CHAPTER 2

~ Playing catch up ~

 

The next morning, Kazar staggers out of his bunk in search of a bag of blood and a cup of coffee.  He finds fellow enforcers, Wrath and Darkheart, hanging out in the kitchen with massive plates filled with bacon and eggs.  His stomach lurches at the sight of real food.  He can handle liquids, in fact craves beverages containing caffeine, but solid food always tastes like sawdust and feels like a brick in his stomach.  After returning their greetings, he opens a door on the huge commercial refrigerator to look for the bagged blood. 

“Has your mate ever gone to Ljósálfheimr to visit the court of Queen Fallisa?” Darkheart asks his breakfast companion.

Wrath barks out his laughter and takes another gulp of his coffee before replying.  “Oh, hell no.  Has being mated taught you nothing, catamount? Women are stubborn as Helheimr demons.  My Virginia says that her mother hid her very existence for twenty three years, and if she wants to have a mother and daughter relationship, she must first acknowledge, publicly, the existence of said daughter.”  Wrath chuckles as he wipes up the remaining runny yolk on his plate with a biscuit.  “I cannot say that I disagree.” 

A very small part of Kazar is curious about their conversation, but he is desperate to know the whereabouts of his mortal.  “Have either of you seen Callie this morning?”

Darkheart rises to refill his coffee and nods.  “Yep, I saw her and Trinity head out about an hour ago.”

Kazar looks at the clock over the sink and frowns.  “Why are they leaving so fucking early?  It’s not even seven o’clock.”  Darkheart simply shrugs and resumes his seat at the breakfast bar. 

“So, you both found your mates?” Kazar asks his companions.  An Immortal finding their true mate is a rare and celebrated event.  To realize that so many of his brethren have done so in his absence should be welcoming news.  And it is, but at the same time, it is almost like pouring salt in a wound.  Kazar thought he found his mate twenty years ago, but the bond never fully formed. His heart yearns for his male so deeply he cannot truly share in the joy his brethren have found with their own precious mates.

The ancient Egyptian vampire listens quietly as his brothers-in-arms regale him with the story of meeting their mates, but his mind is on someone else.  Actually, two someones.  Finally, he can’t stand it anymore and blurts out the question that has been on the tip of his tongue since arriving at the MC.  “Does anyone know where Nyle has gotten off to?”

Darkheart opens his mouth to speak, but Blood enters the kitchen at that moment with a beautiful little girl on his hip.  When Kazar learns that the child is an orphaned sabretooth shifter whom Blood has adopted, his jaw nearly hits the breakfast bar in his astonished state.  “But aren’t you the last sabretooth shifter?” Kazar asks, feeling confused and even more out of sync with his MC Brethren.

“Apparently not,” Blood quips drolly before strapping his adopted daughter into the highchair that Kazar had not noticed before now.  “Joker’s woman came across a dying human in a swamp down by New Orleans.  She said the child was a sabretooth shifter, and begged Jenniene to keep her safe.  Jenni brought Sunny to me.  Since I have no idea who might have fathered a sabretooth shifter, I’ve taken on the role as her father.” 

Kazar smiles when he sees the amazing transformation of his leader’s blunt, primitive features when he looks at the child.  Obviously, Blood is all in when it comes to being daddy to this tiny shifter female.  The three bad-ass paranorm enforcers watch their boss play peek-a-boo with the tyke for a few minutes, and Kazar decides his world has truly become a strange, new place.

Finally, Blood hands Sunny a sippy cup filled with almond milk and moves to prepare her breakfast.  “As to your question about Nyle, he’s been gone for the better part of four and a half years, looking for you.”  The news saddens Kazar because he knows Nyle must feel the emptiness as keenly as he does.  “He checks in from time to time, but I haven’t heard from him in weeks.”

Wrath’s massive hand lands on Kazar’s shoulder and the contact is pleasantly surprising.  “Worry not, my brother.  That young Celt can take care of himself.”  Kazar can only nod.  “Nyle will soon hear you are back, and when he does, fire breathing dragons and all the demons of all the hells won’t be able to keep him away from the MC.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Kazar drains the dregs of his third coffee, and then casts another glance across the street at the store front belonging to his mortal.  He was surprised that business did not seem to be on the decline for the small vintage clothing consignment store, and he wonders if the MC had someone running it for Callie while she recovered.  Most likely they did.  For a bunch of bad-ass biker types, they are truly a bunch of mother hens underneath all the leather and bad attitudes. 

He turns his head, hoping to catch the waitress’ attention to order another coffee and damn near jumps out of his skin to see the mysterious Trinity seated at his table.

When the fuck did she show up? He wonders.  Obviously, I’ve lost my edge after being stuck in the Nihility for so long if I am this easy to sneak up on.

