Read Online Dark Callings (Phoenix Intelligence Agency) by Taige Crenshaw - Free Book Online

were in the shadows. He knew she couldn’t actually see them. As he opened the path to her, he solidified their mental communication.
    “ I’m okay.”
    “Listen to him, before you do something rash.” Her calmness brought him to his senses.
    “I’ll be done in a moment. Then we can leave.”
    Harmony withdrew from their communication. Lennox focused back on Lupo. His emerald green shadow was a tinge darker than Lennox’s. He released him then moved back, crossing his arms over his chest.
    “You let her see, too.”
    “She had a right to know why you’re being an ass,” Lupo countered.
    Lennox reached for him, jerking him forward. They were the same height. “Why didn’t you ever tell me you were my father?”
    “It was safer for you.”
    “Says you. I loved my adoptive parents. They told me all about my mother, but whenever I asked about my father, they wouldn’t say. Was that your doing?”
    “Yes. To protect you from Blagden, I let him believe you were murdered, too. I saw something was coming, and couldn’t afford for my son to be affected by it. He was moulding me to lead his army. When I left, I never expected him to find my son. God, I knew from the time you were born you were destined to be great. When he came to see me, I got a flash of what he did. He always planned to go after my bond shadow. He’s been Xiruis for a long time. He was just biding his time for the right moment.”
    “That’s not possible. Someone would have known.”
    “Someone did. You.”
    “I didn’t know. If I had, I wo…” He trailed off, realisation dawning.
    “You figured it out.”
    “Something was off about him. He was getting more and more brutal with prisoners. I mentioned, just in passing, that we were not the Xiruis and did not act in such a way.Not too long after that, he started pushing me out. He undermined me with the men, turning them against me.”
    “Exactly. You came too close to the truth, and he couldn’t take the chance. That’s why, although Fyodor would be his second, he started training him as his general, too. That, he regretted, since Fyodor ousted him. He will be a hell of a king. Better than his father ever was.”
    “At least his father was there for him,” Lennox lashed out.
    “I was there for you, Lennox, even if you didn’t know who I was.”
    “You were my trainer. A friend of the family. When you chose exile, I wondered why we made trips here to Earth to see you. Now I know. Everyone was in on it.”
    “For your protection, my son,” he insisted.
    “Don’t call me that.”
    Lupo subsided but his emerald green shadow flickered. Lennox knew the signs and gripped his arm.
    “Mom wasn’t your bond shadow.”
    “It didn’t matter. I loved her with all my heart.”
    “How could you still be with Blagden after his bond shadow killed Mom?”
    His heart ached with the memory of A’rm Ageddon ripping through his mother in a rage. Lupo closed his eyes, then opened them.
    “I had to protect you. We all make sacrifices where we must. Maybe someday, you will understand what I did.”
    Lennox refused to respond.
    “Stubborn like your mama,” Lupo said fondly.
    Lennox grunted.
    “Now, we’d better come out of the shadows before your woman hurts someone. A Zuri Maji in my place, and she’s with my son.” Lupo laughed.
    Lennox looked through the shadows. Harmony appeared to be calm. In the next second, he noted an iridescent purple tentacle snaking across the floor towards her. He stepped out of the shadows.
    “Don’t you dare interfere. I got this,” Harmony stated.
    He stayed where he was, watching. The tentacle reached her toe. Harmony tapped the tattoo around the upper part of her arm and, in quick succession, three Maji Stars materialised. The tentacle retracted fast. The demon turned to face her, awe on his face.
    “I am sorry, Maji , I didn’t realise what you were. Just some fun.”
    “It isn’t me you should apologise to. See that big guy over there glaring?