She was beautiful. Long dark hair; full, round lips. Her cafe au lait complexion stood in stark contrast to the deep-set brown eyes that stared past him. She was smiling, but he could see that the emotion didn't reach her eyes. Her eyes held a pain that he knew all to well. They were haunted.
The blood numbed his tongue and the walls of his throat as he swallowed. It was richer than anything he had ever tasted. A burst of power exploded in his mind, radiating through his body like an electric pulse. He closed his eyes as flashes of light filled his vision. Images of a woman began to form. She was beautiful.
Closing her hand into a fist, she directed the blood into the empty glass and filled it halfway. “This should be enough for you to see what I have seen.”
Kane accepted the glass in silence. The scent of Selene’s blood immediately flooded his senses and he struggled to keep his fangs retracted. The glass was hot, heated by Selene’s power. The deep red liquid undulated on its own, though he kept his hand level. After a moment’s hesitation, he brought the glass to his lips and drank.
“This person you’re searching for, what is she?”
“Interesting that you would assume it is a woman,” Selene held his gaze.
“You already possess the power to kill any supernatural being you choose, so you don’t want this person dead. And you’ve chosen me as your hunter. It’s easier to send a woman to find a man or a man to find a woman so… ’ He looked at her closely. “You want a woman, and you want her alive.”
He entered the parlor slowly. As a rule, Kane always kept business meetings in neutral territory and for the last 400 years, caution had always served him well. However, when Selene Beaumont, The Grand Oracle to the Council of Twelve sends an invite to her south Charleston home, countering with another location was not a smart idea. It would be rude. He was intrigued to have received the request and that alone was enough for him to accept. Nevertheless, he would not walk into any situation blindly.
