***
The dinner was a surprisingly enjoyable time of good food and friends. The easy camaraderie of friendship shone through, as the guys joked and taunted each other, while they barbequed the steaks. The flow of conversation hadn’t stopped for a moment, as the women were regaled with stories about their lives.
Not wanting to feel left out, Eve and Kevan had done up a quick Caesar salad and garlic bread. When Kaitlyn showed up, it was like the icing on a cake. Kevan didn’t want to admit it, but she needed her sisters.
The women balked at the amount of food piled up on the table. It seemed like it was enough to feed a small country. They were thinking that there was no way that they’d eat that much, but by the end of dinner, there were little to no leftovers.
Even Marcus, who wasn’t up to his normal appetite, downed a 20 ounce steak, two baked potatoes, and half a loaf of garlic bread, on top of three plates of Caesar salad. It was enviable that they looked as good as they did, especially if they ate the amount of food they’d consumed tonight on a regular basis.
“Superb as usual, but the quality of the company has made the evening very enjoyable. Thank you,” Marcus informed them as he pushed back, relaxing, ever the gentleman unless it got in his way. Ignoring the looks from his friends, he added to Kevan and Eve, “I have to say that salad is addicting.”
“Glad you enjoyed it,” Kevan said. “It’s nice to be able to contribute something.”
“Be aware, we’ll expect it at every dinner from now on,” Caleb let them know.
“It’s easy to make. We’ll make sure your staff gets the recipe,” Kevan promised.
“I have a feeling you’ll be around to make it, so we won’t worry too much about the recipe,” Niall laughed. Looks passed back and forth between the women. Niall drained his wine glass and turned to Eve. “As much as we have enjoyed this evening, and I would prefer not to put a damper on it, the time has come. Eve, we really need to know why you spirited Marcus out of Roderic’s. What did you discover?”
Eve rubbed her hands together, leaning forward, bracing her arms on the table, gathering her thoughts together before she began to explain.
“Okay, in plain language, cairbare blood work, compared to ours, isn’t all that different. That said, the component that makes you who you are isn’t active like a virus, only a genome or DNA test would be an option, if you want to know the differences, but I can see from the looks on your faces that isn’t going to happen, so we will leave it at that. Just know that if for some reason one of you ended up at a hospital, nothing would show up in your blood work,” she told them.
“But something did show up, didn’t it Eve?” Niall questioned. “Something that made you hustle Marcus out of Roderic’s.”
“Yes,” she stated.
“What?” Marcus demanded.
She looked at the men seated around the table, wondering if one of them was responsible for Marcus’ condition. Eve could read the fatigue in his eyes, and knew that she had to tell them what she had discovered, and then get Marcus settled for the evening. “You have extremely high levels of lead in your system, toxic levels to most humans, and from the way that you are feeling, it isn’t much better for your race.”
“Lead,” Kevan questioned, “How the hell would he get lead in his system? Unless, are you doing any renovations in an old house?”
“No, my house is perfect the way it is,” Marcus stated. What Eve had told him was sinking in. “You’re telling me that someone’s trying to kill me?”
“Unless you have been eating lots of lead paint lately, or can think of any other way it could get into your system, evidence points to someone trying to kill you,” Eve shrugged her shoulders. “Understand we’re talking about an extended time frame for the lead to reach the levels that it has.”
“Who?” Caleb growled glancing at the others around the table, “Who’d try and kill Marcus?”
“Why?” Kayne added.
“How, is a better question,” Kaitlyn chimed in. They all looked to her. “He was at his home when he started to feel ill, you then moved him to Roderic’s, both of which you have stressed are extremely well protected, so either you have a ghost sneaking in to poison him, or else someone you know and trust is doing the deed.” Kaitlyn looked to Marcus, “Who wants you dead?”
“Nobody,” Marcus stated with disdain, “I am well respected by all.”
“I didn’t ask if they respected you; I asked who wants you dead,” Kaitlyn told him.
Ire radiated from Marcus as he sat up straighter and looked at her, his tone condescending. “I told you, I am respected by all.”