“Callie is fine,” the waif says in her quiet, unassuming tone.  “But she’s a bit worried about the biker who has been watching her shop all day.  I assured her that you are a friendly, part of the MC, but you are still making her nervous.”  I only nod.  Making her nervous or not, I have to make sure she remains safe.  “What is that girl to you, anyway?”  Trinity demands quietly.  No one could deny the quiet authority in this mousey appearing female’s tone.

Kazar turns to stare at the mousey looking woman for several long moments before he answers.  “Honestly, I am not sure.  Shortly after I turned my back on Nyx’s dominion, this human female showed up in my garden one night.”  Kazar shifts uncomfortably.  “At first, I thought she might be a spy or a lure sent by Nyx to reel me back into her coven of blood thirsty vampires, but I quickly realized that the girl didn’t belong.”

“What do you mean, she didn’t belong?  Who was this girl?”

“The girl was Callie.  I could see from her vibrant ruby aura that she didn’t belong in that place.  After I used a bit of compulsion on the girl and enlisted the help of a psychic, I discovered she was from the future.  At first, I was convinced she was sent to me as part of some trap.  She remained in my time for five days, and we built some sort of connection before she simply disappeared.”  He glances down at his coffee and shrugs.  “I was clueless where she had gone, and oddly bereft at her absence.  But shortly after Callie disappeared, an angel appeared in my garden to assure me that Callie was part of my destiny, and that I would see her again.”

“An angel?” Trinity says with a raised brow.  “How do you know this person was an angel?”

“He identified himself as Cozramiel, and said he was a messenger of Creation.”  The Egyptian vampire shrugs, and acts as though he did not see the waif’s flash of fury at the mention of the name Cozramiel.  “I took that to mean he was an angel.”  He grins slyly and Trinity can see a caring and wise nature under the bad-ass biker, paranorm enforcer persona.  “He had wings and everything.”

Trinity chuckles.  “Not every being that has wings and claims to be a messenger is an angel.”

“That’s likely true.  What would I know?  I was born a human and then remade into a creature of darkness by the queen bitch of evil herself.”  Despite his attempt to say this with a flippant attitude, Trinity can plainly see the pain in this male.  He despises what he was made into.  “But this angel, or whatever he might have been, knew where and when Callie would be born.  He told me our paths would cross again, and that I would be wise to keep an eye on her.  That my ultimate destiny and happiness depended on keeping her safe.” 

Kazar finally snags the attention of the server and orders more coffee.  Once the steaming beverage is set before him, he says; “I’m drawn to that girl.  I am compelled to watch out for her.  I moved to Tulsa fifty years ago to be in the area when she was born.  I’ve watched over her since her birth.  That poor girl has had a tough life, but I was always afraid to interfere.”  He looks a bit guilty and admits; “I was afraid of screwing with destiny or some stupid shit like that.  There were a few times I should probably have stepped in.  Callie could have used a friend over the years.” 

He takes a sip of the fresh coffee and sighs his pleasure, but his expression turns thoughtful, and he falls silent for several long moments.  “You know, it’s weird, but being separated from her while I was trapped in the Nihility was as painful as being separated from my mate.”

“Mate?” Trinity asks, sitting up straighter in her chair.  “Where is she?  Your mate, I mean?”

“He,” Kazar says with a chuckle.  “Not all mates are the opposite sex.”  He shifts uncomfortably and looks around to make sure their discussion isn’t attracting mundane attention.  The supe world has their fair share of homophobes, but the human realm is even worse.  He doesn’t want to waste energy dealing with some nosey red-neck, so he keeps his private life private around the mortal population. 

“Hell, Trinity, surely you know many paranorms are pansexual?  Our sexual appetites are not ruled by mundane things like gender, species, pantheons, or race.”  Trinity simply nods, and her expression reveals nothing of her thoughts on the matter. 

“Nyle Black, my mate…” the smile on the male’s face stirs a flicker of envy in Trinity’s soul.  But she pushes it aside as an unworthy emotion.  “… showed up in Tulsa twenty years ago, and for the first time ever, I found myself sexually attracted to a male.”  Kazar plays with the lid of his coffee.  “But it is more than just sexual attraction.  He is my mate.  I know it.  Nyle knows it.”  The vamp scrubs a hand down his face as though feeling exhausted.  “But our bond was never completed.”  He shrugs.  “I have no idea why not.  I knew the moment I laid eyes on my sexy Celtic shifter that he was fated to be mine, but the bond just never formed.”

Trinity rises lithely from her seat and smiles beatifically at Kazar.  “Perhaps, your two is destined to be three?”  She casts a coy glance across the street.  “Have you ever actually introduced yourself to the girl in this time?”  Kazar shakes his head, and Trinity’s smile takes on a knowing quality that makes the vampire uncomfortable.  “Perhaps, it is time that you did?”