Chapter 3

~The Family Jewels~

 

                Inside the box was a wide variety of jewelry; old jewelry. Instead of a mirror on the lid as many jewelry boxes had, there were locking latches to hook the necklaces from, and an open compartment on the right for bracelets. On the left, there was a section for rings and a looped piece of velvet-like fabric, as if inviting Kara to pull. She pulled the fabric slowly, discovering even more rings beneath the compartment. "Wow, you have some beautiful jewelry."  Kara’s heart fluttered at the sight of it all. She felt mesmerized by the intricate stones imbedded deep inside the hand-made jewelry, of the intricate gold and bronze metals and the dazzling glass beads.  "Anna... how old is this stuff?"

Anna walked up beside Kara, her hands folded casually in front of her, and glanced down at some of the items. "I'm not sure exactly the age of some of them. It was my father's collection.  It's been passed down from generation to generation." Anna released one of the necklaces and held it between her fingers. She picked up the trinket at the bottom, rubbing it lightly.  "In fact, Kara, Some of these items are thousands of years old." Her eyes darted up to meet Kara’s gaze, a hint of amusement in them.

                Kara choked on her tongue at the age. Her hands suddenly felt like mush beneath the box. "Oh my gosh, Anna, you should have these in a safety deposit box or something. Not an old jewelry box!"

Anna laughed at the high pitched tone of Kara's voice. "Oh, gods, I would never do that. They belong with me." Anna took the necklace and placed it back on its latch. "Besides, I don't really trust banks."

Kara’s mind tried to digest the words, going back to the age with fervor. Thousands of years?! Her thoughts raced with questions that couldn’t find a voice: Could these items really be that old? If they are, how did her family keep them for so long? How did they get them? Kara's puzzled eyes were beginning to look more like a frown. "Kara, it's fine if you would like to try on a piece."

"Oh," Kara quickly looked at her, then looked at the jewelry box. "Oh, I couldn't. They're too valuable, Anna." And as she stood there, contemplating the price tag of such artifacts, Kara’s gut twirled in angst. "Anna, how did your family get these? Is there a story behind it?"

                Anna smiled at her. "Why, yes. There is."

Anna again, walked away and into the other room. Kara, again, followed eagerly. "So... What's the story?"

She glanced over her shoulder as she filled her kettle with water. "Oh, that's such a long story, Kara. It would be much better to wait." She sat the kettle on the burner and turned it on. "Perhaps you can come back another day. I would love to tell you! But for now, I'm going to go check on your friends while my water warms up." With that, Anna gently took the box and placed it on the kitchen table. She placed her hand on Kara's back and kindly gestured to go down the stairs. "Oh, Anna, you're gonna kill me with suspense!" They both laughed as they made it to the bottom of the stairs. They walked in silence through the wooded doors and back into the store

                As they made their way past the jewelry Bridgette had previously tried on, Rose cut them off. "Hey! Where've you been? I've been needing your opinion and you just ran off. Not cool, Kara." Rose held her hands behind her back mischievously, her eyes playing around Kara’s face like a child with a new toy.

"I was checking something else out. What do you need my opinion on?" She glanced down at Rose's hand as it moved from behind her. She was holding a pink hat: A very large, very pink hat with yellow, blue, orange, and pink flowers that reminded her of a bad version of something the Queen of England would wear. "Oh, Rose, tell me you're not gonna buy that, are you?"

Anna walked by them, smiling at Kara as she made her way to the cash register. "Of course I am. What, are you thick? That's not what I was about to ask you, sweet cheeks."

Kara covered her face with her right hand, trying not to laugh too hard. "Okay, what is it?" 

She spread her fingers to look at Rose who was now putting on the hat. She posed with it, very much like a model trying to hold the hat in place in the middle of a hurricane. She smiled so wide, Kara thought her lips would split from it. "Do you think this would go with that leopard print dress that I have?"

Kara couldn’t help but laugh, imagining Rose in her tight, leopard print dress and the oversized hat. “I’m sure it would be lovely.” Kara laughed, giving Rose the gumption to purchase her new find.

 

By ten that night, Kara pulled into a gas station just off highway 465, in a little suburb called Zionsville, to fill up for the drive home. She topped it off quickly before checking her fluids and tire pressure. 3 hours wasn’t a long drive, but it was late, cold and she would be driving a banged up Grand Prix with far too many miles in the middle of corn country. She wasn’t about to play lead in a new rendition of “Children of the Corn”.

