KnightForce Damian (La Patron's KnightForce Book 4) (4 page)

Chapter 6

Damian and Raoul's intense search for a common thread amongst those infected sent them to Key Largo, the Everglades, Cutler Bay, and finally to the Miccosukee reservation. The past two days, they'd met the families of each person suffering in the clinic, including those recently admitted. The only thing they shared was their male full-blood status. Neither Russell nor Eugene, the other KnightForce agents in the state, found connections either.

"Almost there?" Raoul asked.

Damian glanced at him. Since they’d left Sheila Height's home, Raoul's attitude changed. That night, instead of the two women coming over for fun, Raoul canceled his date and watched TV. Damian left him at home and went to meet the ladies at a club. He'd had a fun time and released a lot of tension later with his date. When he returned home around three in the morning, Raoul's bedroom door was closed. When Damian walked bare-chested into the kitchen for coffee this morning, Raoul had been dressed and ready for work.

"Yeah." Damian kept his responses short, Raoul hadn't said much today. Now that he thought about it, Raoul spoke more to the people they interviewed than to Damian, which shouldn't bother him, but did.

Raoul nodded and continued looking out the window.

"You got plans for tonight?" Damian asked to see if that was a sore spot.

"No. I'm going to chill on that for a while."

Damian opened his mouth to ask why and then stopped when he realized he didn't really care. The rest of the drive was in companionable silence. Damian went over all the clues, few as they were, in this case and couldn't connect any dots. Thirst and the need to stretch his legs caused him to pull off the highway into the parking lot of a supply store to grab a drink.

Raoul looked at him but didn't say anything as he stepped out of the SUV. Damian stepped out, locked the truck, and headed into the store. Before reaching the door he stopped and inhaled. Following the scent, he walked around to the side of the building. Seated beneath the shade of a nearby Mangrove tree were two male full-bloods. Both appeared old and weathered, something he'd never seen before.

"Hello," Damian said when the silence stretched between them.

They nodded and continued staring at him.

Damian looked at the swamp beyond, the high roots of the trees, a swirl of insects and birds resting on branches for brief respites.

"Been a long time, huh?"

Damian turned toward the men and zeroed in on the man closest to him. "What?"

The elder’s faded blue gaze held his. "Since you ran in nature."

The comment surprised Damian. "Yeah, it's been a while." He looked at the raw, natural beauty of the swamp again.

"I'm Cain, this here's Abel." The older man pointed to the male seated next to him.

Damian nodded.

"He's too young to catch the joke," Abel said, his voice deep and rusty sounding.

"I suppose," Cain said, looking up at Damian. "Or somethin's troubling him to the point he didn't catch it."

Damian had no idea what they were talking about, of course he was younger than them, these two could be older than La Patron. But something did trouble him. "There's been an outbreak of sorts and I'm trying to find some answers."

Both men stared at him for a few seconds. "Who are you? It's rude not to give your name after a name's been given," Cain said.

"Damian Farkas, KnightForce for this area."

"Heard of them," Abel said and turned away.

"What'd you hear?" Cain asked, looking at his brother.

Abel waved and both men fell silent for a few moments while Damian stood watching. Raoul walked around the corner and handed him a bottle of water.

"Thanks."
Damian took a large gulp, appreciating the coldness of the liquid in the heat.

"You a KnightForce too?" Cain asked Raoul.

"No," Raoul said. He looked at Damian. "
Ready?"

"In a few minutes. I'm going to ask if they've seen or heard anything about the virus."

"Think they'll talk to you?"

"Why wouldn't the
y?" Damian asked.

"They're old and may not like your approach. Ask them questions about themselves first, pay them respect and courtesy as if they were La Patron."

"What?"

"These two are old school, they won't just talk unless they think you're worthy."

"How do you know?"

"Their scent for one, isn't that why you came around here?"

"Yeah."

"I smelled their age but didn't want to deal with it. A lot of the older ones are a pain in the ass with all their bowing and scraping bullshit, but they may know something. Ask them if they are the historians for this area, if they are, then they know everything that's happened here since they've been in this place, which may be a long time, maybe even since they were born
."

Damian finished drinking, tossed the bottle into the recyclable bin and headed for the SUV. "Cain, Abel, it was nice meeting you, be well."

"And you too, young KnightForce agent, I hope you find what you seek," Cain said.

"He won't," Abel said in his gritty voice, stopping Damian.

"I won't?" Damian said, retracing his steps to stand in front of the two men.

"No." Abel didn't look at him.

"What am I looking for?" Damian crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Abel.

"Love? Happiness? Joy? Peace? What does a man search for?" Cain asked.

Damian ignored him. "Abel? What am I looking for?"

Abel waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "Answers to the riddle of what makes them scratch?"

Intrigued, Damian pulled up a wooden crate and sat. In this position he looked up to the men and noticed they were almost identical twins. Both wore their white hair in a long braid, and had deep grooves in their cheeks. Two pairs of faded blue eyes stared down at him. "Yes, Sir, that's what I'm looking for. La Patron set me on this task and I cannot fail him."

