Chapter 13
The Reaper smiled. Right now he was just himself, the Watcher. Studying his Guide, it pleased him that she was settling in so well, relaxed and happy with her beautiful self. He knew he wanted her even more now. Her aura seemed to shine brighter as she slowly awakened.
When her mind drifted off into their mental lovemaking, he had to stop himself from kicking the door down and tearing into them lilac boy shorts with his mouth and drinking his fill. Images of his tongue playing tag around her pearl and lapping at her honeyed haven had his fangs cresting in need. Damn, if his dick wasn't still throbbing at the thought.
He had to quietly thank the Most High for the change in status, because all protocol was going to be broken if he couldn't have herâhis seat in power, his house, all of it. He wanted Sanna Steele. After today, he for damn sure was going to have her and keep her.
Entering into the house unaware, he stood back and observed. Her father had chosen this house for a reason. Outside of the fact that it was in a well-protected area, this house also had a hidden bunker that connected not only to the main interstate but also to his compound via Chicago Transit Authority and a cavern. He had to do everything in his power to protect what was his and protect the woman who would help revive Society. It had been a long time since a surviving Oracle had been born, so finding one who was also a Vessel, in such a close generation, was a blessing in itself.
Fluctuating like a quick breeze, he misted around Sanna quietly, his fingertips playing with the ends of her hair before he noticed Kyo's sudden stare. For a second he thought she could see him, but he knew better. Gargoyles could sense his kind but not see them. Smiling, he moved away, her eyes following but not processing.
Good.
She was becoming aware.
“Kyo, girl, what are you looking at?”
Khamun inwardly chuckled.
Kyo shook her head in confusion, “Nothing. Just had a moment.” She glanced around again and shook her head as she relaxed and watched the movie.
The night was young, and he was starving. Being back in his home city had him on edge. He hated hunting here. The thrill was the best, but he always had to make sure no one from Society ever caught him in the act. Feeding from the enemy was something that no others did. Many had fangs just for decoration. They were useless appendages that would only appear in anger or lust. For that reason, people in his Society couldn't be called vampires. If a Nephilim fed, it was typically done via their mates or relative, donated Nephilim, half-Cursed blood, or not at all. Feeding reminded polite Society of what the First War did to change them from their pure Arch state to that of half-human hybrids that had fangs as weapons to tear the enemy apart, and that was a stain on the Nephilim race, a mark of the First Fall.
Sudden hunger had him in a daze. Since the woman he wanted as his mate was still clueless about her lineage and he clearly couldn't feed from her, hunting seemed the best bet, he thought as he strolled through his compound. His compound was hidden, thanks to protection runes that camouflaged it as nothing but a well-guarded CTA building, surrounded by lethal fencing and cameras that Kali had hooked up.
He drove through retina and bio scanners identifying him, which opened the massive gates. Driving underground, it took only five seconds for him to open his door and meet Kali's angry stare.
“You didn't feed!”
“Hello to you too, little bit,” he said, lightly picking Kali up by the shoulders and moving her to the side he walked on. “No, I did not. Don't feel like it.” He stepped out of his black Escalade.
“What! You have to feed. Khamun, please go hunt.” Kali tried to match his pace as she followed.
“What I want to feed from is not currently available at the time, so it is what it is. I'll grab something in the cellar.”
“I'll call Marco.” She frowned and rushed forward, her face contorted in annoyance.
“I'm good, Kali.” It annoyed him to have to use donor blood from his cousin, mixed with that from a non-relative Nephilim, typically Kali.
Khamun paused in the long corridor and glanced down at the woman he felt was the little sister he never had. Kali stood in tight dark denim jeans that had rips on the thighs, yellow high-top Nike, and a white-and-yellow graffitied shirt that hung off her bare right shoulder. Sometimes he thought she could be Miya's twin sister.
“You know how I feel about it, so leave it.”
“No, Khamun, I can't. If you don't feed, you know how sick you get. We can drag a Cursed here for you.”
“Munchkin, if it was about the hunt, then I wouldn't be here. This is different. I just don't want that blood.” He closed his eyes and ran an idle hand over his locks as he exhaled.
“You want Sanna.”
The lilt in Kali's voice and twinkle in her eyes made Khamun inwardly cringe as he walked on. He passed through another set of scanners and flashing lights before standing in the middle of a swank platform that overlooked his second home. If he made a right, he could take the hidden stairway to his estate home. If he walked north, he could end up back in Sanna's and Kyo's homes. Yeah. He liked where he was and the family he had surrounding him.
“Grab me the donor blood and be done with this, Kali, okay. I'm good. Do not mix Marco's blood in there. That's an order.”
Kali pouted and walked off before pausing. “You know, you could just ask her in her dreams. Take a small sample. See if it will help you appease your thirst.”
“I could, but I'd rather have her be coherent and willing, because when I feed from her . . . ” Khamun flashed a seductive smile that had Kali blushing while she shook her head.
“Okay, okay. I'll be back with your food.” She rushed off.
He knew she'd mix Marco's half-dark blood with the bag out of love and concern. He hated using Marco in such a way. It often put them both in a bad place due to old memories and shadows of their youth, but he needed that darkness. He needed to have it run through him and cycle out like a dialysis machine, but the older they both got, the less Marco's blood seemed to help. Khamun always felt it was due to his cousin's acceptance of being a creature of the Light, not what he was born in, the Dark.
“Ey, man. How my cousin doing?” Calvin strolled in from the gym that nestled on the first level of the compound. Glowing sweat drenched his white tank as he dabbed at his face with a towel and offered Khamun dap.
“Still adjusting and loving her home.”
Damn!
Khamun swore everyone was dousing him with fifty questions. He misted and landed on the couch, the remote in one hand and his foot resting on the table in front of him.
