Page 57 of Blood Submission

“Is there a point to this little get together?” Dante gritted out. He didn’t know why he was letting their lack of faith in him get under his skin so much. As they were all aware of his past run-ins with humans, and how they normally ended—with him well-fed and what was left of the human feeding the fish in the Sound—he couldn’t really blame them for their concern. Yet, it still irked him. Laney was not like the other humans. She belonged to him, and his very survival depended on her staying young and healthy. He would protect her with hislife.

Aiden sat near Grace with his back to Dante. He cranked his head around. “Why don’t you come inside, commander, before I get a crick in myneck?”

Luukas nodded at him from his place by the windows, so Dante came inside, but only to the edge of the area rug. Stopping near Shea’s chair, he was careful not to touch her. She gave him a smile.

“Alrighty,” Aiden threw his arm around Grace’s shoulders and leaned back. “So you missed all the fun, commander. My demon made an appearance this morning,” he told Dante. “Overcome with brilliant intentions, he busted in here to give Ryan a warning and/or possibly a piece of advice.”

“Explains the door,” Dante commented.

“Ryan,” Luukas said, indicating for her to take the floor. “Please fill in those that weren’there.”

She stood up and went to stand next to Christian. Wiping her palms on her jeans, her turquoise eyes glanced around nervously.

“Go on, she’ashil,” Christian encouraged.

She cleared her throat. “For those of you that don’t know,” she said, glancing at Shea and Dante. “Early this morning, I was up here with Keira working in the office. We’re trying to piece together our families’ histories since our coven split apart.”

“Since the new High Priest took over and the families that escaped in time scattered,” Keira clarified.

“Right,” Ryan agreed. “Anyway, Aiden came crashing through thedoor—”

“Not me,” Aiden said. “My demon.”

“We know that, Aid,” Nik told him, rolling hiseyes.

“Just want to make sure we’re all on the same page,” Aidensaid.

“Aiden’s demon came crashing in,” Ryan corrected. “He said he wanted to warn me that ‘they’ were here, and they’re coming after the box that Grace brought with her from China. He also told me to tell my brother what he said, except I honestly have no idea who that is. Just like I didn’t know about all of you. If I have a brother, I never knew about him. But he said that you, Shea, would know how to get a hold ofhim.”

All eyes turned to Shea. Uncrossing and re-crossing her legs, she showed no outward reaction to Ryan’s words. “I have no idea who you’re talking about.” She looked to Luukas. “Honest. I really don’t.”

He watched her with sharp eyes, but gave no indication as to whether or not he believedher.

Nik spoke up. “Originally, I was going to send a few of you to a safe place to put the box. We’ve just been trying to decide where. But with this new threat, I think we should all go, including the witches. It’s not safe to leave anyonehere.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary. Those that didn’t go would protect the others,” Dante said. He didn’t want to go anywhere at the moment if he didn’t have to. He had his own shit to work outhere.

“We’re not taking the chance,” Luukas said. “Everyone is going.” He said this while looking straight at Dante.

Nik nodded. “I don’t think the demons would be able to overcome our security system, which includes the wards put up by Keira, but I’m not taking the chance of leaving my Emma here. I’ll feel better with her along. And I know you all would feel thesame.”

There was a rumble of agreement from the other males. All except for Dante. “Why don’t we just burn the fucking thing? Then there’s nothing for them tofind.”

“I want to know what it is first, and why they want it so badly,” Luukas answered. He paced away from the window. “Then we can use it to get them where we wantthem.”

All eyes turned tohim.

“Things are moving at a faster pace than I had hoped. We’re not ready to face this threat yet, but we might have to. This group appears to be the leaders, as they are the ones taking the initiative to gather the boxes of clues, or whatever the hell they are, while the rest of them are biding their time. We’ve sent out patrols to track the ones in this area, and to try to keep their killings to a minimum. Mostly they’ve just stayed hidden. But if you haven’t noticed, none of them are straying very far from Leeha’s mountain, from the chains of the altar they were only just released from. Does that not seem strange to youall?”

Aiden rubbed his chest. “They’ve had it planned all along. To meet back there.”

“Exactly,” Luukas said. “We need to arrange it so we’re there to greetthem.”

“But we don’t even know why they’re after the box,” Christian said. “How are we supposed to stop them if we don’t know what they’re after? Even if we destroy the bodies they’re in, they’ll just find new ones to possess, and we’ll have no idea who theyare.”

Luukas looked at Aiden. “Can your demon recognize his kind in whatever body they’rein?”

Aiden nodded. “When he deigns to let me know, yes.”

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