Go to a club? Make dinner in? Order out? Did he go with you to meet up with your other friends? What did you do together?"
Stan and Jory regarded each other. While Stan began to look angry, Jory turned pasty under his golden skin.
"I don't remember," Stan confessed.
"Neither do I," Jory whispered.
"How often did you see Xzavier?" There was compassion in Ushna's voice, but his arm around me tightened.
"We see him several times a year," Jory's voice broke as he replied. He stared hard at his clasped hands.
It was disturbing how easily they were able to separate the five of us. Stan and Jory had been befriended and betrayed. I wasn't sure the three had sex. It sounded too much like a date rape scenario and the persistent memory loss implied the use of drugs. Why did Xzavier continue to visit? Who would expend all of the time and energy to keep in touch?
Ushna tensed as he asked the next questions. "Did you tell him where you were going?"
"No we didn't get a chance," Stan replied. "Jory was in New York on a project until four days ago and I worked on making arrangements to move our business base." Stan's hands rested on top of the table, clenching and unclenching with obvious tension.
"Is this person a part of your current tribe?" I asked with suppressed fury. We needed to find and contain the person who'd kept my brothers from me.
"No, he belongs to the Kislah Tribe."
I placed the necklace with the eight-pointed star pendant on the table between us. "Have you seen this before?"
Stan slammed his fist onto the table. "Son of a bitch!"
"I think I am going to be sick." Jory covered his face with his hands.
There was no way to lessen the impact of what I had to say. "This is the emblem Ashur pulled off the body of an assassin."
Jory scraped his chair back and bolted from the room. With as delicate as my stomach was, I ignored the sounds of Jory heaving into the toilet down the hall.
C
HAPTER
F
IVE
The meeting to plan our trip to Georgia was long and tedious. There was an upset at both the Magi College and the Warrior Order. Corey had sent men to investigate. He placed the visit on hold until he received the reports and was able to guarantee my safety.
I had warned Jory and Stan to attend the meeting only if they decided to stay and that was after they had negotiated some kind of cease-fire with Gregori. When they entered the conference room together, they weren't chummy but Gregori's hostility had toned down.
Security for the trip would be a nightmare but Corey had made use of Stan's and Jory's expertise. They owned a well-known and respected security firm, Wolf at the Door Protection . Jory was the expert with equipment and electronics, and Stan was a wizard with planning and strategy. Between the two of them, they were a formidable team.
It was decided I'd make two trips to Bahbelle. The first was to appoint an alpha to replace Theodore Sullivan and to settle the estate for his three children. I had to attend the trial for the followers of Craig Stoiler for the illegal invasion of my territory and the attempted murder of my tribe. Then I would secretly meet with the Elder Council. We needed to address the issue of the spy and declare my lineage.
We also addressed the security issues of my own tribe and territory. The guard had grown from the original fourteen warriors to over one hundred warriors, with more who arrived every day to petition entry. The warriors alone made my tribe the largest outside the three safety zones.
With the rapid growth, I'd promoted Corey Bahar to Arms Master, and he in turn, elevated four warriors who had given a Blood Oath to captains. Juan Ybarra, Samuel Mercer, Michael Wayne, and Helios Tahirah were each responsible for a contingent of men.
"So how do you know these new warriors are loyal?" Corey gave me a look of triumph when Stan asked the question.
"Thank you! Maybe he'll listen to you." Corey explained the Blood Oaths of the original fourteen.
I glared. This was an ongoing argument between
Stan and Jory regarded each other. While Stan began to look angry, Jory turned pasty under his golden skin.
"I don't remember," Stan confessed.
"Neither do I," Jory whispered.
"How often did you see Xzavier?" There was compassion in Ushna's voice, but his arm around me tightened.
"We see him several times a year," Jory's voice broke as he replied. He stared hard at his clasped hands.
It was disturbing how easily they were able to separate the five of us. Stan and Jory had been befriended and betrayed. I wasn't sure the three had sex. It sounded too much like a date rape scenario and the persistent memory loss implied the use of drugs. Why did Xzavier continue to visit? Who would expend all of the time and energy to keep in touch?
Ushna tensed as he asked the next questions. "Did you tell him where you were going?"
"No we didn't get a chance," Stan replied. "Jory was in New York on a project until four days ago and I worked on making arrangements to move our business base." Stan's hands rested on top of the table, clenching and unclenching with obvious tension.
"Is this person a part of your current tribe?" I asked with suppressed fury. We needed to find and contain the person who'd kept my brothers from me.
"No, he belongs to the Kislah Tribe."
I placed the necklace with the eight-pointed star pendant on the table between us. "Have you seen this before?"
Stan slammed his fist onto the table. "Son of a bitch!"
"I think I am going to be sick." Jory covered his face with his hands.
There was no way to lessen the impact of what I had to say. "This is the emblem Ashur pulled off the body of an assassin."
Jory scraped his chair back and bolted from the room. With as delicate as my stomach was, I ignored the sounds of Jory heaving into the toilet down the hall.
C
HAPTER
F
IVE
The meeting to plan our trip to Georgia was long and tedious. There was an upset at both the Magi College and the Warrior Order. Corey had sent men to investigate. He placed the visit on hold until he received the reports and was able to guarantee my safety.
I had warned Jory and Stan to attend the meeting only if they decided to stay and that was after they had negotiated some kind of cease-fire with Gregori. When they entered the conference room together, they weren't chummy but Gregori's hostility had toned down.
Security for the trip would be a nightmare but Corey had made use of Stan's and Jory's expertise. They owned a well-known and respected security firm, Wolf at the Door Protection . Jory was the expert with equipment and electronics, and Stan was a wizard with planning and strategy. Between the two of them, they were a formidable team.
It was decided I'd make two trips to Bahbelle. The first was to appoint an alpha to replace Theodore Sullivan and to settle the estate for his three children. I had to attend the trial for the followers of Craig Stoiler for the illegal invasion of my territory and the attempted murder of my tribe. Then I would secretly meet with the Elder Council. We needed to address the issue of the spy and declare my lineage.
We also addressed the security issues of my own tribe and territory. The guard had grown from the original fourteen warriors to over one hundred warriors, with more who arrived every day to petition entry. The warriors alone made my tribe the largest outside the three safety zones.
With the rapid growth, I'd promoted Corey Bahar to Arms Master, and he in turn, elevated four warriors who had given a Blood Oath to captains. Juan Ybarra, Samuel Mercer, Michael Wayne, and Helios Tahirah were each responsible for a contingent of men.
"So how do you know these new warriors are loyal?" Corey gave me a look of triumph when Stan asked the question.
"Thank you! Maybe he'll listen to you." Corey explained the Blood Oaths of the original fourteen.
I glared. This was an ongoing argument between
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