Page 49 of House of Pawns
I pull into the garage and just as I’m climbing out of the Jeep, the door into the house opens and out walks Raheem.
“I trust you enjoyed your excursion out into the daylight world?” he says with that heavy accent.
“Not exactly,” I say as I close the door. “I’m a little surprised you aren’t sleeping, like the others.”
“I’ve found the older I get, the less need I have for sleep,” he says. “Care to take a walk with me?”
I cock an eyebrow at him. “It’s the middle of the day.”
He produces something from his pocket. “After such a long life, I’ve found ways to adapt.”
He straps something on and I notice at first they look like a normal pair of sunglasses, but on the backs of the lenses, it’s like goggles, totally blacked out, not allowing any sunlight through.
“Impressive,” I say as we turn out through the garage onto the cobblestone driveway. “Did you make them yourself or can I commission some made for my House members?”
“You’re an interesting creature, Alivia,” he says. “You always put your family first, but there are multiple motives.”
“Am I so obvious?” I ask, trying to sound as if I’m joking, but suddenly worried it’s truth.
“Probably not to most of them,” he says. He folds his hands behind his back. It’s an overcast day, not the most beautiful to be wandering the grounds. I see Dave, one of the landscapers, down a ways, trimming some hedges. “But I’ve been around politics a long time.”
“Have you always been a spy for the King?” I ask as we walk out over the wet grass. “Or have you held other positions?”
Raheem looks out over the landscape, but I study his face. So beautiful and mysterious.
“I am the offspring of the seventh son, you of the third. The seventh son had five sons of his own. My niece rules over a House in Ukraine. My cousins rule in Borneo, Columbia. And myself, and seven of my cousins are members of the Guard, more than any of the other son’s families. We are…apt for the positions the King offers.”
“How so?” I ask.
He glances at me, his eyes completely hidden from my view. “We not only have Royal vampire blood in our veins, we are heirs and princes and princesses of worldly royalty as well.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “I have to admit, you’ve got my interest.”
He smiles at me and there’s something lustful and wicked about it. My heart does a small skip into my throat. “My mother was the daughter of what was Saudi Arabia’s richest sheik. My father’s uncle was a pharaoh. The seventh son valued power. Connections. And he taught his children. Our line has ties to leadership and royalty from every major empire throughout history. At least from the inception of vampirism.”
“That’s…amazing,” I admit in wonder. I’ve always been fascinated by Egyptian history. And here I am talking with the descendent of a pharaoh. “What about the third son, what was that family like?”
“They were the peace keepers,” Raheem says as we loop around the house. We start toward the north end of the property. Out this direction are the old dairy houses, the slave’s quarters, and the ruins of a building I no longer recognize. “They were committed to family. The third son had fourteen of his own sons and I’ve heard he had thirty-one daughters.”
“That’s quite the posterity,” I say in wonder. “How long ago did he die?”
“Oh, Dorian is not dead,” Raheem says with amusement as he gives me a side glance. “He’s very much still alive, as is Malachi, the seventh son. They still rule Houses, Dorian over all of Russia and Malachi over Egypt and most of the Middle East.”
My eyes grow wide. They have to be thousands of years old. It’s hard to imagine. Harder still to know the King is older. “What about the five sons who rebelled against the King?”
“Two of them remain,” Raheem says. We stop outside the barn that no longer houses horses, but equipment. “But they don’t have contact with the Royals. Their exile is sure.”
“Did Cyrus kill the other three?” I ask, knowing my answer.
“Slowly,” Raheem answers as he arches an eyebrow.
I sigh and lean against the barn, folding my arms over my chest. “There is so much history to your kind. It’s difficult to wrap my head around it all.”
“Ourkind, I hope for your sake, you mean.” His voice is amused but dangerous.
“Not just yet,” I say, feeling all my defenses rising back up.Markov’s warning to watch everything I say comes back to mind and I’m starting to understand why it was given now.
“I’d love to create a family tree someday,” I say as I stand once again and start back toward the House. “See where the connections meet, how far back the generations go. We’re all cousins I suppose.”
