Yio remained silent as the raised voices around him roared around the dinner table. His eyes darted over to the boys who found the show very entertaining. From the time they came back into the house after the late-night fun and cleanup of the bodies that littered the estate, the three had been Javier’s and Lucian’s shadows. The three soaked up all the stories about their mother that Yio was sure the boys planned on using against her later. He also got bits and pieces that Ra, Luc, Javi, and Mari spoke when the conversation turned to Mateo, Raquel’s and Javi’s baby brother. He had listened closely to them talk about the man who Raquel didn’t speak much about, and the self-inflicted problems he had been enduring for the last year that were sooner or later going to ruin all he had.
Raquel had spent her time talking to Mariposa and getting to know Zekia. She had followed Javier’s instruction to not reveal to Zekia her growing power. He wanted to deal with their grandmother first…and deal with her they were.
What was to be a fun family meal of laughter was ruined when the women barged in on them. Now, the accusations and the raw feelings were being placed on display for all to see. Yio and the boys whispered among themselves while they kept eating as they shared notes with each other. Zekia, Lucian, and Javier sat back to let Mariposa and Raquel have center stage.
“You diseased little cunt,” Ysabel spat in Mari’s direction. “And you…and you,” she roared, pointing at Javier and Raquel. “I saved you little shits. When you called crying after you split your mama’s head with an ax, I helped you. You owe me everything! This hilltop you’re sitting on is because of me, you ungrateful fuckers.”
“This bitch is cold,” whispered Yio to Kuna.
Diego leaned forward. “She ain’t making it out alive. I betcha Ma finishes her off.”
Yio narrowed his gaze. He had considered that outcome. He had already mentally warned Raquel against it. Her grandma had somehow mastered a way to snatch the famed and ancient beasts from Great Tomb of Nazarick. He didn’t like the cool stare and silence of Javier, though. The man was a wild card. Her brother kept his intentions hidden under his lids.
“And what exactly do we owe you, grandmother?” spoke Javier, joining the conversation at last. “You talk about my money is because of you. Yeah, in a way, I guess you’re right. Your sixth husband was determined to make sure you did profit from his death. I know it shocked you shitless to find he left it all to Mato and me. He didn’t leave Ra any ‘cause he knew she was already your puppet. You helped with Ma ‘cause you really wanted Raquel,” he pointed out.
“But I could have let your ass rot in jail for it. You all seem to think you’re going to trade up to go with them,” Ysabel snarled, waving her hand at Yio. “You think you can keep me out of reaping the riches and being a part of the Vampire Nation without giving me my dues? I’ll kill you all, you hear me! I’ll gut you all, including the newest cunt to the fold!” she thundered, glaring at Zekia.
You need to come, now!
Yio shifted in his chair after he reached out across time and space to speak to Grayson and Danjal.
Ysabel’s lips smacked shut when Javi finally lifted his eyes to regard her. She saw her folly, but it was too late.
“Why would you hurt Zekia?”
His question sounded innocent, but everyone within the dining room knew it wasn’t. Even still, Ysabel had to play the hand she was dealt. This was a challenge, and she couldn’t back down.
“Don’t act all hurt,” she scoffed. “You were using her anyway.”
From the sharp look the woman cast at Javier, Ysabel knew she had played the right card from her hand. Javier held up his finger to Zekia to tell her to be quiet. She bustled in her seat, but she obeyed.
“I was the one who told you to fuck the bitch into submission so you could tie to her and later drain her of her life. I never thought you would become pussy whipped,” she chuckled.
“New bet… Uncle Javi is going to do it,” mumbled Diego excitedly.
Javier leaned forward in his chair. He rested his elbows on the polished table top, folded his hands together, and rested his chin there.
“Ji Su, that will be all. Goodnight.”
The woman who had been holding her breath in the corner started as if going out of a daze. The things that had been revealed to her that night, she would take to her grave. Not sparing a glance to those at the table, she sped walked to the door and closed it behind her.
“You’re funny, grandma. You really are,” Javi chuckled.
“Oh, shit…he’s gonna do it,” JenCarlos sang behind his hand.
“It’s about fuckin’ time,” Yio sighed breathlessly at the sight of Grayson and Danjal stepping into the room.
“I was…busy,” smirked Danjal as he surveyed the room.
His gray eyes zeroed in instantly on Javier. The man didn’t even blink at their appearance. After a few seconds, the man actually dismissed them to look away towards a standing woman.
“Yio called us to step into some shit,” huffed Grayson.
“Yes…this your brother, Raquel?” questioned Danjal as if he didn’t know the answer.
“Yes.”
“And this must be the guru herself, the woman with all the tricks,” smiled Danjal.
He strolled over to size the woman up.
“Why should you care who I am?”
