Page 119 of Cosmic Power

What is that?Curiosity hummed from the entity, her entire focus locked on the scent they couldn’t identify.

Void sucked air in between his teeth. “Oh, fuck me sideways,” he groaned, running a hand down his face. “The Chimeras are here.”

A group of tall, well built men strolled in with complete confidence, an air of self righteousness and superiority wafting off them. The strange, dangerous scent was coming from them.

“What the fuck is a Chimera?” Zamorra frowned. She’d never heard of that type of shifter before.

“They’re the only shifter in the world with the ability to have both the human and the creature in control during shifted form. Which basically makes them shifter royalty. They’ve got the forefront of a lion—which breathes fire by the way. Don’t ask me how, I’ve got no fucking clue— a goat’s head that protrudes from the middle of their back and set of wicked dragon-like wings.”

Her jaw dropped open at the description of the Chimeras, her mind conjuring up a frightening image. “You’re shitting me. How have I never heard of them before?”

“They hardly ever leave Greece. They’re the elite of the elite. No one knows about them unless they’re in their inner circle and honestly, after what happened to the dragons here, you can’t really blame them for being secretive. They’re fire breathing, lion-goat creatures that can fly. Can you imagine if others found out about them?”

“So, what the hell are they doing here then? Shouldn’t they be lying low? Not standing in a room filled with hundreds of supernaturals?”

“Take a look around, Zo. What do you see?”

Zamorra ran her eyes over the room, her focus primarily on the vampires and shifters. Ninety percent of them were looking at the Chimeras with confused expressions, brows drawn low in a frown.

“They’ve got no idea who they are.” Zamorra breathed in shock.

“Nope,” Void said, popping the ‘p’. “Just another thing those bastards have going for them. It’s like they’ve got a built-in scent scrambler or some shit. No matter how much you sniff, you’ll never be able to tell what their creatures are unless you’ve seen them shift.”

Zamorra chuckled at the cranky look on her uncle’s face. “You don’t like em’?”

“Fuck no,” he scoffed. “They’re arrogant as all hell. They came to our territory once to meet with Barnabas. They demanded he clear the entire estate for their arrival, like we all weren’t important enough to be in their presence. A bunch of us stayed behind on the DL. That’s ‘down low’, in case you’re not up to date on the slang lingo.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’myoungerthan you.”

“Only in the mind,” he winked.

“You’re an asshole,” she laughed. “Did Barnabas do it?” He didn’t exactly seem like the type to do anything demanded of him.

“Didn’t have a choice. They had something he needed. Something he paid a shit-ton of money for.”

Huh. Zamorra wondered what.

“I saw one of them shift while they were there. It was…intense. The creature was in control of the lion side while the human was in control of the goat. Two consciousness’ active at the same time?”, He shook his head. “Unreal.”

The Chimera shifter at the front of the pack locked eyes with her from across the room. He cocked his head, running his gaze up and down her body in a slow, sensual caress before a grin curled on his lips. His dark hair fell over his face in a messy but attractive style. He had a rugged face, with a pair of ray bans covering his eyes and golden tan skin.

Zamorra snorted. She hated people who wore their sunglasses inside. It just screamed douchebag.

There was a classic ‘bad boy’ vibe emanating from him thanks to his clothing. Black ripped jeans, black shirt and black leather jacket. He had both ears pierced, one with a small, silver stud and the other with what looked like a long dangly sword. Silver chains hung around his neck and his fingers were adorned with big, bulky rings.

“Oh man,” Void whined, “they’re coming over here. Why? Why are they coming over here?”

Zamorra would have laughed at the look of utter dismay on her uncle’s face if it wasn’t for the approaching predators.

My Bad Boy stopped in front of her, ignoring all the death glares and growls from the surrounding vampires, and offered her his hand. “Julius LaRosa.” His voice held a musical note to it, like one might expect a world-renowned singer to have.

She didn’t shake his hand. She didn’t like the way he just invited himself into her space, like he had every right to be there.

Neither did her werewolf. Her eyes flashed silver in warning.

Julius smiled widely, like a Cheshire cat. “You bare a striking resemblance to the former Shifter Regent of this fine country. Am I to assume you’re one of his?”

A growl rumbled from her throat. “Let’s get something straight, Mr I’m-too-cool-to-take-my-sunglasses-off-inside, that bastard’s blood might run through my veins, but I. Am. Not. His. My father’s name was Orion. Barnabas was nothing more than a sperm donor.”

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