Bound In Secrets : A Death Kings Novel

**Jensen**

"If know those you must be the Jericho Ryder knows. What is the clever fox up to this time?" I question.

"Something he shouldn't be messing in. He is creating super soldiers using the diluted blood of royal infernals and the corpses of the fallen."

"What?!" I choke out having inhaled my beer instead of swallowing. Ugh, that burns. "This explains some questions he had on DNA a while back. I didn't think anything of it," I drawl.

"Lix. You can show yourself now." I almost jump out of my skin at the sight of my friend Callix appearing seemingly out of thin air.

Callix laughs. "I thought we were friends?" He questions between breathes attempting to sound offended.

"Dead friends don't pop out of thin air! Kaka sen!" I exclaim in shock. "Have you told him you're in town?"

"I fuck things up with JT. He'll never forgive me."

"Ou se yon fout sòt." I mutter he is a fucking idiot in Haitian Creole. Not that he understands me. "JT already forgave you. You never understood how big that man's heart is. Anyway, why are you here?"

"Don't you love me?" He yawns sitting down at the nearest I narrow my eyes at him. He reminds me of a lazy house cat. He is always half asleep. So it seems anyway. Callix can hear everything. He is sharp and well aware of his surroundings, even if he is blind. He explained that sound waves give him sight, like Daredevil.

I've had a feeling that he was something more than human, only now I know he isn't. Whatever human part that overrode the infernal part has been pushed aside. "You're different what happened?"

"This is where Rory Beadu comes in. She changed him. Her father is working with Duncan Shaw."

"Do you think it's her blood they are using?"

"I do. Her blood awakened Callix's infernal half. Without it, he never would have known he was a demon."

"What type is he?"

Jericho kicks Callix's foot, "Show him, le paalo'."Text © 2024 NôvelDrama.Org.

Lix's sea-green eyes look at me, the white of his eyes morphing to black. His brown hair streaks with silver and white eland horns sprout from his head. His skin turns navy marbled with silver streaks and his navy feathered wings that drape the ground are tipped in silver. When yawns he has teeth that remind me of a dog's with four long sharp canine teeth. His eyes droop as if he is bored while I'm freaking out. I had no idea things like this existed!

"Is....is this what they are making?!"

"No. Those are fake infernals. Lix is one of the seven demon princes of Hades. The Belphegor of sloth," Jericho explains.

"I still don't know what all that means," Lix says sitting back down. That's when I see a long thin tail with shadows coiling lazily around the tip as it flicks up and down in mild irritation just like who is being bothered when it is attempting to sleep.

"Why tell me all this and show me what Callix is? You know as well as I Doctor Ryder Fuchs-Jamison listens to no one."

"This killer of Voodoo practitioners this wasn't his first kill. He is targeting them for their power. This is a Lich, someone who is as adept at cursed energy as infernals. Someone like me, who hasn't made it to my level yet," Jericho comments drinking another beer. "Which is?" I prod.

"King."

"Oh great, another fucking king," I grumble.

"I'll be needing your help."

"No, you need the Furies' help. Keep us out of the supernatural mumbo jumbo. We are human, but the Furies...they are something else. I get the same feel from them as I did from Callix. I'll keep you in the loop on my findings and you can do your magic stuff but other than I'm out. Call them. I'll give you Griffen's number. They live in the same city Rory doesn't anyway so you can keep an eye on her."

"Okay. Yaan teech jump'éel k'axt'aan. You have a deal."

I elbow Callix in the shoulder. He creaks an eye open to look at me to let me know he is listening. "Go talk to JT. He is at his club most nights. Don't leave this shit between you two to continue to rot. It's not healthy for either of you." Callix shifts back into his human form. He yawns. "I will," he assures me.

"You better. I'll know if you don't. JT tells me everything," I remind him. This is his reminder that I know exactly what happened between the two men. He flinches in understanding. Yeah, motherfucker I know exactly what you did, I think. "Adiós, Salvador ti' le kaano'." That's the last thing Jericho says before he and Callix disappear into the smoky shadows around their feet.

Even with having the beers, I feel more stressed out than when this day started. I feel my snake friend move against my skin. I pick it up and get to work examining it and taking swabs before I do the same to the habitat. Work is what I need to clear my mind of the insanity of this evening that I want no part of. I'll take a mundane human mortal existence fuck you very much.