“I am ready to hand you the reins, son, and . . . and you do this?” His father's hands spread out in front of him with his rhetorical question, his eyes pleadingd with him.
But Khamun couldn't do it. He wanted his father to understand him in this, but he knew it wouldn't happen. “Popsâ”
“No, listen. I love you, son, and I want peace in my marriage, so for your mother I will do this. But understand, you will do all of this on your own. When you are ready to come home and take your place, you take it. I do not have time for this. Any funds you receive from your mother's estate will be limited to an allowance, half of what she already controls.”
Khamun didn't want his mother's money and had told her so, but like his father, she was stubborn and insisted, so he kept his game face on and knew he would move that money to another account never to be touched. He was proud that he was going to get to be his own man.
His father continued his rant. “She will be pissed, but this is business. Marco will step in the role as your house's Dignitary council member. Since he is of our Royal House, this will establish some stability in the Society, though not by much. It will amuse me to see the bastard's feathers be ruffled by my nephew taking a seat, and my son working with what they feel is beneath their holy sensibilities.”
Khamun was shocked to see a slight smile on his father's stern face. It was common knowledge in the household that his father couldn't stand those on his council, in the DC, and in Nephilim society who twisted everything that was founded and turned it into a bourgeois competition for status. He openly felt that they had lost sight of why their race was created to stay on Earth. Khamun couldn't help but feel the same way, which was why he was doing what he was demanding, to protect his family, himself, and secretly find out what was going on with his DNA.
“But know this, my son. When you hit thirty, if your house is still not established, you will take your place in the Dignitary council and take over as co-regent in the House of Vengeance. Do you understand? Because this is not a choice at this point. This is family law.”
It ticked him off that he was being put in his place yet again, with stipulations, but he would take whatever he could. “Yes, sir.”
“The paperwork is being drawn. Blessings of the Most High unto you, my son. You leave me as a man taking care of his own. I'll see you again when you are thirty.”
How his father just laid the law made him feel as if this was it. That their once fluid relationship was now officially over and strained. It hurt him.
A part of him hated that his father just didn't get him, and he couldn't help himself asking as a means of closure, “Pops, so you are just turning your back on me? Disowning me?”
He studied his father's blank face as a warmth in his eyes shined. Khamun knew they were done with this chapter in his life.
“No. I'm letting you come into your own right . . . although I am not amused.”
After that life-changing meeting, he and his father ceased to communicate as father and son. Whenever he had to give a report, he got nothing but The Elder. Which ultimately pissed him off to no end. His father's behavior only resulted in Marco and Lenox being Khamun's middlemen in communicating with the man.
His mother, he could never shake. She stayed on him like glue, insisting she be used as his liaison House oracle since she was already the Region's Oracle, due to the loss of so many. He loved his mother, and the nonjudgmental love she gave had him accepting. He had no other choice. Their House needed an oracle in order to stay in the circuit and function reliably; all Houses did.
The founding of his House had been a challenge. At the start, it only consisted of him and his cousin Marco. Marco was the only one at the time who saw the difference in him and didn't judge him. Hell, Marco saw the difference when they were children and never said a word. He was his right hand, and that would never change.
Calvin, his left-hand man, came into the picture a month later while they were roaming Brooklyn. The brotha was something else with his mishmash Brooklyn swag accent and New Orleans brogue. Dressed in all-black, a military-style jacket with baggy black jeans, black Timbs, shades and a smirk, he made every chick in the spot damp. He took down a crew of demons at a local club he was deejaying and rapping at without breaking a sweat. Every word he spat tore throughout the spot, filling the air in swirling light that only those of Nephilim blood could see. He was down with Khamun the moment the music faded out.
Of course, the tech of the team, Kali, effortlessly became a part of the team without any concern from the men. It hit them all in their DNA to protect her, and protect they did. Even as she equally cut demons into snack food while she crooned background vocals for her big brother, handing him weapons she materialized from her henna tattoos. She was unmatchable with her knives and martial arts skills. Khamun knew without a doubt that he would kill any man or demon who tried to touch his little sister.
Lenox rounded the team out, even naming the growing house. Khamun had been friends with him since high school and college. Nox was the only Immortal he knew who could handle him in basketball, football, and even track. He always was the extra kick to his conscience, and he would later find out that Nox could detect the change in him too.
In college, Lenox and Marco were the lady killers, hunting panties every chance they could, and doing it in a way that was so smooth, they earned the nickname Don Juans of the campus. Many also didn't know that Lenox could kill anyone or demons with his bare hands and swift fighting skills. He was skilled in every hand-to-hand or weapon-on-weapon combat you could ever know.
It later made sense why Nox was so skilled when he went into his immortal evolution and Khamun learned that his best friend was the very first Templar, who happened to be a Moor. They also speculated that he possibly had a past life as a Scottish king during King Arthur's reign and was also a five-star lieutenant in World War I.
Khamun's team was out of the ordinary, and naming his house House of T'em, also known as Templar, made pure sense. His House single-handedly brought back the Templars, and this shocked Society because it was believed that the Templars were the first to become insurgents in Society.
Kali's gifts in searching out knowledge and his own mother's oracle skills helped them prove this was a lie. Since then, Society had been watching them, and every crew member had to tone down who they were within Nephilim Society, or deal with being ridiculed or even shunned. It never amazed Khamun how immature people with money, or with society rights could be, when competition entered the room.