“Obviously not, or someone wouldn’t be trying to knock you off,” she told him snottily, turning to Caleb, who seemed more realistic. “Figure out how they’re poisoning him, and then who has access. Eve should be able to give you the makeup of that particular compound of lead, which should lead you to who sells it and who may have bought it in order to bump off your boy here. At least that’s how I’d do it in one of my books.”
“This is real life, not one of your trashy novels,” Marcus dismissed.
Kaitlyn’s eyes widened with surprise and anger at Marcus’ nerve to trash her books. “I’ll have you know that my books are not trashy, they’re very well respected, erotic novels.” She stated, “Most of my readers tell me that my sex scenes are almost better than the real thing, but you wouldn’t know what that was, would you Mr. Personality?” Getting to her feet, she added, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to use the bathroom.” The ripple of laughter around the table pissed Marcus off, as she stormed away.
“Why do people feel the need to give all the details?” Marcus asked.
“Marcus, I would just drop it if I were you,” Caleb warned his brother.
“Yes, what Caleb said. I think it’s time for you to rest,” Eve ordered.
“Your need to see me reclining has me thinking you have an ulterior motive.” Marcus attempted to divert his attention from that twin of Kevan’s, and Eve was the perfect counterpoint to her crasser sister.
“Oh, you wish, buddy,” Eve shot back. "In your condition, you barely have the strength to think about doing it, let alone actually trying to.” Kevan put her hand over her mouth, muffling the snort of laughter that snuck out.
“That’s where you’re wrong; I always have the strength, would you like me to demonstrate?”
“Are we done with the jokes and sexual innuendoes? You’re the patient, I’m the doctor, you’ll do as you’re told; bed, now.” Marcus looked at her, his face showing a sly smile.
“Normally, I like to be the one in control,” he informed her, smiling as her cheeks blushed bright red. Marcus wished the picture in his head had Eve in the starring role, but no, that particular role went to another.
“Gods, I really didn’t need to know that,” Eve groaned, “you’re S.O.L. this time, buddy.”
Kayne, who was keeping his head down, was enjoying watching these women getting the better of his general. It didn’t happen often that Marcus wasn’t the one in charge, and it was pure pleasure to watch. “You get him upstairs to bed,” Eve ordered Kayne, who saluted, moving to take Marcus’ arm.
“Honestly my dear, I really don’t play that way,” Marcus said with a lilt.
“You’ll play any way I want you to tonight, my dear. Now suck it up, and get moving,” Eve shot back, looking to Kayne. Kayne took an elbow, but Marcus shook off Kayne’s attempts at help.
“I am perfectly capable of getting myself up the stairs and into bed, thank you very much.”
“Yes, I remember how well you did earlier today,” Eve reminded him.
“Enough,” Marcus bit out sharply, pointing his finger at her. “I don’t take orders from you.”
Dealing with such stubborn people made pediatrics very appealing. “No, you listen to me, I’m the one with the medical license, do as your told, and you’ll be
back on your feet and feeling back to normal in no time,” Eve explained to him. “I will not allow you to set back your recovery, just because you want to act like a pompous ass.” Marcus silently stewed in his anger. “Thank you,” Eve told him, “I’ve let you to stay up for hours, so you’ll do as you’re told and get some rest, as we agreed to earlier.”
“I didn’t agree to anything,” Marcus tried to argue.
“Up the stairs, last door to the left is his guest room. We have a room ready for you as well, right next to his,” Caleb informed her.
“I need to get back to the hospital for my shift.” She looked at Marcus, who was barely staying on his feet. If it weren’t for sheer stubborn male pride, he’d be flat on his face.
“Fine,” he acquiesced, “I will get some rest.” Rising from the table he made his way into the house followed by Kayne, this at least gave him the feeling that he was able to do this on his own.
Swirling the wine in her glass, Kevan viewed the silent occupants at the table through the distorted red tint. All were silent, lost in their thoughts proceeding from Eve’s diagnosis, trying to put a face to an invisible figure betraying them. Kevan flicked the rim of her glass, drawing their attention.
“Who’s going to ask the question we’re all thinking?” she pushed them.
“Who poisoned Marcus and why?” Eve stated, not beating around the bush, her concern for her patient very evident.
