Sin Eaters: Devotion Book One (8 page)

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Authors: Kai Leakes

BOOK: Sin Eaters: Devotion Book One
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At the same time a high-pitched sound pierced the air. Its tone made both men clutch their ears and fall to their knees as the Medusa looked down the street, smoothed her braids, and sashayed away.
Calvin tried pushing up to follow her but ended up watching her flip over a car and disappear in the night.
Her voice echoed back, “I am being called back, but we will all play again later.”
Khamun shook his head as Calvin glanced around, wiping the sweat from his face with a grunt. His tattoos and symbols faded with the drop of his energy. Calvin glared, pissed. His body clearly had drained the large amount of magic used in battle.
Languidly walking toward a now standing Khamun, he inhaled sharply then laughed. “Damn!”
“What?” Khamun looked down at his wound, smelling the rank poison while he limped toward his car.
Calvin was close behind him, mirroring his movement with a slight limp. “Let me get that shit outta ya system, homie,” he muttered. He turned his face, scrunching it up in a scowl as he reached out toward his boy.
Puss seeped from the cuts inflicted on Khamun, making him grunt in pain. Khamun's body could usually reject poisons, but since this was known to be lethal, Calvin had to act fast.
Going into his hoodie, he pulled out an anti-venom shot that he was able to make earlier. This was going to be brutal. When administered, the shot always hurt in the worst way, so he had to help and do his job. With one hand on Khamun's chest, he held his bro down as he grunted and clutched his teeth from Khamun's swing then lunged.
“Damn, man! Why I have to get cold blocked? Shit, I wasn't the one going after that chick.”
As Calvin probed his wounds, Khamun shook his head, cringing. “I know, damn. That shot hurts every damn time. My fault, fam.”
Calvin just chuckled low in this throat as he watched the wound expel the poison while he collected what he could for more anti-venom. “Don't even say it, man.”
Running a hand over his locks, Khamun stood and looked over his body. “Say what, chump?”
Flashing a lopsided smile as he nodded, Calvin looked over his own battle scars. “That you're hardheaded? Ha!”
“Agreed. But you gained another chance at the Medusa because of me,” Khamun replied.
When Calvin didn't respond, Khamun quirked his eyebrow while he held back a deep laugh. “Yeah, I thought so.”
Khamun couldn't help but glance at his best friend's bouncing shoulders as Calvin laughed with him. Calvin had been studying the Medusa for a while now, and this little encounter had further piqued his interest.
Satisfied, both men clapped each other on the back and whispered a spell to fix smashed cars, broken lights, and damaged buildings.
“Ey, Khamun, on the real, girlie flicked that tongue like a freak, brah. Oh my damn! That shit was boss!”
With a glance around the neighborhood, making sure the sound barrier was still up, Khamun turned and shook his head at Calvin. A smile played at his lips as he lightly laughed. “Seriously?”
Calvin headed to his bike and nodded, flashing his pearly whites. “Yeah, shawty is crazy as hell, but that tongue was da business. Ya dig!”
A half-smile played on Khamun's lips. “Damn! And I thought I was crazy.”
Khamun hopped in his car and followed Calvin away from his Guide's neighborhood. Sanna crossed his mind. He was satisfied that the Cursed couldn't get near the section of the neighborhood anymore, now that it was barricaded with prayer and Light guards.
 
 
Lenox sat quietly, his head cocked to the side. Lost in thought, he swallowed a huge chunk of the Granny Smith apple he held in his hand. “Okay, tell us that again,” he said as he leaned forward, one foot propped up, the other stretched out.
Khamun sighed as he looked toward the ceiling. He had collapsed on the floor as soon as he'd strolled in, and Calvin had taken his normal seat, the couch, one leg propped over the armrest.
“My Guide is a Vessel . . . an Oracle.”