She pulled up next to the Tesla charging station, angling her car by the air pump just so, trying to make it easier to fill them all. She got out, mildly noticing the car sitting at the charging station with its radio blaring.

She didn’t even take the time to notice what music was playing, focused solely on the task at hand. She stepped around the hose line that had been tossed haphazardly on the cold concrete as she attempted to reach the contraption. “A dollar twenty-five? Are you kidding me? That’s ridiculous!”

Huffing loudly. She turned back around to search her car for a dollar twenty-five in change when she stopped short. Among the hustle and bustle of the busy gas station, one thing caught her attention. Stepping out of the green Tesla mere feet from her, Kara saw a god!

At least, she thought he could pass for one, anyhow. His music was blaring so loud that Kara could hear every tiny aspect of the song. And that’s when she recognized it. The man was listening to “Déjà vu” by Post Malone and Justin Bieber. She only knew that because she was a fan of Justin Bieber, much to Rose’s dismay.

But the man that stepped out to the song was splendid. He had shoulder length pale brown hair, skin that was equal parts pale and warm, and a long red trench coat the flowed around him as he twirled to the beginning of the song with such abandon, it made her heart jerk. It took only a couple more twirls to entrance her, teasing her with glimpses of his tight stomach and low sitting jeans as he lifted his arms in the air, moving away the dark grey fabric of his t-shirt that said "Starving Artist".

He didn't look like he was starving, considering her was driving a Tesla. More to the point, he looked very healthy. Every last inch of him that she could see. She was awestruck, staring at a man that was larger than life and didn’t give two shits about the fact that he was drawing an unnatural amount of attention from more than just her. Like the half a dozen girls who had just pulled up to the gas pumps.

She wasn’t sure when she started to move, but just as the words started in the song, he stopped dancing that seductive strut and turned to stare straight at her with a smile so wide and suggestive, she wouldn’t have been surprised if she had come right there from the sheer ferocity of it.

Then he walked towards her with a determination that would leave lesser mortals frightened. She didn’t scare easy. At least not from men.

He reached her and, without saying a word, grabbed her around the waist and wrist and hauled her against him. She gasped in surprise as her body slapped up against his. She could feel the reverberation down to her toes, and she found it exhilarating, at worst. She wasn’t about to admit what else it did to her.

Then the strange, unnaturally feral man began to twirl around with her in a wild, beautiful waltz that felt more like foreplay than a dance with a stranger. The scent of earth and man pulled at her, the husky, vibrant smell was fantastically assaulting. His warm, callused fingers moved languorously along the back of her hand as he pulled her along in the most impressive display of dancing skills she had ever seen in a man... in real life, anyway.

She got sucked into the moment, this perfect moment that left all of her senses in a euphoric trance. She eyed her way up his chest, taking not of the strong upper body, then a defined jawline that set off his narrow, elegant chin until she caught his gaze. Intense pale eyes stared back at her. They were such a unique shade, she wasn’t even sure of the color. Somewhere between grey, green, and blue. He opened his perfectly shaped lips and started to sing along “I’m tryna see it from my own perspective. You all in my section, tryna come to my session.”

Dear god! The man was gorgeous and had a set of pipes? She took a deep breath and tried not to get to sucked into the trans that was… this stranger. But it didn’t work. Even as people stopped and watched them, Kara couldn’t take her eyes off of him. When he pulled her out into a swirl and brought her back to him in an equally magical fashion, she continued to search for those intense eyes. To search for the center of that man’s soul.

As he pulled her back to him, his face dipped lower, brushing his cheek against hers as he continued to sing. “Tell me it’s that déjà vu, cause you want me and I want you. Tell it’s that déjà vu, cause baby this ain’t nothing new.” Her body turned liquid at the feeling of his breath against her ear and neck. She shivered against him and held him tighter.

This was, no doubt, the most romantic, most lascivious moment of Kara’s entire life, and she was sure she would never forget it. Even if she never saw this man again, she would remember this moment and, most likely, use this as a guide for all future lovers. “He’s great, but he’s not ‘grab me in the middle of a crowded gas station and dance with me until I come’ great!” She could hear herself explaining it to Rose and Bridgette already.