Caleb stated, “None of this makes sense to me. Why would the vamps and demons poison Marcus? It’s not their style?”
“Who else would want Marcus dead?” Niall asked. “Who has he annoyed now?”
“Glad to know it’s not just us,” Kaitlyn stated with a smirk.
“What about the government or police?” Eve asked them. Caleb shook his head.
“Our contacts would have told us if they knew anything. Besides, we work very hard to ensure that the authorities don’t know about us.”
“With the government and police taken out of the equation, who else would want to see one of you dead?” Kaitlyn questioned.
“Someone with a lot of money,” Kevan stated, “and who knows a lot about the other races.”
“How do you figure that?” Caleb questioned, as he watched her.
“Easy, it would take a lot of money to bribe someone in your employment, correct?” Kevan sat up straighter. “From what little I have seen, I would think your people are very loyal.”
“They are,” Caleb stated.
Kevan pointed out, “I’m sure there are some that have proven themselves to you more than others, but your experiences have you wary.”
“What’s your point?”
“I’m just thinking out loud, it’s how I figure stuff out,” Kevan told him.
“No, it sounds like you are telling us that someone we trust has betrayed us.”
“Don’t tell me that the idea hasn’t crossed your mind. In order to get the tracking device on Brody’s bike, someone would have had to have complete access. That in itself narrows the field of suspects. It wasn’t chance that got a high tech tracking device on Brody’s bike, and why his bike? Because you trust him, and he does a lot of things for you guys.” Kevan took another sip of the wine, savouring its taste on her tongue, waiting while they absorbed her words, looking up at Caleb when she sensed him watching her.
“Yes?” she questioned, seeing it in his eyes.
“How did you know that?” he questioned her more calmly than he was feeling.
“Know what?”
“About the tracking device,” he prompted, impatience making him tense.
“If you want things to stay private, don’t have a conversation in the middle of the kitchen where everyone can hear you,” she told him, shooting him a look of amusement. “You said the device was small and powerful, and not what the government uses. That would mean it was planted by someone with access to one of your vehicles, which is a limited number of people. It also means that whoever it is has access to a lot of money and that’s not government that screams private.”
Caleb sat up straighter, liking her theory. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, she was right. “Okay, then answer this, why would someone want to track us?” he threw at her.
“You can’t seriously be asking that question, can you?” Kevan snorted. “You have at your disposal infallible warriors, not soldiers, warriors who have been trained for thousands of years, and if they had a way to control you, harm you, who would be able to stop them?”
“Shit, it makes sense, except the part about controlling us. We’re individuals, and even if you control one, you can’t control all of us,” Niall pointed out.
“And how would they be able to get the vamps and demons to attack sanctuary?” Roderic stated. “That still makes no sense.”
“I didn’t say it was perfect, it’s a theory, I don’t hear anyone else coming up with anything.” Kevan felt her patience slipping.
“What if it’s partly true?” Kaitlyn asked, as something started percolating in her brain.
“What do you mean?” Niall asked.
“What if it’s all a diversion?”
“A diversion, that makes little to no sense,” Kayne stated. “We haven’t interacted much in the last few centuries; to attract attention now seems irrational.”
“It’s not irrational when it’s obvious that someone wants you off your game.” Kaitlyn held up her fingers, folding one down. “One, dealing with the aftermath of what happened at the club, two, Marcus’s house has probably been infiltrated, three, Brody had a device planted on his bike … someone’s pulling a lot of strings in the background.” Kaitlyn finished her count with a shrug, looking to Caleb.
“What would they hope to gain from it?” Caleb asked.
“Exactly what they are getting right now. You’re so focused on who or what set up the attack on Sanctuary; you aren’t focused on anything else. If we hadn’t been at the club, would we even be talking right at the moment?” Kevan asked.
“Maybe, if Marcus hadn’t gotten any better, then we would have been in touch,” Roderic stated.
“But not right away, correct?” Kevan stated.
“What do you mean?” Caleb asked her.
“I suspect if we hadn’t been at the club we wouldn’t be talking yet. And maybe by the time we did, it would have been too late.” Kevan looked to Eve, “How much longer would Marcus have lived without your help?”
