Feral Passion (3 page)

“No, Uncle. You are still the one who ran.
You were the coward.”

An angry hand sliced the air. “I am no
such thing!
I did what I had to
do
,” Jared said vehemently. “I have not seen you in
how many years, only phone calls that lasted close to five minutes,
and you come here. While I lay prone. While I am close to
dying
.
You
don’t call
me
a coward. I am not like your father, and you
know
this, Raffaele,” he finished,
snapping. Raff watched as his eyes flashed fire and would have felt
guilt.

Would
have.

“I came here to bring you back home.
You have no business here! I didn’t come here to fight with you,
Uncle.” He leaned in close, eyes as dead as his voice. “And
you
don’t
call my father a
coward. Ever.”

Silence.

Matching eyes stared at one another, not one
word said.

“I will not be leaving,” Jared finally said,
quietly. His eyes were as solemn as his voice.

Raffaele’s lips tightened. “You have to. I’ve
heard things, Uncle. You aren’t safe, and people already suspect
you of what’s happening.”

“Let them think that!” his uncle burst
out. “I know what I’m doing, they
don’t.”

“That doesn’t matter! You are old, you
are
feared
. You think that
they will just let alone simple facts long enough to let you free?
No, they won’t! This is only the first attempt on your
life.”

His voice was hard, determined to make his
uncle see some sense. Last night he had gotten a call from St.
Mercy hospital and had gotten the first plane out here as soon as
he had finally understood how bad the situation was becoming.

From the beginning, Raffaele had kept his
group of people under control. Acutos were left on their own, and
the Archaeos went their own separate ways. As leader of them, he
had chosen not to force them into a compliant merging, like other
leaders had chosen.

Acutos were known for being more violet, more
animal than human. They slept in their human form, but when
angered, the animal within them emerged. Once the final
transformation, they were subjected to not knowing what was
happening until the event was over.

Archaeos were more. . .civil. More
understanding. Although if pushed far enough they were more
dangerous then the Acutos. In the past, leaders had had to deal
with segregation of the powers. The power the Archaeos possessed
was sometimes life threatening, but they didn’t come out until
their early twenties, when they were more mature and not so. .
.aggressive.

Ancient and wise, the Archaeos came from a
long line of ancient Italian powers. The abilities came from the
Old Ones, and god help anyone who managed to make them angered.

Raffaele himself was Archaeos, one of the
most powerful leaders of the time. He took no pride in it, but
simply did what he had to do, when he had to do it. He led strictly
but freely, letting others make their own choices as long as it was
within rules and reason.

“How do you know this was on purpose?” Jared
asked tightly, eye brows drawing together.

“I just. . .have this feeling. You know it
too, Uncle.” He met eyes with Jared.

“Raffaele. . . I know you mean only to
protect me. And I thank you for that, but. . . I want you to leave.
I want you to go away, to just let me do my business.”

Raff felt a pang in his chest, tried to
ignore it even. He stood up, glaring down at his uncle. “I won’t
lose the last part of my family that I have. I don’t care that they
all died by your hands, I
refuse
to let someone take you out.”

“Neph—”

“If anyone kills you, it’s going to be
me.”

He left his uncle there, knowing that he
couldn’t get up. Soon, though, he would be healed enough to walk,
maybe within a day or two. Till then, Raffaele planned on sticking
around and watching Jared’s back.

Only when he was in his car did he
finally let his shoulders slump, his guards down. Life was really
kicking him in the balls, he thought. How was he supposed to get
his
pacchetto
in order when
even his own uncle wouldn’t listen?

Kevin, one of the two snotty bastards that
visited his dreams, had come to him last night.

The things that he had said had. . .scared
Raff. Honestly scared him. Nothing had had his back chilling as it
had when he had found out that his parents, his family, was gone
for forever.

When Stuart had entered the conversation, it
had only taken a second for the fight to escalate. Among the words
he had heard “Mary” “Separate” “Kill” and many other words that had
caused the hair on the back of his neck to rise.

As soon as he had finally started to
understand what was happening, Kevin had awoken him, leaving him
clueless as to what had happened after that.

It had only made his night worse when
the call from the hospital had come in. The uncle that he had
figured would be okay to let roam had been put into the hospital,
and he had felt such a rage, such a complete
fury
that someone would take what was his—
Jared’s life.

As he turned the car on, he focused on not
breaking the steering wheel and backing out calmly. Jared was
alive, and that was all that mattered.

When the time came, he would be. . .no more.
Raffaele planned on draining every ounce of blood out of Jared
before he let the man finally die. And only after he was used to
his full potential.

He might be family, yes. But after what
he had caused, what he had done. . . Raff was waiting for
just the right moment
.

The Marina in was on the opposite side of
town and only took less than a half hour to get to. Parked, he got
out and grabbed a bag of groceries out of the back and started into
the lobby. Raff received several looks from blondes sitting in the
plush chairs of the lobby, and would have gone to one of them
except. . .

Green eyes.

They didn’t have striking green eyes with
gorgeous brunette locks falling down their shoulders, or the light
smell of roses floating around them.

They also weren’t so deeply Archaeos that he
could feel the power they possessed from a mile away.

The human females preened under his searching
gaze, and he could sense their disappointment when he turned to the
elevator, away from them. While he waiting for the elevator to come
to his floor, he listened to their chatter and then the sound of
heels pattering on the tile came closer than he was comfortable
with.

Touch. On his forearm. Raff looked down at
the slim, manicured hand that was currently feeling him up. Turning
cold eyes to the blonde, big breasted woman who’s bustier was close
to exploding, he grimaced mentally.