Before her thoughts could get too far away from her, she felt the softness of the man’s lips brushing up against her cheek, and without thinking, she turned into him.

 

Dominic closed his eyes and tried not to shove this woman up against his car and fuck her, audience be damned. As soon as she kissed him, he went instantly hard. He continued to dance her around the gas station as their lips and tongue tangled together. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her body seemed to melt into his.

Fuck, this is hot as hell!! He refused to voice the words, not wanting to end the soul shattering kiss he was currently entrapped to. The song ended but they continued dancing together, in the middle of a gas station, at ten o’clock at night, with no shits as to whether the rest of the world could see them. He might have just met the perfect woman. If only he knew her name.

He wasn't sure when the song ended, but at some point, he became slowly aware that the song they were dancing to was not even close to a romantic slow song. But he didn't want to let her go. He kind of had to, though, right? He couldn't exactly make out with her for the rest of the evening. Eventually her legs would get tired. The thought of her legs in those shapely jeans that tucked perfectly into a set of chunky orange boots that encased her entire calf, he was about to lose what little bit of self-control he still possessed.

He pulled back, taking a deep breath to calm his rapidly beating heart. "Wow." He breathed heatedly against her lips.

She smiled. Damn. That was one hell of a smile. "Yeah, something like that."

He returned her smile and stepped back from her, taking that time to remember everything about the woman standing there. "I'm Dominic."

"My name's Kara."

He smiled wider. "Kara. I like it." Running his fingers along her lips, he moved a little closer while still keeping enough distance that his erection wouldn't stab her in the stomach. "Kara, my love, where's your phone?"

The question startled her, as it would probably anyone. Stuttering, she looked around her as if she had just come to her senses. "Oh, my phone? Hold on."

She felt her jacket for a few seconds before pulling it out of a pocket. He noticed the adorable petticoat that she wore, and wondered just how much more adorable she could be. Probably enough to get his ass in some trouble, he considered thoughtfully while she pulled her phone out. He gestured with his chin, "Open it for me." She did, although her brows creased with suspicion. He gently reached out and pulled the phone from her hands. In a matter of seconds, he had programmed his number into her phone and handed it back to her. "Call me."

Smiling wide, she asked "What about a picture? I have a picture for all of my contacts." He wasn't sure if she was teasing or not, but that happy grin was enough to do him in.

He stepped so close to her that she had to press the phone against her chest to make room for his body. "Sure. As long as it's with you."

"Okay." Kara whispered lightly before he turned her towards the light of the charging station.

She held her phone out, lining them up in the screen just so. He leaned in closer, moving his lips to kiss her temple. "We make a cute couple, don't we?"

That brought an even bigger smile, and a set of rosy red cheeks. She snapped a couple of photos, before Dominic turned her head and kissed her again. He heard the phone click a couple more times before he pulled away. "I can't wait to hear from you, my goddess."

Before he could talk himself out of it, he walked to his car, unplugged, and hopped in. He wasn't even fully charged yet. Shutting the door, he took a moment to look at her before turning his car on and driving away. It was the first time in his entire life that he actually got nervous around a woman. Ever. Not even the first time he had sex was he this nervous. He just wasn't a nervous person. He looked at things differently than most. His motto? Shit just is or isn't. He wasn't going to spend his life trying to change what wasn't. If a girl wasn't into him, who cares? There was always another girl willing... or guy. If he wanted sex, he could get it. If he wanted a nude subject for a painting, sex, or just someone to hang with, he could find it with minimal effort.

Because he knew that none of them would stick around, he never got attached. People didn’t stick around for long around him. He had the misfortune of being a human repellant. Sure, they were fond of him in the beginning, but time would prove that either jealousy or hatred, or sometimes both, would push people away. Even Leo would eventually not be able to stand him. He didn't know why. He wished he did. Leo was at least beyond his infatuation stage. He knew that Leo looked at him with envy, and eventually that envy would mature. It would grow and fester until it turned into deep seeded bitterness and hatred.

And then he would be alone again. He was always alone. How long would it be before Leo would leave him? He wasn't sure. But he made the stupid mistake of coming to care for Leo. He wasn't sure why, but there was something about the guy that touched a part of him.

Which was why he usually didn't do relationships. Yes, he had a few in his day, and he was always meticulously loyal, to a fault. And he always got hurt. He never let it show, though. Just as he wouldn't let it show when Leo turned on him. And how he wouldn't let it show if Kara ever did call him, and they started something together. Nope. He would continue on with his life, pretend like it didn't hurt and let his pain feed that artistic monster inside of him.

