Page 23 of Master of Kayos

Kyllian was proudof Quinn for holding her shit together.He couldn’t imagine being agoraphobic – a term he used, not Quinn.But that’s basically what she was, not having left her home in almost twenty years.She clung to his hand almost constantly, and that made his Gryphon preen.It made Kyllian sad.As soon as she stepped outside the car though, she shifted.The silver hair on her back bristled like an angry dog.Everyone took a step back.The wolves of Mercy’s pack were wide-eyed and nervous around the dire wolf, most likely remembering how she’d taken down their Alpha when she was still a kid.The Gryphons?They stood their ground, and Joker muttered a “wow”.

Kyllian knelt beside his dire wolf and promised she was safe.His Gryphon soothed her beast, and soon, Quinn shifted back and apologized.“Sorry about that.It’s been a while since I was around so many shifters.”She probably didn’t realize she had outed the Gryphons without stating what exactly they were, but he let it go.She was already under enough stress without him making her feel worse.

After introductions were made, Kyllian filled everyone in on the messages from Bishop and how Nikita’s last known ping was from a bus stop in New Santa Rosa.That gave them a direction.“It’s late.Is anyone ready to stop for the night?”A chorus of “no” and “let’s keep going” rang out.“Okay.Instead of all of us going to one location, I think we need to split up.One group go to the bus terminal and another group ride on ahead to the pack and try to intercept Nikita before she gets there.”

“How about the three of us head toward River Canyon pack land?”Devon suggested, gesturing at himself, Joker, and Storm.“Just a few bikers out for a ride.Since we aren’t wolves, if we do come across some of the RC Pack, it won’t look like we’re there to challenge Dennis, if he is still the Alpha.”The River Canyon, or RC pack, as they’d begun calling them, was an unknown entity.Kyllian had been in a hurry to get back to Quinn when he questioned the wolves outside her home, and he’d neglected to ask if Dennis was still in charge.Thirty-six years was nothing in the lives of Gryphons, and according to Quinn, wolves lived just as long.Dire wolves even longer.

“You’re not just going into biker territory,” Jeremy said.“These are wolves, and dire wolves at that.”

“We can handle them,” Joker assured the wolf.

Mercy gripped her brother’s arm.“Trust me; they can.”

Jeremy looked from his sister back to Joker.“If you’re not wolves, what are you?”

Joker winked.“Something much larger and stronger.If we get Nikita back, maybe we’ll show you.”

“Whenwe get her back.”Kyllian had every faith they would find Quinn’s daughter.It might not be before she reached the RC pack, but four Gryphons were mighty enough to take on a whole pack of wolves.When no one else objected, Kyllian told the Hounds to head on out.He thought splitting up made sense, but he would rather be going with them.He preferred riding his bike to driving a cage.Still, he wouldn’t want to leave Quinn alone with Mercy and the other wolves.Mercy said they were on Quinn’s side, but he didn’t know these wolves.Hell, he didn’t know Quinn that well either, but she was his responsibility.When no one objected, Kyllian gave his nephews and Storm knuckle bumps.The three Hounds straddled their bikes and rode west.

When Mercy opted to ride with her brother, Kyllian and Jeremy traded phone numbers.Kyllian trusted Mercy to keep his secret having threatened her earlier.After loading up in their respective vehicles, Kyllian took lead and followed the directions on the GPS.After a few miles, Quinn placed her arm on the center console, palm up.Kyllian took the invitation and laced their fingers.Quinn let out a quiet sigh, but he heard it.

“Devon and Jericho look more like brothers than father and son.”

“It’s a Gryphon thing.The aging process eventually stops.It’s the reason my pop moved from Texas to New York.He was too well-known to remain any longer without causing suspicion.Mom had to introduce all the girls as her sisters instead of daughters.”

“Tell me about your mom.”