Calvin was still on the platform stairway, shaking his head as he hopped the railing and landed with a thud below, before calmly walking to the couch. “That it, man? She a'ight? Nothing dark invading her dreams?”
The concern in Calvin's voice had Khamun sitting up as a warm cup of blood found its way in front of him. “No migraines tonight, my man. All is good.”
“A'ight. You know I hate that shit, ya heard me?”
Khamun took the floating mug and downed it fast, out of annoyance for the bitter taste awaiting him. With a lick of his lips, he leaned forward to sit the cup down, but his eyes suddenly widened and rolled into the back of his head. A flash of the woman he craved for all day and all night hit his loins. Pieces of shattered porcelain and red fluid lay across his lap as his fangs crested, his nostrils flared, and he suddenly felt Calvin, Marco, and Lenox rushing to hold him down.
“What the fuck, Kali!” Khamun thundered as his breathing escalated and sweat saturated his shirt, making it cling to him as if ready to choke him. It felt as if his locks were rising on his head, while his body ciphered through the blood that merged into his system, hitting him where it counts.
“
¡Carajo!
What did you do, Kali?” Marco replied in disbelief, narrowing his eyes. Muscles bulged in his arms as he fought to hold his cousin down, ducking from the swings that threatened to connect with his skull. He swore he felt his cousin's muscles constrict then bulk as the man fought his blood lust.
Kali felt like the odd woman out as she thought of ways to divert her actions. Backing away, tears suddenly shining in her eyes, she couldn't help but open and close her mouth like a guppy. “IâIâ”
“Speak, Kali, and speak fast, woman! What did you do?” Lenox demanded, his pupils expanding with power as he gripped Khamun's pushing form.
“I gave him what he wanted!” Kali screeched, playing with the ends of her hair, her foot tapping in sudden frustration. “Don't judge me! I hate seeing him go through this. Now that she's awakening and crap, it's like he's losing his damn mind! I had to help anyway I could, and he's been rejecting Marco's blood, so I had to do what he wanted!” she said in a rush, stepping back from the glaring males around her.
“Which was?” every male chimed in unison, while Khamun snarled, swinging, trying to get to the rest of the spilled blood.
Khamun suddenly collapsed against the couch, his body jerking to stop its seizure. The massive swell in his pants descended as he slowly gained his breath.
“I, er, I gave him Sanna's blood. Dr. Toure took a sample when she was seizing, and I happened to snatch the rest to protect her from Cursed spies! Don't judge me.”
Every man in the room froze.
Kali backed up slowly again, almost falling over a chair as she thought about running but decided to hold her own. Male pride washing over her made the hair on the back of her neck rise as she fisted her hands and stared them all down.
“What? It helped him, yes. See. He's looking a whole lot better now. Better than when he feeds from those asswipes. So there, I did good.”
Lenox shook his head and chuckled, Calvin ran a hand over his face, and Marco pulled out a trinity and lit it, giving Kali major side-eye as he slid his hands in his pockets.
“Kali, love, my man was already going through the effects of the mating lock, and now you just kick-started his damn Craving. He's officially in heat. Damn, woman! Good intentions, but fucked-up results.” Lenox laughed and sat back.
Kali processed it all. “Um, oops.” She awkwardly smiled as she held up her hands in defense. “I didn't think it was that bad. He can work through it, yes?”
“Hell, no!” every man in the room chimed at once, and they laughed hard.
Khamun slowly came back to reality, his hands flat on his thighs as he leaned forward. Head bowed, locks spilling like a curtain, his back expanded up and down as he inhaled then exhaled slowly. “Lock me up and don't let me leave tonight or tomorrow,” he growled as he slowly stood. “Otherwise, your cousin is about to be introduced to a male Nephilim in his prime, and she doesn't know shit about me yet.”
Marco walked forward and placed a reassuring hand on Khamun's shoulder while he helped him walk it off and head to his private chambers. “I got you, cousin. Just breathe it out and mediate on that shit.”
Hesitating, Khamun kept his back to everyone, his fist clenching as his body shook again, “Kali, I'll talk to you later about this shit right here.”
A reverberating punch into a wall made Khamun curse, his body shaking yet again. “Fuck! I need her, cuz,” he said through clenched teeth.
Calvin yelled, “Ey, you put your sweaty hands on my cousin, and we got a problem. Ya dig?” He laughed just to calm his boy down as he shook his head and continued his banter. “You know she can't handle your Craving yet, and you fucked up the good couch, my man. Who gonna replace this shit?”
Lenox's brash laughter filled the room as he looked over the shredded and broken couch, wondering what the hell they were going to do with that busted couch.
“Hey! Why don't you all shut the fuck up and suck on a tic tac,” Khamun roared, his hands cradling the back of his head. Extremely embarrassed, all he could do was shakily breathe as he slowly headed to his chambers for a long, cold bath and shower.
“I'm sorry,” Kali whispered wide-eyed, before she skipped away with a sly smirk on her face. “I wish another female was in this house! Damn!”
Lenox ran a hand over the destroyed couch, using his gift to send it to storage and replace it with a new couch. “She did that on purpose. I hope you know, bro.” He calmly plopped down on the couch.
Calvin threw a leg up on a nearby ottoman and took a swig of his beer. “Naw. Not Kali. She was looking out for him, ya know. Naw,” he said out loud to himself.
Lenox shook his head. “Really?” He laughed as he reclined, remote in his hand, an apple on his knee. He flipped through the massive HDTV mounted on the graffiti-decorated wall. “She's a romantic, and like you just heard, when Khamun mates with Sanna, that will bring not one but two women. No, four, because you have to count Sanna's sister and Momma Tamar into our world or lives permanently. Kali won't be the only female anymore.”