“Me and my friend are going out soon,” she
commented suggestively. “Would you like to come with us?”

Another hand landed on his arm and he almost
shuddered. Something about the women seemed. . .off. They were
human, he could feel it. But. . .something more.

“I’m sorry, ladies. I have some meetings
tonight that I can’t miss.” Said meeting was actually where they
were probably going, he thought bitterly.

“Awe,” pouted the taller of the two. Eyes
caked full of make-up turned up to his, and all he could see were
plain-Jane brown eyes that did nothing but put him off.

“Yeah, so. . . buh-bye.” He stepped into the
elevator right when it it dinged, leaving them there. He might have
felt bad that they were sex-crazed addicts, but they had chosen the
path.

And touched him.

Raff grimaced in disgust. He hated the feel
of hands on him when he wasn’t aware of who it was. He barely
accepted the feel of meeting handshakes.

As he got up to his room, he unlocked the
door to his suite. The room was spacious and clean, couches a dark
brown that set well against the cream walls. The balcony was open
to the Missouri river and as he looked out, he saw several boats
floating along the dark waters.

He closed the door, more content to be
surrounded by busy cars and rushed nights. Old champagne, sky light
views, and high classed ladies dressed in cocktail dresses was more
of his thing than a boring and run down country.

Chapter 5

I’m going to murder them
all
, Kevin swore as he stared down at mirror, lips
drawn tight.

The next time Jared slips up, he is going
down. Just when the old man would realize it, Kevin had no
clue.

Not that he cared, though.

As much as he loved peace and quiet, talking
to the other men up here was not enough. A good massacre, bloody
murder, juicy fight—whatever you wanted to call it, was exactly
Kevin’s piece of cake. Especially when it’s been a couple hundred
years since he’s gotten any action.

The conversation with Mary last night had
been eye-opening of how badly things were actually getting. At
first, he had refused to believe any of it was as bad as it seemed,
but when she had put out there the suggestion that a separation was
soon to come, he had finally had the full impact.

Stuart, one of his colleagues of sorts, had
the luck of Raffaele as a leader. Mary had only just realized the
danger of her previous decision years ago, and was paying dearly.
If only Kevin had a say in the fate of his race.

A union between the two of them would have
been beautiful. Not only for Stuart and Kevin, but for the races
and the leadership, the way things were meant to be. If only he
could control them, could take away free will and enabled to
interfere in their lives.

Kevin had realized ages ago that he would not
be able to interfere with their lives. Not because he didn’t want
to, but because the universe wouldn’t allow it. It honestly made
him frustrated when times like this came, when he could not push
them in the direction that he wanted them to go.

“Stuart,” he said. Even though the man wasn’t
in the room, or even the same world as him, Kevin knew that he was
heard.

After a couple of seconds, the sound of
rushing wind came over him and there his friend stood.

They could not feel, smell, or look the same
as mortals did. While Kevin was white haired, white faced, and
white robed, Stuart was. . .blue. Everything about the man was
blue. To his skin, his eyes, his clothing. They were of the same
height and appearance, except for the coloring.

Q
uadruplets
were always, in some way, different
, he thought with
bemusement.

“You called, brother?” Stuart sauntered over
to him, brow raised.

“Indeed I did.” The murmur was barely heard
as his brother sat down, the plush white chair giving out under his
arse.

“Whatever for?”

Kevin shrugged his shoulders, sitting next to
his brother. Around them, the whiteness was dimming along with the
time. While he might like everything the same, he actually enjoyed
the way the shades and hues came alive at certain points, how
everything changed at one point.

“I believe I made a mistake.”

The six words were enough to have Stuart
freezing any movement. Kevin waited for the man to slowly finish
sitting back, and then took a breath. “Might I have failed?” he
asked, voice close to cracking.

“Kevin. It is utterly impossible for you to
fail. Why would you ask that?” Stuart sounded. . .appalled, but
that did nothing to appease Kevin. Everything was falling,
destroying itself. And Mary. . . God, Mary.

“My people. . . They are fighting, don’t you
see? Even Raffaele was smart enough to avoid this. What did I do
wrong with my Chosen?”

Stuart fixed his blue robbing as he thought
that over, eyes avoiding Kevin’s.

“Brother, I don’t believe it was you
who did wrong. I don’t believe it was
anyone
, actually. Fate, as you know, has a will
of its own. Maybe Mary has not hit the peak yet, maybe she will not
hit it at all and someone else shall replace her.”

“By replacing her, you mean. . .” Kevin
trailed off, staring at his brother with his mouth to the floor,
horrified.

His blue head nodded, eyes coming to meet
Kevin’s. “I do. The only way the Chosen could be replaced is by
being killed, and you know that.”

“You would not have my Chosen. . .!”

“Verily, I would. If one race fails, as do
all else. Please see the light in the words with which I am saying.
Life is not easy. We may not have one, because to have a life you
have to die, but we have seen the lives of others, we have guided
them and nurtured them. Are we not within our rights to take them,
also?”

“Stuart. Brother.
Please
. . .” Finally, his voice cracked. To lose
Mary was to lose his life. She had been his soul project from the
beginning, ever since it had been declared that she would lead the
race and unite them. Had the foretelling of separation been in
there at all? No, it hadn’t.

The blue man stood, legs stiff as his
backbone. “I. . .beg you to think of what will happen. The time of
meeting has come. The time of
change
has come. Do you think she will be strong enough to do all of
this, one mere woman?

“Take a look at
my
Chosen. Strong, capable, a leader. What has
Mary done to suggest that she is a proper leader? She hides behind
her family, lets them decide her life for her.”