In spite of his desire to see the woman dead, Yio had a goal in mind that included handing the woman over to the kingdoms.
“This is Danjal,” Yio answered.
“King Danjal, to you, miss,” Danjal corrected. “This,” he thumbed, “is King Grayson.”
Ysabel’s eyes grew wide. She stumbled back. Her body shook as she worked her mouth in awe.
“I get that a lot from women,” Danjal joked.
“My…my kings…I…” She paused to steady her racing heart. “I am so humbled to meet you…you both,” Ysabel finished in a rush.
“Oh, no, we’re happy to meet you…the woman behind having a hand in these three amazing boys and their gifts, giving Yio a woman who could stand his ugly mug, and now…Javier, here. You’ve been busy,” said Danjal with a fake smile.
He ignored Yio’s curse at his comment. He was too busy reading the woman before him. Javier watched the exchange with little to no interest. He already knew how it was going to go down. He could see the anger and disappointment on his sister’s face. It echoed the expressions on Mariposa’s and Lucian’s over the thought that the old bitch was going to get her reward after all the shit she had done to them.
He rolled his eyes at the overdramatic way she bowed before the two men. On cue, when they asked her if she had the ability to recreate those actions, she flashed her sharp teeth and promised yes.
“Shit, Yio…you are the man. Jilaiya is most pleased. She can’t stop singing your praises,” frowned Grayson, sarcastically.
“Yeah, one big happy family,” Yio remarked dryly.
“Ra never told me how arrogant you fuckers were.”
Danjal blinked at Javier’s comment. He had been waiting for the man’s response.
“This is my house, and here you all are talking all over my shit as if you’ve decided something,” Javi chuckled as he shook his head in amazement.
“Don’t excuse him,” Ysabel snarled. “Beat some manners into his ass,” she offered.
Danjal took a seat at the table. “These family issues have nothing to do with me, but that woman, your grandma, is needed.”
“Really?” asked Javier, sitting back in his chair. “I don’t know you all, but I would have thought you all were smart enough not to march in her parade.”
Grayson’s blue eyes darted around the room to land on the standing woman. Danjal noticed small movement in the corner of his eyes. He kept the shock from his face. The man’s shadow that was cast on the wall shifted.
“Before Yio invited guests to our party, you and I were talking. I’m gonna confirm your claims. We all came here to plan just how we were going to kill you. I was hoping for something a bit more flashy, but since you’re here tonight, now will do,” Javier explained.
The wall, Danjal projected into Yio’s and Grayson’s mind.
The men had already noticed the amber swirling eyes that peeked out of the shadow.
“You should kill him,” suggested Ysabel to Grayson.
“You all don’t mind doing it now, right?” asked Raquel, Mariposa and Lucian, completely ignoring the others at the table.
Ysabel giggled heartedly.
“Please, do it so they can finish your limp ass off, along with your boo. You have no teeth, Javier.” She let his name drop from her lips like a curse.
It was his time to laugh. “You are one stupid bitch, you know that? All this time you thought you were something when you ain’t shit. You boasted that I was going to drain Zekia because you told me to… I haven’t ever drained any person you ordered me to. Oh, you got that, huh? Why aren’t you laughing now?” taunted Javi.
He picked up his wine glass. “Tsk, you aren’t the only one who knows how to read…and research...not with the resources I have at my fingertips,” He had smirked before he touched the glass to his lips. His wicked grin remained on his lips.
“Well, well, well,” laughed Lucian.
He relished the look of disbelief and fear that hung on Ysabel’s face.
“I only invited you, Ra, so you could watch…not for your help,” he explained. “I guess I could have done it sooner, but I didn’t have a reason to. She did your thing and I did mine…but now you want to fuck with something that’s all mine.”
Raquel closed her slack-jawed mouth.
“No more strings,” she beamed.
Javi shook his head. “Only the ones we choose.”
“Yes.”
“He’s a damn lie!” screamed Ysabel, stepping forward. Her dilated pupils darted over to Mariposa. “Plus, your little gutter rat needs me for her father,” she pointed out.
Mari’s eyes turned hopeful for a second. Lucian placed his hand on her thigh under the table.
“Javi and I had considered keeping you alive long enough to explain the purple note pad we had copied for us, but then again,” Lucian paused to shrug. “I realized I would enjoy watching you being skinned then ripped apart.”
“The riddles are nice,” said Danjal with a deep eye roll. “Look, before you end this woman who I think clearly deserves it, and I know is going to be a pain in my ass, all I need to know is can you duplicate what she has been able to do?”
“How can we be sure?” pressed Grayson.
“Because I’ve managed to link Zekia with her own,” replied Javi.
