Next of Kin Prequel #3 - Kiss of Death

Chapter 1 - Kiss of Death

This fic is a prequel to the first book in the Next of Kin series. If you haven't read that yet please do not continue. This contains spoilers. If you've read NoK, well, here's the third of several short pieces of some backstory I plan to post. I hope it helps to flesh out some of these characters and fills in some questions for you all. The prequels should be read in this order: "Queen Takes Pawn", "Queen's Pawn to Queen Four", and "Kiss of Death". As always, thank you so much for reading and for your lovely comments. This community is fantastic. I can't thank you enough for joining me here and keeping me motivated. – D.G.

MIT's pub, the Muddy Charles, had a sharply tilted ceiling that ended abruptly at wall of tall windows, which ran the length of the room and reached the floors. They let in a lot of natural light. Small metal tables with wooden chairs were spread throughout the area. At one end two young men, one bearded and the other looking too young even to grow a beard, manned the bar. Patrons were packed into this one room, though there were other rooms in what was not simply a bar at MIT but an institution within the institution.

"Kalia. Hey, Kalia, back here!" Everett stood at the table, waving one gangly arm as he caught his sister's attention.

Smiling as she saw the mad waving that was her brother rather than heard him, Kalia headed in the direction of Lena and Everett, where they held a table. "Hey."

"Hey, stranger," Everett said, enveloping his smaller, older sister in a hug. "I missed you. How um...Where were you?"

Kalia chuckled as she stepped back. "Classified."

"Really?" Everett scratched at the back of his neck. "Weren't you there like four months ago?"

"Wiseguy," Kalia muttered as she hugged Lena. "How's my honorary little sister?"

"Ah...well? I mean, I'm doing well. I have to keep your brother in line when you're not around, so that's a full-time job on top of school. It's good to have you back in the area."

"It's good to be back," Kalia said with a final squeeze as she pulled up a chair. "I could use a drink, though."

"I'm on it," Everett said as he headed up to the bar.

Both ladies watched him walk away, and then Lena turned back to the older woman and quietly said, "I trust all went well?"

"As expected. I don't have time to run off on missions like this. I'm supposed to be in a supervisory position, executive management and all. It feels like someone is just dicking with me."

Lena looked around a bit before leaning forward. "Do you honestly think there's some kind of conspiracy?"

Kalia shrugged. "Likely I'm paranoid, but in this business, paranoid equals alive. I like alive. You like alive, Princess?"

"It's my preference. I mean, I haven't tried any alternatives, but I think it's my preference."

Kalia laughed. "Let's both stick with alive. Hey, my brother's heading back. Time to be social again."

"...yeah," Lena muttered.

"You are such a stick in the mud."

"We can't all be as upbeat as you and Everett. I swear you Campbells are the bloody happiest people."

"And what about you Luthors?" Everett asked as he sat down, passing over a glass filled with beer to his sister. On the top of the glass, it said, 'The Muddy Charles Pub Serving MIT since 1968' then underneath were two men, one some kind of smith with a hammer and another some kind of scholar, both stylized and looking like they came from the sign of an Olde English Pub. "What did I miss?"