Page 15

CHAPTER 6

Kiam

The woman was a terrorist.

Her hair felt like chinchilla under my grasp, and she smelled like the sweetest dessert I’d never tasted. If I ever sampled more than a morsel, it would be my end.

She was so fucking adorable, with her attitude and gumption. I’d never come across anyone quite like her. She did not give a shit what anyone thought and was going to do whatever she wanted, no matter what.

I loved it.

That was why I didn’t kill her. It felt like it would have been a betrayal of myself to end her life. She was too similar to me to bleed her out. Or stab her. Maybe decapitate her so I could keep her hair? No matter, I just couldn’t bring myself to commit the act yet.

So, I sent her home instead. Perhaps a little roughly, but maybe she’d take more care with her dream wanderings next time. I leaned toward hoping she wouldn’t be logical and that she would show up again, as reckless as that was, on my part.

I had no way of knowing why she was really here. Whatever she searched for, it was a convenient excuse, and I was sure it existed. But I couldn’t be too careful. As it was, something was wrong with my crows.

The birds were a useful surveillance system. I had them spelled to keep lurkers away, but clearly, they had been failing. It couldn’t have been my magic; I knew my abilities were flawless.

Magic had been a topic of fascination for me since I was a small boy. My parents neither discouraged nor encouraged my interest, and I was left to run around the manor, reading everything I could get my hands on in our expansive and uncatalogued library. My nanny didn’t mind either, preferring I was distracted so she could meet her lovers in dark corners.

Though it was hundreds of years ago, I could still smell the damp stone of my childhood home, and the scent of the roses my mother kept in a multitude of vases. Occasionally, I would get a whiff of heather and damp earth, instantly transporting me back to the moors.

The exact same fragrances weren’t anywhere around me, now, but I did plant clusters of heather around this house. I could have come close, but nothing replaced the distinctive musky smell of my homeland, and I’d never returned to Hawthorne Manor.

All that was left of my family line were some forty-fourth cousins. I had done some internet genealogy searches and spotted a question about the death of Mister and Missus Hawthorne and the disappearance of their son, Kiam, in one of the forums. If anyone ever answered the inquiry, the one who posted the comment would never see the reply.

Unless of course, he could read through quartz crystal eyeballs.

Crossing the room, I lifted the latch on the windows and pushed them open. Then I waved my hand over the wooden flooring and a large circle appeared with geometric shapes coordinating with a specific astronomical pattern.

Soon, the air filled with the sound of flapping wings, and a murder of crows landed on the floor, lining up around the circle. Flames from the lit candles reflected in their onyx eyes while they all stared in my direction, waiting for instructions.

I didn’t have any for them. Rather, I was going to reinforce the magic I’d infused them with previously.

The blonde should not have been able to penetrate my stronghold so easily. The birds should have been pecking her eyes out by now—not that I wanted them to, but I didn’t want her on my property. For all I knew, she was an agent for the Kakians.

That group of demons was employed by multiple species and utilized as spies, assassins, and whatever else the higher echelons required. It was likely I was in their sights. I was in possession of rubies from the Second Realm, which was considered treasonous, and I couldn’t necessarily rely on the friendships I’d made.

As a human-turned vampire, my existence was already forbidden by those who cared enough to eliminate me. My crimes were numerous. There was no cause for concern until the demons started poking around.

Disturbances in my magical wards, coupled with intel from the crows, had brought it to my attention that different types of beings were plodding about in the woods surrounding my home. More than once, the Kakians had gotten close.

Magical items had a way of sending signals through the ether by means of vibrations and frequency. No one had bothered me about the rubies, although it had to be known I’d somehow acquired a few of the stones.

Recently, I’d acquired an even higher level of contraband, so I couldn’t let my guard down for a fraction of a second.

Not that I needed it, but I grabbed one of my grimoires and moved closer to the circle surrounded by crows and candles. Holding the book with one hand, I used the other to stir the ether and began reading. A plume of light lowered and sparkled like static electricity as it descended on my ritual space.

A couple of the crows ruffled their feathers, sending small showers of illuminated glitter to rain on the floor. It reminded me of the cold winter nights when I’d hide under my covers as a child, fabric rubbing against itself as I imagined I’d created my own thunderstorm.

Why I was feeling nostalgic, I didn’t know, but I was sure it had nothing to do with my slip into enchantment with a certain woman with feather-soft hair.

After I shut the book and set it down, I walked back to the circle and lifted my arms, dismissing the crows. They sprang into the air in a cloud of darkness and flew back out the window. A flick of my fingers shut and secured the glass panes behind them.

I had a hidden home in the Second Realm, an alternate dimension that the demon race primarily called home. While I spent the majority of my time here in the Third Realm—the Realm of humans, I did occasionally venture to the Second. Rubies powered my extensive computer network in my office there, and here.

I wasn’t the only being to bring some back with me. Smuggling was an unspoken pastime, as far as I could tell, and the signals the jewels sent out were undeniable.