He continued to think about that, about how long he had with his new friend, even as he got back home that night. It was strangely quiet, though. He wouldn't expect Leo to be in bed so early in the evening. Leo usually didn't go to bed till midnight, at least. Even on a work night. "Hey, you home?"

"Fuck dude." Leo's voice echoed from the hallway. Dominic's brows furrowed in confusion as he saw that his bedroom door was open and the lights were on. He walked in casually and stepped through his bedroom door. On Dominic's bed, Leo was sprawled out with his phone in his hand. "I think I just agreed to something I didn't mean to agree to."

Dominic laughed as he leaned against the door frame. "Oh yeah?" Leo nodded, still staring at the ceiling in disbelief. "And how'd that happen?"

"I was trying to find your bowl, because I wanted another hit, and as I was going through your night stand, my phone rang. I answered it and it was this guy I used to work with in Cincinnati. Nick. He said he had to take an unexpected trip to his mom's house, and that he couldn't get ahold of his sister to ride with her. Said he wanted to just drive to Indy and have her drive the rest of the way? I'm pretty sure that's what he said. I wasn't paying close attention because that's when I ran into your drawer of sex toys." Dominic covered his mouth, trying to hold the laughter in as Leo contemplated that moment. "So, he asked me something, and I said 'yeah, sure bro'. And then he said 'awesome. I should be there around midnight'."

"So, you're going on a trip tonight?"

"I think so."

"What about work tomorrow and Wednesday?"

"Shit." He closed his eyes and rubbed them feverishly. "I forgot. Damnit." Leo groaned loudly. "This is not happening. I'm way too high for this."

"You're still high? It's been hours."

Leo shrugged. "After he hung up, I found your bowl and hit it a couple more times."

"And when was this?" Dominic tried not to show his amusement, but it couldn't be helped. "I left you at, what, six-thirty or so?"

Leo propped himself up on his elbows, "what time is it?" Dominic looked at his phone and was instantly taken back to that moment at the station. His lips quirked up into a languid smile as he remembered that dance. "Dominic, you alright?"

He shook his head lightly and looked up at Leo. "Yeah, sorry." With another glance at his phone, he checked the time. "It's a quarter till eleven."

"What?!" Leo stood up and began shuffling himself out of Dominic's bedroom. "He's gonna be here soon."

"How much of my weed did you smoke, man," Dominic called out as Leo rushed to his room.

"I don't know. I refilled it." Dominic poked his head into his room and saw the bowl that looked very well spent. Nodding in approval, he headed to Leo's room. "I'll just tell my boss I got the flu or something. I won't get my holiday pay, but I could give two shits."

"Yeah, fuck Corporate America." Dominic nodded in approval as he watched Leo tossing clothes into the suitcase.

Leo laughed. It surprised Dominic, figuring that Leo must be getting used to Dominic giving him shit for working a nine to five job. Speaking of which, Dominic thought to himself, he better get started on his own job. 

Chapter 4

~A Nice Trip~

 

                 Leo sat in the driver’s seat, hands at ten and two, cautiously eyeing the speedometer as it teetered between 50 and 55. “You can go sixty, if you want. My car won’ t break.” Nick gave him a drowsy chuckle before snuggling back into his seat and shutting his eyes.

"Sorry, this road's really dark. I'm afraid a deer's gonna run out any minute."

Nick shrugged. "Then we'll have venison for Thanksgiving dinner."

Leo snarled his nose, "Are you serious? That's fucking gross."

Nick laughed as he ran his hand through his trimmed, midnight black hair. "You'll be fine. Just watch out for paint chips and glass shards."

"I can honestly say I've never had deer meat."

"Nothing is as weird as being told you're eating cow head."

"Cow head?" Leo looked away slightly, watching for some sign that he was screwing with him.

Nick laughed, "or how about a soup filled with intestines?"

Leo's lip curled in repugnance. "I think I'll steer clear of the meat. I'm feeling a little vegetarian at the moment."

He opened his eyes and stared at Leo with an amused smirk. The greens and golds of the dashboard made his skin look sickly. Clearing his mind of the thought, he turned back to the road, watching even closer for the infamous deer. "Seriously, friend, you don't have to slow down. At this rate, we won't make it there till four in the morning."