Eve thought for a moment, “He has toxic levels of lead for humans. If the rate of decline that Rhiannon told me about is correct, I suspect he may have only had a week or so before it would have been too late to save him.” They all sat quietly thinking about what both Eve and Kevan had just pointed out.
Kaitlyn looked to Caleb, “Diverting your attention to something else, keeping you occupied. Your concern over the vamps and demons overshadowed the fact Marcus was the real target. It was something that he was doing that got him targeted. What was he doing?”
“We have no idea,” Caleb admitted.
“What do you mean?” Kaitlyn questioned. “Wouldn’t he let you know what he is doing just in case? We do most of the time,” she stated, looking back and forth between her sisters.
“Normally he would tell us, but this time Marcus was keeping things to himself. He was searching for something is all I know,” Caleb stated. “What about you guys?”
“Just before he got sick, Marcus was spending a lot of time on the computer. I tried to push him about what he was looking for, but he said he would let us know when he was sure. He’d discovered something but ...” Kayne shrugged his shoulders.
“He called me and asked me to come see him as soon as I could. I was dealing with a problem in England, or else I would have been here a couple of weeks ago,” Niall admitted.
“So that’s why you’re here?” Caleb asked him. “Why would he want you here?”
“Uh, I think I
should be insulted by that remark,” Niall told Caleb.
“Sorry, that’s not what I meant and you know it. You’re always welcome Niall,” Caleb told his friend.
“Whatever it was that Marcus was investigating could be the reason that he was targeted, and whoever did this knows you guys well enough, they know your vulnerabilities,” Kaitlyn stated. Kevan nodded in agreement.
“Who would know how to take one of you guys down?” Eve asked. “I assume that you don’t advertise your weaknesses.”
“No, but I’m sure that some of the other races know how to hurt us.”
“Someone knew your weaknesses when they attacked you all those years ago, when Elizabeth found you,” Kevan reminded them, looking at Niall as she recalled the story that he had told to them earlier. She was still having a hard time believing that one of her very good friends had known one of her distant relatives, 1700 years before.
“But that still doesn’t explain the bug on Brody’s bike, or why the sudden interest in Marcus, or any of us, after so long,” Caleb stated.
“Maybe not, but at least now we have something to start with, and once Marcus is feeling better, we need to ask him a few questions,” Kevan said.
“As much I would like to continue our discussion, it’s getting late and I have a shift tonight, so I need to get going.” Eve got to her feet, as the men rose. “Oh damn, my car is still at Roderic’s,” shooting a look to Kaitlyn, “Can you give me a ride?”
“I guess,” Kaitlyn told her reluctantly, not really wanting to make the drive across town and then home.
“Enough,” Caleb told the both of them, “it’s late, and you both drank more than one glass of wine, so I think it’s best if neither of you get behind the wheel; you’ll stay the night.”
“That is really nice, but we didn’t have that much to drink. Kaitlyn can give me a ride to my car,” Eve stated.
“It wasn’t a request,” Caleb told her. “The room next to Marcus’ is ready for you.”
“I still have to get back to the hospital. Some of us aren’t lucky enough to be millionaires,” Eve stated.
“Kayne will drive you to the hospital, and then pick you up in the morning. No arguments.” Caleb instructed, coming to stand beside Kayne.
“Gee, what’s with you guys and being in control?” Eve muttered.
“Saves lots of arguing,” Niall informed her with a smile and a wink. Caleb looked to Kaitlyn who stood holding her bag and keys. “Not one word of argument. Please consider this your home for the evening. You can use the room that we’d prepared for Eve.” Kaitlyn nodded, not wanting to give up the chance at another cup of his coffee. Caleb turned once more to Eve, “We’ll see you in the morning for breakfast, unless something delays you.”
“But my car?” she questioned.
“It’ll be waiting for you when you get here tomorrow.”
“You have this all figured out, don’t you?” she accused Caleb.
“Not all of it, but this part, yes I do,” Caleb admitted.
“Fine, I’ll see you after my shift. Have a good evening everyone.”