Chapter Eight
Gage thumbed through his book of records, as he waited on word from his men on the task he’d sent them out on. His Pet had been gone long enough for some damage to have occurred. There was a reason he’d let her go. He smirked when he thought how the Kyriakis Alpha must have thought they’d scored some victory by rescuing that mangy mutt when in fact that would be their downfall.
A knock on his study door brought him out of his silent musings. “Enter,” he commanded.
Lars, one of the higher ranking members of his organization entered the room. “Master, we have eyes on every dock within a hundred mile radius of Circe. We’re keeping an eye out for all the Kyriakis who leaves the island.”
Gage narrowed his eyes. “That is what you interrupted me for? I’m sure you wouldn’t waste my time with information I already know.”
“Of course not, Master.” Lars bowed his head respectfully. “A member of pack Kyriakis has recently come to the mainland. There’s something different about her. I sense that she’s not like the others. Perhaps some magic in her blood. She might be of some use to us to recharge our powers for a while.”
Gage stroked his chin. “Was she alone?”
“As far as we could tell. She apparently has a home in Crete and it appears she may be staying there for a while.”
“Does she show the beginning stages of Malum?”
“Not that I can tell.”
“Fuck,” Gage cursed under his breath. Pet had been with the Kyriakis long enough for the spell to activate. There could be only one explanation why it hadn’t. The Kyriakis must have figured out the half-breed’s powers. He gnashed his teeth in frustration and slammed his fist into the arm of the chair he occupied.
Lars cocked his head to the side. “What is it, Master?”
“The half-breed must have figured out her powers.”
Lars frowned. “You were already made aware of that.”
Gage stiffened before he caught the meaning of what his lieutenant had just said. “What have I already been made aware of?”
“The half-breed’s powers have obviously been activated. I personally informed you that Persephone Kyriakis and Eric Magnussen left Circe shortly after delivering Pet to the Alpha. Persephone was in her two-legged form. She’s been cured.”
Gage flew across the room before Lars had a chance to get another word out. He grabbed the other hunter by the throat and lifted him in the air. “Care to walk that back? How dare you lie to me?”
Lars clawed at Gage’s hand as he struggled to breathe but Gage refused to let up, squeezing tighter.”
“I personally delivered the news myself. You shattered this room. No one would come near you for days. Look around you. Most of the furniture has yet to be repaired,” Lars managed to wheeze out.
Gage took a good look around the room and sure enough most of the furniture that had decorated this room was missing in disarray. Why hadn’t he noticed this before? He released the other hunter from his grip.
Lars fell to the floor breathing hard.
It was happening again. He was losing pockets of his memory. His forgetfulness had never been an issue for him before because it was usually something as simple as misplacing an item. But now he was forgetting conversations, important ones. He had a spell to tell if someone was lying to him so Lars was fully aware that if he wasn’t telling the truth Gage could easily find out and the consequences would be great.
He turned his back to the wheezing man not wanting to show weakness. “Gut one of those mutts in the dungeon. I need more essence. And make it quick.”
“Yes, my Lord. But there’s something else that may be of interest to you.”
“What?”
“There may have been a sighting of the seraphim. We don’t have much to go on yet but I thought you would want to hear that.”
Gage nodded without turning around. “Leave me.”
Only when the door closed, indicating that Lars had left him Gage released the breath he’d been holding. He allowed his shoulders to sag and he fell into his armchair.
The news of the seraphim’s sighting couldn’t have come at a better time, especially with the way chunks of his memory seemed to disappear. As a hunter, they received their powers through the essence of other immortals. It was why they hunted shifters. They were easier to take down…at least the younger ones were. But ever since the advent of an organization called The Underground, hunting had become a difficult endeavor. Gage had to rely on the reserve shifters he kept around to tap into their energy and that reserve was running low. If they found the seraphim he’d have an unlimited supply power. No more memory gaps.
Gage’s thoughts transferred to the half-breed. Now that she had discovered her powers there was no telling what else the Kyriakis knew. She might have been able to heal Pet but it was only temporary.
A smile touched his lips as he thought about the look on the Kyriakis Alpha’s face when it all exploded in his face. Gage leaned back in his chair as he formulated a plan. That shifter Lars had mentioned may come in handy after all. He just needed to bide his. The Kyriakis had no idea what they were in store for.
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Aries had told Nina that he would come for her today but he found himself taking a trip to the mainland after receiving a call from Calliope. She’d told him that she had something important she wanted to tell him. He’d asked her why she couldn’t tell him over the phone but she was persistent that he visit her house. She’d told him that she had some important information about the ‘all black’.