Leo tried to push the anxiety he was having down. Thankfully, he no longer felt high, but that paranoid side of him worried that maybe Nick would figure it out. That he would notice. Nick was a stickler for rules. He lived by them as if they were his air. He would never accept anything as simple as smoking a little weed as "just a little fun". It was illegal, therefore prohibited. No grey areas where he was concerned.

Apparently, he was the only one of his siblings that felt that way. His memories rushed back to the time, when they were in college and his father had been murdered when his family had gone to Chicago for the weekend. He had become obsessed with the rules, with all rules. He studied day in and day out, never leaving time for fun, for anything other than studying. Leo figured it was his way to cope, but he had known it wasn't healthy. So, Leo had made up a rule, one that he knew Nick would feel obliged to accept.

He glanced at his friend and smiled. "Hey, remember in college when I came up with that whole 'roommate agreement'?"

Nick laughed, "Yeah. You had a convincing argument." Nick sat up slightly as he tried to mimic Leo. "We're roommates, and in this room, we study, sleep, eat... and other questionable things. But in order for our dorm to be comfortable, to make it so that we can sit here and study without anxiety or added stress, we need to be able to get along. To have a friendship is important between dormmates. So I suggest that, in order to keep our friendship entact, and to keep the stresses of this room and a manageable level, we need a guideline. Rules, if you will, that ensure that we take time out each week to include each other in something that makes us happy. For two hours a week, I will do whatever you want me to do, and two hours a week, you can do whatever I want to do."

Leo chuckled, "Man, I almost forgot why people called you the recorder."

Nick laughed along with him, then sobered. "Thanks for that, by the way."

Leo shrugged, feeling uncomfortable suddenly. "No big deal. You were in a bad place. I did what any friend would do."

Nick shrugged, feeling obviously uncomfortable with the situation. “Yeah, still…” he scratched his jaw, “thanks.”

Silence ensued as both men attempted to find a topic less… emotional. Leo cleared his throat. “So um… what’s all this about your sister screwing you over?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “My mom calls us last minute and demands that we find some way of getting home to see her because some aunts and uncles suddenly decided to come up for Thanksgiving and we have to help ‘ready the house’.” He made exaggerated quotation marks in the air and then sighed. “My mom is always about mi familia. Always caring about having the house perfect. So, of course she called Kara to go early and help with food because my little sister, Lilian seems to enjoy acting as if she’s still five.

Then she calls me and tells me that I have to come and fix the gutters, clean up the yard, clean out the spare bedroom, and whatever else she comes up with from now until the time I leave. I was trying to get ahold of Kara, so we could ride up there together, but she seems to have forgotten what her phone is for. And I didn't feel comfortable driving all that way on such little sleep. Especially when my mom is going to work me to death the second I get up in the morning. Hence, why I told you that you could leave in the morning and I'll drive back to Indy with my sister and get my car then."

Leo shrugged. "I could at least stay a day or two. I've already called off work and I don't have any family to go to."

"Still not talking to your pops?"

"Oh, we talk from time to time... when he wants to tell me what a waste of oxygen I am. How I'm not amounting to anything or how the only reason he gives me money is to shut my mother up because she thinks I'm starving out here."

Nick laughed. "You have a decent job and a roommate that shares half the rent with you. She can't think that you're doing that bad."

Leo rolled his eyes. "The fact that I even have to have a roommate tells her that I'm struggling."

"But if she's giving you money every month, you probably don't need a roommate, right?"

Leo shook his head as he said, "I don't spend the money. I have it in a savings account."

"What are you going to do with the money?"

"I don't know really. But I've accumulated a quarter of a million dollars."

Nick turned to him, his eyes wide. "You what?! That's a lot of money, man!"

"To my dad, it's nothing. Besides, it's money that I've been saving since college. And I've also accumulated interest on it, so it's not like it's all from them." As Nick started to respond, Leo abruptly cut him off. "So, tell me about your life. You've been married for what, three years now?"

Nick snuggled back down in his seat and closed his eyes. "Yeah, almost four. And we have twin girls. They're almost a year old, and very sick this week. That's why they weren't coming with me. They had both gotten bronchitis somehow so my wife stayed home to take care of them."

