Leopard Moon

Chapter Eleven

Sek wandered the house aimlessly, opening windows as he went to let in the ocean breeze. Night was falling, but Miami would still be lit up as if it were day. The wind off the water ruffled the silk shirt he hadn't bothered to button so that the tails of it flared out behind him like a cape. He was just waking up, having slept most of the day. He preferred to maintain night hours; most of the clan business was done at night, the city was at its most alive at night, and it was in keeping with the animal side of himself. Leopards were nocturnal beasts.

That wasn't all they were. Sek was very pleased with the findings of his research team. Leopards had a long history in Egypt, even being linked to the god Osiris. Leopard statuary had been found in King Tut's tomb. They'd confirmed what he'd believed all along. He'd been looking for ways to change the looming future that played out in his imagination every day. He'd been correct to look to the past for clues to reverse his clan's trajectory.

The ancient Egyptian rulers knew to keep the bloodlines pure. Sek thought this might be the solution he'd been looking for: two full weres were more likely to pass on the shifting anomaly to their offspring. While it wasn't guaranteed that the child would be a were, the chances were significantly increased. And, in his case, it would consolidate the lines of power, just like it did with the pharaohs of ancient Egypt; it would ensure his family line and genes would continue on.

He yawned hugely. He would have liked to take the boat out, but he had calls to make and guests coming later. Still, he wanted to feel the wind in his hair, feel the rush of speed as he piloted the boat at high speeds, making it leap like a salmon over its own wake. He'd make a note to pencil in some time to do that tomorrow.

Sek ran his hands through his black hair, cut short and worn close to his skull. His head ached, a holdover from the drinking and entertainment of the previous evening. He looked out at the ocean, eyes tracing the shoreline, watching as the neon glow slowly mapped out the border between land and sea.

He walked into his temporary office. He wasn't pleased with it--it wasn't as secure as his old one--but he needed a place to work while his old one was repaired. He shut the door and dialed the main contact for the private investigators who were scouring the country for Kess. He'd hired a new group of men after the screw-up in California. He'd been meaning to check in with them for a few weeks but had been distracted by a rogue werecreature in the territory that had been eluding them for weeks. He'd found the interloper--a werehyena from Samara's crew--and disposed of the scavenger. He'd sent the head back to the matriarch of the hyena pack overnight express. If she was a spy, he hoped the information she'd gathered had been worth her life.

The man picked up after three rings. "Charles, it's Sekhmet. Have you found anything new?" Sek didn't believe in wasting time on meaningless pleasantries with the hired help.

He heard the surprise in the investigator's voice. "Ah, we haven't been looking for anything. We were taken off the case weeks ago."

He nearly crushed the phone's receiver. For a few minutes, Sek was unable to speak. Father. The only one who would have called off the search was his father. Darius had already called off his own investigators, but Sek had his own secret team working on finding Kess. His father must have found out about them and dismissed them out of some misguided fatherly affection.

"You're back on it," he said when he could speak without screaming. "Orders are the same. Find her. Spare no expense." He slammed the receiver down. His father was now actively interfering and trying to stop him from finding Kess on his own. Son of a bitch.

Rage consumed Sek, so much that he thought he would choke on it. It filled him, making his skin feel tight and his head ache. He wondered what would happen if he opened his mouth--would a series of vile words just burst out or would he be unable to speak words at all? Would it just be gnashing of teeth and animal noises? He was long past the point of caring. His father—their father—had found her once and then had let her go. That had been Darius' mistake, and it was one Sek had no intention of repeating.