Page 89 of Jake

“You better not have forced those fangs on her.”

“Nothing of the sort. I told you. The donor was a no show. Nothing more, nothing less. She offered. I could see she was a little reluctant. Long story short, I offered to break her cherry. She accepted.” Quintus threw himself back into an oversized chair and propped his feet on an ottoman. He held up his hands defensively. “That’s all that happened. No sex if that’s what you’re worried about. Sadly.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, because I’m going to be fully mated soon and don’t have an interest in Cass. It’s just that she’s helping us out and I don’t want to take advantage. She’s a business owner. A friend. A very human one. She’s innocent.”

“You’ve been with her?” Quintus asked.

“Yeah, but you know, it was once. I was out here trying to figure out what the hell was going on in Anzober Wolves. She was on vacation. We just kind of hit it off. But she was coming off a long term relationship. And I’m a wolf. I can’t go forming any hard core relationships with anyone. I know you vamps, y’all can make it with a human.”

“What’s Kai up to?” Quintus changed the subject. “We should probably flash out soon. Gotta get to the Elders…find Kasdeya.”

“I wish I knew more about this Kris. These markings. Have you seen them?”

“Yeah, I was looking at them earlier but I don’t recognize the language.”

“Ancient civilizations. They used symbols.”

“The wolf knows history?” Quintus chuckled.

“It’s a hobby. A while back I helped Leo out with some Mesoamerican history when they were having problems with a different demon. It’s my comfort zone. But this? I’d say it’s much older. Maybe 3000 BC. I’d guess a Mesopotamian language. Sumerian. Possibly Babylonian or Assyrian. The knife looks about five hundred years old if I had to guess, but whatever’s written on here is much older.”

“Some days,” Quintus laughed. “You think you know someone but nope.”

“Take this symbol. Now I’m not entirely sure what this means, but it looks like the Assyrian deity, Shedu.” Jake held up the Kris so Quintus could see it. “What do you see?”

“It looks like a lion. A little like a pixiu.”

“It’s very similar to Kai’s creature but not at all the same. I probably could decipher some of this if I had time to research. But time is something we don’t have a lot of right now.”

“I hope like hell those Elders know where that book is or have a clue about the knife.”

“Kasdeya won’t be easy to defeat. That backpack over there,” Jake looked to the satchel that sat beside a modern wall gaslit fireplace. “Cass tracked us down some weapons. Stakes won’t do us much good, but it can’t hurt to bring them. We’ll have to rely on our beasts.”

“Kai…she’s vulnerable.”

“Yes, but she’s also powerful. For all we know, she may be the one who takes down Kasdeya. But I'm still wondering about this Kris and how or if we should use it. Since we’ve met, Kai’s been able to control her powers more and others can’t detect what she is. So the question is, do we bring it? What if this is some sort of trick? What if Ilsbeth has us bringing this knife to a demon?”

“It’s possible. If she has some kind of demon trace in her…I don’t know.” Quintus shrugged. “We don’t want to hand over a five-hundred-year-old weapon to Kasdeya.”

“We’re bringing it,” Jake heard Kai say from behind him, and he sprang up onto his feet.

Words eluded him as he took in the sight of his spectacular mate. Her black leather jacket opened to a white form-fitting tank top tucked into tight shredded jeans. Although she wore an innocent smile, his wolf roared, reminding him of the danger that lurked under her delicate human form.

“For some reason Ilsbeth wanted me to have it,” Kai began. “I know I’ve been able to hide because of you, but there’s something about that knife. I found it. I’m not sure why or how, but I’m tied to it.”

“Look, I know you didn’t see what Ilsbeth did to Dimitri, but she almost killed him. I don’t trust her.” There was no way for Kai to comprehend the enormity of what the witch had done to his beta, nearly destroying his wolf. “For all we know, Ilsbeth sent us on a wild goose chase to get something she couldn’t get from Dominique the first time. There was a reason that asshole Mick picked Dominique to torture. I’m thinking he knew she had this object. For all we know, this thing could rain down hell upon all of us. Maybe unleash whatever fresh hell was sealed up in the cavern in New York.”

“It belongs to me,” Kai insisted. She crossed the room and stretched out her hand.

Anger seared through Jake at her dominance. His beast wouldn’t have it, but his humanity reminded him she wasn’t wolf. As he placed the hilt into her palm, the blade glowed, the etchings appearing to vibrate on its surface.

“What are you doing, Kai?” Jake asked, his senses on alert. His wolf growled, warning him it would hurt his mate. “I don’t think you should hold…”

Kai took a deep breath, lifting the athame into the air. The illumination faded as quickly as it had come. “I…I think…no, Jake.” Her eyes flashed to his. “This really is meant for me. I don’t know why or what it does.”

“I don’t think you should hold it at all. And it’s not just the cool glow thing you got going on. Maybe you were meant to find it. But there’s something…I just have this bad feeling it’s going to hurt you somehow.”

“Ah…I love to see you two squabble, new lovebirds and such.” Quintus’ eyes narrowed in on them, a corner of his lip drawn upward. “I’m not friends with your beta, so I have no emotional attachment. Given that, don’t take offense to what I’m about to say. Ilsbeth is no angel. She’s ancient. You both know she bargains for the items she needs. Vampire fangs. Fairy wings. Pixiu blood. Whatever the hell else she can get ahold of.” Quintus stood, and crossed the room, selecting a silver bag with his name on it. He rummaged through the satchel as he continued to speak. “She’s like a loan shark. She gives you something you want, and she takes something of yours. But the difference is that whatever you give her, you don’t know what it’s worth. It could be worth millions or nothing at all. I bet nine times out of ten when she makes these deals, she doesn’t know what the hell it’s worth either.”