than wanting to grow old with somebody we love. I found my love mate. I want to call everybody I know and shout it.”
“That’s sweet,” she said through a yawn. She put her head on his thigh, but immediately sat up again when she couldn’t seem to get comfortable. “I’m going to bed. Are you coming up?”
“I guess. I borrowed a book from your father’s bookcase. Maybe I’ll read for a while.” He rubbed her back. “Have you given up trying to seduce me?”
“Don’t even go there? A girl can only take so much rejection.”
His expression became serious. “Nesta, I’m not rejecting you. You understand that, don’t you?”
“Relax, I’m just kidding. For some reason I’m so tired right now I would probably fall asleep on you?”
“Have we met? You-would-not fall asleep on me!”
“Conceited bastard.”
He smiled. “Not conceited, confident.” He lifted her chin and gave her a kiss intended to incite.
“Wow, and a tease to boot. Come on.” She stood and pulled him up.
Later the kiss caused him more irritation than her. Long after she was asleep, his lips burned with sweet memory. His index finger kept returning to his lips to retrace her touch. Again, he wondered if he was being foolish to refuse to sleep with her under her parents’ roof, especially if Dot and Kingsley assumed it was happening anyway.
He thought about his home in Sacramento. Rico lived in his pool house, although he had a room inside as well. He used the inside room whenever Ian was out of town. More than once Ian had returned in the middle of the night unexpectedly. He could always tell when Rico had an overnight guest. Of course he was a Hunter and he got paid the big bunks to sense such things, but Kingsley was a Hunter too. He would know, I know he would.
Ian opened the book and began reading. It was a novel set in the Victorian age, and he was impressed with the author’s spot-on details. He was one hundred and fifty-five pages into it when he was finally able to close it and his eyes.
He’d been asleep a little more than an hour when he felt a hand shaking his shoulder. “Nesta, I told you. . .”
“You told her what?”
The scratchy whisper jolted him awake.
“Fox, what are you doing here?”
“I’ve got some Hunters in New Orleans who are in trouble.”
Ian rubbed his eyes. “Well why don’t you help them!”
“Do you think I need you to tell me how to do my job? I can’t get involved in this one. Get dressed! This will probably be your last fight.” Fox flashed out of the room and immediately 000000000000000000000-00came back to add, “I’ll be back for you in three minutes.”
Ian sat up. His blood was already starting to race like it did before a fight. He slept in the nude, but he didn’t want to take the time to put on anything but a pair of pants and a tee shirt that he carefully tucked into his pants as tight as he could. He had just finished lacing his sneakers when Fox reappeared. “They might not need you after all— something strange just happened.”
“Who are we talking about?”
“Wade, the guy you replaced in Valpo, and Sean, one of my New Orleans hunters. A guy got in Wade’s face during dinner, challenged him to a fight. I’ll bring you back if you’re not needed.”
Before Ian could ask any other questions, he was flashed to an alley in Louisiana. “Wow, that was fast,” somebody said.
Ian’s eyes slowly adjusted to the limited light. “What’s going on?” he asked the three men who were standing on alert next to him. To require four Hunters, he knew the fight couldn’t be with humans.
“Fox told me to give you this,” one of the guys said, handing Ian his favorite sword that he’d left in Sacramento.
Ian took his sword. It felt good in his hand. He smiled. “I’m Ian. What’s happening here?”
He noticed that two of the guys were about the same size, big and tall, and the other one was slim and about an inch taller.
“I’m Sean and this is Wade. What’s your name again, dude?” he asked the slim guy.
“I’m Douglas, from Los Angeles.”
The three of them had formed a triangle with their backs nearly touching as they looked around and spoke.
“Who are we looking for?” Ian asked.
“Three brothers, Ursus brothers,” Wade said.
Ian’s heart jumped. “Shit! Werebears? I’m going to need a gun!”
Sean laughed. “You got that right, brother.”
Ian started looking around like the other three. “Where are they, and why would we be fighting bears? Where I come from they’re allies.”
“They are here too. That’s what’s so weird about it. We were sitting at dinner, and this bear comes and gets in my boy’s face,” Sean said nodding, toward Wade.
Ian looked to Wade for the rest of the story.
“Don’t know, man, I’m from Valparaiso, I’ve never seen the dude before in my life.”
“I’m the Hunter who took your place this past weekend in Valpo.”
“Oh, so you’re the dude who’s been hanging around with Kingsley’s daughter?” Douglas asked.
“Oh!” both Wade and Sean said in unison.
Ian’s head felt like it was going to spin off his shoulders. “How could any of you possibly know anything about that?”
“Don’t you read the blog?” Douglas asked.
“The what?”
Before any of them could answer, footsteps were heard. Ian could smell the presence of a werebear, but there was a scent he couldn’t identify too. As they got close enough to see, he saw a huge “man,” with a short woman walking behind him. She was walking close enough to be holding a weapon to his back, but Ian couldn’t imagine a bear that would be daunted by anything a woman that small could hold.
“I see you gathered reinforcements?” the bear said in a clearly mocking voice.
“My friend told me you have brothers. I figured it was only fair to gather my brothers too,” Wade said.
From his angle, Ian saw the woman nudge the bear. He doubted if the other guys saw it.
“I’m sorry I interrupted your dinner, my friend,” the bear said. “Elsie tells me that the two of you just met.”
Ian saw another nudge.
“And that I haven’t ever had a claim to her and that I shouldn’t concern myself with whom she dines.”
The woman stepped from behind him. The bear visually relaxed his shoulders.
“I’m going to leave now, but I hope to see you both on Saturday at the wedding.” he said, offering his big paw of a hand to first Wade and then Sean. He backed away from the men for a few steps before he turned to walk away quickly.
“That was weird,” Wade said.
“Man, you have no idea how weird. I’ve never seen any of those guys back away from a fight, not even with each other!”
“Hi, my name is Elsie.” She reached her hand out to Ian.
He noticed that both hands were empty. “Ian.”
“And I’m Douglas,” the fourth Hunter said as he walked forward, grinning.
Ian took another look at the woman and saw why Douglas was so pleased. She was compact, small for Ian’s taste, but very attractive.
“We better get back in there to my fiancée while I still have one,” Sean said. “Come meet her guys and, please, come back Saturday for the wedding.”
“I have a party to attend,” Ian said as they walked into the restaurant. “But I wish you my best and expect a call from my assistant to get your address?”
"Kingsley’s party?” Wade asked.
>
Ian nodded.
“That’s going to be the bomb. I would be there if it was any other weekend.”
“Me too,” Sean added.
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