He touched two fingers to Zekia’s temple before she could demand an explanation. Her eyes suddenly went milky white as she fell into a dream state. It was a sight Grayson, Danjal, and Yio had seen Raquel go into, but she had control. Zekia just stared off into the distance.
“Come forth.”
From his deep command, a whole ripped open. A beast emerged. Its roar vibrated through everyone’s bodies. Before it could leap into an attack, Javier’s own beast stepped from his shadow on the wall. It roared back, which sent spittle flying across the room. Zekia’s creature pranced as it considered engaging in able, only to concede to the stronger creature.
Danjal nodded his head. Grayson shrugged. Yio reached into his pocket, pulled out a crisp ten-dollar bill, and slid it down the table towards Diego.
Diego picked it up and popped the bill.
“Thanks.” He smiled.
“Do what you got to do,” spoke Grayson.
Danjal got to his feet. With a wave of his hand, he produced the portal.
“Welcome to the Kingdom, Javier…and others,” he added as his gray eyes landed on both Mariposa and Lucian.
“Don’t dally, Uncle Yio,” teased Grayson. “We have a war to prepare for.”
As they entered the portal, Ysabel’s screams of death followed. The sounds were akin to the howls of the hounds of hell.
Lucian didn’t know if the shakes that overtook Mariposa’s frame was from the horror of Ysabel’s death or the excitement of finding the trail that would led her to her father. Either way, he pulled her back into his embrace. He closed his eyes when she snaked her hands behind to grab his ass. He didn’t doubt that she could feel his stiff cock pressing into her back. Not caring, his hot, open palms maneuvered upward to massage her breasts. He had been fighting the urge to play his trump card. He knew that if he revealed what he had been hiding, it would be the last straw in winning her over. Even still, Lucian had longed for her to whisper her need, desire, and love for him without the shove. Then again, his dick and balls were crying out for release, so fuck it.
“I want to show you something,” he spoke into her ear.
“You already are,” she chuckled. She wiggled her ass against him.
“God, I want some-“
“Pussy? Is that what you were going to say?” she teased.
“You aren’t playing fair,” he chuckled.
He twirled her around to face him. Mari’s breath hitched. The moonlight shone just right to highlight his handsome, chiseled face. Once again, she wondered why Lucian had been fighting the sexual tension between them? What the hell was he waiting for?
“You know I never play fair when I want something…or someone,” she admitted.
Ugh, I love his mouth, she thought.
Unable to resist the pull, she ran her finger over his full bottom lip. Lucian reached up and captured her hand. He placed her open palm to his heart. A shiver ran down her spine due to the strength of his beating heart.
“I don’t want a few nights. I want an eternity, Mari.”
“Lucian, I’m here to find my father. That’s the only reason I came back. All that other stuff…you can’t still-“
“Yes, I can…you can, if you stop being a fucking fool.” A heat had entered his even tone. “Everything I’ve done is because of you. You might had been talking shit on the day you left, but I loved you then, and I love and want you now.”
Maybe it was the glimmer in his eyes? Or the way the words fell from his lips? Whatever it was, it caused Mariposa to stiffen as a thought took hold. The day from years ago flooded her mind as she processed the memory. She narrowed her gaze.
“You said you had something to show me,” she cautioned.
Lucian smiled, slowly. “I’ll take you there.”
He was sure her quick mind had already figured it out. The way her eyes grew to round saucers confirmed his assumption.
“Take…me…there…,” Mari stumbled back.
Now, Lucian knew why she was shaking. The raw emotion on her face turned it ugly. He always thought she was an ugly crier.
“No, you didn’t,” she hiccupped. Through her blurry eyes, the moonlight was enough to let her see the slight nod of his head. She worked her mouth. The lump in her throat caused it to burn.
“You…you really love me, that much,” she spoke in an uneven tone as the tears and snot flowed. She shook her head in amazement.
Lucian forced her head back to look at him with a finger under her chin.
“You are my heart, girl. I have given my all, and I will continue to give my all to prove to you that I’m worthy. I’ll help you find your father, we all will…just don’t deny me anymore. Please, have I earned it? Have I finally proven myself to you?” He questioned in a hoarse, passionate voice.
Mari was locked in the depths of Lucian sea-green eyes. The voice in her mind was screaming one thing while her heart was shouting another. The need on his face stole her breath away. She blinked to clear her vision, only to find him still standing, waiting for her to speak. She could feel the familiar fingers of fear turning her cold again as a defense to the hurt of opening herself up.
Mariposa began to speak. Lucian’s eyes watched as her plump lips formed the words that vibrated through the quiet room they were currently standing in. His heart lurched. He felt the heat rise in his body.
“Wait! What did you just say. Say it once more,” he demanded.
Taking a steadying breath, I said…
To Be Continued!