Humans worshipped gods, so he could understand why Hecate wanted to protect them. But she also insisted that if theMundane realm faltered, so would all the others. Celestial, Fae, Hell, and Death would be no more if this plane crumbled.
Interesting to think that all the worlds relied upon one another. As interesting as Hecate choosing six vampires from different tribes to work together. Why not choose four reapers, strong enough to command dead armies, and two strigoi, who were fierce predators and amazing tacticians? Why not all six draugrs, known for their trickery and unpredictability? Or revenants to get all the information Hecate might ever need? To say nothing of the brutality nachzehrers and vrykolakas vampires could mete out upon hapless enemies.
Yet Hecate wanted all of them with their particular skill sets to fight with her to protect the human realm.
Could Khent argue with that? He lived in this plane. He’d been to Hell once. Though he hadn’t found it pleasant, he could probably live there if he had to. But not in Fae lands. The fae, though tasty, annoyed him. He’d do nothing but kill and war if he lived in their realm. And the Celestial plane? Gods and goddesses were assholes.
The Death realm might be worth investigating if he didn’t mind dying. Though a reaper, he couldn’t live there, so to speak. And once deceased, he couldn’t return to the living.
Khent’s power lay in controlling the dead. But to do that, he had to remain alive.
A conundrum.
Without meaning to, his thoughts shifted to Valentine once more. He looked through his salamander’s eyes, now seeing her up close as the small lizard tucked beside her, basking in her warmth and life.
Another of Khent’s pets who adored the human. Mila continued to want to spend time with her, though he’d insisted she keep watch on the shifter house instead, not comfortable with how happy Mila was to be near Valentine.
He paused in thought.Am I jealous of a human?
Stunned at the insanity of such an idea, he immediately rejected it. Instead, he followed a hunch connected to the Staff of Blight and made a phone call.
“Hello?” a soft voice answered.
Khent allowed himself a smile since no one was around to see it. As a scholar, he appreciated Kaia more than she knew. An intelligent being, the once sea nymph had turned intotheWhite Sea Witch, a fitting mate for one of his kin.
“Greetings, Kaia, mate of Orion and carrier of his future progeny.” He could almost hear her teeth grinding.
“Seriously, Khent? I have an identity apart from my mate and my baby, you know.”
“But your worth has gone up since mating an elite being.”
Her loud sigh was worth the call, whether he got information or not.
“In any case, I did not call to compliment you.”
“Thanks so much,” she said dryly.
“I called because I need your knowledge.”
Kaia worked at the Alister Doctrina Repository, a vast library and museum that helped any magir needing answers to anything magic-related. The ADR, as it was called, gave tours, had classes, and often helped MEC when they needed information or research.
“Knowledge? Oh, that I can do.” She sounded happy about that fact. For all that Kaia was the White Sea Witch, one of the most powerful water witches in the world, she had an even, almost kind temperament. Not at all evil like her predecessor.
Orion, Khent’s vrykolakas kin, had an affinity for water. Vrykos were the only ones who did. The fact that he’d mated a female who might equal him in power was not lost on any of them.
Which got Khent thinking.
Varu had found a dusk elf with power over gemstones, and Varu commanded the Bloode Stones.
Duncan had mated their own Bloode Witch, the pair fast and smart and connected to various sources of information from all walks of life.
Kraft had mated a berserker, the wolf-natured vampirein lovewith a magical direwolf.
The pattern gave Khent hives because he, a reaper, was suddenly fascinated with a necromancer, both of them attuned to death. Valentine was not his mate. Could never be his mate. A laugh, that Khent might fall for a human.
“Ah, Khent? Are you there? You said you needed help?” Kaia asked.
He pushed his ridiculous suspicions aside. “Yes, thank you. I need to know about any mention of a Staff of Blight in your records. And if you have one on the premises.” He explained about the altercation at the bazaar and the theft of the witches’ fake staff. He also told her about the staff’s power when he’d fought the four-eyes.