Once his House was globally established, he later learned through Kali that other hidden branches or Houses of Dusk, as it was called underground, were formed around the world to accommodate those who lived in the middle, who were shunned by other Houses of the Light lines, or couldn't find their place within the bourgeois Society, like his own team. These people, like himself, whom he later called the Purgatory Line, helped add to the limited resources of the House and helped save the most humans, Guides, and Vessels throughout the history of Nephilim society. His House had survived and still was going strong.
Inwardly smiling, he knew when he hit thirty that his father's mandate wouldn't hold water and that he now held his own reins.
At this instant, all of that was about to change. With just one step into his old house, Khamun Cross, or according to his Society name, Region Prince Khamun Imen V'ance, would now bring a new element to all the Purgatory Houses around the world and ultimately expose what he didn't even know he was.
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Sanna sat lotus-style in her purple drawstring pajama pants and white tank shirt. She was reclining on her plush, cozy, cloud-like bed, staring in disbelief at her clutched cell phone in her hand. “Excuse me. Say what?” She couldn't believe the shit that was being said to her from the other end. Not again!
“Sanna, sweetheart, listen to the man. I think this is for the best, baby girl.”
Sanna couldn't help but look up at her mother, who was frowning herself, making her sepia eyes pop with concern.
“This man just told us that our homes burned down, that my business is now moved to Chicago,
permanently
, due to demolition that went awry, and you both expect me to sit here okay with this? Where are we gonna live, Momma? I don't know anything about Chicago. It's cold as hell up here. I do know that!”
Tears rimmed Sanna's eyes as she clutched her cell with heightened stress, anger,
“Ms. Steele, as I said, my company has made arrangements for you and your family. You have nothing to worry about at all.”
Sanna just shook her head. “Mr. MacLeod, I mean Lenox, I understand what you are saying, but that was my father's home. We grew up there. The commercial building was my future home for my business. And that was my apartment. This is not acceptable!”
A rustling of papers over the cell phone had Sanna casting a wild look around her hotel room at her mother, who just put a finger up to her lips and tapped a finger to her ear, motioning for her to listen.
“Butâ”
Tamar shook her head then held a hand up, and she gave a stern look. “Listen, Sanna. I talked to him already, and we have this in order, so listen, baby girl.”
Lenox cleared his throat over the cell phone. He was in business mode, true concern in his voice. “Ms. Steele . . . Sanna, your mother had my people look over your father's will, and it states that he has property here in Chicago. Property that I have sent contractors to evaluate and bring up to par. The neighborhood you are in is very well known and safe, so you and your family will be fine. Your father also has a second property downtown which you do, since your brother was planning to move into it.” Sanna raised an eyebrow then glanced at her mother, who just nodded.
“I told you, baby, your father made sure we were okay. He has land down South and two places on the East Coast that your cousins are watching over. It's okay. He was a stickler about owning property and renting it out. I also own some property on the West Coast that your aunts are looking over. We will be fine, baby, just fine. Do not dismiss His blessings.”
Running a flustered hand through her braided-out 'fro, all she could do was sit in disbelief. “I know I should be grateful, really, but why all of a sudden are we coming into all this property, huh? Where was it before? This is too crazy, Ma, and you know it.”
“If I may, Mrs. Steele”âLenox's voice demanded everyone's attention as he spokeâ“from the records I have, your mother has been making profit from each rental property, and as requested by your late father, she placed it in funds for you and your siblings' education, as well as depositing funds for his grandchildren, your children. Monies have been divvied out to charities, and your grandparents in Louisiana, who have now relocated to Savanna, Georgia. Your father was named benefactor over both sets of land in those regions before he passed.”
Sanna blinked as her mother motioned for her to continue listening.
“Your mother is very good with money management, very good. So it seems, when the home market busted due to this recession, all monies collected stayed fluid within your accounts. Your mother also was given funds from your father, solely for her survival as well. No, your father wasn't rolling in money, but he was very smart at buying property, property it seems that has been handed down through your family.”
Kyo leaned down to whisper to Sanna as she plopped on the bed and listened. “Why is he all in the family business like this? Isn't he just the contracting lawyer for Sanna?” Kyo was chewing on a bagel and dressed in turquoise pajama shorts with a matching tank top while she handed Sanna some grapes.
Sanna bellowed, “Thank you! I was two seconds away from asking that.” She reached out to high-five her godsister.
Tamar pursed her lips as she crossed her arms, staring at both women. “If you two do not stop that mess right now! Now listen. His business card says otherwise, and I asked him to help me with some of your father's records after I was going through them. Now listen and stop being rude. This information is not just about you, baby girl.”
“Okay, so now what? We are here in Chicago to stay?”
“Yes, your mother has already pushed this forward, and it was only logical to have you set up in a new building. Interesting enough, the building where my law firm is at has a huge opening for a restaurant such as yours, and I can guarantee no issues will arise, if you are interested.”
Sanna frowned, quickly biting her lower lip as she glanced at Kyo.
Kyo shrugged as she stretched. “I don't know. This is insane. And I'd have to move up here too, so hell . . . something new! Let's do it.” Bouncing up and down on the bed, she flashed a brilliant smile, her asymmetrical cut hair with honey brown highlights flying with her. “Stop being scared, girl. No money is coming out of our pockets, so let's do it. This feels so right, although crazy, but right!”