“Shit! You got to be kidding me. Another Oracle?” Lenox sat incredulous as he continued on, “Your mother is one of a few Oracles we have left globally. She is also the only Eldress Oracle in this region. Do you know how huge this is?” Lenox almost shouted but remembered who he was addressing. He sat back and calmed down, his mind reeling with this new knowledge. “She is the last Oracle, bro. We lost the last surviving one in Houston.”
Khamun rubbed his temples as he tried to stay calm himself, keeping himself from getting up to pace or blow some shit up.
“He could be lying, saying anything to throw us off their scent,” Marco replied, a flicker of amazement filling his voice as he also tried to process this knowledge.
“Naw, man.” Khamun paused then slowly stood one arm over his chest, the other resting on his forearm like the thinker. He glanced at the Societal crest that marked their house. It lay spray-painted over the fireplace mantle in an edgy design that made it unique to them. “That was truth. I read it in his blood as he died. He couldn't hide that from me. Shit. You know this changes everything now.”
Everyone in the room bowed their heads. It now meant that they could no longer watch. They now had to step into play and protect the only recently surviving Oracle born into existence. His Guide. Sanna. Everything now clicked for him.
Slowly pacing, Khamun cupped his forehead. “It all makes sense now.”
Lenox's voice gained everyone's attention as he spoke. “All right, gentlemen, let us work this shit out for my man. The lawyer as well as the Warrior in me, without uncertainty, is prepared to go to war.”
Khaman continued to pace the room. He motioned and counted on his fingers while he spoke, “One, when I was first assigned to them, I kept getting vibes that they both weren't what they seemed. The longer I worked with them, the more I noticed. Two, that shit at the restaurant kicked it off for me. Why? Because before all of this I kept getting Gargoyle vibes from her, and now we find out she is one. Shit! Third, both women fucking don't know what they are and will be going into their ripening now that the Cursed is surrounding them. We have to get them out of there now, because they won't stop until they have her and kill Kyo. Game over. They win again and weaken us yet again.”
A cold anger filled the room as every male's eyes flickered and changed colors as they nodded.
Lenox fisted his hands as he leaned, his elbows resting against his thighs. “It is going to be the Reckoning and a fucking shame what we are going to do to those bastards let alone what we will do to them if they ever lay a hand on that young woman. This is our vow.”
They couldn't let another innocent person, let alone another new blood, get snatched, tortured, and turned into pure evil against their will. If this happened, yet again another innocent would become a liability to the Light. They couldn't let that go down.
The scales were already tipping in favor of the Cursed, and now Society was in a fragile state of being. The team knew without a doubt this war was about to go deeper than ever. Nothing was going to stop them from protecting what was theirs.
A sudden click at the entrance of their compound had guns and blades being drawn, as a still silence took over and the door creaked open.
Orange and red silks caressed the opening door, and small painted nails appeared palms up, “Hold on!”
Every male sighed in unison and put their weapons away as Calvin hopped off the couch. He took a couple of long strides to the massive industrial steel factory door and reached out to pull in a small, dark-haired body to him, embracing the figure in a bear hug.
“Kali,” Calvin's molasses-deep voice softened as he looked down.
Kalika stood shaking her wavy jet-black, shoulder-length hair, flashes of light brown accenting her mane, as dark kohl-lined eyes looked up at him.
“Geez, brothapoo! So you all were going to blow me away, huh? Why are you all so Alpha and sensory-blocked that you can't see? It's just little old me.” She flashed a playful smile as Calvin let her in and locked the door.
Kalika was dressed in an orange and red silk sari with gold jewelry that made her creamy rich toffee skin and lush curves stand out against her attire. Calvin often called her Princess, or Kali, and always made sure she got whatever she needed. He picked up her luggage and made it disappear as she moved into the compound.
At twenty-five she was the only female of the House, and she often felt like the matriarch. She had no problem cleaning and cooking for the men. She was the baby sister, needing constant protection, so they felt, but today, thankfully the vibe wasn't directed to her. Peeking around her brother's massive frame, the look in every male's eyes was at a battle-ready-intense level she didn't like.