At the mention of La Patron the men inhaled deeply and then released slowly. "Silas is now La Patron," Cain said in a tone filled with warmth. "It's been centuries since I've seen him. Is he well?"

"You know him? I mean before? When he came to this country?" Damian couldn't believe it, but it was possible.

Abel chuckled. "Yes, we met him when he first arrived up north. He wasn't exactly sure then how to fulfill his quest. It was obvious he was in over his head."

"Although he'd been born Alpha, he'd never been in charge of a pack before, came here green," Cain said, smiling.

"My sire works in the compound with La Patron, I lived there until this assignment and I can assure you La Patron's not green," Damian said, salty over the criticism.

"Don't get riled, pup. Silas didn't remain green long, in fact what he did in this country is legendary, as is the man himself. We've served him on many occasions, and count him as a friend," Cain said.

"When was the last time you talked to him?" Damian wanted to hear more about the young Silas Knight.

"Talked?" Cain rubbed his chin. "Over a hundred years for sure."

Abel nodded.

"Hawke?
" Damian called his sire.

"
Damian?"

"Can you verify two men named Cain and Abel who claim to know La Patron. Their scents are slightly different; it could be their ages. But before I accept any information from them I'd like to have them verified."

"Good thinking, hold on
."

A few seconds later, La Patron brushed against Damian's beast. "
Steady, I just need to see who you're looking at. If these two are who I think, they'll help solve this mystery for us.
"

Damian remained still as La Patron merged with his beast.
"Thank you."

The next second, Cain's eyes widened and so did Abel's. The two brothers smiled, laughed, and slapped their knees. Damian looked at Raoul and shrugged. He'd remain until he got the assistance La Patron promised. A few minutes' later Cain wiped his eyes and shook his head.

Abel's gravelly voice fell into the silence. "Thank you, Damian. Silas is an old friend and our Alpha, as he so colorfully reminded us. There's no one better to lead our nation. He has some notion of us assisting you on this job and refused to listen to our objections. He's still stubborn I see."

Cain chuckled. "Damn, he's still the same man at his core, he hasn't changed. I'm happy to see that."

"As far as the itching that's attacked a few pack members, go back to the bitch's house. You started there and missed the answer, it's there. I can't tell you what it is exactly, but you overlooked it," Abel said.

Damian told them everything he recalled about that investigation.

Both men remained quiet.

"She hid her scent?" Cain asked. He looked at Raoul, who stood with his hands jammed in his pockets.

"Yeah." He told them about seeing her at the hospital as well.

"Where are you headed now?" Abel asked, watching Raoul as well.

Damian's gaze flicked to Raoul and then back at the two men. "Thom Viery was admitted this morning. We wanted to talk to his family, see if we could find a common thread."

"That's good thinking, but a waste of time. You won't get answers that way. The person who's doing this wants something and has left several calling cards if you know how to look for them," Abel said.

"Could you please return with us to that house? I'm not sure what exactly to look for," Damian asked, ready to move forward.

The two remained quiet for a few seconds and then stood. Damian's eyes widened. They stood almost seven feet and were as wide as La Patron. Raoul took a step backward while staring up at them.

"Silas said for us to assist you, so we'll teach you how to understand what you see. Go back to the house and we'll meet you there."

Chapter 7

The return drive to the outskirts of Homestead was done in silence. Damian wrestled with the idea of making sure Abel and Cain were obeying La Patron. I
f these two are who I think, they'll help solve this mystery for us."
Were they the men La Patron thought they were, he never said
.
Damian glanced at Raoul and decided against asking his opinion.

"Hawke, is everything good with these two?"

A few seconds later Hawke came on. "
Yeah. From the way Silas is lit up I think they were good friends at some point. Wouldn't be surprised if he got them up here or something. Seems they go way back."

"Thanks, just wanted to be sure."
He told Hawke about the conversation with the two men and how old and big they were.

"Might be a good time to learn more about tracking or investigating, means the same thing. Be interesting to see what started all of this."

Damian pulled into the driveway of the house and parked. Abel and Cain walked out from the trees and met him in the front. It took everything within Damian to keep his face neutral and not allow the shock or surprise to show.

Cain crossed his arms and wasted no time. "Look around, what do you see?"

Damian looked at the yard and the house. "A small old house with overgrown weeds, looks like no one's cut the grass in a year."

"What else?"

Damian looked over his shoulder down the street. "It's the only house that looks like this. I'm surprised they haven't tried to..."

"Tried to what?" Cain prompted, his bushy eyebrows in a downward slash over his eyes which now blazed cobalt blue.

He shrugged. "Make her fix it up or something."

"Have you researched the house?"

"Yes, it belongs to Sheila Height."

"What about the rest of the land?"

Damian frowned. "What land?"

Cain waved his arms. "All of this, who does it belong to?"

"The people who own the houses I guess."