"And that's why you wanted someone to ride with you." Nick nodded. "Makes sense," Leo thought out loud. He looked over and noticed the early signs of sleep on his friend. Leo smiled and looked back at the road, turning the music down to a soft whisper. No sense in forcing him to stay awake. They had the next few days to catch up with each other.

 

Moiragetes paced back and forth outside of the modest home. In the back yard was a stream of oversized bird cages and perches, with several well-kept sheds. Tammy was ever the caregiver, just like her father. He appreciated that about her. It was why he had gotten a bit too attached to her a . When he slipped up and had slept with her a few years back, he had to force himself to back away. Getting close to her would have meant altering his perception of her future, and the future of the special girl she had taken in when her parents had been killed.

"You know, I hate it when you stand out here, pacing like a caged animal."

He stopped and whipped his head around, smiling wide. "Yeah? Don't keep so many cages on your property and perhaps I wouldn't get so anxious."

Tammy rolled her dark chocolate eyes dramatically. "Well, if men would quit disappointing me so much, perhaps I wouldn't have to use them." Her long black hair was done in twin braids that swept along the swell of her breasts and swayed lazily before her petite waist. She really was gorgeous, with those high, strong cheekbones, tawny skin, and large almond-shaped eyes, her native american ancestry made her that much more enticing... and a lot younger looking than her forty-two years. Although, everyone of her species looked young at her age, considering their lifespan.

Moiragetes smiled solemnly, wishing things could have been different with them. He really was a little too involved in Earth and its inhabitants. "I didn't want to interrupt your date." He saw the lingering question in her gaze. He ignored it and continued. "It's about Dakota."

A frown creased the space between her eyes as her lips pursed. "What's wrong now?"

"I need you to make yourself scarce for a few weeks."

Her mouth dropped as she narrowed her eyes at him. "You want me to what?!" She shook her head, laughing in disbelief as she turned to walk in her house. He followed. "Believe it or not, Moiragetes, some of us are not omnipotent. We can't just make everything happen, okay? We have to make money! We have jobs! I have my own real estate company to run, for fuck's sake! What makes you think that I can just stop everything and walk away for a few weeks?" She headed to the kitchen, grabbed a couple of glasses from the cabinet and slammed them down on the counter. He almost wanted to smile at her anger, because that meant she knew damn well she was going to leave, whether she liked it or not. "It's not like I can just conjure money..." She glared at him, "thanks to someone I know."

Moiragetes groaned at the same bitch and moan story he'd heard for centuries upon centuries. "Yeah, silly me for not giving my creations free reign over the entire planet. Sorry, but the last time we let people have that much power, they almost destroyed this planet." Tammy shook her head as she went to the small fridge and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. "If I didn't put restrictions on your abilities to conjure, I would have had to deal with a lot of wild animals with lots of money and lots of power that would have gone to their heads and forced me to kill them off one by one. I think we learned our lesson the first time, Tammy."

"Still, it doesn't make it easy."

"Welcome to life."

She snarled a lip at his blasé tone. "Please, like you have any idea what it's like to live like this."

Moiragetes leaned in closer, his eyes narrowing as bitterness pulled at his stomach. "You, little girl, have no idea what my life has been like. You couldn't even begin to fathom the heartache, the pain, the literal torture I have had to endure in the past. So, don't stand there on your soap box acting as if I've had the easy life simply because I have more shit than you." Her eyes widened and he saw fear there, even if it was for a moment. His eyes must have changed when he said that. Guilt replaced the bitterness. Clearing his throat, he straightened himself back up and smoothed his charcoal grey suit thoughtfully. "If you're worried, I can provide assistance in that department, as I'm the one asking this of you. Dakota will be fine. This is just a formality for a future situation."

"A future situation?" Tammy looked at him with obvious confusion.

"Tammy, you know I can't give you  more than that."

She crossed her arms over her chest, her lip curling with repugnance. "You want me to leave my sister all alone? Are you kidding me?! Do you have any idea what could happen to her if the wrong people found her?"

"So says the woman fucking a vampire."

Tammy's eyes darkened and widened with unabashed anger. "Fuck you, asshole! I can date whoever the fuck I like! You lost any say in that shit years ago, or don't you remember?"

Her hand lit up with building magic as her anger rose. Moiragetes gave her a chiding glare. "Watch yourself, Tammy. You don't want to start a fight with me. You'll lose."