“Talk to me now!”
Kalika's sari brushed against the wood floor. One glance at Calvin had him whispering a spell that had her dressed in dark denim, skinny jeans, white high-top Nike on her small feet, and a black-and-white graffitied, off-the-shoulder shirt that showed off her belly and plush breasts. Adjusting her gold ankh that had the House crest inlaid on it, she pulled her long hair into a bundle at the top of her hair, using a hairclip as curls fell, framing her face.
Khamun stood to sweep Kalika in a huge embrace as he sat her down then took his usual seat in his big lounge chair. He stretched his legs out, leaning forward to rest a forearm on one thigh and prop up the other on his bended knee. His gun habitually appeared, tapping against his shin. “My Guide may be a Vessel.”
Kali's slight inhale eased the tension in the room as she sat lotus-style. Her back rested against a pillow near the fireplace mantel.
“Really? We're talking about the one whose restaurant burned down, right?” Kali casually stated. She raised a questioning eyebrow, studying the man she felt was a big brother to her. His handsome features were stoic as tension rode his shoulders and he nodded.
“Then what's the problem? We need a blood sample to see if it's true.”
Khamun shook his head and glanced at his baby sister. Sometimes she could be very blunt, other times she could ride them all hard if they didn't get their shit together. And sometimes she'd turn into the baby sister they loved to dot on. But, as of right now, she was pure Mystic and Slayer, just another valuable team member expressing her experience and tactics. He watched her eyes flicker in processing, “No, we have to get her and her protector ASAP. She's an Oracle.”
Kali's mouth dropped at that as she sat forward. “Wait. What?”
“Yeah, Princess,” Calvin firmly replied. “Khamun did his interrogation thing and found out that his Guide is not only a Vessel but also an Oracle. We need to get her ASAP. That's our fam.”
“Then let's get her.”
Kali looked around urgently, every man quietly watching Khamun as he sat back without a word.
“What do you all need to find out?”
“Not sure, Kali, but I trust you will know once you do your thing,” Khamun evenly replied.
Kali quickly pulled out her laptop from the air, a trick Calvin had taught her. She quickly began pecking at the keys, her mehndi tattoos glowing with power.
“I know she is family, but I can get an extensive check of her personal background. Go into her medical history, read between the lines, as you know only I can do, and find out the truth before you bring her here scared and screaming.”
Nonchalantly watching, Khamun gave a curt nod. “Do that, little sis.”
“Okay, so Sanna Steele, born in St. Louis, she's twenty-seven—Wait, are you all just going to sit here and not get her?”
Lenox stood and stretched, running a hand through his dark hair. “I will have to do that tomorrow. I've been keeping tabs on her and the family twenty-four/ seven, and I already feel like I'm stalking them. Khamun and Calvin just came back from a fight. We are positive she's safe right now, and we all need to rest, including you. Didn't you just get off a plane from India, little sister?”
Kali rolled her eyes and grumbled.
She promptly shut her mouth as Khamun stood and called his weapons to him. “I will go back and watch her home, and get that blood sample.”
“Wait, bro, you need to rest,” Marco replied. “I'll watch her, and Lenox can get the blood sample tomorrow. Then we move them to safety as planned.” He stood. His hands brushed down his jeans as he held his hand up, a steel gun etched with verses from the Bible on its shiny surface glinting in the fire light.
“We have to look at the whole picture, gentlemen,” Lenox interjected.
“Sanna has two siblings. Twins. A brother and sister. Amara is at Spelman College, and the other, Darren, is at the University of Illinois, Chicago.”
An apple appeared in Lenox's hand again as he walked with both hands behind his back, the green surface of the apple missing a piece. “This family is about unity. They don't do anything without making sure family is protected first. We have to be smart and logical about this and not go out there in a weak state of mind and body.
We
all need to rest and process this shit. Research.” Lenox's voice reflected his own authority and wisdom as he eyed everyone in the room.

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