Abel stepped from the shadows. "Silas wants us to teach you how to hunt rogues in our neck of the woods, but you're short on time, so listen." He held up a long finger. "When dealing with full-bloods out here, the land is always first. We need it like water and food. To understand your target, you must learn everything about this plot of land she calls home. For starters, who owns it now? Who owned it before? Who sold it and to whom? That gives you insight on who you're dealing with, a den, lone wolf, or neither. Sheila Height owned a large tract of land and sold a few acres to a developer. He built those houses down the road but stopped at the end of the paved road because this is her property. She's no poor bitch, no matter what this place looks like." He paused. "Assuming you'd known all of that information before driving out here, what would you do differently?"

"I'd search for more properties in her name or any of her relatives," Damian said, feeling the wind knocked out of him by how badly he'd misread things.

"Good. There's nothing else, so what would you do then?" Cain asked.

"I'd come to this house but I wouldn't look at it the same. The first time I kinda felt sorry for her. Knowing she owns a lot of the land and is probably rich, I'd wonder what would make her live in a house like this," Damian said, looking at the small building.

"You think she lives here?" Abel asked.

Unsure how to respond, Damian hesitated. "Her scent wasn't strong, I assumed it was because she wasn't here, plus this area doesn't support basements because of the high water table."

Cain and Able moved closer to Damian. "How old is the bitch?"

"A little over a hundred."

Abel held up another finger. "When tracking full-bloods go by scent, your eyes can mislead you. Older full-bloods have a different scent, more like aged liquor, hard to explain but obvious when you taste or inhale. Look at La Patron, does he look a day over three-hundred?"

Damian thought of the man he'd seen at the Christmas celebration a few weeks past. "Not at all."

"He's older than that, but we're younger than him. Our hair turned white after our first change, it’s not an age thing. But you assumed we were older than Silas.”

"La Patron doesn't smell like you two. Neither does Jacques or Angus."

"Jacques? Angus? Who are they?" Abel asked.

"They work for La Patron and are older." If they didn't know Angus was La Patron's brother, he wouldn't tell them.

"Have you ever scented them to determine their ages, or just to learn if they are pack or not?" Cain asked, rocking on the heels of his boots.

Damian had no idea there was a difference. "To determine if they were wolf and their location."

Abel shook his head and stepped back into the shadows.

"Our beasts offer us so much more. Intent makes all the difference. Close your eyes."

Damian glanced at Raoul, saw him shrug, and closed his eyes.

"Tell me what you smell," Cain said, his voice easy, calm.

"The foul cup inside, pine, wintergreen." He sniffed. "Tobacco? Leaves burning?" Damian opened his eyes and saw the red glow from the tip of a cigar or something similar in the shadows next to the house.

"First thing you need to work on is your sense of smell. It'll save your life," Cain said, walking up behind him and holding a bowl filled with ashes. Damian looked at the bowl and then over his shoulder toward the house. No one was there.

"You made assumptions based on what you saw. The foul brew was removed before we got here, you smelled the sewer. I opened the lid," Abel said. "Incense, not tobacco."

"Pine and wintergreen?" Damian hoped he got those right.

Cain smiled. "Yes, the trees, and wintergreen was in the house, which is odd, don't you think?"

Damian hadn't thought much about it at all. "Odd? Maybe she used it in tea."

"Possibly, but true oil from the wintergreen plant absorbs fast into the skin and causes severe skin irritation and painful, hive-like skin eruptions... in humans. What do you think it does to full-bloods?"

"Cause us to itch?" Heart beating faster, Damian took a step closer to Cain, hoping they'd solved the mystery.

Cain shrugged. "It's a clue to follow." He placed his hand on Damian's shoulder. "Close your eyes."

Damian exhaled and followed instructions. A blindfold was placed over his eyes and his hands were tied behind his back. Unable to move his hands or see the steps in front of him, he walked in the direction he was pushed. The squeak of the porch, the fetid smell of the living room, the click of the door behind him marked his movements.

"I'm inside the house."

"Where?" Abel asked.

Damian opened his mouth and closed it. Instead he inhaled deeply, stale water, whiffs of lavender, rotted wood, rust. "The bathroom."

"Very good." Damian was spun around several times and moved forward. "Where now?"

He inhaled and started coughing. "Goddess that stinks. I would say kitchen but I smell cotton sheets. Bedroom, you moved something in here."

Cain laughed. "Yes, we did, you are right."

A hand waved beneath his nose. "What's that?"

"Do it again?" At first pass Damian didn't smell anything and went deeper. His beast rose to the occasion and broke down the scent. "Blood. Where'd you get that?"

"Tell me, you're doing good. But your beast can break down the components on this item and tell you where it came from," Cain said.

Damian allowed his beast to rise but not break free. Tingling sensations raced from his fingertips to the base of his spine because of the half shift. Color exploded behind his eyelids as he deciphered the scent. "Blood on something metallic. Dirt, and bits of blackberries. That's strange... it's like the metal was used for digging into the dirt and cutting berries from the tree."

"Well done." Cain removed the blindfold and hand restraints.

Energized, Damian opened and closed his hand, inhaled and searched Sheila Height's home. Within seconds he picked up an unfamiliar scent, turned and met Raoul's quizzical gaze.

"Human."