Bothered all over again, he resolved to find out who had the power to not only kill his kind, but to reanimate and control them as well.
And they could start with the dainty necromancer with night-dark eyes who’d smiled while she’d tried to kill him.
CHAPTER
TWO
As Khent pulledthe Mercedes into the home they shared on Mercer Island, Rolf turned off the radio he’d been fiddling with, alternating between an alt rock station and some late-night broadcast about spooky happenings in and around the city. Because Death forbid they listen to a decent streaming channel.
Rolf grinned. “I love this show.”
“Of course you do.”
Nothing the human broadcaster mentioned had a basis in reality, all of it some fiction made up from those lacking in intelligence, which made it the perfect program for Rolf.
Gargoyles turning to stone when the sun hit them? They could turn to stone at will. Werewolves howling at the moon? Those lazy bastards didn’t howl at anything unless you paid them. Witches casting spells while naked and dancing around a fire? Please. Most of them hated being outdoors. Vampires allergic to garlic? Why just garlic? Why not tofu or tomatoes or onions or kale? Hell, all of it disgusted Khent.
He parked in the garage, noting the absence of the Land Rover and Audi. The Audi, though, had been totaled a few days ago.
Living with five other vampires of different backgrounds, four vampire mates, a dusk elf, a goddess, and her not-so-humble servant took a toll. They seemed to go through a lot of windshields, cars, boats, and a plethora of medicinal herbs and potions Hecate’s servant had a bad habit of taking from Khent’s laboratorywithout asking.
He still had a few bones to pick with Mormo about that and made a note to express his displeasure as he followed Rolf inside.
Their abode in Mercer Island abutted the water and, according to Mormo, was worth several million dollars. From the outside, the two-story, nearly seven thousand square foot property had curb appeal, expansive lawns, and off the back, a wooden pier and covered dock.
The home blended in, mundane enough on the outside. It had white siding with black trim framed in a weird fae-green color, plenty of red and gold flowers to accent the home, and landscaped shrubbery.
Regrettably, their landlord happened to be Hecate, goddess of magic, witches, and the dead. So of course the home couldn’t be completely practical.
As Khent stood inside the living room, he glanced around. Dark furniture, a sectional sofa, and several chairs made of leather and expensive fabrics decorated the space, the floors a rich, ecru marble. A large screen television had been mounted above a fireplace while nearby, wooden bookcases held ancient texts and artifacts. Cream-colored walls with a hint of gold held the occasional work of art, many by magir artists and a few divine-inspired portraits.
He always felt watched when he passed by, as if something studied him and his peers from afar.
In addition to the living room, the main floor had a dining area, kitchen, and two main hallways. One contained theirbedrooms, and the other held spare rooms and a study or two, all with much more space inside than common physics should dictate. Like the basement that connected to other magical planes in Hecate’s presence. Without her around, the downstairs felt normal enough with a large gaming center, gymnasium, weight room, and pool.
The indoor pool had fresh water that fed into Lake Washington. Since one of their members was a vrykolakas, a vampire with an affinity for water who’d matedtheWhite Sea Witch, their clan seemed to make a lot more use of the pool now than they had before.
Personally, Khent thought it bad enough that he had to deal with vampires outside his tribe. He was the only reaper of the bunch, though he did consider the revenant fairly intelligent, and he had no qualms with the powerful strigoi leading their clan.
But in addition to different vampires, they had vampirematesliving in the home. Typically, vampires took one special female to breed, and they would give birth to one child. Two if the female conceived twins. Once a baby was born, the mate left. The boy, always vampire, stayed with the clan. Any female child went with the mother. Far away.
Not with Khent’s crazy Night Bloode family. All of them kept their mates close, refusing to part for any reason. Hell, they acted as ifin love.He found it unfathomable.
Khent might be able to accept that the affectionate bonds caused the vampires to cling to their mates. Fine. But one of them, a dusk elf, insisted her crazy brother live with them as well. Khent had to remain on his guard, because he never knew if Onvyr would smile or go for his throat. Or smilewhilegoing for his throat.
At that moment, a large white, gray-striped battle cat the size of an Amur tiger waltzed past Khent with a nod. It disappearedinto a stairway that came out of nowhere and vanished soon after.
Like the rest of the oddities in their magical house, strange animals walked through the space like they owned it, no doubt summoned through the crossroads in Hecate’s basement.
Bah. Gods and goddesses were so overrated.
“I’m famished,” Rolf whined from the kitchen and ventured into the refrigerator, pulling out a goblet of blood. “Want something?”
The kitchen made its own kind of magic. The refrigerator contained both hot and cold food of all kinds, from blood to faeberries to raw meat, satisfying everyone in the home.
“I’ll take a lycan pop,” Khent muttered, annoyed. He caught the frozen blood treat and gnawed on it, loathing the fact that helikedbeing a part of the Night Bloode clan when he really wanted to remain a loner.
Though most vampires kept to themselves, reapers especially prized solitude. Living with the chaos of so many different beings had been challenging, but he’d been acclimating. He figured it might take a few decades to settle in, but thus far he hadn’t killed everyone and piloted their dead bodies.