She shrugged her shoulders, "I'm willing to take my chances."

"You're willing to fight a god over this vampire?"

"You don't know him, Moiragetes. To stereotype every fucking vampire, deem them all evil is pathetic and racist."

"And why are you so quick to defend him? Do you love him?"

Tammy flinched at that question but shook it off just as quickly. "I'm defending him because he's been helping me. There are talks of people looking for the hybrid. Their descriptions of her is a little too close to Dakota for comfort. He's been trying to keep his ear to the ground to see if anyone figures out who she is." Her eyes narrowed on him. "She's it, isn't she? She's the hybrid that the vampires want?" Moiragetes simply stood there, quietly watching her. She cursed as her fingers curled into a fist. "Seriously? You have to be fucking kidding me. So, Gail wasn't her mother after all?"

"No, she wasn't her mother, biologically speaking."

"Wow. My Dad sure did get around, didn't he?"

"Your Dad had nothing to do with the decision. He was deceived by a god, just as Gail was. I'm not going into details."

She shook her head, laughing in disbelief at what she was hearing, what she was discovering about her little sister. "Can't you assholes just leave us alone? Can't you just let us live our lives and not meddle in our shit? You get bored up there in Olympus, or something? You have to play matchmaker with genetics to keep yourselves entertained? Is it like a drinking game up there? If your species wipes itself out, you have to take a shot?"

"Stop being overdramatic, Tammy." Moiragetes' voice didn't rise or alter. It was a simple, blank tone that gave nothing to the recipient. "All I am asking you to do is go out of town for a few weeks, for Dakota to seek council somewhere else. Her boyfriend's going to dump her, and I need her to get close to someone. If you're out of the way, it'll work."

"She'll be worried about me if I just up and leave all of a sudden."

"Then leave. A note." His tone was biting that time, allowing his irritation to bleed through, which only seemed to happen with Tammy. She was good at bringing out the worst in him.

"And where the fuck am I supposed to go for three weeks?"

"Go visit Hawthorne. He doesn't live that far from here, and I'm sure he'd enjoy seeing you." His lip quirked, "Or, better yet, how about a romantic rendezvous with your blood sucker boy toy?"

Tammy rolled her eyes dramatically as she took another shot of whiskey from the bottle. After wiping the liquid from her lips, she agreed with a barely audible grunt. She tapped the counter for a moment as her mind began to run over thoughts. "Hey, Moiragetes?" She looked at him with true concern in her dark eyes. "Is this all because of Hypnos?"

Moiragetes looked up, staring anxiously at Tammy for a moment. "Why would this have something to do with Hypnos?" Tammy gulped at his intensity. Her deep eyes watched his mouth for a moment, as if waiting for him to suddenly realize something. "Tammy, talk to me."

She pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes. She was clearly irritated by his tone but he could care less. She needed to start talking, and now. "I saw him late one night talking to Gerald and Keegan. The owners of that club, Dreamers, in Sacramento?"

Moiragetes frowned deeply at her. "You mean the vampires?" She nodded nervously as she filled her glass. He hesitated for a moment, then grabbed his glass and dropped the liquid into his mouth. He let the cold liquid slip down his throat, leaving a warm trail that contradicted the chill. He smacked his lips and pushed the cup over to her. She filled his cup again and pushed it back.

"I wasn't sure that it was him, since I'd only seen him that one time, but then Stone mentioned him, asking what he would be doing there."

"Stone?" He quirked a brow at the unknown name.

She smirked at him. "He's the guy I've been seeing." Jealousy peaked its green little ears at that confession. "Anyway," Tammy looked away nervously, "he's somewhat familiar with Hypnos, and he was wondering the same thing as me."

He let the silence settle around them before he finally spoke with a shake of his head.. "I still can't believe you're dating a vampire."

Her hand twitched with magic again as she eyed him. "It's none of your business who I date, Moiragetes." She stared at him with unblinking determination. "And besides, he's not one of the cursed."

He laughed haughtily. "If he can walk in daylight, that means he's one of the direct descendants of Victoria, which makes him one of the most cursed, in my opinion."

"He doesn't speak to Victoria!" Tammy bit the words out angrily before slamming the whiskey back.

"And you honestly think he's strong enough to deny her when she wants something?"