“Aurora Rose Lazlo, or Rory to friends and family, is a force to be reckoned with.She’s the kindest, most loving woman I’ve ever met, but if you cross anyone she loves, the Lioness will come out.She’s opinionated without being judgmental, and she always let us make our mistakes.If she thought we were doing something stupid, she would say so, but she would step back and wait.If she turned out to be right, she’d just hug us better.All except War.She stopped talking to him for years when he let his mate’s aunt and uncle adopt Lucy when her mother was killed.Rory was furious.Said Lucy belonged with our family.”

“But Lucy’s in your lives now.”

“She is, but only because both of her adopted parents passed away.Vera, her adopted mother, left Lucy clues as to where she came from.Lucy became part of our family before she and War patched things up.He basically cut all ties with us when Harlow died.Harlow’s own mother was killed by a group of bikers, and in turn, she hated anyone who rode two wheels.Since she was his mate, War did whatever Harlow wanted, including giving up riding.When she died, he gave Lucy to Lucius and Vera, then continued on the path he’d set out on with his mate.He became a professor.It wasn’t until Lucy came back into our lives that he decided long enough had passed doing what his dead mate wanted.Rory was glad to have her son back, but it was rough in the beginning.”

“How did Sutton feel about all that?”

“He wasn’t any happier than Mom, but he’s always let us carve our own paths.He says it isn’t for him to decide how we live any more than it was for his father to dictate how Dad lived.The hardest part for Sutton was watching Rory ignore War for so long.”

“Warryck is Maveryck’s twin, right?”Kyllian nodded.“And Mav is the one with the two little boys.”

“That’s right.”

“I can’t believe Mercedes turned out to be Hayden’s mate.And I hate that I didn’t delve further into her life before I put the contract out.If anything, that taught me to be more cautious when taking on jobs.”

“Do you like being a handler?”

Quinn’s thumb that was stroking Kyllian’s knuckles paused.He glanced over at her, but she was looking out the side window.She must have felt his eyes on her because she turned to look at him, her brow furrowed.

“Honestly?No.Especially after what almost happened with Mercedes.It’s a lot of responsibility.Besides that, I have to delve into the lives of the marks.These are the worst kinds of humans, and I can’t unsee the evil they do.”

“Then why do it?”

“I owe my father everything.After what happened in the Ozarks, I was a mess, but he never gave up on me.Kids aren’t supposed to live with their parents after a certain age.They’re supposed to go out and find their own way, but I didn’t.I couldn’t.He paid for my education while I contributed little to his life other than cooking and cleaning.I said I studied psychology in college to try and understand those people I have to investigate, but honestly?It was to help myself more than anything.You can read all about the mind and conditions like PTSD.You can learn how to deal with trauma.I did learn how to deal with my own issues, but putting those practices to use are harder when it’s yourself.The longer I stayed holed up in our home, the easier it was to ignore my condition.I couldn’t very well get a job as a psychologist when I couldn’t help myself, so I started working with Dad for something to do as well as to help him.

“Having a mercenary company is so much more than taking a contract and pushing it out to the assassins.There’s a lot of deep diving into the mark.It was interesting at first because he taught me how to access the dark web.You know the kind of contracts that come through.The types of people we’re targeting.My degree in psychology had already introduced me to how complex minds are.I was still freaked out about rapists and child molesters, but before I would run to the bathroom and throw up, I would take each one and study the person.Try to figure out why they did what they did.In doing that, I was also helping alleviate all the time Dad spent researching the person.”

The GPS instructed them they were less than a mile from the bus terminal, so Kyllian took the opportunity to tell Quinn what he hadn’t while Mercy was with them.“I’m proud of you, Quinn.I know leaving the house was next to impossible for you, but you did it.”

Quinn laughed, but it wasn’t a happy one.“That has nothing to do with me and everything to do with you.Don’t get me wrong.I was freaking out on the inside, but I feel safe with you.”

Kyllian lifted their joined hands and kissed her knuckles.“You are safe with me.”It was in that moment he knew he would do everything in his power to win over this female.Yes, their lives were different, but so had his brothers and their mates been, and they had worked things out to be together.He didn’t want to give up being a Master, but if that’s what it took to have Quinn in his life, he’d do it.

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