Authors Note: I won't be getting an editor for this story until it is completed. This story is a slow burn. I appreciate the readers I have; let's go on this journey, and I hope you won't be too disappointed.
Grandior Coven: Home of Alisa Grandior.
Caspian shielded his cousins as his aunt swung the steel spoon over his back, Christian was older, but Caspian was stronger and held him back to prevent his cousin from taken a single blow.
A particularly vicious blow had him stumbling; Leigh screamed his pain a second later.
"Now, aunty, how pathetic are you. If you wanted a pound of my flesh, then come and take it." Daemon called from the doorway. His bored expression was almost taunting. He knew she was afraid of him, needed a little motivation to go after her actual target.
**
Caspian's eyes locked onto one of the female visitors; if looks could wound, he would be bleeding. The younger female beside her was quiet in her observation, watchful and assessing. The smile she displayed was nothing friendly—a mask.
His wolf moved to hug the older female; Caspian's brows furrowed at the claim because she was not his despite the gnawing in his gut that said otherwise. Desire still ran hot in his vein, and he forced himself to snuff the flame before it consumed him.
"Nikki!" Micah exclaimed in greeting as she tightened her arms. The female's features resembled Micah's. The same delicate bones, although the female had pretty blue-green eyes, Micah's was the palest shamrock green that reminded him of stained glass.
As he watched them, Micah sucked in a breath as her body stiffing, and he fought the irrational urge to go to her. Her anger still a sharp blade. The emotions flowing from all three females had his discomfort rising. Except he was sure if he took his eyes off Micah, she might disappear from his sight. That was unacceptable.
The woman Micah had identified as Nikki released Micah from the embrace and shot him another venom-filled stare in accusation.
"Come in." He instructed, turning and striding toward the Dining area; the room had a round-edge table that allowed for easy conversation. He wanted to know why they were there, at the front door, instead of stealing Micah away in the night.
Once the women were seated, they chatted among themselves as if he was invisible.
"You healed a shifter in the middle of a cage fight!" Nikki growled a clear reprimand. Then, a frown firmly in place, she moved towards Micah and healed the injuries. Seraph, then, Caspian noted.
Micah showed no remorse for her actions. "He was tainted, close to turning rogue; you can't expect me to do nothing." She had no sense of self-preservation. Her heart was too soft. Caspian would have to keep that in mind; a strange protectiveness for the shifter tightened his chest.
Caspian sighed, hadn't expected the complication that was Micah; she was contradictory. It was impossible to predict her actions, actions of a warrior with a healer's heart.
"If healing is too risky, wouldn't it be easier just to kill him?" the question from the girl with cerulean blue eyes flecked with silver, eyes no human could have.
"Because Killing is easy, it's choosing to heal that takes true courage, Keally," Micah spoke gently to the girl, watching her absorb the information like a sponge.
Caspian leaned back into his chair and glanced at the clock hanging on the wall.
His cell rang, pulling it from his pocket, glancing at the screen, "Christian?"
"I suppose Nikkara has already arrived." He heard his cousin say.
"Thanks for informing me," Sarcasm coating his words. Nikkara was a name he was familiar with, the Seraph Regional of Narine, "Hold on a minute." Caspian walked away from the room to signal for a servant to ensure they inform him immediately if the women tried to leave.
He then went up the stairs towards the quietest room in the house, the gallery. Once he was at a safe distance out of earshot, he lifted the cell phone, "Chris, why is she here? And what was her relationship with Micah?"
"With the hybrid...none that I'm aware of, but I'll find out."
"They are blood-related," Caspian said, taking a seat in front of the large window that was bathed in moonlight, "Since that isn't the reason you called, what is?"
"Daemon's fighters are considered high-risk. Rogues generally fall into Seraph jurisdiction, and the body count keeps rising." Daemon's past was like a dark shadow that refused to release him. Yet, Daemon was also family, his responsibility, his to protect and to end if needed.
"Where is he?" Daemon hadn't returned to the house with Micah.
"Lab. He had a forensic workup done on the latest kill." Caspian knew Daemon kept Christian at arm's length; he also knew Christian had a way of learning every hidden detail with effortless charm, a natural-born charisma that had gotten him in trouble as a youth.
"Get him here." He had no desire to face a Seraph Regional. Backup, even having Daemon as backup sounded better than having none.
"He's on his way. Do you need me?" Christian was the negotiator of the family, managed to earn his degree despite the challenge, despite the cost, which had nothing to do with money.
"No, I'll call if needed, but you have an ETA on Daemon?"
"He just left the lab, on his ways, say 10, 15 minutes."
"Thanks, Chris"
He ended the call and returned to the dining room, finding Micah perched on the table, a smile curling her lips as she faces the other women. He hadn't seen her that relaxed, found himself pleased. But, if they had come to collect her, he questioned whether he was capable of letting go.
"I hate to interrupt, but is this a formal visit?"
Nikkara looked at him. "Formal and informal both, once Daemon arrives, we can discuss the matter of the pile of dead bodies left at his doorstep." Her anger was a bitter kind of resentment. She was smart enough to conclude that Daemon was the recipient of morbid gifts and may not have been the cause. Nevertheless, Caspian was still unsure of how much responsibility Daemon held in the killings.
