“Great.”
“I’m telling you … those boys know what they’re doing.” Blaz spoke around a mouthful. “Can’t say I’m not a little jealous.” He smiled as he took a gulp of orange juice. “I wanna be them when I grow up.”
The comment reminded him of Michael’s request that they vow their loyalty to the angels, which Kaj took to mean Michael wanted them to align their objectives, essentially work for them. As easy as he wanted to say that would be, Kaj couldn’t simply offer up anoh, sure, of course. He was, after all, the most powerful vampire, the one on the throne, so to speak. He had to take into consideration his entire race, not just a handful who would benefit most from a consolidation of strength.
Would those who trusted their Alpha to make smart decisions want him to pledge his allegiance to a faction of warrior angels? Probably not. The vampires were a very proud species. Rightfully so. They’d been placed on Earth to protect the human race, and they took their responsibilities seriously. Even the civilian vampires implanted in human communities had duties, whether it was contacting the tip line with sightings of demons or merely observing human behaviors that were conducive to luring demons to them. They were all playing a part.
Were the humans grateful? Of course not.
Hell, it took tremendous effort these days just to keep themselves hidden fromHomo sapiens, one of the many rules laid out by the Almighty. And what did they get for their efforts? The fucking humans found it amusing to dress up like some creepy caped crusader with fangs and call it a vampire. As if.
“Hey, Kaj? You good?”
Realizing he was standing at the table, he shook himself out of his wayward thoughts and nodded to Blaz. “I’ll be back. Holler if you need me.”
Rather than step outside and poof his ass over to the mansion, Kaj opted to walk via the underground tunnels that wound through the mountain connecting Angel Central to the Lair. The tunnels had been dug out back when the angels had started building their new fortress many moons ago. Though they’d all but abandoned the house Kaj and his crew now occupied, the tunnels had been maintained. The smooth concrete walls and floor did their job of holding back the earth, as well as concealing the titanium used to keep vampires and other supernatural creatures from popping in uninvited. While that was a nice security measure, it made getting out impossible, so once they started on the one-mile trek, they were pretty much relegated to the stroll. But they had the motion-activated gas torches along the walls to keep them company and provide light for those who didn’t have the benefit of seeing in the dark.
Every few feet, a gas torch would come to life, brightening the path before another flared with a slight hiss. Kaj continued with one foot in front of the other, breathing in and out in an attempt to clear his head before he saw his daughter.
He ground his back molars together as he recalled the conversation he’d had with the archangel.
“Kaj Courtenay, you are not only the Alpha of your species, you are the father of the female who shall mate the original vampire.”
“Wait. Huh?” Kaj stared at the archangel. “My daughter is to mate the original vampire. Not to sound all Adam-and-Eve oddity or anything, but exactly how does one mate one to whom she is related?”
“There are no direct descendants of the original vampire,” Michael stated, as though that made all the sense in the world.
“No?” Kaj motioned to himself. “Exactly how did I come to be without the original vampire breeding?”
Those strangely colored eyes remained on his face. “The original vampire did not mate, nor did he breed.”
Okay, so clearly they were getting nowhere fast. “You lost me.” He waved a hand. “But it’s all moot anyway. The original vampire is dead.”
“Quite the opposite. He is very much alive, merely … preoccupied at the moment.”
“Meaning…?”
“I’ve kept him hidden for his own protection.”
“You?”
“Yes.”
“For seven hundred years?” Kaj got the feeling that didn’t mean he was being locked in a cage somewhere. For one, Khari was far too powerful. He would’ve easily broken free. “Where is he?”
Michael took a deep breath. “Khari is currently in a human vessel.”
Unable to help himself, he laughed. “A human vessel? The original vampire is sporting a human meat suit? Tell me, what poor sap is giving the male a ride?”
“You know him as Oliver Calazans.”
Kaj’s smile fell instantly. He stared at the archangel, slack-jawed and dumbfounded. “What did you say?”
“Do you really need me to repeat?”
That damn archangel had laid a whopper on him, and Kaj had yet to figure out how to share the information without inciting a riot. So many were affected by the outcome of Michael’s fate-weaving exercise—Obsidian, Penelope, Oliver, Bijou, the Fae—and yet the archangel didn’t seem eager to spread the word.
Hell, just the thought of his daughter being mated to the original vampire, of all males, was enough to make Kaj see red. Something instigated by the archangel, no doubt. As for Michael’s reasons, Kaj wasn’t privy to them. Not surprising. The male who led them all around by the nose was selfish when it came to his secrets, parsing out only what he had to in order to get his way.
