Chapter 1
“You’re a ruthless bastard.”
Calabez Vartik sighed, ready to end the transmission with his younger brother. Juston wanted to see the world in black and white, but Cal knew that only shades of gray existed. “It takes one to know one, brother.”
Juston’s face was a storm cloud. “This is the last time. I fucking swear to all the gods in the seven known galaxies that I won’t do this again.”
“Of course, brother.” Cal responded with a promise he had no intention of keeping. “Now finish up and return home. There’s a mission I want you for.”
Juston’s mouth dropped open. “You just said—”
“It’s not an assassination, moron,” Cal interrupted. “Just shake a leg and get your ass home.” He disconnected the transmission before he had to listen to more of his brother’s whining. Glancing at the clock, he determined he still had time to make it to his meeting.
He turned his head toward the door at the sound of a knock. His older brother, Nojan, stood in the doorway to Cal’s office. “We’ve been summoned,” he said.
Cal shook his head. “What is it now?” These days, it seemed like there was always something going on around the palace. Some new mission or crisis or vision that needed immediate action. He was starting to get whiplash from all the recent activity on his once quiet planet.
Nojan shrugged. “Marek called the lab and said to hustle on down to the war room. He asked me to grab you along the way.”
The timing couldn’t be worse. “If it isn’t urgent, I’ll pass.”
Nojan grinned. “Another hot date?”
“You could say that, yes.” At least, it would have the appearance of one. “And she’s not the patient type.”
His brother took a few steps into the room. “I understand the need for recreation as much as the next man, but this isn’t really the time for diversions, no matter how sexy and hot to trot they might be.”
Nojan’s tone was light, but Cal could read between the lines. His older brother had often frowned on what he called Cal’s “mindless rutting phase.” And if Cal was blowing off the meeting for an ordinary hookup, he’d have every right to judge him. That wasn’t the case now, but he couldn’t inform Nojan of the true purpose of his “date.”
Cal groaned and stood up. “If I have to hear one more meandering explanation of the oracle’s arcane visions, I’m going to croak myself.”
Nojan punched his brother in the arm, hard. “That’s my wife you’re talking about, so you can shut the fuck up right now, or I’ll shut you the fuck up.”
Cal grimaced. “Apologies. These constant discussions are wearing on me. I’m a man of action, and debating every little mysterious point makes my head hurt.”
“Man of action.” Nojan snickered. “Well if you don’t haul your ass to the war room right now, your head won’t be the only thing hurting when Marek hears about you ditching the meeting to scratch your never-ending itch.”
“I’m coming,” Cal said wearily, then followed Nojan into the hallway. As he walked, he hit the keys on the miniature communications array he wore on his wrist, letting his “date” know he’d been delayed. He only hoped she would stick around long enough to wait for him.
The women were already in the war room, which put Cal on edge. His family had been dominated by men for ages, as would be expected when there were seven brothers to only one sister. But as his older brothers started to pair off, their women had begun exerting an unexpected influence.
Zelup’s wife was the most recent one to interrupt the routine of the royal palace. She sat at the oblong table, a small replica of a Vartik falcon perched on her shoulder, preening its artificial feathers. Dawn was an inventor of amazing genius, and her creations were turning the palace into a robotic zoo in which one had to be careful where he stepped.
Cal liked the spunky little scientist, but her attachment to his brother was causing a shift in Zelup’s practiced calm. His older brother and second in line for the throne actually took delight in teasing and swearing nowadays, having abandoned his previous uptight demeanor.
Nojan moved behind his own wife’s chair, planting a kiss on the top of her head and rubbing her shoulders. The Great Oracle of Territh was an extremely beautiful woman, but one Cal tried to avoid. Her visions always meant some fresh hell for his brothers.
Speaking of fresh hells, Marek walked into the room, his arm around the stunning Jazmine.
Jazmine, one of the twin children of light, daughter of the Goddess of Light herself. Since she’d come into their lives, nothing had been the same. Their current mission was to rescue her brother, Caleb, from his prison on Dazimin, which just happened to be the residence of a certain Crown Prince of Hell. Not to mention the legion of demons and powerful Seekers that called the hellscape home.
But rescuing her brother wasn’t the only thing they were working toward. Apparently, the Vartik royal family had its part to play in the Battle of the End, the apocalypse to end all apocalypses, which could be right around the corner. They were gathering as many Guardians as they could to be ready for the fight. Their hope was that these Guardians would lend a hand when springing Caleb from his prison cell.
So far, they’d located two of the mythical beings: the oracle and a shell-shocked beauty known as Sleep. They’d almost lost Sleep to the Seekers, demonic beings imbued with powers by the Crown Prince of Hell to combat the Guardians, but her millennium-long entanglement with Nightmare, one of the demons fighting against them, had led to a romance that had swung the demon over to their side.
The family was still walking on eggshells around the hulking demon. Both Sleep and her mate were currently deep underground, working to heal the centuries of mistrust between them and to find themselves again. They’d been lost so long in the dream world, Cal wasn’t sure they’d ever be one hundred percent again.
Especially Nightmare. He’s a mean bastard and almost completely mindless.Cal had tried a few conversations with the demon, hoping to get valuable intel about the rest of the Seekers. All he’d gotten for his trouble was a month of nightmares about him losing his favorite appendage while an auditorium of women laughed at him.
