Page 71 of Cloak of the Vampire
That didn’t confirm whether Aileen Henderson was Amir’s daughter, but everything else seemed to line up. If she was truly his daughter and she’d been privy to what Amir was doing with those girls ... he didn’t want to even think about it.
“Now.” Her voice drew his gaze back to her. “My payment.”
Ragnor studied her for a few moments. His head was still in a mess over what she’d shared, and yet he owed her the information. “Luceras called me the other day,” he said quietly. “He’s been studying some ruins in Egypt and shared with me some of his findings regarding the Bennu bird.”
Her eye sparked with interest and terror at the same time. “You mean the bird associated with Ra, the sun god in Egyptian mythology?”
“One and the same.” He nodded, thinking back to that disturbing phone call. “Luceras has been trying to find information about the Bennu bird for a long time now. What he’s found so far isn’t a lot. Mostly some folktales he can’t rely on.”
She stared at him with rapt attention. “Why is he researching some mythological bird?”
He gave her a grim look. He knew that what he was about to say would be triggering. Not just for Eliza but for him too. Because this was the thing that had brought them together in the first place. This was the one thing both of them were actually afraid of.
In his many years of existence, he’d rarely found anything scary, if at all. For him to feel such a weak emotion did not bode well.
“Luceras suspects that a certain group associated with one of the few folktales worth noting hasn’t been entirely eradicated like we thought,” Ragnor now said, looking carefully at Eliza to see her reaction.
Her eye widened. Horror dawned on her face. Her lips parted, and in a fearful whisper, she said, “The Children of Kahil.”
He nodded and leaned back. He took a deep breath and said, “I’ll find out more soon. Luceras will be back in the US soon, and we plan to meet.”
As though in a trance, she nodded and rose to her feet. “Thank you, Rayne,” she said distractedly before she looked again at the crumpled note with Amir Zoheir’s name on it. She then took on a contemplative look, turned to gaze at him, and seemed to debate whether she should say something before she reached a decision and said, “I do want to ask you a question before I leave.”
His shoulders tense, Ragnor gave her a curt nod as he said, “Go ahead.”
“Are you still planning on selling her?”
It took him a moment to understand what she was thinking. They’d been talking about a different subject, after all. But he understood now, and his face became somber. “There shouldn’t be a change in that plan,” he replied with an irritated bite to his voice.
“But there is.” She peered at him with a spark of dark curiosity. “I know you hate hearing my two cents, but you’re going to listen to it anyway; I think there’s more to it than your simple need to know about her history for the sake of your League, and I think you shouldseriouslyconsider whether you’re going to let this opportunity go or not. Think about it.”
She departed soon after, leaving Ragnor feeling the need to break something, because she wasn’t wrong, even if she wasn’t completely right; something about Aileen Henderson rubbed him the wrong way. At least on the mental plane.
Physically, however, it was as if she was made just for him. And he planned on exploring every inch of her tasty body until, like all the others, he tired of her.
Because hewouldtire of her. Even if his cock thought differently. Even if it took all his willpower to make it so.
CHAPTER 26
Tansy sent a puny punch toward my midsection, and I pivoted, catching her by the arm before she lost her balance. She glanced at me, perspiration dripping down her pretty face, her eyes unfocused.
I let out a sigh and released her arm. “You won’t get better if you keep at it like this,” I told her softly. We’d been sparring in gym class for the last ten minutes, and it seemed that after nearly two months, she wasn’t getting any better.
And here I was looking to get some of my anger out in a good sparring session.
Tansy’s head fell, her long hair bursting at the seams of her tight, restraining bun. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“You don’t need to apologize,” I admonished her. “You just need to take practice seriously.”
“I do.” She looked away, not convincing either of us. A thwack nearby made us both spin our heads to see that Zoey, sweaty, breathless, and smug, had knocked burly Bryce on his ass.
I turned to look at Tansy, and she winced, planting her gaze to the floor. My gut told me not to expect anything else from her today. Glancing to where Logan was barking instructions at Jakob and Jane, I said, “Let me be on the offense.”
Her lips thinned and she nodded. She entered a defensive pose while I started launching soft kicks to her shins. Her eyes widened, andshe seemed to know I was going easy on her on purpose. I also slowed down my attacks because this wasn’t my focus at the moment.
“If you want to tell me why gym classes are hard for you, I’m here,” I murmured so only she could hear.
She didn’t reply as she weakly blocked my slow, anemic punch to her face. “You shouldn’t,” she said so softly that for a moment I thought I imagined it.