It was only half an hour boat trip to the mainland and another half an hour drive to Calliopes house, so he figured he would be back on Circe by nightfall.
Calliope’s family had a home in the city with its own private beach. Why she had decided to take a trip out here was beyond his comprehension but he figured she had her reasons.
When he pulled up to her gated driveway, he hit the buzzer to let her know that he had arrived but there was no answer, so he used the code she’d given him when he’d visited previously. As soon as he parked his vehicle, Aries realized something wasn’t right. Cautiously he approached the house and as he drew closer, he heard what sounded like some kind of struggle.
He raced to the house as fear gripped his chest because he could sense another presence other than Calliope. She was clearly in trouble. The sight he stumbled on when he found her sent his blood boiling.
Calliope lay in her wolf form bloodied and battered. Two of her legs were clearly broken and she panted for air. A body lay in the corner with its throat torn out and it was clear Calliope had put up a fight and managed to take one down before the other two had gotten to her. Two men who he assumed were hunters stood over the she-wolf, chanting something. They seemed to be so deep in working their spell that they hadn’t noticed him. But Calliope did. Her gaze collided with his and she whimpered.
Not having the time to fully transform and maintain the element of surprise, Aries shifted his hands and mouth so that his claws and teeth protruded to sharp points. Without further hesitation, he pounced on the closest hunter, gripped his hair and bit the unsuspecting man in the throat, ripping out a chunk. Aries’s foe didn’t get a chance to scream before he ripped the man’s head clean off. By the time the body hit the floor, the remaining hunter became aware of what was happening and sent a bolt of light toward Aries.
Having been on the receiving end of a warlock’s wrath before Aries was prepared and ducked as the bolt of lightning flew over his head. Before the hunter could get another attack off, Aries tackled him and sliced his face with his claws.
“Get off me you, mutt!” the hunter screamed. He grabbed Aries’s shoulder and something that felt like pure electricity ripped through Aries’s body.
He fell away from the hunter but he managed to wobble to his feet but was immediately kicked in the ribs. The hunter delivered another blow to Aries' stomach knocking the breath out of him.
When the hunter reared his foot back to kick him again, Aries managed to roll away. He was certain that last kick had broken one of his ribs and he needed to shift in order to speed up the healing process.
Aries jumped to his feet ignoring the pain coursing through his system. The hunter sent what appeared to be pure lightning in his direction and though Aries tried to get out of the way, it still caught him in the shoulder. This hunter was stronger than ones he’d dealt with previously. Usually, he could take a couple out without breaking a sweat but this one was stronger and more powerful. The hunter held his hands and sent a continuous stream of electricity into Aries, rendering him immobile.
“You’re weak, Kyriakis,” the hunter taunted. “Did you think you could just come in here and take us down so easily? Your entire pack is doomed and you don’t even realize it. All you had to do was hand over the half-breed. Now you only have yourself to blame for what’s about to happen. By harboring the all black, you’ve brought darkness to your pack. The half breed’s powers can only hold off the darkness but for long. It’s only a matter of time before everything goes black and it will be no more than you all deserve. Filthy beasts!”
Aries gritted his teeth trying to fight this hold the hunter had on him but he could barely move his arms. He managed to get to his feet but this only caused his opponent to laugh.
“You can’t stop me. You’re ahhh—”
The man screamed out in agony as a still injured Calliope bit into his back. The brief reprieve gave Aries enough time to fully shift. His clothing ripped apart and fell at his feet as his body expanded. Once he was in his wolf form, Aries jumped in the hunter’s direction, teeth bared. He clawed the hunter’s throat while Calliope worked in the back.
The hunter who had been certain of his triumph only seconds earlier screamed in agony as the two wolves worked in tandem to take him down. Aries could have ended his life quickly but he wanted it to hurt because he’d dared to attack a member of Pack Kyriakis.
Enough! He ordered Calliope through a mind link.
She whimpered but felt back, limping off. She was clearly still hurt. Her injuring were too extensive for her to have healed that quickly but she was a fighter and Aries admired that about her.
Aries knocked the hunter off his feet and placed his paws on the dying man’s chest. What do you mean by holding the darkness off? Aries demanded, projecting his thoughts into the hunter’s mind.
The hunter laughed but that caused him to cough up blood.
“You’ll see,” whispered with a smirk as the life slowly drained from his eyes.
In a move of pure frustration, Aries sliced the hunter’s throat to the bone, finishing the job.