Ancient Wings : Book 1 - Aegis

17 - Judgement

Benjamin held up the plastic bag.

"Thanks for the heads up, Benjamin. Can you have that couriered over to Aderyn's?"

"Your wish is my command," Benjamin said gallantly.

He shot him a look before he headed out the door with the guys following. He pulled out his phone and called Aderyn back.

This time, Ozzy put him through immediately. He focused on his call while they moved through the hospital.

"It's a demon. A Deava." He didn't bother with the niceties.

"Proof?" Aderyn asked.

"I checked out his death memory, and a hair sample that smells like sulfur and smoke is being brought to you today," he countered as they walked outside to the parking lot.

"Alright," she said. "I'll tell my people to stand down."

"Have a nice day, Aderyn."

"You as well, enjoy the hunt." Aderyn hung up as they reached the car.

He put his phone away. "We need to hurry."

"Sunrise is in twenty minutes," Aveo pointed out. "It'll go into hiding."

"Yeah, but what if it chooses somewhere that's populated?" he countered.

Aveo's brows went up. "Good point."

"Let's go back to the apartments," Khaius bit out. "I have some questions for you." His face was blank as a wall as he climbed into the car.

The others exchanged looks before getting in. Wondering what had Khaius so grumpy, Cidney got in too.

The car ride was full of tense silence all the way back to their apartments. Khaius pulled into a spot in front of the building door. Cidney got out and headed up, not bothering to wait for any of them.

The others caught up quickly as he walked into his apartment. He started for his bedroom door when the front door closed.

"Cidney," Khaius called, his voice cold.

He turned back to find all of them in his apartment. Kraten was sitting on a stool at the breakfast counter, Aveo was leaning against the back of the couch, Qlide was still next to the door.

All of them were somber and watching Khaius.

"What are you doing? Go gear up," he reminded them.

They had a demon to catch and he wanted to get to it soon.

"Why are you mediating between vampires and werewolves?" Khaius asked in a deadly, calm voice.

Wasn't it obvious?

"Because that's what they agreed to when I got them to stop fighting forty-five years ago," he explained. "Each side agreed to stop fighting, take their side of the town and any problems come to me."

Khaius ran his hand down his face, his shoulders tense. "You made deals with these species?"

Kraten shifted on the stool, his feet moving to the floor.

"I guess you could call them that, we call them Concordats," he explained, not understanding why Khaius was clenching and unclenching his fists.

"We don't do that," Khaius declared, his voice icy.

"You don't make deals?" he doesn't understand.

Khaius strode towards him then stopped four feet away. "We police these creatures, keep them in line," he growled. His piercing eyes met his. "We don't make friends with them, we don't talk to them on the phone. We hunt them down when they break our laws, that's it."