Her lips curled angrily. "He hasn't spoken to her in almost a century, Moiragetes." Tammy's eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest, making her small breasts look large and plump. A sense of longing fell over him, but he tried desperately to push it away. She wasn't the first woman for him to get tangled up in the sheets with, she wouldn't be the last, and she most definitely wasn't the one to break the cycle. "Shouldn't you know this already? Isn't that why you and I stopped fucking around? So you could keep your uninhibited grasp on our future?"

Moiragetes downed his own whiskey then slammed the glass back on the counter. His eyes met hers with a feral gleam. "You and I stopped fucking because I had to have a better handle on your sister. Your love life is none of my concern anymore, so I keep my fucking nose out of it. Don't push me right now, Tammy. I'm not in the mood. All I care about in my life right now are three very important situations that are, unfortunately, happening simultaneously. Right now, my sole focus is to make sure that these situations happen the way that they're supposed to, for the better of this planet and for the better of all species involved. Including your species."

He stepped back from the counter and sighed as Tammy tried to hide the tear that fell down her cheek. "Okay, so..." She cleared her throat and looked away, staring longingly out of the window. She wanted to fly, he could feel it. "Dakota's well-being hinders on me walking away for a few weeks and hiding out, and Hypnos doesn't have anything to do with this, but he's been seen talking to some very old, very greedy little vampires. That about sum up our conversation?"

"When it's safe to see her again, I'll give you the coordinates to where she's at."

She whipped herself around. "What's that mean? She won't be here? She won't be at home?"

"Like I said, I will give you the coordinates to where she is when it's time. Check your bank account in the morning and remove as much money as you need to sustain yourself for the next few weeks but not so much that it looks suspicious. If someone goes around asking questions about you, I don't want them to remember you pulling out ten grand from your bank account." He saw the question in her eyes and he held his hand out to stop it. "The funds are already there. It's the joys of being omnipotent." He gave her a droll stare and turned around. Before she could say anything else, he vanished.

He reappeared on the steps of his Olympian temple and walked briskly to Hypnos' over-compensating monstrosity. The over-the-top structure loomed higher than most of the other temples, with its gold and pearl trim and the beautifully carved out cream colored bricks that depicted Hypnos as a god of power, and humility. His arrogance still amazed him. He could sense his presence there, like an inky stain on the beauty that was Olympus.

He didn't bother to knock. He simply stepped forward and used his powers to fling the doors open. His servants and guards started to arm themselves, prepared to do battle, but Moiragetes simply reached his hand out and stopped them all in their tracks. And he didn't miss the fact that some of those servants were Svajoti kariai. He made a mental note of their faces, wanting to check up on them later after he was done with Hypnos. By the sound of a woman moaning loudly echoing down the hall, Moiragetes figured that Hypnos wasn't exactly paying attention at this moment.

He flicked his wrist and the doors to Hypnos' "love chambers", as he liked to call them. It was atrocious. Everything was silk, candles everywhere, music to set the mood, and toys and swings hanging around just waiting to be used. On the lavish bed in the middle of the room was a dazzling redhead. She sat up on top of Hypnos as she moved and moaned on top of him.

"If you ruin this moment, Moira, I will have you hanged." Moiragetes narrowed his eyes at the woman who seemed to suddenly realize she had and audience. She squealed with shock at his presence, but Hypnos grabbed her roughly by the waist and shoved himself deeper into her. "I didn't say you could stop, Amynta." Hypnos' voice was vial as he forced her to continue moving her naked body on top of him.

Moiragetes' anger built immediately. "Hypnos, you're playing with fire. Hastia won't be too keen on you roughing up her daughter." He flicked his wrist again and Amynta flew off of him, landing on a pile of pillows that Moiragetes had arranged for her descent.

Hypnos stood up on top of his plush bed, his dark hair plastered to his face as his erection quickly began to deflate. "Moira, you and I are about to have words." He glared at Amynta, as if she had chosen to leave her spot in his bed.

Moiragetes walked briskly to the bed as Amynta fashioned herself a soft pink gown and rushed away. Moiragetes sighed as he watched her long, red curls bounce nervously through the door. "Yes, we have plenty to talk about Hypnos. But first thing's first..." He turned his attentions back to Hypnos. The brilliant violet of Hypnos' eyes glimmered with power, but Moiragetes wasn't phased. "First of all... don't call me Moira. Second, I would like to know exactly why you were speaking to Gerald and Keegan."